Rigby 8th Book Club

Book club for our ward was last night at my house; it was a hit! We had read My Sergei by Ekaterina Gordeeva; one of my very favorite books. It's about Ekaterina (Katia) Gordeeva and Sergei Ginkov, arguably the best pairs skaters of all time (they won gold in 24 of the 31 competitions they entered and got 2nd at the rest). They were married, had a daughter and then tragedy struck in 1994 when Sergei died (at 28) from a heart attach during a practice session for Stars on Ice at Lake Placid. Very sweet story!!! She has since then married Ilia Kulik (also a Russian skater, supposedly the best jumper) and they have a daughter. They coach and choreograph and skate a little but they no longer compete. A MUST READ!

We had the second largest showing since we started over a year ago; the largest was last summer.... drum roll please, also at my house when we read The Pianist! It was great to have so many people there, the kids went to Gramma's with Travis, and everyone loved this book.

We had an awesome veggie tray, if I may say so. Mostly because that's what I crave when I'm "with child". But also because I tried to find a yummy Russian treat and found ZIPPO!! They eat pretty nasty stuff over there. I also made super good artichoke dip, which was a big hit too. So here's the yummy recipe:

Artichoke Dip (I ALWAYS double it cause it is always devoured!!)
1 can artichoke hearts: drained and smashed or chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup parmessan (I think that's spelled wrong)
crackers

Mix em all together and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes; though I usually have to go about 40. Until golden brown on top. Serve with Club Crackers or other favorite.

I love book club!!

Phantom Review

Okay, I finished Phantom of the Opera. It was interesting to read and compare the book from the play/movie. However, I had more things I didn't like than things I did. Raoul seemed like a whiney crying pansy, not the dashing brave and endearing hero he should be. Christine and he don't hit it off with fireworks; and Raoul cries every time! And Raoul doesn't even go rescue Christine alone, there's a Persian who leads him down to the house on the lake. Madame Giry isn't anything the same; she's a toothless homely woman, yuck!

It was pretty cool to read in more detail about the Opera building and the world below. There are a lot more traps and crazy things than can't all be put in the play/movie. So that was pretty cool. But the characters were not endearing in any way. So to sum it all up: don't waste your time with the book; watch the play/movie!

The hero and the crown

Ok so I am behind on posting my books! I read Water for Elephants and it was pretty good. I also read The Hero and the Crown...I loved this one it was awesome...please read it.

I got it from the library (Well i still have it, need to take it back). Anyways it is about a princess who doesn't fit into her family because of her mother's reputation. She tries to find something that people will write stories about her. So I won't give away anything else but it is a good clean read, which I really appreciate after some of the books that I read. Not that they were super bad but they had language and some immorality problems.

The Phantom of the Opera

I started reading The Phantom of the Opera. I got it off of http://www.paperbackswap.com/ a while back. So far I am really enjoying it. It's different from the play and therefore the movie but it's such a great story. I was very impressed by the movie (it's one of me & Tillie's favorites). It's one of those stories that has so many more levels than a play or movie could possibly reproduce. I'm only a few chapters into it. Excited to see where it goes!!