Buns & Roses WI

By Lucy, B&R Secretary and Book Club Leader

 

When I joined Buns & Roses in 2010 I hadn't realised that they have their own Book Club and I was really pleased that they did - it would give me the impetuous to make sure that I finished a book by a deadline as well as giving me suggestions of books to read that I might not normally encounter (at the first meeting that I went to we discussed Jam and Jeopardy by Doris Davidson which was certainly a different read)  and have a chance to chat through them with friendly ladies eating cake. 

We meet at the Tiled Hall Cafe which is next to the Art Gallery and the Leeds Central Library. It's a really pretty venue and they serve gorgeous cakes - Earl Grey tea loaf, scones with clotted cream and jam, Caramac cake and neapolitan sake.  They also serve a great selection of drinks including wine and beer and my favourite - Suki tea - I love the Russian Caravan which is like a milder slightly less smoky lapsang souchong.

Our last book club was really fun - we had all finished reading the book that we were discussing - The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky which we all enjoyed. 

The Buns & Roses Book Club is really friendly, we don't worry if someone hasn't finished the book, or indeed if they hate it that's fine too!  Everyone is fine to voice their opinion and most importantly it's fun - we talk about what we think of the cover of the book and who might play certain characters in a film version as well as discussing more technical things like characterisation and plot.

We all agreed that we liked how the book reminded us very much of being teenagers and in particular Susan who is from America said that it really reminded her and felt very well written and representative of her time in high school much better in comparison to some other books that she has read in the past.  

Sam who was new to Book Club mentioned that she had read the book slightly differently as she'd seen the film first, but really enjoyed the book and actually hadn't expected the form of the book to be the series of letters that are presented.

In terms of characters we felt that they were all very "real" and had a lot of sympathy with the main character - Charlie - and genuinely felt as though we were taken on a bit of a journey with him and saw how he developed.  

Lianne had been worried about how the ending of the book would transpire and how some of the fairly serious issues would be handled, but actually felt that it was effectively written.

We all enjoyed the book and I found that I really enjoyed the references to different music of the time and how his teacher recommended different books for Charlie to read to help him develop both intellectually and emotionally.  I loved how one of these books was A Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger as the feel of this book was very similar to that, but the characters were much more likeable.

We tried to think of some Christmas-themed books for our December Book Club meeting, but went for Life of Pi by Yann Martel instead and will be meeting at 2pm on the 16th December at the same place - you are welcome to come and join us.

Our November workshop wasThe Card Birds - a Christmas papercraft extravaganza!

One of our Roses Alex Spence was leading the session. Alex is an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and a very talented crafter. She makes some yummy cards, hosts papercraft workshops and classes and sells Stampin' Up! products.

You can see more of Alex's projects and find out about upcoming classes on her blog: My Cards and Crafts.

Here are some of the gorgeous samples she brought along ...

And here she is demonstrating how to use the Big Shot die cutting machine.

Our Roses got stuck into the projects - working on three different cards and two cute gift boxes, just the right size for a chocolate to hang on the tree!

And here is Sam with her finished pieces.

Our October meeting was It's a History (Talk) with Nicola, curator for Leeds Museums and Galleries.

Nicola came along to inform us about some important women of the city and their role in the suffragette movement.

We heard all about Leonora Cohen, who was known for smashing the case of the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London and survived a hunger strike in Armley Jail. In fact, she was never officially released from prison and this was only discovered many years later when she went back to Armley Jail as a magistrate!

There were many interesting tales about Leonora and other activists, and some of the letters and news reports from the time were rather amusing. 

Unsurprisingly our chocolate making workshop Livin La Vida Cocoa was fully booked and so we had 34 lovely ladies join us to make and enjoy some lovely chocolate.