Welcome back to Rate & Review Books with NCBC!
This month, we hear from a Next Chapter Book Club that has been gathering on Sunday afternoons for nearly 14 years!
Book or series of books: New Love, Spilt Milk, and Potbellied Pigs
Author: Tom Fish and Jillian Ober
New Love, Spilt Milk, and Potbellied Pigs is a book of nine short stories, three plays, and three poems inspired by NCBC members who said they want to read about real life in clear language. Readers explore what it is like to move to another place, how gossip can hurt a friendship, what it means to be in love, and yes, what it might be like to have a potbellied pig. The book includes color photos and discussion questions at the end of each story.
Please tell our readers a little about your book club.
“We like mysteries!” shares one book club member. Recently, this Sunday afternoon club has enjoyed reading Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries. Over the past 14 years, these friends have read many books together. Other favorites include adapted classics, such as The Secret Garden, and The Adventures of Robin Hood, and books written by Beverly Cleary.
“I like coming to book club to talk about books,” says Sara, who is one of five members in the club. “I’m a bookworm,” she proudly shares.
“We also like to catch up and share what we’ve done over the past week,” says Becky, who joined her friend Tammy in 2010 to start this book club.
From left to right: Matthew, Adam, Tammy, Becky, Sara, Aly, Stephanie. Missing from photo: Madison.
Right now, your club is reading a book of short stories, plays, and poems. What do you like about this book?
“We like the way it is written,” says Tammy. The club likes the larger font, extra white space, and color photos. They also like that the stories are short and you never have to turn the page to finish a sentence.
Aside from a poem written by a chocolate cake, there are no other fantasy element in the book, which is a positive for this club. As Sara says, “We like stories about real life.”
Do you have any favorite stories?
“I liked A Hug in a Mug,” Stephanie shares with a smile. In A Hug in a Mug, two customers of a coffee shop become friends and share the ups and downs of life. Using the discussion questions at the end of the story, the group was able to have a valuable conversation about such things as the death of a loved one, moving away from home, and the importance of friendship.
Another club member, Aly, spots herself in photos for the story Friends Across the Hall. Authors of New Love, Spilt Milk, and Potbellied Pigs called on longtime NCBC members like Aly to serve as photo models for the book.
Are there any parts of the book that you don’t like? If so, what are they?
Members of this book club have found the plays to be more challenging because some characters have many lines while others only have a few. Although, with sports fan Adam in the group, they may decide to give Boomtown Bulldogs, a play about a Special Olympics basketball team, a shot!
Would you recommend this book to another Next Chapter Book Club?
Matthew says, “Yes,” with a thumbs up, and his fellow book club members agree.
Please rate this book on a scale from 1 to 5 stars.
This club gives New Love, Spilt Milk, and Potbellied Pigs 5 out of 5 stars!