The Book Club Companion by Diana Loevy

Dana says: I am always looking for ideas to improve and enrich book my Ladies' Book Club! This was a quick and easy read as most of it is short overviews of books the author recommends for book clubs. I really appreciated that she gave the overviews without spoilers as this is often not the case. The author also had other fun things in the book to help make book club meetings themed and memorable according to the books you're reading (cocktail recipes from the books, menu ideas, meeting place ideas, etc.). The book was divided up into different chapters by genres of books with a list at the end of each chapter of books your book club might be reading according to what was published each decade over the past ten decades. I did find a few books that interested me but her book recommendations were heavy on contemporary writers which I am not much interested in. She did give some advice on hosting and leading discussions which I found helpful. 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

"Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love."

Dana says: This was the last of the Jane Austen novels I still had left to read. I can tell I am improving at reading Austen and understanding her more than I would have a few years ago. This book was about as good as Manchester Park but I did not enjoy it nearly as much as Northanger Abbey, which had me laughing out loud, or P & P which is one of the two best love stories in all of fiction. What was a little hard for me in this particular book is that I didn't really care for any of the characters. I especially found Marianne annoying. After finishing it I listened to Jerram Barrs class on it (Covenant Seminary- Tea with Jane Austen) which was really good and opened my eyes to things in the book that I didn't notice on my own.   

The Ladies' Book Club was not crazy about this book.

The Law - Frederic Bastiat

The simplicity of this work is its strength. Afterall, the law shouldn't be complicated. This should be required reading for every legislator, not that I think they have the will to understand it. The law is defensive in nature. It protects your life, liberty and property from other people. It cannot protect you from yourself. It cannot give you anything for it has nothing to give. When the law is used like this politics becomes a non-issue. What a relief that would be!