March's Pick - Cora

Even though we had a few people absent, who were terribly missed, we had a great night. Cora's pick of "How Green was My Valley" was the narrative story of a boy growing up in a coal mining town in Wales in the late 1800's. It was a darling story of a boy and his amazing perspective watching his family struggle, recover, grow and learn.

Comments:

Cora: She explained that sadly, the conditions the coal miners worked in then are the same today and haven't changed. The owners keep the workers uneducated so they will continue to work for low wages and not leave.

Angela: Didn't like the ending, she wanted to know what happened.

Everyone: Wanted to know what happened to Bron!

Cora hosted a wonderful evening, serving gourmet cupcakes she ordered in and we had great conversation late into the evening. Always a great time when the Chatter Matters ladies get together! Thanks Cora!!

Next month: Kathryn

"Matched"

by Allie Condie

Kathryn said it should be a light read after a few heavy ones.

Looking forward to a great read for spring!

Hope to see you all next month!

February's Pic - Candace

What a fun, amazing, inspirational book club we had last night. Thank you Candace for this pick which definitely sparked a lot of discussion and drew out of a lot of different insights. In this book, a man who lost his daughter is invited back to the place of her murder to meet with God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost and to learn and grow and ultimately understand the plan. There were a lot of "different" ideas that us members of the Church believe, but there were definitely tender moments when you felt the love of our Heavenly Father and the love from his Son's sacrifice.

Comments:

Cora: She loved that this book portrayed God as a Loving Father, not a negative hurtful being.

Liz: She liked the sweet moments, but couldn't get passed the "weird", there were definitely those in there!

Machelle: Truly pondered her relationship with her Father and it made her think about her own life.

Stacy: Loved that this book made her think and loves when a book can draw the best parts of you out.

We all ooed and awed at Candace's beautiful home and thoroughly enjoyed her apple cream cheese crumble with ice cream and caramel. Yum, yum! (again, please forward the recipe so we can secretly enjoy this whenever we want.)

We also heard about Julie's trip to Florida and laughed and cried with her over the unbelievable events that took place. Julie, you are such a trooper and example to us. Thanks for sharing!

We also had a beautiful discussion about the girls' stake conference and shared those special moments and testimonies. What a truly special collection of women we are. Love you all!

Next month:

By Cora: How Green Was My Valley

by: Richard Llewellyn

Boring or not ;) can't wait to start a new book!

December Christmas Party!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This year our annual Christmas Dinner Party was held at Tandy's. What a beautiful home and the perfect setting for our yummy dinner and book exchange.

The beautiful table is set...

The preparations are underway...

Bring on the food!!!

Because the chatter does matter! Love you ladies!

We had an adorable reenactment of Julie and Candace's shopping trip and made a note of Candace's "luck" while shopping... but she was definitely missed for the party.

The book exchange was very fun. I hope everyone got what they wanted and enjoyed the "stealing" and fighting over the books. Definitely a favorite tradition of Chatter Matters.

We are planning our field trip to Barnes and Noble in January for hot chocolate and treats and hours of book browsing. Not quite sure on the time, but we'll let you know!

Merry Christmas to all you amazing women! You are all truly examples of love, charity and friendship. I can't imagine our book club without every single one of you.

Love you all!

November's pick - Melanie

I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I totally forgot to do the November post. So here goes...

This month we read the biography of our beloved prophet

President Thomas S. Monson

Melanie hosted a wonderful book club, as usual. We had a pop quiz on said prophet and for those of us who may not have finished (or even started) had quite a surprise and stressed out a little like we were in 10th grade history again. But were able to learn a lot of fun facts.

We had a great discussion. There was story after story shared of people's favorite President Monson moments. He is an amazing man and truly inspired. What a beautiful tribute to the Lord's chosen.

Melanie made yummy appetizers, treats and even served a delicious hot chocolate bar. With 7 oz of perfectly heated water, 3 tablespoons of cocoa, marshmallows, and a peppermint stick, the night was complete!

Thanks Mel!!!

Next month: Tandy

Hard Times and Holy Places

by: Kristin Warner Belcher

We're excited to have a beautiful story about Christ to start off our Christmas season!

Hopefully everyone got their food assignments for the Christmas dinner at Tandy's and remember to bring a wrapped book for the book exchange!!!

Happy Christmas to all!!!

Liz's Pick - October

Liz picked "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro. And wow, for a book that that nobody seemed to like, did this book have a lot to discuss. We all giggled as Liz explained last month she didn't like to read about s*x in books. Well did this book have a lot of s*x (he he he). We loved getting an email with her apologies and how this book has troubled her soul, oh sweet sweet Liz, we love you!

Comments:

Liz did have a great discovery. She was trying to find out what she could learn from this book and having read other books by Mr. Ishiguro, she knows he writes novels to make you think. Well, most people questioned "why don't these people just leave the boarding school and not blindly accept their fate?" So Liz's question was, "What are the things in our lives we just do without questioning why we do them? Why do we just accept the standard path in life and not just do what we want?" Good point Liz!!!

Cora commented, why do we go through life doing all the typical things? School, college, marriage, kids? Why is that the norm and the guys who decide to hike their lives through Alaska are considered weird? Interesting...

Candace: "I just felt like from the first page, this book sucked out my soul" (Love you Candace)

Ok, so onto the highlight of the night! Liz broke out Just Dance on the Wii and oh, how we got our groove on!!!

Liz and Melanie got us started! Go Girls!!!

Julie and Candace danced their hearts out!

Stacy and Melanie got their cow-girl on with Cotton Eye Joe!

Don't you just love they're all out of focus cause we were movin'!

We also got to snuggle with Liz's twins! They're so sweet!

Well next Month, Melanie picked the biography of President Thomas S. Monson.

Great pick Mel!!!

Angela's Pick - September

For September, we read "The Heretic's Daughter" by Kathleen Kent. What a great read! We were all excited to read a story set during the Salem Witch Trials and had a great discussion. Most every body loved the writing style by Kathleen Kent and the narration given by the daughter of an accused witch. There were mixed reviews about some of the content but we all enjoyed reading about such an interesting time in American history.

Comments:

Julie thought the writing style was like "The Book Thief" and we discussed the descriptive comparisons the author used.

Cora made an interesting point about the scary things people do out of fear and all the crazy things that have happened throughout history. Very good observation and very true.

We enjoyed yummy pie and talked late into the night at Angela's. We had a good time and missed all that couldn't attend. Thanks Ang!!!

Next Month: Liz picked "Never Let Me Go"

by Kazuo Ishiguro

Cora's Pick - August

"Driven" by Larry H. Miller

For August, Cora picked Larry Miller's autobiography. It was surprising for most people to learn so much about his personal life. He's been such a part of Utah's history, with the Jazz, car dealerships, Jordan Commons, Trax, and little did we all know where he came from. Everyone seemed so inspired by how driven he was throughout his life and the sad childhood he grew up from.

Comments:

Stacy loved when he admitted he wasn't the best husband or father and she totally appreciated that he owned up to that.

Machelle loved the picture at the end of the book with Larry's wife laying next to him and you could just tell how much she loved him.

Cora had a beautiful table spread with a delicious chocolate cake and a yummy fruit drink served in tall stemmed glasses. It was beautiful and such a fun night of catching up and sharing. We had a few people not in attendance and we totally missed you! Candace shared what has been going on with our beloved "fresh and fancy"Julie and we have to say we hope you get feeling better soon and our hearts, thoughts and prayers are with you.

Next month: Angela chose "The Heretic's Daughter" by Kathleen Kent. It got "ooes" and "awes" as Angela explained it is set during the Salem Witch Trials. Can't wait to read it!!