Who Wants to go to the Movies?

Wow!  So excited!

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff Christ's Childhood Pal

 The story of Christ before age thirty has never been told, until  Biff--Christ's childhood pal is resurrected in the present day to write his gospel.

This untold gospel shows a side of Christ that has never been told.  Moore uses humor to tell the life story of one of life's most famous men, and his best friend. The novel was enjoyed by our group.  "I liked it a lot.  It had a lot of thinking, yet it was light.  Moore presented it in a very common sense way--like the walking on water.  (Why wouldn't Christ walk on water when the crowds were so big?)  It was a heavy topic, but it was a light book," said Carla.

We had a great discussion about religion and the actual Bible.  I really liked this book, and felt like I could understand Jesus in a way I never had before.  I liked seeing him as a "real" person.  His relationship with Biff and the experiences they had learning to be the Messiah made Christianity a religion that finally made sense to me.  "It was nice to see that there were other religions. [as Christ was on his journey]  That religions were based on each other," said Sara.  "I never thought about Jesus studying religion.  I just pictured him preaching.  It was nice to think of him learning about the Old Testament," Carla said.

The novel was intelligent and humorous.  It showed the good and the bad of religion.  It showed that the world can be cruel and that sometimes religion is as well.  The heart of Lamb though shows Biff's undying love for the Messiah.  I gave it 4 stars.

Movie Night

We all went to see "The Help" tonight at a screening of the film.  KAS had to be snuck in since she arrived late (felt just like high school again), and Sara accidently went to Rosedale although we were at Southdale.  Some classic bookclub moves.  We all loved the film (maybe even more than the book--is that ok for a bookclub to admit?!)  It was 2.5 hours long, and it didn't seem like it.  We were all a bit sad that some of our favorite scenes were left out.

Bonk, by Mary Roach was a fun "science" read.  We all learned a bit more about the study of sex, and had a discussion as humorous as the book itself.  Roach, looks at the research and science of sex with an honest straightforward approach. From canoodling pigs (and farmers) to rats in underpants--to humans and sex--nothing was off the table.

While some of the group (me) did not complete the book (It just wasn't fitting into my elementary school reading list for the summer!) after discussing, even I could agree that the book was funny and educational at the least.

We didn't take a rating, as a group--but overall, most everyone agreed it was interesting--while some thought it was downright funny! 

Carla made us some delicious treats to go with the book.

A Bunch of Titles I missed...

The Hours

Little Bee

The Hunger Games

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Handmaids Tale

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Jane Adams: Champion of Democracy
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Sarah's Key

One Day

Unbroken

What can I say--I slacked off.  Lost the ratings.  I suck.