Aug 2021 – The Year of the Storm by John Mantooth

Many of you may remember our prior meetings with author author Hank Early – well… Hank and John Mantooth are the same person. We began reading Hank Early years back and have had the author visit us multiple times. We ALWAYS enjoy hosting John and his lovely wife Becky (and thier local friend who lives in Atlanta). John and his wife live in Birmingham. Both are educators. The Year of the Storm is actually an older book John published decades ago. We REALLY enjoyed the book. A true southern gothic tale. I was sooo happy to host our meeting this August. My home is located in a quaint historic district of East Point Ga. Our area is called Frog Hollow. My house is Speckled Egg Cottage. We had a very engaging meeting with John. Thank you for coming!

For summary and to purchase John’s book click HERE . A real page turner! I literally could not put it down. I read it completely in a few days. It was that feeling of wanting to know what exactly happened and the Why of it all. You’ll see!

I began taping our meeting – realized after 5 minutes it had stopped! Here’s the first half. Click HERE Unfortunately I could not get the second half to ever upload! Ugh!

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June 2021 – The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah

The Four Winds is not light reading.   The subject matter is depressing (i.e. The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl) however the author does a fantastic job of relaying the struggles of that time period.  I learned so much I never knew! The dust storms, the migration of farmers to California, amazing story telling.   Hannah really gives you a slice of life during the Great Depression for farmers and families.

We gathered at one of my favorite cottages in Historic College Park – Julie’s home!  It’s literally a Kalidescope of my favorite things!   We were so happy to have Sherry who drove over from Chattanooga to join us! Great seeing everyone!  I was awarded an early birthday cupcake and I completely ate it!!! Thanks everyone!  (I’m a 4th of July babe).

Author bio HERE 

Book Summary:

In The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, Elsa Wolcott is a woman trying to raise two children on farm in the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl following the Great Depression. She watches as the lands around her crack in their perpetually parched state and the hopelessness threatens to breaks the spirit of those around her.

As the situation worsens, Elsa is forced to make a decision to stay and fight or leave for the uncertain and unfamiliar lands in the West. In this tale, Kristin has written a survival story about resilience, love, family, courage and the American Dream.

For a wonderful video of Kristin Hannah HERE 

So good to see everyone!  See you next month!

Oh!  Julie found our very first Historic College Park Book Club invite to everyone.  From 2007!

Feb 2019 – Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Thanks to everyone who made the trip North of the city on a rainy traffic filled night to nest at Claire’s home for book club!  We seem to have had a ‘rainy season’ descend upon the South and it’s completely sucked beans for weeks now …or has it been months.  It’s been a long rainy while I’ll tell you that.    Jenny and I actually were able to grab a pre-book club cocktail at Blue Grotto right around the corner from Claires!  All about the cocktail baby!  A big thank you to Claire for hosting!  Always a wonderful day when we get to see Claire.

I remember seeing this book on Reese Witherspoon’s book club list and I added it to ours.  I’m so glad I did!  A wonderful story woven in the marsh of North Carolina.   A love story, a coming of age so many things author Delia Owens wrapped in this wonderful story.

For author bio click HERE  

For book club questions click HERE 

We talked of how painful to think of leaving a 6 year old girl alone to fend with a raging violent alcoholic father who may or may not be present was mind-blowing.  The way Kya learned how to take care of herself was inspirational.   We loved that Kya became an author and expert of the area and natural world that she loves.   The ending was a twist we were not expecting!!!  I brought up the query of how her mother’s sister didn’t send for the children when the mother showed up?  I thought that was bizarre and cold.

It was a delightful read – very much able to visualize where Kya lived, the marsh and nature that inspired and kept her safe.

P.S. we really DID have an issue opening that bottle of friggin’ wine! Holy snap!

We all enjoyed the book — for those who couldn’t join us you were missed!

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