Meeting Reminder: December 18 Film Discussion

This is a reminder that this month's meeting will be on Thursday, December 18. We will watch and discuss The Dead, directed by John Huston.

Schedule:
5:00pm  Watch film and Potluck dinner
7:00pm  Discussion

Reminder: We are now meeting at St Rita's Catholic Church. See the About section for address and map. Remember to bring your own plates and utensils.

NOTE: Bring a small gift if you would like to participate in an optional gift exchange.

Please RSVP for the dinner and the discussion or just for the discussion.

Hope to see everyone there!

Change of Date for December Meeting

Normally our December meeting is moved forward to the second Thursday, to keep it from falling too close to Christmas. This year, we have decided to meet the third Thursday, December 18. The date has been changed on the Current List.

We will watch the film The Dead, directed by John Huston (the last film he directed) and starring Angelica Huston. The film is based on the final story in the short story collection The Dubliners by James Joyce.

If you would like to read the story before the showing, The Dubliners should be readily available at most city libraries or at Half Price Books or other used book stores. If you have a Kindle, for 99 cents you can get The Dubliners or, for the same price, James Joyce: Collection of All Complete Classics Works.

Happy Thanksgiving, godspeed to all who will be traveling, and hope to see you in December!

Meeting Reminder: November 20 Book Discussion

This is a reminder that November's meeting will be Thursday, November 20, 2014.

We will discuss The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd.

Schedule:
6:30pm Potluck dinner
7:00pm Discussion

REMINDER: Remember to bring your own dishes and utensils for the potluck.

Please RSVP for the pot luck dinner and/or discussion.

Hope to see everyone there!

Meeting Reminder: October 16 Book Discussion

This is a reminder that October's meeting will be Thursday, October 16, 2014.

We will discuss TransAtlantic: A Novel, by Colum McCann.

Schedule:
6:30pm Potluck dinner
7:00pm Discussion

REMINDER: Remember to bring your own dishes and utensils for the potluck.

Please RSVP for the pot luck dinner and/or discussion.

Meeting Reminder: September 18 Book Discussion

This is a reminder that September's meeting will be Thursday, September 18, 2014.

We will discuss The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman.

Schedule:
6:30pm Potluck dinner
7:00pm Discussion

REMINDER: Remember to bring your own dishes and utensils.

Please RSVP for the pot luck dinner and/or discussion.

Carnival Casserole

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked rice
1 pkg frozen corn
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 lb ground beef, browned & drained
1 pkg real bacon bits
1 cup water

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9x13 baking dish, layer rice, corn, onion, pepper, and ground beef. Pour tomato sauce over layers, then sprinkle bacon bits over that. Pour water over all. Cover and bake for 1 hour, uncover and bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Submitted by David Green

Fall/Winter 2014-15 List

We have come up with the Fall/Winter Booklist, with the exception of January's title, which is tentative. Cathy Walter will read and weigh in on it.

September

Meeting: September 18, 2014
The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel, by Neil Gaiman

October

Meeting: October 16, 2014
TransAtlantic: A Novel, by Colum McCann

November

Meeting: November 20, 2014
The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd

December

Meeting: December 11, 2014
Film: The Dead, directed by John Huston

January

Meeting: January 15, 2015
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, by Heidi W. Durrow

Meeting Reminder: August 21 Film Discussion

This is a reminder that this month's meeting will be on Thursday, August 21. We will watch and discuss Philomena, directed by Stephen Frears.

Schedule:
5:00pm  Watch film
6:30pm  Potluck dinner
7:00pm  Discussion

Reminder: We are now meeting at St Rita's Catholic Church. See the About section for address and map. Remember to bring your own plates and utensils.

Hope to see everyone there!

Fall/Winter Book List Options

To update everyone on what we discussed about the Fall/Winter book list, here is the list from Casey. The full list will be posted once the entire list is selected.

September's book will be Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.

These are the books that have been suggested:

• Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd, to be read by Casey, Terri and David
• The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi Durrow
• Dubliners by James Joyce
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
• Sleep Donation by Karen Russell, to be read by Connie and Claire
• Transatlantic by Colum McCann, to be read by Jeanine and Laurie
• Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Reminders

The next meeting will be Thursday, August 21 and we will watch the film Philomena, directed by Stephen Frears. Film at 5 p.m., potluck supper at 6:30 p.m., discussion at 7 p.m.

Remember to bring your plates and utensils for the potluck.

Claire's Fruit Sauce

1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
1 (6 oz) frozen orange juice thawed
1/4 cup sour cream

Blend until smooth. Serve with fresh fruit.  

Submitted by Claire Brennan.

Meeting Reminder: July 17th Film Discussion

This is a reminder that this month's meeting will be on Thursday, July 17th. We will watch and discuss Good Morning (original title Ohayō), directed by Yasujirō Ozu.

Schedule:
5:00pm  Watch film
6:30pm  Potluck dinner
7:00pm  Discussion

Reminder: We are now meeting at St Rita's Catholic Church. See the About section for address and map.

Hope to see everyone there!

Summer Movies and New Home

We have decided on the two films we will be watching during our July and August meetings.

July

Meeting: July 17, 2014
Film: Good Morning (Ohayō), directed by Yasujirō Ozu

August

Meeting: August 21, 2014
Film: Philomena, directed by Stephen Frears

We've Moved!

As of our June 2014 meeting, we have moved to a new venue. See our About section for the address and a map to St Rita's Catholic Church in Fort Worth, TX.

Meeting Reminder: June 19 Book Discussion

This is a reminder that June's meeting will be Thursday, June 19, 2014. We will discuss The Painted Veil, by W. Somerset Maugham.

Schedule:
6:30pm Potluck dinner
7:00pm Discussion

IMPORTANT: New location this month! See this blog's About page for St Rita's address and a map.

Hope to see everyone there!

Meeting Reminder: August 15, 2013

This is a reminder that the next meeting will be on Thursday, August 15th.

We will watch and discuss A Separation (original Persian title "Jodaeiye Nader az Simin") directed by Asghar Farhadi.

Schedule:
5:00pm Watch film
6:30pm Potluck dinner
7:00pm Discussion

See About for more information and directions. Hope to see everyone there!

News about Moving and Letter Writing

New Home

For those who haven't heard yet, the diocese of Fort Worth is closing the Catholic Renewal Center of North Texas, so Faith and Fiction is moving house. We thought we had one more month there, but apparently all the furniture, dishes, etc. will be gone before our June meeting.

I will post here once I have confirmation of where the next meeting will be.

Letter Writing

For those of you who wanted to write to the bishop, here are the addresses that you should cc in your letter:

The Most Reverend Gustavo Garcia-Siller, M.Sp. S Archbishop

 of San Antonio

 2718 W. Woodlawn Ave.

 San Antonio, TX 78228

 Archbishop Carlo Maria  Vigano

 Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America

 3339 Massachusetts Avenue Northwest
Washington D.C.

Hope to see you all this month, wherever we may be!

 

Bunny Tail Bonbons

Here is the recipe for Bunny Tail Bonbons that was requested the other night.  Enjoy!

1 1/2 (4 oz.) white chocolate baking bars, melted according to package directions (Baker's Premium White Chocolate Baking Bar was recommended)

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup crushed coconut cookies (Pepperidge Farm Sweet & Simple Coconut Cookies were recommended)

1 Tbsp. coconut rum or water (I used regular rum)

1/8 tsp. kosher salt

Parchment paper

1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

Beat chocolate and cream cheese at medium speed with a electric mixer until smooth.   Add cookies and next 2 ingredients, beating just until blended.  Spread in a parchment paper-lined 9-inch pie plate; cover and chill 2 hours.

Shape into 1 inch balls (about 2 tsp. per ball) and place in a single layer in a parchment paper-lined jelly roll pan.  Cover and chill 12 to 24 hours.  Roll balls in coconut; chill 1 hour before serving.  Refrigerate in a single layer in a container up to 1 week.

NOTE:  This is the original recipe but I think next time I would use a bit more cookies for more crunch.  Just a suggestion.  And I'm not sure why you couldn't just roll the balls in coconut right after you shape the mixture into balls.  Think I'll try that next time, too. 

Submitted by Barb Thomas

Meeting Reminder: April 24 Book Discussion

This is a reminder that April's meeting will be Thursday, April 24, 2014. We will discuss East of Eden, by John Steinbeck.

Schedule:
6:30pm Potluck dinner
7:00pm Discussion

Hope to see everyone there!

Reminder: No book club this week

Just wanted to drop a reminder that we decided not to meet during Holy Week. We will meet next week, Thursday, April 24, to discuss John Steinbeck's East of Eden. Hope to see you all there!

Geraldine Page, April Meeting Moves, and an Apology

Geraldine Brooks

Geraldine Brooks is an author we've read twice. First we read we read March in June 2008 and then People of the Book in March 2011.

Brooks is coming to speak at UT Arlington as part of Women's History Month. She will give the keynote address (topic is not provided) at 7pm on the sixth floor of the Central Library. The closest free parking is the lot south of the Life Science Building. For a fee, you can park in the adjacent Maverick Parking Garage (to the east of the library). I recommend getting directions from a mapping application or using the interactive map I've linked to here (click on Central Library), because most of the streets are one way and it's easy to end up going the wrong direction.

More information about the 2014 Women's History Month events can be found here: http://www.uta.edu/womens-studies/Current%20Events.html.

April Meeting

 This is a reminder that we decided to meet on the fourth Thursday of April so we wouldn't be meeting on Maundy Thursday. The meeting will be on April 24 and will feature East of Eden, by John Steinbeck. A reminder will come out closer to the meeting time.

Apology

Which brings me to the apology, as I forgot to send out a reminder for March's (last night's) meeting. I hope that isn't the reason we had a small group. On the other hand, small groups can be very nice. Hoping for a larger group next month, as we always miss our absent friends.

The Echo Project features multimedia content for Khalid Hosseini's And the Mountains Echoed

A co-worker of mine came across this site and, since we have so recently read the book, I thought I'd share it. I've noodled around a bit with it, but the content is related to pages. The idea is that you'll read a page of text and go to that corresponding page to see maps, images, videos, and hear audio of music and reading excerpts, etc.

Since my Kindle shows only location numbers and not pages, I'm a bit in the dark. Need to write to Penguin for them to consider a way to meet the needs of ebook readers.

The Echo Project: http://www.echoproject.ca/
A video introduction of the project on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/87782727

Hope you enjoy it!

PS Also wanted to remind you to save the date for Geraldine Page, who will be speaking at UT Arlington on March 24. Will give more details at the next meeting.

--C.D. Walter

Updated Spring/Summer List and Change of Date for April Meeting

The "Current List" has been updated to reflect additional texts and a change of date.

April's meeting would have fallen during Holy Week, so we collectively decided to move it to the fourth Thursday, which falls on April 24, 2014.

All books have been selected, but the July and August movies are still in contention. Feel free to add your suggestions as comments to this post.

Revised Spring/Summer 2014 Reading/Viewing List

February
Meeting: February 20, 2014
The Aviator's Wife, by Melanie Benjamin


March
Meeting: March 20, 2014
The Dean's Watch, by Elizabeth Goudge


April
Meeting: April 24, 2014
East of Eden, by John Steinbeck


May
Meeting: May 15, 2014
Life After Life, by Jill McCorkle


June
Meeting: June 19, 2014
The Painted Veil, by W. Somerset Maugham

July
Meeting: July 17, 2014
Film: TBD

August
Meeting: August 21, 2014
Film: TBD

Meeting Reminder: February 20 Book Discussion

This is a reminder that February's meeting will be Thursday, February 20, 2014. We will discuss The Aviator's Wife, by Melanie Benjamin.

Schedule:
6:30pm Potluck dinner
7:00pm Discussion

Hope to see everyone there!

NOTE: For the Spring/Summer book list (so far), click on the "Current List" tab in the main menu above.

Geraldine Brooks Coming to UTA in March

Geraldine Brooks is an author we've read twice. First we read we read March in June 2008 and then People of the Book in March 2011.

Brooks is coming to speak at UT Arlington as part of Women's History Month. She will give the keynote address at 7pm on the sixth floor of the Central Library. Park in the adjacent parking garage..

More information about the 2014 Women's History Month events can be found here: http://www.uta.edu/womens-studies/Current%20Events.html.

Field trip?

Meeting Reminder: January 16th Book Discussion

This is a reminder that this month's meeting will be on Thursday, January 16, 2014. We will discuss And the Mountains Echoed: A Novel, by Khaled Hosseini.

Schedule:
6:30pm Potluck dinner
7:00pm Discussion

Hope to see everyone there!