My Book Club Reads Wine Labels

Wanting an excuse to have regular outings with girls (having 2 boys at home I need estrogen in my life) and also wanting to get good book suggestions, I decided to start a Book Club beginning in October.  The plan for the Book Club is to meet once a month on the first Wednesday of every month at various restaurants throughout Singapore to have dinner and drinks while chatting about books and anything else our hearts desire (usually wine and girl stuff).  
 

So, I sent out an email to some women I’ve met and welcomed any of their friends as well.  Thinking I had met at least a few fellow “book nerds” I was hoping for a solid 5-8 person turnout.  But, I’m extremely happy to report that the Book Club has 17 members! Not everyone will make it to every meet-up but 17 members means we should always have at least some show up so I was thrilled! 

At the first meeting in October we met at a place called Bar Bar Black Sheep, a restaurant/Bar along the Singapore River which serves 3 different cuisines: Western, Indian, and Thai.  It worked great because you order at a counter so everyone pays separately and can order whatever cuisine you are in the mood for.  After drinks but before dinner we drew names to select the first 6 books with the goal being to read 1 book per month.  I welcome any blog readers to read along with us! The books selected are as follows: 

Devil in the White City by Eric Larson

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Snowdrops by A.D. Miller

Remember Me by Sophia Kinsella

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham

At the second meeting we met at an Italian place called Madrinaa’s which was selected by one of the members and it was an excellent choice!  Madrinaa’s is known for their pizza but does most of their business in carry-out orders so we were the only table in there the entire night!  The really neat thing that they offer is the “you tell us system” in which you tell them what price you want to pay for their wine bottles (no reasonable offer will be rejected) so we were able to get bottles of wine for only $25 each which is a steal in Singapore!  Sadly, only one person (GO KATHYRN!) at the meeting actually finished the first book, Devil in the White City.  But, in our defence, it was pretty long and many of us were in the process of wrapping up other books we were already reading.  I think we’ll do better on the next book!

I’ll be sure to update the blog with the next set of selected books and with any interesting Book Club news! Happy reading to anyone who joins along!