The beginning of September not only marks the beginning of school, it also is time for the Library of Congress' National Book Festival.  This year marks its 15th anniversary and celebrates Thomas Jefferson's great quote "I cannot live without books" (so true).  The festival takes place this Saturday, September 5 from 10am-10pm at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (just outside of the Mt. Vernon Square stop on the Yellow/Green Metro Lines).  This festival is also FREE.

There are over one hundred authors participating in this year's festival, including: mystery/thriller author David Baldacci; journalists Tom Brokaw and Cokie Roberts; historians David McCullough and Walter Isaacson; astronaut Buzz Aldrin; actress (and one of my favorite neighbors on Sesame Street) Sonia Monzano; novelists Meg Wolitzer and Jane Smiley; and illustrator Stephen Savage.  While you can buy books to have authors sign, you are also welcomed to bring in any copies of books you already own to have those signed.  

In addition to the author talks and signing sessions, there are tons of activities for families, as well as the Pavillion of States - highlighting books from each of the U.S. fifty states and U.S. territories.

To get a complete listing of authors as well as a schedule, you can go to the Library of Congress' Book Festival website.  The Festival also has a app for mobile devices (both Apple & Android devices), which you can find at the Library of Congress App website.  If you don't feel like coming downtown but want to catch some of the action, you can tune into C-Span (either on cable or on the web), who will be reporting live from the event.

The Original LitChicks kicked off August by reading one of the original Oprah's Book Club choices "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb.  This coming-of-age story follows Dolores Price from her pre-teen days until her mid-40's, as she continuously battles against depression.  For many of of us, this was not the first time reading (or attempting to read) the book.  The club seemed split on how we like the book. For some, it only rated 2 stars due to it's constant barrage of depressing events and a heroine who isn't easy to like.  Others gave it 4 stars, saying the admired the heroine tenacity and the quality of writing.  One of the few things we agreed upon was that for a book that is praised as one of the most realistic protrayals of a woman, some of the events felt very far-fetched.  If you go to goodreads, you'll see the reading community at large is as split in it's opinion of this book as our book club.  It's definitely an acquired taste.

The New LitChicks ended the month reading "The Wives of Los Alamos" by TaraShea Nesbit.  This story follows the daily lives of the families (centering on the matriarchs) who first populated Los Alamos, New Mexico during the Manhattan Project.  This was a very timely pick considering that August marked the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.   The author chose to employ the tricky first-person plural point of view for her narrative*.  For many members, this served as a distraction from the actual story.  The strength of this book was how it inspired many of us to want to learn more about Los Alamos and the other parts of the Manhattan Project.  

As I finish typing this up, I realize that while our two groups chose two very different books, our selections both told stories about the inherent strength of women - or in the words of the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, "Females are Strong as Hell"

*Another example of first-person plural POV is "The Buddah in the Attic" by Julia Otsuka, a book on Japanese women who came to the United States as picture brides just prior to World War II.  This was a LitChicks book choice in 2012. 

This summer has been eventful for the LitChicks.

In June, we met to discuss "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro.  I would say that most of the members were either familiar with movie it inspired (starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson) or with Kazuo Ishiguro's other book "Never Let Me Go" (which those members highly recommended).  The concensus on this book was that while it was beautifully written, it wasn't able to overcome the lack of any real plot.  Members were very consistent on goodreads, giving it 2-3 stars.  

The big news coming out of our June meeting was that we decided to launch a second branch of the NoVA LitChicks.  If you pay attention to our website you may have seen our post about it.  There was stellar response to this idea, both from our current membership and the general public.  We were able to fully fill a new club by the middle of June, and set a launch date of July 22nd.

Our original group met in the beginning of July to discuss "The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in The World" by A.J. Jacobs.  Only a few people managed to finish it.  I think most were turned off with a book that mostly regurgitated encyclopedia entries.  Those who had read and enjoyed some of his other books agreed that this was not his best effort (although to be fair, this was also his first book).  Once again, members were fairly consistent in giving it 2-3 stars on Goodreads.

Finally, the New LitChicks met in late July to discuss "The Housekeeper and the Professor" by Yoko Ogawa.  It was a great meeting.  Conversation constantly flowed even though we were all strangers at the beginning of the meeting.  It is a sign of great things to come.  We agreed that it was a charming and sweet book.  While the book does refer to math a good deal (the Professor is a math professor after all), it was not overbearing.  Several ladies noted that they would have liked to see the past relationship between the Professor and his sister-in-law more fleshed out.  

Overall it was a great start to the summer.  In August, we will be reading "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb (original LitChicks) and "The Wives of Los Alamos".

WOW!!  We have gotten such a robust reaction to opening a new club.   Right now we have 12 ladies ready to launch the new club.  I really thought it was going to take months to get to that point.  Unfortunately this means that new membership requests will be placed on a waiting list for the time-being.   Thanks so much for your interest in the LitChicks.

Over the years we have found that 12 is the right number for members in the LitChicks.  If a few people can't make it to a meeting, you still have enough people to have a good discussion; if everyone can make the meeting, there's not enough people so the meeting gets out of hand; and best of all, everybody gets to pick a book once a year.

One of the reasons for revitalizing this website is that LitChicks had a few open spots in membership and we were looking for some really cool women to fill them.  We were able to quickly do that, and since December we have had a full and steady roster.  While this is great news for our club, it has meant that any new people to write into us regarding membership have had to be put on a waiting list.

During the first part of 2015, our waiting list has grown big enough that there are enough people on it to start a new book club; rather than keeping people waiting indefinitely for an opening into the current club, we decided that we would start a second group.

Starting sometime this summer, we will be launching a second NoVA LitChicks club. Current LitChicks members will help at the beginning to establish the club, and will step away once everything is running.  Our hope is to have two independently running clubs, but who occasionally get together for social events (like movie nights).  

We are looking for another six or seven women to join some of the ladies on our waiting list to start the new club.  If you are a Northern Virginia, woman interested in joining us in this new book club, please let us know through our Contact Us page.

Yesterday was book club day and we met to discuss "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro.  I think most people are familiar with the title because of the movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. 

The general premise of the book is that James Stevens has been the head butler of Darlington estate for a very long time.  After encouragement from his new (very American) boss, Stevens goes on a short road trip to visit an old colleague.  As he travels, he reflects back on his time at the estate and tries to figure out what his role is in the rapidly changing world.  Basically, it's a grown man's diary.

This is one of those books where I think we were all on the same page as to how we viewed it.  Technically, Ishiguro is a very good writer.  His writing really did evoke a certain tone and feeling of melancholy.  That being said, not much happened.  Many commented that we kept waiting for something to change, but nothing ever did.  Despite it being a relatively short book, several people mentioned that the lack of action made the reading go very slow.

Despite our desires to see more action in the story, many of us gave the book 3 stars.  We didn't dislike it, but it wasn't a great book either.  If you want to read a Kazuo Ishiguro book, several members said that they thought his book "Never Let Me Go" was much better read.

Please excuse the lack of update the past couple of months.  The LitChicks have been going strong, but I have been slacking as the web admin.  But since we are going into the summer, I felt the need to update y'all on what the LitChicks have been reading.

In March we read Jonathan Tropper's "This is Where I Leave You".  This book is a great illustration of the MTV Real World's slogan "find out what happens when people stop being polite...and start getting real".  The story follows the ups and downs of the Foxman family as they come together to sit Shiva for their patriarch.   As any adult knows, family reunions can bring out the best and worst of people - and this book captures that.   Tropper has a great sense of comedy, but also balances the laughs well with serious life issues.   Yes, this book is the basis for the Justin Bateman/Tina Fey movie.   Overall, most of us enjoyed the book - with many of us giving it 4-5 stars on Goodreads.  I think it was also the loudest meeting we've had in a long time.

In April we read a collection of humorous essays called "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" by Sloane Crosley. While I wouldn't say that overall we disliked the book, I do think that many of us had problems connecting to it. The stories felt disconnected from one another. One person described it as a blog on paper. Another possible reason for the disconnect could be because many of us are just done with that period in our own lives and ready to move on. The best part of the meeting was when members shared some hysterical stories about their twenties. Many members gave it 2-3 stars on Goodreads.

Our May book, "Delancey: A Man, A Woman, A Restaurant, A Memoir" is the second memior by Molly Wizenberg, who writes the well-known food blog Orangette.  This book details the early part of her marriage when her husband decided to open a pizza restaurant.  Warning - You will get hungry for pizza when reading this book.  The club was kind of split on this book.  The book does cover extensively what has to happen when you decide to open a restaurant, from finding a location, to deciding on a menu, to hiring staff.  There was even a whole chapter about building a pizza oven.  For our members who love reading about food and restuarants - this was a great book.  However, despite the title, the book kind of glossed over what was really happening within Wizenbergs' marriage.  Members who wanted to know more about the marriage were left disappointed.  Most members gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads.

While we are waiting for some of our other members to answer these questions, I'll go ahead and give you my answers.  My name is Emily and I have been in the NoVA LitChicks for almost 6 years and as Sara would tell you, I don't make whoopie pies enough for our meetings.

1. What book are you currently reading? I am doing this book challenge this year and I am currently reading "Accidentally On Purpose" by Mary F. Pols as a book with an antonym in the title and I am listening in my car to "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline as my book set in the future.
2. Most memorable book from childhood? - I remember reading the entire "Little House on the Prarie" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder with my mom and my sister every night before bed. 
   
3. What are you favorite genres to read? - I like to read a lot of historical fiction, especially when mashed with romance and mystery.
4. How do you read (i.e. library vs. purchase, electronic vs. physical book, audio)? -  I read a lot on the metro so I own a lot of kindle books.  When I do road trips I like to listen to audiobooks.
5. Where is your favorite place to read? - I find it really easy to read while commuting, but I also like reading on my bed during the day.
6. What book character would you most like to have dinner with? - I would love to have dinner with my bestie Danielle and invite Anne Shirley and her bestie Diana Barry from the Anne of Green Gables series.
7. What do you read for guilty pleasure? - Veronica Mars fanfiction.  Some of the fanfiction writers are so crazy good, possibly better than Rob Thomas (the creator of Veronica Mars) himself.
8. Favorite thing to drink while reading? - Hot Chocolate.
9. Favorite author? - I adore Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote "Eat, Pray, Love".  I also really enjoy Lauren Willig who wrote the Pink Carnation mystery series.
10. Favorite book club read? - With the LitChicks, my favorite book has been "Moloka'i" by Alan Brennert, but with book clubs in general, my favorites have been either "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri  or "The Time Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger.

So last Wednesday we held our February meeting where we discussed the book "How To Be a Woman" by Caitlin Moran.  

I think it would be safe to say that the club had trouble connecting to this book.  When asked if anybody liked the book, I don't think anybody raised their hand.  A few people even said that they gave up reading it after the first few chapters.

It's not that this book didn't have good points.  Many of the topics Moran talks about led to some very interesting conversations (especially the chapters about deciding to have children), but most of those conversations were not really centered about what she specifically wrote.  Overall, we felt that Moran's book really wasn't the guidebook to be a woman in general, but more of a guidebook to be a woman like her.  

I wish I had a more eloquent review for the site, but there's really not that much to say.    Most of us gave the book a one or a two stars on Goodreads.  Hopefully we will have more to say on next month's book.