We’re Booked Reading List
Inaugural Meeting February, 1996

1996:
Emma – Jane Austen (Mar)
Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquival (Apr)
My Antonia – Willa Cather (May)
Snow Falling on Cedars – David Guterson (June)
Cold Sassy Tree – Olive Ann Burns (July)
Beach Music – Pat Conroy (Aug)
Ladder of Years – Ann Tyler (Sept – We named ourselves We’re Booked! Oprah’s Book Club was created – copycat!)
The Bean Trees – Barbara Kingsolver (Oct)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe (Nov)
Pigs in Heaven – Barbara Kingsolver (Dec – Several of us joined the WWW and shared our shiny new email addresses!)

1997:
The Horse Whisperer – Nicholas Evans (Jan)
[January 14 we went on our “Gabaldon Getaway” to Cupertino to meet our idol!]
The Shipping News – E. Annie Proulx (Feb – Our 1 year anniversary.)
Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison (Mar)
Cross Creek – Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Apr)
She Flew the Coop – Michael Lee West (May)
Bone – Fae Myenne Ng (June)
The Temple of my Familiar – Alice Walker (July)
Object Lessons – Anna Quindlen (Aug)
The Sixteen Pleasures – Robert Hellenga (Sept – We attended the Manteca Wine Stroll on September 18. Quite a night.)
A Civil Action – Jonathan Harr (Oct)
She’s Come Undone – Wally Lamb (Nov)
A Literary Christmas – Compilation (Dec)

1998:
Wicked – Gregory Maguire (Jan)
The Pull of the Moon – Elizabeth Berg (Feb)
The Giant’s House – Elizabeth McCracken (Mar)
A Map of the World – Jane Hamilton (Apr)
The Romance Reader – Pearl Abraham (May)
Animal Husbandry – Laura Zigman (June)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith (July)
Salt Dancers – Ursula Hegi (Aug)
Under the Tuscan Sun – Frances Mayes (Sept)
The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood – Rebecca Wells (Oct)
Life Estates – Shelby Hearon (Nov – Newborn Karenna Nicole made the front page of the newsletter! Victoria joined the group and announced that a playmate for Karenna would be coming along soon.)
A Cup of Tea – Amy Ephron (Dec)

1999:
The Mistress of Spices – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Jan)
Cold Mountain – Charles Frazier (Feb – Ex-member Robin Klutts started our first spin-off group, “The Happy Bookers.”)
The Hundred Secret Senses – Amy Tan (Mar)
Charming Billy – Alice McDermott (Apr – Ex-member Sandy Peterson’s book group – our second spin-off - videotaped a meeting segment for the Oprah Winfrey show, but ended up on the cutting-room floor.)
Your Oasis on Flame Lake – Lorna Landvik (May – We had a shower of books for Victoria and Baby Boy Brunn.)
Flaming Iguanas – Ericka Lopez (June)
The Reader – Bernhard Schlink (July)
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden (Aug)
Where the Heart Is – Billie Letts (Sept – Barbara Henry starts a third spin-off group!)
Dear Exile – Hilary Liftin (Oct)
The Inn at Lake Divine – Elinor Lipman (Nov)
Hannah’s Daughters – Fredriksson (Dec)


2000:
Tender at the Bone – Ruth Reichl (Jan)
A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving (Feb)
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister – Gregory Maguire (Mar)
April meeting cancelled. We took a field trip to UOP to hear Frances Mayes and enjoyed her southern-accented Italian.
Crooked Little Heart – Anne LaMott (May - Barbara Henry rejoined the group.)
Lost Horizon – James Hilton (June)
Body and Soul – Frank Conroy (July – We discussed Body and Soul and had a bookie bridal shower for Barbara Henry.)
Middlemarch – George Elliott (Aug – Kim attempted to swing the vote by nominated two Bush-related titles!)
House of Sand and Fog – Andre Dubus III (Sept)
Midwives – Chris Bohjalian (Oct)
Cry to Heaven – Anne Rice (Nov)
In December, we met informally to discuss books we were reading outside of book group and enjoyed the holiday season together.

2001:
The Ladies’ Man – Elinor Lipman (Jan – We made a decision to change our meeting time from 2:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m., beginning in Feb.)
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver (Feb – our 5th anniversary was celebrated at Mallard’s in Stockton!)
Waiting – Ha Jin (Mar)
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind – Ann B. Ross (Apr)
The Red Tent – Anita Diamant (May)
I Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith (June)
Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain (July – Jeannine’s son John – who at the time was a chef at the Ritz-Carlton in S.F. – and his fiance cooked a fabulous lunch for us!)
Blonde – Joyce Carol Oates (Aug – Newly wed Lisa G. writes the group about renting the Michigan house, living in a trailer, and prepared for her and Randy’s Pacific Ocean voyage.)
Fugitive Pieces – Anne Michaels (Sept)
Saying Grace – Beth Gutcheon (Oct)
Warriors Don’t Cry – (Nov) Melba Pattillo Beals
December – Again we met for a potluck and discussion of books read outside of book group.

2002:
Songs in Ordinary Time – Mary McGarry Morris (Jan - 5 of us went to S.F. to see/hear/meet Anthony Bourdain and had him sign our favorite passages in the book.)
Jemima J – Jane Green (Feb)
Life is So Good – George Dawson & Richard Glaubman (Feb – We discussed two books in Feb)
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte (Mar – 50th issue of the “We’re Booked” newsletter.)
Joy in the Morning – Betty Smith (Apr – News-packed month! Guest contributor, Karenna Martinez, shared her latest read, “I Like Me.” Mom thought the talk was longer than the book itself, and the rest of us thought it perfect. Rylie Elizabeth was born, and Victoria announced that she was expecting again. Oprah announced she would discontinue her book group. Kelly Rippa and USA Today launch book groups. Kelly’s mission: to embrace smut; prizewinners and emotional journeys not welcome!)
How Green Was My Valley – Richard Llewyelln (May – Jeannine moved to Coos Bay)
The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood (June - The Today Show and Good Morning American started book groups.)
Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West – Anne Seagraves (July)
The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen (Aug)
Cheaper by the Dozen – Frank B. Gilbreth,Jr. (Sept)
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold (Oct)
Back When We Were Grownups – Ann Tyler (Nov)
December – Annual holiday “extracurricular” book sharing.

2003:
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway (Jan – Babies Ethan Stroh and Jackson Brunn joined us.)
The Hours – Michael Cunningham (Feb)
Passage to Juneau – Jonathan Rabin (Mar)
Big Stone Gap – Adriana Trigliani (Apr)
Empire Falls – Richard Russo (May)
Bel Canto – Ann Patchett (June – Kathe went back to school. Oprah announced she would revive her book club, but now she would only be reading classics…)
The Other Boleyn Girl – Phillipa Gregory (July – Lisa G. returned from sea and attended our meeting.)
Seabiscuit – Laura Hillenbrand (Aug)

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress – Dai Sijie (Sept – Reed Goodwin arrived. A baby shower of books was planned for our Oct. meeting.)
The Dive From Clausen’s Pier – Ann Packer (Oct)
Life of Pi – Yann Martel (Nov)
Atonement – Ian McEwan (Dec – Baby Reed joined us.)

2004:
January meeting cancelled.
Three Junes – Julia Glass (Feb)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night – Mark Haddon (Mar)
Motherless Brooklyn – Jonathan Lethem (Apr)
No Hurry to Get Home – Emily Hahn (May)
Cry, the Beloved Country – Alan Patton (June – Issue #75 and the last issue of the newsletter.)
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud – Ben Sherwood (July – We had a phone conference discussion with the author, thanks to Barbara Henry. So cool!)
From here on my records are very sketchy. Please help me correct errors and fill in the gaps.
Ella Minnow Pea – Mark Dunn (Aug) ???
Good Grief – Lolly Winston (Sept) ???
A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry (Oct) ???
Me Talk Pretty One Day – David Sedaris (Nov) ???
Lost in a Good Book – Jasper Fforde (Dec) ???

2005:
Plainsong – Kent Haruf ??? (Apr.) We role played at Victoria’s House each person being a character from the book.
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd – Jim Fergus ??? (Mar.)
Waiting – Debra Ginsberg ??? (May)
Ya Ya’s in Bloom – Rebecca Wells ??? (June)
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency – Alexander McCall Smith ??? (July)
In This House of Brede – Rumer Godden ???(Aug.)
Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons – Lorna Landvik (Sept.)
Sleeping With Schubert – Bonnie Marson (Oct.)
The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini ???(Nov.) We met at the now defunct restaurant The Kabob House and the Afghan owners joined in on our conversation for a bit.
The Magnificient Ambersons-Booth Tarkington

2006: ???
A Walk in the Woods- Bill Bryson (Jan)
A Million Little Pieces- James Frey(Feb)
The Queen’s Fool-Phillipa Gregory (Mar)
C’est La Vie- Suzy Gershman (Apr)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan –Lisa See(May)
A Widow for One Year-John Irving (June)
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything-Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner(July)
Girl in Hyacinth Blue-Susan Vreeland(Aug)
The Diary of Anne Frank (Sept)
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter-Kim Edwards(Oct)
(Nov)(Dec)

2007: ???
(Jan)
(Feb – 10 year anniversary!)
(Mar)
(Apr)
Rise and Shine-Anna Quindlen(May)
Rain of Gold-Victor Villasenor(June)
A Thousand Splendid Suns-Khaled Hosseini(July) We watched an interview with the author on CSPAN
The Reading Group-Elizabeth Nobel(Aug)
(Sept)
A Long Way Gone-Ishmael Beah(Oct)
Leaving Microsoft to Save the World- John Wood(Nov)Madame Bovary-Gustave Flaubert(Dec)

2008:
(Jan)
The Measure of a Man – Sidney Poitier (Feb) Our 12 year anniversary
Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen (Mar)
The Maltese Falcon-Dashell Hammett(Apr)We watched the movie at Lisa S.’s house the week prior to our meeting.
(May)
(June – Congratulations, Mrs. Kim Ott!)
(July)
(Aug)
The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls (Sept)
Love Walked In – Marisa De Los Santos (Oct – We heard the news that Melodee is expecting and a rumor that Mrs. Ott is expecting as well!)
Spirit House – Christopher Moore (Nov)(Dec)