LDS Ladies Book Club discussion

Let's choose a book to read and discuss for February. I know some of you have been waiting to read Esther the Queen. We could make that our February group read, or we could have two books: Esther the Queen and something else. Suggestions? Opinions?

I have a suggestion The language of flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

I'm up to start reading Esther the Queen. It' should be a wonderful companion to our Old Testament Gospel Doctrine study. Thank you, Rachel, for stepping up as a moderator.

Sounds great to me!

It is a wonderful book. I read it last Fall when we were talking about it.

The Language of Flowers is also a good one. I'm for either one as I have already read them both. At the present I am reading the biography of President Eyring, I Will Lead You Along. I got it for Christmas and I am really enjoying it.

Maybe we could do both books for February? Perhaps The Language of Flowers could be the official book and then those that also want to catch up and read Esther the Queen could still comment on that discussion page when they finish it.

Or we could have them be February and March's books. It would be nice if we could nominate a few books and have an idea of what we'll be reading for the next few months. It helps for getting books requested at libraries and making plans. I don't know how to be a moderator--what does that entail?--but I can probably help out.

Julie wrote: "I have a suggestion The language of flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh"

Thanks for all of your ideas! I like Cami's suggestion of doing both books for February (The Language of Flowers and Esther the Queen). Since we're only halfway through January right now, some of us can probably get through both, and those who just want to do one can choose which one sounds most interesting. Do you all feel happy and content about that? I feel pretty satisfied. But maybe that's the smoked sausage I just had for lunch.

All great ideas! I will let Rachel make the final call since she is taking the lead with discussions.
Cami- we would love to have you as a moderator. There will be times when all of us are busy and can't participate in book club activities. With 4 of us, that should hopefully keep the group active year round. All group members can participate as they have time. I will change your settings when I get to my laptop.

I am up to reading Esther the Queen

Gals, have we decided on February's book? Thanks!!

Yes, we're going to read Esther the Queen for February. Let's also do The Language of Flowers in February for those who are interested. How many will be reading The Language of Flowers?

I will but I am not sure when I will get it from the library.

Rachel, you will want to add the Lang of Flowers to our currently reading list on the main page. Let me know if you can't figure it out.

Does Language of Flowers show up at the top of the main page now? Thanks for helping me as I figure this out!

It sure does! Thanks!

Onward and upward!

As much as I liked The Language of Flowers, it is not what I would call a clean read. Everyone has different definitions of clean, but I just wanted to mention that.

Can you tell us what is not clean about it?

First off, I really liked the book. There were great things about it and it touched me deeply. However, there was premarital sex and a graphic birthing scene of a child born out of wedlock. Like I said, we all have different definitions of clean. To me, those 2 items make this not a clean read.

I wrote a review http://brooke-brookesbooks.blogspot.c... if you are interested in seeing what I thought about it.

Is the sex scene graphic? If so, I would rather not read it.

I agree with Cami.

Brooke, I really appreciate your review of this. I can tell this is not something I want to read. Especially in winter, I need happy uplifting books. Plus, I prefer to escape in a book like you do. I do like a good murder mystery, but it's the puzzle that allows me to escape, and the justice in the end that gives me that great feeling at the end.

I do not remember the scene being graphic. I don't remember how it was at all to be honest. I certainly wasn't offended, but I just can't remember how detailed it was. Sorry.

I just finished Language of Flowers and I would not recommend it. It is a very sad read, though ultimately positive in the end. The sex scene isn't graphic, but it is described. The birth and the description of the first few weeks of her baby's life were difficult to read. There are also a few f words in the book. I was hoping to use the book for another book club I'm in, but I will not be doing that. I really wish I hadn't read it.

Thank you for sharing. It does not sound appropriate for this particular book club. I think we should let ladies read it on their own if they still want to but not discuss it in this forum.

I just want to interject one thing when it comes to clean reads and not clean reads. When I created the group, the whole point was to get ideas of books to read (in all genres) that we would be happy having on our own home bookshelves where our family and friends could pick one and enjoy it as much as we did. In determining what is inappropriate for a book club read is mainly majority rule of those who've read it or have first hand knowledge of the content (husband or friend read it). We don't want anyone to feel bad about suggesting a book that ultimately the group decides is inappropriate since we all have different ideas of what is a clean book. An occasional swear word could make someone deem a book unclean, and everyone else agree the book is fine. So, of those who have read or have first hand knowledge, I would like their opinion on if this book is worth reading as a group. If the majority agree it's inappropriate, I would suggest choosing a different book. If most agree the inappropriate parts aren't graphic etc, then let's let people choose if they want to read it. I am choosing not to read it because of the emotional roller coaster people mentioned. I also enjoy Dan Brown books that some may see as inappropriate. I don't want this book group to only read Desert Book fiction because we get overly picky, if you know what I mean. Hopefully that helps.

Thanks for all the good information on that book. I haven't read it; and won't. Take care.

I am new to the group and this is my first posting, but just to add my two cents :) I think when giving a book a review or recommendation, it is helpful to give it a rating like a movie. This isn't a perfect system, but I have found it to be very helpful when I decide whether or not to read something.

In my opinion (at least how I understand the current rating system of movies), if there isn't anything that you would find yourself editing from the book if you read it to your kids I would give it a G.

If there is some mild swearing (I consider this the D, H and G words mainly) as long as it isn't on every page, and there isn't any really graphic scenes including strong sexual implications I would probably consider it a PG. Because these are typically adult books with adult topics, if it was an emotional roller coaster, or sad like war, death, etc. I would probably still give it a PG if it fell within the other parameters. You may also think a book that just mentions something like rape say in the context of war without detail could still be a PG.

For a PG-13 rating I would probably include: More frequent swearing, including infrequent stronger swearing (I think the F word should always be mentioned in a review though); intense graphic scenes, and may include strong sexual implications though brief, including rape. They may include some detail, but not the long SUPER detailed "rated R" ones. There would probably be some disagreement here, but it is always helpful to say things like, "a scene or two you might want to skip".

Some people don't watch rated PG-13 movies at all, some think they are fine, and some pick and choose. There would be some disagreement on whether it was a PG or PG-13, or more but at least anyone who chose to read a book in one of these categories would know they weren't getting a "G" book.

Hope this helps. It would at least eliminate some of the surprises. :)

I think that's a great idea, Julie. I've wished that the publishing industry would come up with a ratings system like the movie industry has. It would be extremely helpful in lots of different situations.

I agree! Let's start doing that for the books we read in this book group...So when a book recommendation comes in, if you have read it, try to include a G, PG, or PG-13 rating with it. Obviously, we are all in this group because we don't enjoy R-rated books, so don't even worry about listing those! ;) I also enjoy the Dan Brown books, though, and those were more PG-13ish at times, which is why I appreciate that this isn't a "Deseret Book"ish book club where everything is "prophet-worthy". However, I do enjoy an occasional "prophet-worthy" book now and then too! And can I just say that I love that I'm not the only one who feels that way?! Lol So, to sum that up... let's adopt a rating system, and this group is awesome! Lol

I love the idea of ratings!! When I'm trying to figure out if a book is appropriate enough for me, I skim every last review hoping to find (or NOT to find)something that says, "Wow, lots of language in this one." or something that tells me what the content is so I know beforehand! Once in awhile I still get surprised half way through a book (surprised b/c it's YA!) and I'm forced to skim past a scene or two! Ugh. Anyways, the reviews don't often mention the things that we, as LDS folk, would deem inappropriate. We could almost have a topic or thread for books we want to warn others against (I've got a few YA books I could add).

And I know we may have differing opinions of what is appropriate and that's okay too! :)

Making a book blog with movie-like ratings was an idea I had a few years ago. I think it's something most all of us have wished for. Too much work in the end to maintain the blog, but a brilliant idea to add to our group! Thank you. We could start a movement on Goodreads! I definitely trust a group of LDS women to rate books over the general public.