Cutting for Stone 9/22/2010

Whether you read the Hardback at 541 pages:

Or the Paperback at 667 pages:

Cutting for Stone was a sweeping novel of culture and introspection. An unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others.

We had a wonderful Book Club this month! Sarah, thank you for all your monumental efforts. The table was set with Ethiopian delicious dishes and ponder-inducing proverbs.























In attendance:
Sarah, Laura, Lynn, Leticia, Rhona, Veronica, Wendi, Joy, Jamie, as well as a warm welcome to Rachel McGovern!

Upcoming our October Book is:
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
We will be meeting Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at Lynn Lambert's Home. Please bring a Halloween Treat!

***UPDATE***
Congratulations to each of your families!

Moana Piena, daughter Mahealani Hilia'ikeakua Piena, 8lbs. 8oz. and 20 1/2 inches on 10/12/2010


Jamie Dugay, son Tristan Yoshio Nagato Dugay, 9lbs. 8oz. and 22inches on 10/13/2010


Wendi Phillips, daughter Emry Claire Phillips, 8lbs. 3oz. and 21 1/2inches on 10/19/2010.


Amy Cook, son Landen Nubi Keali'ikoa Cook, 8lbs. 4oz. and 20 inches on 10/25/2010.


Kehau Samuelu, daughter Simalua "La'akea" Samuelu 7lbs. 1oz. 20 1/2inches on 11/4/2010.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan 6/23/2010

Sarah Ohki hosted this evening in her lovely home.

Our June book club choice for the month was
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel.
A vivid depiction of the life of women in a far away time. The practices of foot binding and woman's worth, though understood as culture, are still jaw dropping to read.

"A true lady lets no ugliness into her life. Only through pain will you have beauty. Only through suffering will you find peace."

"Raising a girl and marrying her off is like building a fancy road for others to use."

A very nice reader's guide was included. I liked the interview with the author. It was between Lisa See and her mother, author Carolyn See.

We had to bid farewell to two beautiful members of our Palehua Book Club.

Molly Koch and Trisha Sessions

Molly, Trisha, you will be greatly missed. We love you and wish you the best in all your endeavors.

*Congratulations to Veronica Peterson for the arrival of Carl Rueben Peterson born at 7:23AM 8lbs 9.3oz June 23, 2010.

The Lucky One 2/18/09

Happy Valentine's Day! Love is in the air!

Thank you Cortney for hosting our meeting in your warm and inviting home.

This evening in attendance:
Cortney Nadig, Lynn Lambert, Arielle Klingler, Trisha Sessions, Molly Koch, Sarah Ohki, Jane Gorton, Kaui Ching, Ann Toilolo, Shirley Chu and Joy Paet

In addition to the farewell for Arielle Klingler, and presenting Lynn Lambert with a gift for the pending arrival of her son Masen, at tonight's meeting we discussed the book:

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Synopsis: Is there really such thing as a lucky charm? The hero of Nicholas Sparks's new novel believes he's found one in the form of a photograph of a smiling woman he's never met, but who he comes to believe holds the key to his destiny. The chain of events that leads to him possessing the photograph and finding the woman pictured in it is the stuff of love stories only a master such as Sparks can write.

We shared words of love in the form of:
Jane shared a poem Grow Old with Me by Micheal Rew
Cortney shared a sweet Valentine's Card given to her by her husband Aaron. (AWE!)
Joy shared the lyrics to the song A Groovy Kind of Love. *grins*
Arielle shared the following scripture with the word Love substituted for Charity: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Cortney shared The Song of Solomon 8:6-7

~*~*~ Wishing Arielle a fond Aloha 'Oe for her family
on their move to Maryland. ~*~*~










Lynn, we wish you great love as we all anticipate Masen Robert Lambert's arrival.


Lynn showing off the adorable onsie and booties made by Arielle Klingler. Oh, how we are going to miss your talents Arielle!








Lynn Lambert and Shirley Chu





***UPDATE*** Congratulations on the arrival of Masen Lambert. He weighed 8 lbs. 15.8 oz (sounds like 9 pounds to me!) and was 21 inches long. He was born at 6:37 a.m March 7, 2009.

For March:
Newbery Honor Book Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Our next meeting will be on the fourth Wednesday of March, the 25th. We will meet at Joy Paet's home. Our next book is Princess Academy by Shannon Hale.

This is such a refreshingly, tender, sweet, empowering, impressive, lyrical tale - just chock full of words of wisdom.

These is My Words - 8/20/08

Trisha Sessions Baby Shower

It was a wonderful evening.
We all had a great time wishing Trisha the best.










Thanks for the great turnout.
In Attendance:
Trisha, Bonnie, Tori, Nate, Neyliah and Kelly Sessions, Trisha's mom Terry, Cortney, Keri, Val and Crystal, Molly, Sarah, Arielle, Joy.



Cortney your talents know no bounds. This cake was delicious, delectable and delightful.

















**UPDATE** Trisha and Dan's baby boy - Brandson - arrived on September 17! Congratulations!

Our August Book was "These is My Words" by Nancy E. Turner.

**Joy's review on www.goodnessmatters.com**
Simply the best story of frontier life I have ever read. It is just so GOOD! These is My Words written by Nancy E. Turner is a compilation of diary entries of the author's great-grandmother, Sarah Agnes Prine. I just love Family History. What fun the author must of had uncovering the adventures of her own great-grandmother. This journey takes place in the late 1800's, beginning with Sarah as an uneducated girl traveling by wagon train. This quickly sheds light on the quirky title and grammar present in the first chapter. I vividly remember thinking that if These Words don't improve I'm going to put this book down - and it's likely not to get picked up again. Gratefully, it is not long that young Sarah's journaling gets profoundly better to where her words take a tightfisted hold. Soon I was so wrapped up in the indelible backdrop of harsh trailblazing conditions that finding a place to place my bookmark was a regrettable experience.

Sarah Prine's narrative made such an impression on me. It was easy to feel like I had walked up the steps of her front porch and we visited in her kitchen. While there, I witnessed her as a concerned wife, as a mother taking time to transfer bits of wisdom to her children and as a friend willing to share all she could provide. I loved reading how she would take in people passing through with kindness. There wasn't a lot of space on her humble homestead yet she would string up blankets in the front room for privacy and set out a cot if a visitor were to stay the night.

In my mind I can still see her in her ranch style kitchen fixing a pan of fresh baked biscuits while clothes are out hanging on the line and a shotgun always within reach. She was in fact a sharp shooter -- with a wit that was every bit as sharp as well.
One of my favorite quotes from Sarah's journal:

"Our children weigh hard on my heart, and thinking about them growing up honest and healthy, or just living to grow up at all, makes a load in my chest that is bigger than the safe at the bank, and more valuable to me than all the gold inside it. — entry for October 10, 1887"

Sarah Agnes Prine is truly an inspiring, forward thinking, no-nonsense gal. She valued family and education above all else.  These is My Words was rugged, inspiring, humbling, Excellence. A Highly Recommended Good Read. ~Joy  **updated 8/19/2011**

For September:

The time has come for the Twilight Saga Book Club Meeting!
We will be reviewing Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer for our September Book.

Thank you Arielle Klingler for offering your home.
We will next meet on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 7 o'clock.

The Glass Castle - 7/16/08

Happy 5th Anniversary Book Clubbers!!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable time at the Paet home on Wednesday night.

The Poet Spotlight was given by Joy.

From Runny Babbit - a Billy Sook by Shel Silverstein:
Runny be quimble,
Runny be nick,
Runny cump over the jandlestick.
But now -- what smells like furning bluff?
Guess he didn't hump jigh enough."

We talked a little about The Glass Castle and then time sure got away from us!

Ah, the snacks sure were yummy, anyway. *grin*

Some interesting quotes & questions:

"I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a dumpster."

"Mom told us we would have to go shoplifting.
"Isn't that a sin?" I asked Mom.
"Not exactly," Mom said. "God doesn't mind you bending the rules a little if you have a good reason. It's sort of like justifiable homicide. This is justifiable pilfering."

HOT TOPIC: When Jeannette and her brother find a diamond ring, they immediately want to sell it for food, but their mother keeps it to "improve her self esteem." Really? REALLY?

"Mom and Dad liked to make a big point about never surrendering to fear or to prejudice or to the narrow-minded conformist sticks-in-the-mud who tried to tell everyone else what was proper."

HOT TOPIC: Was the U-haul the best place to ‘store’ the Wall’s children on their trip across country? Really? REALLY??

And finally, a lesson on self-reliance anyone?

...the wood was chewed through everywhere. We kept stepping on soft spots in the floorboards, crashing through, and creating new holes. "Darned* if this floor isn't starting to look like a piece of Swiss cheese," Dad said one day. He told me to fetch him his wire cutters, a hammer, and some roofing nails. He finished off the beer he was drinking, snipped the can open with his wire cutters, hammered it flat, and nailed it over the hole. He needed more patches, he said, so he had to go out and buy another six-pack. After he polished off each beer, he used the can to repair one of the holes. And whenever a new hole appeared, he'd get out his hammer, down a beer, and do another patch job.

In attendance:
Joy, Molly, Moana, Arielle and Trisha

We had fun answering trivia questions from our book choices from July 2006 - July 2008. I only did the two most recent years instead of five because, well goodness, it is a lot of books!

For the Month of August we will be reading "These is My Words" by Nancy E. Turner.

**UPDATE** Congratulations to Sarah & Takuya and family on your newest arrival. Kenji Cavalier Ohki was born July 22nd. We know you are enjoying your new son.

The Last Promise - 5/21/08

This month we read The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans.

Richard Paul Evans has a writing formula down pat -
1. Find an unsuspecting attractive person.
2. Find out their love story.
3. Make sure one or both of them kept a diary or letters to one another.
4. Capitalize on it.

Positive book reviews were left on Goodreads.com by Rhona, Joy, Moana and Caddie.



We had a baby shower for Amber Standage. The Standages will be welcoming a new baby boy in early June. Right Amber?!

We all wish much love to you, Rick and big sister Taryn.



Thank you Molly for opening your beautiful home for book club this month. And thank you for all your planning to make Amber's baby shower so much fun. I loved the candles and blue theme. And thanks to Sarah, Molly and Trisha for the games and prizes.

In attendance:
Molly, Sarah, Joy, Trisha, Arielle, Bonnie, Jane, Amber and
Codee & Terry (Kahana) - Born May 1st. Congratulations Franco Ohana!!

The book we will be reading in June:
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards.
**UPDATE** Our next meeting:
Wednesday, June 18th, 7 PM at DeAnna Dotson's home.

**Update** Congratulations to the Standage Ohana!
Bryant Richard Standage born June 6th.

**Update** Please notice the book for July is now The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

Kindred 04/23/08

Thanks Rhona for opening your home for Book Club this month. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler was an interesting book to discuss. Especially with the juxtaposition of a modern 1970s black woman traveling back to an era of pre-civil war slavery.

In Attendance:
Rhona, Sarah, Molly, & Joy

In May will be talking about The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans. Thanks Molly for agreeing to host at your home. We'll see everyone on Wednesday, May 21st.

* Congratulations Codee on the the birth of Kahana Franco May 1, 2008! *

Jane Eyre and Farewell for Debbie Sell - 10/16/07

Thank you Trish Sessions for opening up your lovely home for our get together.
Molly Koch, Tori Sessions, Elizabeth and Ethan Baldwin,
Trish Sessions, Sarah Ohki, Jessica Rogers, Moana Piena,
Codee Franco, Jane Gorton, Amber Standage, Cortney Nadig,
Debbie Sell, Leticia Davis, Val Diamond, Keri Magaoay, Joy Paet















Our October Book: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

"'You have saved my life: I have a please in owning you so immense a debt. I cannot say more. Nothing else that has being would have been tolerable to me in the character of creditor for such an obligation: but you: it is different;--I feel your benefits no burden, Jane...I knew,' he continued, 'you would do me good in some way, at some time;--I saw it in your eyes when I first beheld you: their expression and smile did not...strike delight to my very inmost heart so for nothing...My cherished preserver, good night!'" Chapter 15

November's book:
A Girl Named Zippy - Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel

Thanks Molly Koch for offering your home!

**THIS JUST IN** from Moana Piena:

PEANUT BUTTER HERSHEY KISSES

I first tasted these at a Relief Society movie night thing and later got the recipe from a friend. Sinfully delicious!

1 bag (13 oz.) Hershey’s kisses

1 c. Karo light corn syrup

½ c. sugar

2 c. peanut butter (18 oz. jar)

5 c. Rice Krispies

Unwrap Hershey’s kisses. Put Rice Krispies in a large mixing bowl. Simmer syrup and sugar until sugar dissolves. Add peanut butter and mix. Pour over cereal and mix. Flatten small portion of mix, place kiss in center and shape into balls.

*Congratulations to Val Diamond and her family! Krystal Diamond arrived on October 24, 2007!*

Running Blind 2/15/07

At Rhona Slingerland's home.

Running Blind by Lee Child

Okay, does anyone remember anything more about this book than Jack only had one set of clothes? HELLO!
Other than that oddity, this was a really good who-done-it. Great suggestion Angela!

*Congratulations Molly! Camiron Koch born Feb. 7, 2007*

Just One Look 5/17/06

At Claire Shook's home.

Just One Look by Harlan Coben

From Jane:
"Our May book club meeting was held at Claire's home. Thank you so much for hosting Claire! We had a wonderful discussion of our May book choice, Just One Look. It has so many twists, turns, and surprises, it kept us all on the edge of our seats!"

Newest baby to the Palehua Book Club:
Kaleb Paet born May 20, 2006

Helpful link:
Reading Group Guides

Sheri McEntire Farewell 8/10/05

Thank you Molly for opening your beautiful home to the largest Book Club turnout since Sheri's baby shower!


Angela Mueller, Ann Toilolo, Sheri McEntire, Jane Gorton, Heather Bernal, Rhona Slingerland, Molly Koch, Sarah Ohki, De Dotson, Joy Paet, Sally Holstein, Moana Piena, Dawn

It was so wonderful to see everyone there! AND 4 new babies.
Congrats to the new mothers and welcome back to Book Club.
WE'VE MISSED YOU!!!

Sarah Ohki & Max (Makoto) June 9th
Molly & Braden Kai - June 20th
Angela Muller & Jessica - July 3rd
Moana Piena & Makoa - July 8th

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
The movie is set to be released November 21, 2008
~*~*~*~*~SEPTEMBER'S BOOK~*~*~*~*~*~
SAHARA by Clive Cussler

Here is a list of other books, in no particular order, that were made mention at August's Book Club. . . possibly up for vote in future meetings. I gathered a 0-5 star rating from Amazon.com to give you an idea what 'mainstream' people think of these books.
The books are listed in no particular order:

Alas Babylon by Pat Frank (4 1/2 Stars)
Pope Joan by Donna Cross (4 1/2 Stars)
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik (4 Stars)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis (4 1/2 Stars)
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (4 1/2 Stars)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (4 1/2 Stars)
The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (4 1/2 Stars)
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (4 stars)

Here are some resources on the Net that may be of interest:
Welcome to Chinaberry
Online Literature Library - Classics at the Online Literature Library
The Official Web Site of Bestselling Author Dan Brown
Questia - The Online Library of Books and Journals
Free eBooks by Globusz Publishing