2012.08.27 Meeting Notes

We had such a fun meeting on Monday. It was the last off site meeting that we have scheduled, so we made the most of it. Kim provided some great skewer snacks and cookies, along with white wine sangria and vodka punch.
We have some happenings coming up and going on with our members, and I wanted to list them here for those who weren’t able to make the meeting. Kim is getting a new kidney in November, and is also going to be a Gramma. She’s been needing a new kidney for quite awhile and finally found a donor. I’m sure she’s felt she’s been needing a grandkid too, but what can you do? Janice is getting a new knee in September. All kinds of new (and used) body parts going around. On the non-medical side, Jeff came out of his early retirement and is back to work…..at the same employer. Let’s see if he can keep up his voracious reading schedule now that he’s back in the office. You know Jeff though, I’m sure he can pull it off. After all, he has cachet (yeah, you heard me). Sharon got a new car (make sure you hear me say it like the Price is Right guy). She traded in her “old” mustang for a 2012 with a 5.0 liter engine in honor of her upcoming 5.0 birthday. And, last but not least, Jose is running a marathon. Geez guys, I can’t keep up with all of you! I changed shampoo brands recently, but didn’t feel I could share given all of the above and how monumental it all is.
We had a new member join our group. Amy Broome has dared enter our craziness, and I must say that she fits right in. Not that you’re crazy Amy, although if we find out you are, it will help. Amy read the book, contributed to the discussion, laughed at our strange jokes, and didn’t run from Kim’s house screaming. The induction ceremony is complete. Welcome Amy.
We discussed The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman and for the most part, the book wasn’t well received. Chris and I gave it the highest scores, mine being a 6, but most people gave it between 2 and 4. I think one of our biggest complaints was that it wasn’t a mystery. Jose did spot the small print on the cover that read “A Novel” so maybe we shouldn’t have been so surprised, but we were.
The slap vote went to Mickey/McKey. We all found her to be most irritating, but Doris Halloran was a close second. The good news is that we weren’t Daisy’d anywhere in the book. It’s a small win, but we’ll have to take it given that there really weren’t many more good things to say.
Most of us thought that Go-Go was misunderstood and Chicken George got a bad break. Neither character got to tell much, if anything, from their point of view and we would have liked to know more about them. Go-Go about his mental state and Chicken George about where he came from and who he was before he lived in the woods. I vote ex-musician who lost it all because of a drug habit.
None of the characters really did it for any of us, and the plot was a bit lacking. I personally thought it was at least entertaining, but I think Dave wants to send Laura Lippman a letter advising her to change careers. We have read her in the past and have liked those books more than this one, so we may give her another chance, but it won’t be for awhile (and it will most likely be over Dave’s dead body). I think if we weren’t a mystery group and had read it knowing it was a story about a bunch of kids and their parents we would have had lower or at least different expectations.
A few members likened the book to John Hart’s Last Child. Several people saw similarities in the stories because of the point of view of the children and their messed up parents, etc. But we definitely liked John Hart’s book better, and I don’t think Chicken George could hold a candle to Levi Freemantle. I’m just sayin’.
Next month we will read The Watchman by Robert Crais. I will lead and Janice will bring snacks. Remember, WE’RE BACK AT THE LONE TREE LIBRARY IN SEPTEMBER.
Kerry