***This will be our holiday event as well and will include a book exchange and a dessert swap! If you've participated in a previous holiday event please read through because there are some changes this year. Participation in the holiday portion is not mandatory. Please fully read through the guidelines for participation if you plan to participate. Guidelines are below, after the book synopsis. If you do not wish to participate, you may leave after the book discussion portion of the meeting is done.***
Hello and, as always, a warm welcome to all our new BRTD members!👋🏼
Our December meeting will take place early in the month to avoid conflicts with the upcoming holidays. We will meet on Saturday, December 5th at 5:30PM at Le Parc Cafe inside the Coral Gables Country Club (997 N Greenway Dr, Coral Gables, FL 33134).
How It Works:
A month(ish) prior to the next meetup, I will create the next event and announce the book we will be reading.📖 These will generally be in the mystery and thriller genre, of course. If anyone has suggestions or a book they've been wanting to read or that they read and loved that they feel would be good for this group, please don't hesitate to let me know!
For those of you who haven't joined us before:
We order drinks/food, I will have some questions for you (love hearing your thoughts!), and the rest is a free-flowing discussion.
This month's read is "No Country for Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy.
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’S 50 BEST THRILLERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Road, Blood Meridian, and All the Pretty Horses, this is the “profoundly disturbing and gorgeously rendered” novel (The Washington Post) that inspired the Academy Award®–winning film.
“A narrative that rips along like hell on wheels [on] a stage as big as Texas.”—The New York Times Book Review
"The setting is the Texas–Mexico border. The time is our own, when rustlers have given way to drug-runners and small towns have become free-fire zones. One day, a good old boy named Llewellyn Moss finds a pickup truck surrounded by a bodyguard of dead men. A load of heroin and two million dollars in cash are still in the back. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law—in the person of aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell—can contain.
As Moss tries to evade his pursuers—in particular a mysterious mastermind who flips coins for human lives—McCarthy simultaneously strips down the American crime novel and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible and as bloodily contemporary as this morning’s headlines."
No Country for Old Men is a triumph.
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Blind Date with a Book Exchange🎁📖 (Participation Optional)
For this holiday gift exchange, everyone will bring one wrapped book for someone else to discover. The catch? No one knows what they're getting until it's time to unwrap!
How to participate:
- Bring one wrapped book (no budget).
- Wrap your book in plain or festive paper so the title, author, and cover are completely hidden.
- On the outside, include 3–5 clues about the book without revealing its title or author. Think genre, mood, themes, or a short teaser. Keep it mysterious!
- Bring your wrapped book to the gathering and place it with the other gifts.
Everyone will randomly select one book to take home and unwrap.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Choose a book you genuinely enjoyed or think someone else would love.
- Please make sure books are in good condition.
- Any genre is welcome!
- No pressure to find the perfect book - the fun is in the surprise.
**Bonus: Include a short note inside the wrapping explaining why you chose the book. This adds a personal touch and makes the exchange more special.
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Dessert Swap Guidelines🍰🍪🍨 (Participation Optional)
Bring a favorite treat to share with the group and spread a little holiday sweetness!
Here’s how it works:
- Bring Enough for Everyone: Make sure you bring enough individual servings for each member participating in the swap. Treats should be individually packaged so everyone can easily take their dessert home.
- Label Your Ingredients: If your dessert is homemade, please include a list of ingredients. If store-bought, make sure the ingredient list is available on the original packaging. This helps everyone with allergies or dietary preferences make informed choices. For homemade treats, simply write the ingredients on a small card or sticky note and attach it to each package or have readily available for those who may need it.
- Package Individual Portions: Please have each serving individually wrapped or packaged for easy distribution and transport. Desserts are intended to be taken home and will not be consumed inside the restaurant.
- Bring Your Treats Home: Everyone will leave with a little assortment of festive sweets! No additional containers are necessary as long as your portions are individually packaged.
December Event
WHEN: Saturday, December 5th
WHERE: Le Parc Cafe (Coral Gables Country Club)
TIME: 5:30PM
As always, I look forward to seeing you all at our next meeting. I hope you all enjoy the book but if not, at least we'll have a great time discussing it!
