Christmas 2018 - Naughty

No. Just no. DNF'd very quickly.

With a title like "The Christmas Cookie Club" one might be forgiven for assuming this would be a lighthearted holiday read. Not so much. Within the first few minutes I listened in horror to a litany of multiple miscarriages; premature death from leukemia; adultery; and a divorce.

Happy Freaking Holidays.

PLUS, when I read unnecessary boring details, I often joke about the author writing, "Then I inhaled. Then I exhaled." I shit you not, in this book, the NARRATOR ACTUALLY SAID THAT during an excruciatingly minute description of how she was baking some pecan cookies.

The cookie recipes and ingredient explanations are very interesting and worthwhile. But the story is hard to follow as each chapter focuses on a different cookie club person and the author tries to catch you up with 12 years of past history for each person. I needed a spreadsheet to keep track of everyone. Not worth the read or time. I did not feel connected to any of the characters. ( )

The idea of the cookie club sounds like fun but ultimately it's stories about middle-aged ladies with problems. I found the party hostess way too Oprah-wise for me. ( )

made me want to get in the kitchen, do some baking and eat some cookies!! too many characters and too mushy for me!!! ( )

Read this one in a single day. It was a quick and reasonably entertaining read. It's the story of 12 (mostly middle-aged) girlfriends who gather annually for a Christmas cookie exchange, and it tells each individual's tale, with all the triumph, failure, joy, and tragedy that accompanies life. Interspersed with the story are recipes for the cookies as well as little essays about certain common baking ingredients. The recipes and essays were the highlight of the book for me. I'm going to copy some of them before passing the book along.

This book has me thinking about starting my own cookie exchange. I have lost touch with a lot of friends and this would be a nice way of guaranteeing we would see each other at least once a year! ( )