Book to be Discussed in March

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

Watch this video clip about the book.

Review from Amazon.com

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
--Randy Pausch

"A lot of professors give talks titled 'The Last Lecture.' Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

"When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams'--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because 'time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think'). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

"In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come."

Books to be Discussed in February

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Review From School Library Journal
"Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of sophisticated teen and adult readers. Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster father uses it, The Gravediggers Handbook, to lull her to sleep when shes roused by regular nightmares about her younger brothers death. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayors reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents. Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesels story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves. An extraordinary narrative."–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA



The Ezekial Option by Joel Rosenberg

Review from Publishers Weekly
"Rosenberg sets his events several years after 9/11 and picks up the plot line from his The Last Days. A coup in Russia may have left beautiful CIA agent Erin McCoy dead, even as her fiancé, presidential adviser Jon Bennett, watches his 'Oil for Peace' initiative fall apart. As Russia prepares for war, Israel faces annihilation and Babylon regains its original splendor, Dr. Eliezer Mordechai, former head of the Mossad and now a Christian, reflects, 'The Scriptures were coming alive.' He prepares a 37-page Bible-based brief known as 'The Ezekiel Option,' which postulates that supernatural powers will eliminate Israel's enemies. The number of exploding vehicles and dead bodies will have a 'been there, done that' feel to readers of previous Rosenberg novels, but the story turns aggressively Christian, incorporating lengthy references to scriptural prophecy and the Antichrist, as well as conversion scenes. There's some heavy violence, including a beating, an elderly woman run over by a tank and a severed finger." (July)
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Cafe Rio Chicken

1 small bottle Kraft zesty Italian Dressing
1 T. Chili powder
1 T. cumin
3 cloves garlic-minced
5 lbs chicken breast
Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour

Lime Rice

1 c. rice
2 c. chicken broth
1 Tbls. fresh lime juice
1 Tbs. garlic poser
1 Tbls. minced onion
Bring to a boil and then simmer covered for 15 min. or until rice is done

Dressing

1 ranch dressing packet
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. sour cream
1 c. Mayo
2 tomatillos
1 jalapeno (seeds taken out)
1-3 cloves of garlic
Juice of 1 lime
Mix in blender and refrigerate 1 hour