by Malena Lott
Sure, spring is wonderful and all that. If we’re hooked up on Facebook, you saw that I even posted a picture of monarchs mating in my backyard yesterday. Monarch, as in the butterfly, not royalty (But that would be more fun, wouldn’t it?)
But as much as I love the wisteria blooming and bees buzzing and azalea buds opening at my new house, I get positively psyched that books are in bloom year around. I know I sound like a total book geek when I say that, but it’s true. While books are more prolific than ever, thanks to Twitter, Facebook and great e-newsletters and blogs, I can always find just the right fit for my mood in the pages of a book.
I don’t get to thank my fellow bookettes often enough for their contributions on the blog. They blog because they love books, love meeting authors and want stories to get their due promotion. It’s tough in the book biz today, so we all need to “share” on FB, RT on Twitter and tell our real life friends about books we heart so much we stayed in the tub until our skin resembled great Aunt Fay’s. (Thanks, Sarah Pekkanen, SKIPPING A BEAT!)
Confession time: I haven’t had an in person book club party since 2010. With my house on the market and the move and now all the fixer upper goodness going on, I’ve put off something that makes my soul soar: getting the girls together to dish about books.
But, NO LONGER. I’m e-mailing my club this weekend and setting a date. I hope you’ll do the same with your girlfriends. I’ve also been way behind in sending out book totes and starter kits to the new book club chapters, so I promise I’ll get to that now that I’ve located the box that had them in it. (Nothing is easy, is it?)
Life is. What I mean by that is we have 24 hours in a day. We choose how to spend it and sometimes the universe forces us to spend it in ways we weren’t expecting. But we forge on and we MAKE TIME for our loved ones, including our girlfriends. That’s what this blog is all about. It’s also about ME TIME and connecting with stories that can make you laugh, cry and give you a-ha moments for life beyond the pages.
I hope you visit Book End Babes often, and remember each month you can click on the book covers in the sidebar for our top picks and read our blog entries for even more book recs in all genres.
Right now I’m laughing my hiney off reading Tina Fey’s BOSSYPANTS, and Rebecca Rasmussen’s THE BIRD SISTERS is so well drawn, I feel like I’m right there in the kitchen with the sisters. If you need a word pick-me-up, then try Sark’s GLAD NO MATTER WHAT. A lot of s*** goes down in life, and peppy people like Sark with her incredible insight into joy really is the icing on the cake some days.
Hugs to all my book-lovin’ friends. Books rock. Girlfriends rule.
The Alabama Chapter of Book End Babes, the WebbWeaver Book Club gathered on November 3rd for their second book party. Our lit sisters were oh-so-kind to give us a report and recipes! 
Tammie L. chose Angels and Demons and The Di Vinci Code by Dan Brown and Enslave by Cathy Yardley, which was sent to CK from Book End Babes.
I’ll start with an admission of guilt: I’m a guy, so the closest I’d ever been to a book group was something we dubbed “the no-book book group.” A bunch of husbands met at a local bar and drank. If we inadvertently read the writing on the bathroom wall, the rule held, we were not allowed to discuss it. Problem is, I ended up needing books groups. My recent book “A Cold-Blooded Business,” is based on an intriguing murder story I covered for The New York Times for several years, one that conjures up some intriguing questions about guilt, redemption and our collective ability to put the worst that we’ve done behind us. In other words, it’s good book club fodder. Inexperienced in the ways of book groups, though, I was especially vexed by this: how do I get to ones far away? And that’s when it occurred to me. Actually, it occurred to me while watching my sixth grade daughter fritter away homework time video chatting with friends over the computer. I will do the same, I knew as if I had seen a vision, only with red wine in hand to toast the book group I am visiting, if only electronically, to discuss and explain and answer all questions. It’s gone well and has turned me into a book group convert, though I still think there’s something to be said for the more beer-based “no-book book group.” Whichever kind you have, I’ll be glad to drop in. 
Marek Fuchs wrote “A Cold-Blooded Business,” called “riveting,” by Kirkus Reviews, which also praised its “breakneck pace up to the final pages.” When he is not writing, Fuchs serves as a fireman.