Books and Adventures - Novel Tourist Book Club South Jersey

Ah, the soothing scent of lavender beckons! Join Denise at the lovely Field and Flock Lavender Farm to learn about the lavender distilling process by attending a one hour class that will introduce how to use essential oils and make your own diffuser blend. After our tour we'll go to a local vineyard pending reservation availability where we will discuss the book: The Memory of Lavender and Sage by Aimie Runyan.

Fee: $35 (see below to pay). See below for details and payment information.
———
NOVEL: The Memory of Lavender and Sage by Aimie Runyan
Genre: Historical Fiction

Food critic Tempèsta Luddington has always felt like the odd person out in her family, ever since she lost her beloved mother at the tender age of thirteen. When her workaholic father passes fifteen years later, Tempèsta is not surprised that the majority of the considerable family money will pass to her dutiful younger brother, Wal. Still, she is left a modest remembrance from her mother, and for the first time Tempèsta has a world of choices before her.

Lost in grief and hoping to reconnect with her memories and her mother’s past, she uses the money to buy a ramshackle manor house in Sainte-Colombe, a small village in Provence, where her mother had grown up. But she is greeted with more questions than answers. Her welcome, especially by the town’s stodgy mayor, is cold at best, and she finds herself wondering if the entire experiment was a mistake.
Yet she stays, stubbornly sticking it out, slowly learning that her mother’s legacy was more than just a nest egg. Through her mother and the village, Tempèsta learns the value of community and friendship, the importance of self-confidence, and the power of love and trust. What’s more, she sees for herself that there is magic and beauty in the everyday—even something as simple as a sprig of lavender and sage.

ESSENTIAL OIL CLASS: Essential Oil Workshop at Field and Flock Lavender Farm
I plan to get to the farm around 2:00pm. The farm will be open at 11am that day along with its store for anyone who wants to spend time walking the lavender fields, taking pictures or shopping home made lavender products. We will plan to meet at 4:00pm prior to the start of the class.

4:30pm: we will attend a class where we'll learn about what essential oils are and how they are extracted. We will see the lavender distilling process, learn how to use essential oils and make our own diffuser blend.
Participants will receive a lavender spritzer to enjoy during class as well as an information booklet and a 5 ml bottle of the farms lavender essential oil to take home.

5:30ish- After the class, we’ll head to a nearby restaurant to discuss the novel that inspired the visit! There is apparently a vineyard just a few miles from the farm. They have a lavender vermouth made with the culinary lavender of the farm. They offer charcuterie and gourmet wood fired pizzas. They have a great outdoor space if the weather is good. I would need to make a reservationation and see if they have the lavender wine prior to visit But, sounds like a great place to discuss a book. The name of the Vineyard for address and menu is Auburn Road Vineyards

HOW TO PAY
FEE: $35 (covers class and 5ml lavender essential oil)
HOW TO PAY: there are 12 spots being saved for us by the farm. Please pay right away using this link below

https://square.link/u/TF4isUQC

Make sure to RSVP on meet-up once payment is made directly to farm. Bring extra money if going to the vineyard.

Happy Reading! Denise

The votes are in


These Silent Woods, by Kimi Cunningham Grant undisputedly won the June Members' Choice book vote for the theme of a book Set in the Woods. Join us for what I'm sure will be a lively online discussion. Stay tuned for the paired in-person woodsy event to be posted soon!

Zoom link will be provided an hour before the event. Make sure you have your Meetup setting set to allow messages by following these tips:

Communication settings: This is just helpful guidance. Events fill up really fast. Make sure your settings are set to maximize communication: Click on your profile pic in Meetup, click Edit Profile, then Email Updates, scroll down and find The Novel Tourists Book Club under “Updates about your Group”, click Edit next to The Novel Tourists Book Club and then make your choices. I suggest checking “New Event Announcements,” “Changes to Event Time or Locations,” “My RSVP is confirmed,” and, "Announcements to Members About the Group" and “Event updates from Organizer.”

NOVEL: These Silent Woods, by Kimi Cunningham Grant
Genre: Thriller, Suspense

A father and daughter living in the remote Appalachian mountains must reckon with the ghosts of their past in Kimi Cunningham Grant's These Silent Woods, a mesmerizing book of suspense.

No electricity, no family, no connection to the outside world.

For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter, Finch, have lived in isolation in a remote cabin in the northern Appalachian woods. And that's exactly the way Cooper wants it, because he's got a lot to hide. Finch has been raised on the books filling the cabin’s shelves and the beautiful but brutal code of life in the wilderness. But she’s starting to push back against the sheltered life Cooper has created for her - and he’s still haunted by the painful truth of what it took to get them there.
The only people who know they exist are Scotland, an overly friendly hermit with murky intentions, and Cooper's old friend, Jake, who visits each winter to bring them food and supplies. But this year, Jake doesn't show up, setting off an irreversible chain of events that reveals just how precarious their situation really is. Suddenly, the boundaries of their safe haven have blurred - and when a stranger wanders into their woods, Finch’s growing obsession with her could put them all in danger. When a shocking disappearance threatens to upend the only life Finch has ever known, Cooper is forced to decide whether to keep hiding - or finally face the sins of his past.

Vividly atmospheric and masterfully tense, These Silent Woods is a poignant story of survival, sacrifice, and how far a father will go when faced with losing it all.
"The story unwinds at a slow pace, but the denouement is dramatic, surprising, and, finally, gratifying." (AudioFile)

Join Denise in the New Jersey Pine Barrens for a Kayaking adventure! We’ll pair our paddle with a discussion of The River, a thriller by Peter Heller. Breakfast and the fee for kayak rental are your responsibility to pay for (I'll reserve enough for everyone in advance). If you skip breakfast and are late to Mick's we may have to leave without you. Sorry. We have no choice. :(
***
***********************
THE ADVENTURE: Breakfast Book Discussion and then Kayaking in the Pine Barrens
1. 8:30 am Breakfast in the Pine Barrens and book discussion at Lucille's Country Cooking Cash only, but they accept Venmo and have an ATM.
Address: Rt 539, Barnegat, NJ 08005
2. 10:15 am Kayaking in the Pine Barrens
Micks Canoe Rental
Address: 3107 County Rd 563
3107 County Rd 563 · Chatsworth, NJ
The rivers have gentle waters and the forest has a natural beauty everyone in our group can enjoy. Be sure to have a camera ready as you drift by remnants of Colonial settlers, towering Pitch Pines and beaver dams. At some point along the way we will stop for a BYO picnic lunch. Right now, I'm leaning toward taking the Godfrey Bridge to Beaver Branch (6 miles/3 hours) trail.
***********************
PLEASE READ ***********
********************
This is not a guided tour nor is anyone available to give you lessons on how to kayak. You are responsible for your own safety and decision making about your skills. The river is not a deep or fast river. It’s great for beginners and advanced paddlers alike!

I will reserve enough kayaks in advance. You'll just need to pay when you get there.
Kayaking cost: Pay at Micks -
Rates available on line but as of right now:
SINGLE KAYAK - $50 + Tax
CANOES AND DOUBLE KAYAKS - $75 + Tax
Rental Includes Canoe or Kayak, Life Vests, Paddles and Transportation To and From the River.
LUNCH: Bring plenty of water/beverage and your own lunch.
***
THE BOOK: The River, by Peter Heller
Genre: Thriller; Adventure fiction
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the best-selling author of The Dog Stars comes the story of two college students on a wilderness canoe trip—a gripping tale of a friendship tested by fire, white water, and violence.
"A fiery tour de force … I could not put this book down. It truly was terrifying and unutterably beautiful."—The Denver Post
Wynn and Jack have been best friends since college orientation, bonded by their shared love of mountains, books, and fishing. Wynn is a gentle giant, a Vermont kid never happier than when his feet are in the water. Jack is more rugged, raised on a ranch in Colorado where sleeping under the stars and cooking on a fire came as naturally to him as breathing. When they decide to canoe the Maskwa River in northern Canada, they anticipate long days of leisurely paddling and picking blueberries, and nights of stargazing and reading paperback Westerns. But a wildfire making its way across the forest adds unexpected urgency to the journey.
One night, with the fire advancing, they hear a man and woman arguing on the fog-shrouded riverbank; the next day, a man appears on the river, paddling alone. Is this the same man they heard? And if he is, where is the woman? From this charged beginning, master storyteller Peter Heller unspools a headlong, heart-pounding story of desperate wilderness survival.

Happy Reading!
Denise