Gone Girl

Thanks to Ms. K for jumping in to host August's BC, featuring, full details below, one of the all-time great BC meals.  (Hint:  it did not come in a pizza box!)  We started out with grilled corn, crema Mexicana and cilantro crostini, and if anyone thought it couldn't get better than that, drum roll please:  build-you-own chicken salad sandwiches.  Sounds deceivingly simple, but El Jefe must linger just a moment to relish the memory.  Fresh cibatta rolls, topped with home made chicken salad chock full of pecans and walnuts and flavored with tarragon, with your choice of garnishes, accompanied by heirloom tomato caprese with a balsamic reduction, and... sigh, ruffled potato chips.  Heavenly.  El Jefe rushed straight to Trader Joes (not actually that night, but the next morning) and the balsamic glaze was out of stock.  But perseverence pays off, and it's now in the pantry Chez Jefe.  This just may be one of those rare discoveries--like cubed pancetta (thank you, Blondie)--that could revolutionize la cocina Jefe.  And then the mixed berry pie a la mode that tasted like it was straight out of the oven--from Whole Foods!  Ah, what a lucky time and place in which we live.  Can't wait to chow down tomorrow!

Grilled corn, crema Mexicana and cilantro crostini

On to the book, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  This book scored a perfect 7, to the decimal.  Big points for the entertainment and shock value.  This story kept reinventing itself with unexpected plot twists up until the last page.  Part One set up Nick and Amy's characters:  him, the hunky, flirty New York party guy, her, the sappy, frail wife who would take solace in her diary when Nick bailed on their wedding anniversary to hang with his guy friends.  Some even thought that the book got off to a slow start.  It was hard to tell what was going on or what to make of Nick's behavior in the wake of Amy disappearing.  After all, is there a "right way" to act when one's spouse may have been murdered?  Part Two addressed the question of whether there's a "right way" to act 100% psycho?  Apparently there is.  As the story unfolded, all the expectations from the beginning were turned upside down.  Part Three dealt with what happens to a totally creepy high school ex-boyfriend who thinks he can control the psycho.  Oops.  Whether this was great literature is debatable (not really), but it certainly was a fun summer read that didn't require too much discussion and left us ample opportunity for our other favorite BC pastimes, namely eating and trying on jewelry!

Tomorrow's meeting is at Logan's Run's house, and we are reading (hopefully have read) Open City by Teju Cole.  If you haven't gotten to page 75, you don't know what you're missing!  Bring your LOD suggestions!  xoej

Not seeing it...

Nope, can't see it.

Still no.

Ah, yes, now that's more like it.

Already Dead

Already Dead.  What foresight the author had!  His title aptly describes the level of discussion that ensued from our June book pick.  The upside is, the book gets a score of 8 by default, since El Jefe was the only one who read enough to vote, let alone finish.  For what it's worth, El Jefe loved this noir-to-the-core novel with a crazy cast of offbeat characters--pot growers, spiritualists, Buddhist monks, and deadbeat policemen-- set along California's far north coast.  On the other hand (and here, El Jefe had to resort to Amazon just to get a counterpoint opinion!), "It's extremely long, meandering and often losing the thread of the plot; disturbed by meaningless shifts in the method of narration (from first to third person to retrospective documents), marred by far too much stream-of-consciousness rambling, such as a series of letters written by a lunatic which hold no interest at all."  Amen.

For anyone who noticed the format change, it's because there was simply no book discussion, so might as well dispense with it up front!  There was, however, plenty of enjoyment to be had otherwise at our little summer BC retreat, held in Cabana 173 down at the Bel Air Bay Club.

#173 is slightly north of this view

How many people in the world have the chance to relax at a cozy beach retreat, spending a weekday night with good friends, lots of wine, discussing books (or not) while the sun sets and the waves crash against the shore not 10 feet away?  Only nine people!!  How lucky can we get?  Pretty amazing.  We noshed on the Contessa's roasted eggplant and red pepper tapenade, always a winner, followed by a cheese and charcuterie platter and Feast from the East Chinese chicken salad (yes, yes, a bit of a mixed bag, but hey, no cooking facilities), and for dessert birthday cupcakes in honor of El Jefe and Logan's Run.  Delish!

We also just had to do a little beachside shopping... some of El Jefe's faves from Janna Conner Designs:

Gold wrapped smokey druzy briolette on an antique gold plated chain.

Gold wrapped cobalt quartz and turquoise.

Yellow gold starburst with diamond.

Our next meeting is at The Saint's house, on Wednesday July 11.  The Highlander is on apps and we need a dessert volunteer.  Surely most of you are nearly finished with our book, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, and ready to start on the August book, Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn.  We need great picks for the fall, so bring your LOD suggestions to the meeting!  Until next time, Read Early and Often! xoej

The Murderer's Daughters

Our first TCOB in the Highlander's new home!  Dating, breakups, marriage, divorce, new boyfriends, new kids, new houses, remodels, onward and upward!  We are either too cliche or have just been together too long.  Self-deprecation aside, Highlander, the new digs look terrific!  What also looks terrific is Red's new line of fine jewelry.  Custom cut topaz, rose gold, diamonds?!  Luckily it's gorgeous so El Jefe will forgive the spotty attendance record, knowing how hard you were working.

  Janna Conner Designs.  14K yellow gold "cubist" earrings with white topaz and diamonds.  Yes, please.

Over bangles and baubles, we snacked our way through caprese skewers and spanikopita, caught up on the month's gossip, and planned our birthday and Christmas lists. Then, on to burgers and a veritable smorgasbord of toppings: grilled onions, sauteed mushrooms, brie, avocado cream, and other lishy treats. And the controversial peach donuts for dessert. All the fun of a donut-shaped peach, none of the calories of a donut. Or wait, did we miss the fine print...

 Only 201 calories per.

 Our book this month, the Murderer's Daughters, was highly divisive.  There was a cluster in the 8's, a cluster in the 4's (overly dramatic!), with a smattering of less polarized votes in between.  Not counting the last-ditch downgrade to a 3 (talk about predictable), the book averaged out at 6.3.  Clearly that number doesn't tell the whole story.  What does tell the story, at least from the perspective of the low graders, is the sentiment that (and I quote) "I would rather have those hours of my life back than have wasted them reading this book."  Snap!  The low graders found the story soap opera-esque, annoying, and poorly written.  In particular, Merry's tap, tap, tapping on the scar left by her father's botched stabbing seemed to be an irritant.  Alas, although the physical wound healed, the psychological damage was incurable--but no sympathy for this victim from the naysayers!  For some reason, their troubled childhood did not evoke nearly the same heartbreak as the Glass Castle, which was offered in our discussion as a comparison.  On the other hand, the yeahsayers (?) loved the pulpy drama, the fast read, and the tragic characters.  While the group could not agree on whether Lulu and Merry were one dimensional or complex, we did agree that Merry's relationship with her father was tres strange (how could she forgive the very person who almost succeeded in killing her), and perfect little Drew's sudden appearance in Lulu's life was a bit much.  But, opinions and ratings aside, there was an especially poignant moment when it was revealed that this book held a personal meaning and connection for one of us, whose mother's own childhood years were spent in an orphanage.  After all, the author stated in the epilogue that she wished she could say that this book was fiction.

Please see last month's post for the August and September lineup.  There was a motion to move the August meeting one day later to the 5th.  If you have an objection to that, please send El Jefe an email.  Also if you can bring apps or dessert next month.  Until next time, beware the undead!

The Magician's Assistant

Belated again! Gone are the days of the Thursday morning recap, but you know what they say... Thank you to the Foxx for hosting TCOB. It's so fun to see the progress on your house--it looks better every time! We started off the night with margaritas (the cocktail is a menu addition I like very much!) and chickpea bruschetta with olive tapenade. Then, some very healthy chicken enchilladas (courtesy of the Foxx's mother-in-law's famous recipe) with a mixed vegetable salad, and strawberry and rhubarb cobbler with creme fraiche for dessert. Dalish, and requiring a major workout the next day!

The Magician's Assistant, by Ann Patchett, scored a 6.75 on the Richter scale. However, as is often the case, that number doesn't tell the whole story. There were mostly 8's and then two nay-sayers brought the average tumbling down. The general consensus among the 8's was that the book was totally enjoyable, the story was good, they liked the Fetters family, and it was cool that the book (or at least half of it) took place in L.A.--Beverly Hills, downtown, and West Hollywood no less! We were about split down the middle on whether people liked Sabine: half found her character annoying or frustrating in that she had no backbone and put everyone else's interests ahead of her own. The other half really found her to be sympathetic. We also discussed Sabine and Parsifal's relationship, and again, opinions were mixed. How could Sabine have spent her whole life pining away for someone who definitively was not going to reciprocate on a sexual or even an intimate basis? Her living with Phan and Parsifal seemed weird, like the third-wheel neighbor who bunks in. On the other hand, maybe it was just a "non-traditional" family--and who are we to judge? We talked about Sabine's parents, and how even though they were such an important influence in her life, perhaps they were enabling their daughter in continuing on a path that never would lead to fulfillment for her. There was a lot to talk about with this book, and I feel like we just scratched the surface--probably because we hadn't gotten together for more than 5 weeks which meant lots of gossip to catch up on. In particular, El Jefe was curious to know everyone's take on the final magic trick, which Sabine seemed to have learned in one of her dreams and which supposedly was "real" magic. How did this fantastical and mystical twist fit in with a book that, although fictional, otherwise stuck to a completely realistic and pragmatic view of magic tricks?

Reminder: Janna Conner Designs and Lila Boutique trunk show at Logan's Run's house on May 2!

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, May 3 at Ms. K's house. La Madamoiselle is bringing apps, and Logan's Run dessert. The book is Last Orders, by Graham Swift, the 1996 Booker Prize winner.