Ms. Nancy's Library & Technology Blog

“Sometimes a crumb falls
From the tables of joy,
Sometimes a bone
Is flung.

— Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

I love that poem, it thrills me every time I read it.

We had the first meeting today of the brand-new Mother-Daughter Book Club that my 10-year-old and I have started with some of our friends in the neighborhood. I’ll write more about it soon — watching the hockey game and that is taking priority this afternoon, haha. Philadelphia Flyers vs. the Montreal Canadiens (the French spelling, oui!), first game of series to see who will win Eastern Conference title. Well, if you like hockey as much as we do, this is exciting, especially since former Portland Winter Hawk Braydon Coburn is playing for the Flyers and just scored the first goal of the game, woooooooooooooooot! as Felipe would say.

But I digress.

This book club will be a lot of fun, and I will write about it here every month, to give you tips, book lists and all that, in case you are inspired to start your own. We will meet once a month, and rotate the houses where we meet. (Which is good, cuz some of us — ahem, me — have three cats and some of us are allergic. I feel bad for people who aren’t fans of cats who come to my house, it is painful for them. I like my guests to be comfortable, not miserable!) But I digress, again.

The titles we picked out for the next five months are:

1) “The Mother-Daughter Book Club,” by Heather Vogel Frederick.

2) “Moxie Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little,” by Peggy Gifford.

3) “Percy Jackson — The Lightning Thief,” by Rick Riordan

4) “The Old Willis Place,” (SPOILER ALERT on that clip, beware!) by Mary Downing Hahn

5) “Little Women,” by Louisa May Alcott

Happy reading! And here is a word from my daughter:

I think the book club is really fun. I would recommend it to anyone who likes to read. It is also a fun way to get together with friends and talk about books.

ps — The best part about book clubs, next to discussing the books, of course: Snacks. We are going to try to keep our treats tied in with the books, so in keeping with that spirit, here is a recipe from the Heather Vogel Frederick book. (You will find more recipes and discussion questions here.)

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 24 standard-size muffin cups, or line with paper wrappers; set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, whip the butter until light and fluffy. Mix in sugar. Beat in eggs, two at a time, then the vanilla. Alternately beat in the flour mixture with the milk, just until blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups; bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops are soft but springy. Cool 5 to 10 minutes in the tins on a wire rack; carefully invert and cool completely. Frost as desired.

Prep time: 18 minutes; Cook time: 20 minutes; Yield: 24 servings.

Bon appetit!

— Ms. Nancy