{Book Club} Gone Girl

My absolute favorite benefits of being in a book club are spending quality time with my girlfriends, drinking wine and getting lost in conversations we probably never would have had were it not for reading the books together. It’s fun being able to go to a friend and say “Can you believe it? Did you see that coming?!”  I love having inside jokes that only those who read along could follow like, “Why, hello Christian Grey.” Each month my friends and I switch off picking a book and meeting at someone’s house to discuss it.  What usually follows is a lot of very important conversations (there’s a lot to catch up on!) and an active discussion about the book…..and lots of food and wine. (Click here for tips on starting your own book club!).

This month we stepped out of the box and decided to leave our living rooms.  We hosted book club at Manhattan Beach’s gem-of-a-bookstore, Pages. The best setting for a book club by far!

September’s pick was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn… a real page turner! This book kept my attention all of the way through. Some of my friends read it within a few days and also went on to read Gillian Flynn’s other books. It was that good!

Gone Girl

Gone Girl features a married couple, two ”wackos” Nick and Amy Dunne. Amy is from New York and an only child of authors/psychologists who wrote a children’s series based on Amy titled Amazing Amy. How could she not have issues after this alone. Nick is from Missouri, is a struggling magazine editor turned professor, and has a twin sister, Go, who is his best friend.

Once Amy goes missing, Nick finds himself the key suspect in the investigation. The author manipulates your judgements on the characters so well. At first I loved Nick, then hated  him and was “team Amy.” Then I couldn’t stand Amy and finally ruled them both “wackos.” Gillian Flynn had me on an emotional rollercoaster and really knows how to throw a curve ball or two in this novel.

The book is split into two narratives, Amy and Nick’s stories. It makes the book more suspenseful and fun to read. It is full of sharp-wit and tells the story of their marriage:  true art of war. It was well written and knowing what each of them are thinking kept me wanting to read more. I can only wonder how Gillian Flynn came up with all of this….the women is a crazy good writer.

Here’s A Look Into Our Book Club at Pages in Manhattan Beach:

It’s no secret Kimberly and I love crafting and party planning. Kimberly kicked off our version of a book club when she hosted Valley of the Dolls . So for Gone Girl I decided to incorporate a few elements from the book to set the scene. I framed each clue from the book because they tell so much and play a very important role in the story. You can make the simplest thing look fabulous in a frame. We made our own caution tape for a “crime scene” and I was inspired to make a book garland – hat tip to too much time spent on Pinterest. I tore pages out of a book and folded them into fans. I then glued two to each side of a ribbon to creat a flower. I covered the middle with the letters spelling out the book’s title. We can now use this for each month’s featured book. Our tablecloth was black and white striped to resemble a jail suit. For a murder and scandal I must say, this was one chic looking crime scene with orchids, cookies and all!

October’s book is Wild by Cheryl Strayed.

If you have a book club of your own and you want it featured on Pier to Peer, email us at info.piertopeer@gmail.com!