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Dec 10, 2011

Jill rated it:

A few years ago, a new phrase burst into our vernacular: the bucket list, based on a movie in which two men confront their limitations and prepare a list of things they must do. The list is predictably exotic: skydiving, flying over the North Pole, eating dinner at Chevre d’Or in France.

In Joy for Beginners, it’s the women’s turn to enact that list. On an uncharacteristically sunny day in Seattle, six women assemble to celebrate their friend Kate’s clean bill of health from breas More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Aug 11, 2011

Merand rated it:

I love Bauermeister's writing! I don't know how she manages to do it. Every word is perfect, every description tangible, every moment striking. There are many books I have given 5 stars too - usually because the story is fun or enjoyable, not necessarily because the writing itself is so incredible. I loved Bauermeister's first book and am equally enthralled with her second.

Now that's not to say that this book is easy. Far from it, for me anyway. The author explores all manner o More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

Sep 25, 2011

Kathleen rated it:

Bauermeister’s first novel left me hungry to read more of this talented author, and this novel is as thoughtfully, skillfully, and lovingly written.
A network of women who have supported a friend through her cancer treatment is given a task to complete by her, a task that will force each out of her comfort zone, to confront old demons, to allow life to come back…”life is persistent, slipping into your consciousness sideways…there is nothing so seductive as reality.”
These are women at ma More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 21, 2011

Shannon rated it:

Joy for Beginners isn't a book that will change your life, but it might change your attitude. It tells the tale of seven friends who have shared life, child rearing, love, divorce, near death and recovery together. Kate is one of the seven friends and has recently fought a battle with breast cancer. Her friends encourage her to go on a white water rafting trip with her daughter and she agrees - but only if they each agree to do one thing that scares them. They agree and Kate tells them she'l More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 26, 2011

Betty-Anne added it

I received Erica Bauermeister’s second novel “Joy for Beginners” as an ARC from the publisher, and was delighted to find that it is, as the title itself offers, a sheer joy to read. Having read and loved her previous book, The School of Essential Ingredients, I had high hopes for this book and am delighted that it delivered.

In the prologue, Kate hosts a victory party for her six closest friends to celebrate her cancer survival, and tells them of a challenge by her daughter to do the on More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 11, 2011

Debbie rated it:

A group of friends amassed over the years by circumstance with as much diversity as similarities jump over one more hurdle in life. The conquering of Breast Cancer is no small feat and the journey not solitary, so on the night of her victory dinner Kate gives each of the friends that brought her to this destination the gift of a challenge. Each challenge is designed especially for it’s recipient, and like many gifts not always appreciated at the time of it’s giving. At the onset these women view More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 04, 2011

Chris rated it:

Kate, a recent breast cancer survivor, will accept her daughter's gift of a whitewater rafting trip only if each of her friends agrees to a task. For one, it's as simple as learning to bake bread, but each of the six friends must overcome at least one obstacle - grief, guilt, fear, etc. - to pursue the goal set for her by Kate. Each woman's story is distinct and some are more compelling and meaningful than others but, taken as a whole, they illustrate the varied ways in which women can become More...

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Jun 21, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

This is one of those books that reminds you why women are so special. We are insightful and brutally honest with our closest friends, however when it comes to doing that with ourselves, we fall short. We need our friends, I mean our real friends, to sometimes step in with suggestions or tough love to put us back on our path. To make ourselves better and happy. The people we were meant to be.

The main thread of this story is Kate who has survived cancer. Through her journey Kate h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 02, 2011

Nancy rated it:

Kate survived the monster. Through treatment, good friends an chemicals, she beat breast cancer. Now her twenty-three year old daughter wants her to run the Grand Canyon's Colorado River - an avoidable risk. At her best friends' urgings, she concedes with a caveat - they will each take on a challenge dreamed up by Kate.

Each chapter is a stand-alone short story that introduces each character in depth, including past and present struggles. Similarly, each friend, save Ava, has spent coun More...

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Apr 07, 2011

Vicky rated it:

Six friends gather together for dinner and to celebrate their friend Kate's recovery from cancer. While chatting about challenges, Kate's daughter challenges her to do something that has always terrified her - to go on a whitewater rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. Kate's friends all agree it's something she needs to do, but she then challenges them to do something equally as terrifying, and she gets to choose. They reluctantly agree. The task is different for each, but no less daunting.
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Mar 15, 2011

Annie rated it:

"Spending the weekend with a cold is not all that fun except that I can read, read and read, and picking up Joy for Beginners by Erica Bauermeister just fit the bill. As Marisa de los Santos writes "You'll want to tuck yourself into one warm corner of it and stay all day." This is exactly what I did, and not leaving until I finished the novel with tears streaming from my eyes. Her writing made me miss my friends and wish they were there reading Joy for Beginners with me.

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1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Oct 06, 2011

Nancy rated it:

I was surprised by this book for a couple of reasons. The book begins with Kate, a cancer survivor, hosting a victory party for the friends that saw her through her illness and treatment. Toward the end of the evening, her friends learn that Kate's daughter has planned a mother-daughter trip through the Grand Canyon. Kate is somewhat hesitant to go, but her friends convince her that this would be an experience she shouldn't miss. Kate agrees to go, but, in return, she wants to pick experien More...

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Aug 04, 2011

Sarah rated it:

If you liked Erica Bauermeister’s previous novel, The School of Essential Ingredients, you’ll be sure to gobble this book up as well.

A group of friends gets together for a victory dinner, to celebrate Kate’s recovery after cancer. Kate reveals that to celebrate, she’s going white-water rafting with her daughter in the Grand Canyon, and she’s terrified. In a symbol of true friendship, the other ladies agree to each do one thing that year that scares them – and Kate gets to choose wha More...

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Jun 25, 2011

Judy rated it:

Joy for Beginers is, without a doubt, my number one pick for book of the year so far! I loved Bauermeister's School of Essential Ingredients, and I was afraid I'd be disappointed with her second book. I was not.

Seven women gather at a dinner party to celebrate Kate's recovery from cancer. Five helped Kate through the roughest time of her life; the 6th couldn't be there because of her work. Before she left for college, Kate's daughter Robyn put a brochure on the bulletin board for white More...

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Jan 11, 2012

Sally rated it:

I am a fan of Erica Bauermeister. In August 2010, I had the great good fortune of reading The School of Essential Ingredients ~ and I loved it.

I loved how we were taken deep into the lives of the key characters in the story, I loved the intimate role food and cooking played throughout, I loved the intuitive wonder of the main character and the magical way those who need her, find her. This book changed the way I experienced food going forward. I went to the author's website and actu More...

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Apr 01, 2011

Kelly rated it:

After Kate recovers from cancer, her daughter surprises her with a whitewater rafting trip. The only problem is that Kate is terrified of that. But she makes a deal with her friends: she'll go on the trip if they all agree to do something that they're scared of or said they'd never do. And since she didn't get to choose to go whitewater rafting, Kate's going to choose challenges for her friends.

Each chapter is centered on a different friend and how she reacts to the challenge.
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Jan 07, 2012

Melissa rated it:

I'll serve up the same disclaimer for Joy for Beginners as I did in my review of Erica Bauermeister's previous novel, The School of Essential Ingredients: you know the advice that you shouldn't go grocery shopping on an empty stomach? Well, similarly, neither should you read an Erica Bauermeister book if you're hungry.

There's just something about the way Bauermeister writes about food that is so decadent and food pron-ish. Here's a taste:

"It was almost midnight. The More...

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Jul 05, 2011

Susan rated it:

I Loved Erica Bauermeister's first book so much that it might be my favorite book of all time. I am sad that I loaned it out so much that it finally didn't come home anymore. I had written so many quotes in the front. I read the Kindle version of this one, so sorry friends, you are on your own. The premise is great. The women loosely connected develop stronger bonds and then each have a personal challenge to work through. I did underline some quotes in this book also. " Marion was fro More...

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Jul 26, 2011

Candice rated it:

This is a comforting book about friendship and about stretching one's boundaries. Six friends are celebrating Kate’s recovery from breast cancer. Kate’s daughter, Robin, has suggested that they take a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon next summer, a prospect that frightens Kate, but one that she agrees to do. Reminiscent of Eleanor Roosevelt’s challenge to “do one thing every day that scares you,” Kate assigns each of her friends a task that is new or difficult for them. Each chapter tel More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 11, 2011

Shoshanah rated it:

After beating breast cancer Kate invites 5 of her closest friends over for a celebratory dinner. While there they discover that Kate's daughter wants the two of them to go white-water rafting together. All of her friends insist that she must do it, and she agrees with the caveat the each must do something that scares them. Not only that, but since they chose rafting for Kate, she gets to choose each of their adventures.

In a way the book reads like a short story collection, each chapt More...

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Dec 03, 2011

Kim rated it:

I loved this book! It opens at a celebration dinner where 7 friends gather to rejoice that Kate has made it through her cancer treatment. She mentions during the dinner that her college bound daughter wants the two of them to go white water rafting the next summer. With the encouragement of these close friends, she decides to go - IF they will agree to do something she chooses for them in the next year. The adventures she chooses for her friends range from taking a trip by themselves (for the fr More...

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Nov 02, 2011

Jane rated it:

A good read about fear, facing it, and trying to move beyond. Having an 'ordinary' person beset with an extraordinary issue (as the central character was) made it easier for me to connect to and empathise with the experience. I think that choice was really pertinent to getting to the heart of the novel's concerns - valuing life and accepting the inevitability of death and not allowing that acceptance to paralyse you and thereby ruin what is left of your life.

Strengths:
1. Women More...

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Jul 09, 2011

Tara rated it:

When Kate, a cancer survivor is challenged to go rafting down the Grand Canyon to celebrate her victory over disease, she challenges her friends to their own adventures. They seem like mundane, everyday things, but to each women, the challenge is tough for their own reasons.

I feel the book pontificates too much.. Each woman is the highlight of the tale for say, twenty pages? So I don't need their entire life story. I also found it way too descriptive.

I liked the way Caro More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 09, 2011

Kristen rated it:

When I first read the synopsis of this book, it sounded like something I would really enjoy. I liked the premise, the thought of character development and growth; however, I found little of that in this book. I kept on trying to like this book, but it just didn't work for me. I think that Erica Bauermeister had a really good plot idea, but the book was too short for it to ever develop. Seven women's stories are told in this book, each getting their own chapter to highlight their adventure that K More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 02, 2011

Sherry rated it:

Loved the book. I read this one before Baumeister's earlier School of Essential Ingredients and promptly read that one, too. The author develops each character beautifully and in doing so knits together a nice story from segments of each character's life. I love the premise that each woman is asked to confront some sort of obstacle in her life. As with real life, each person's obstacles are markedly different. What for one person might be a molehill is a mountain for another.

With the More...

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Jun 28, 2011

Susan rated it:

(fiction) Joy for Beginners – what a lovely title. Still, I was afraid as I started reading this book that is was going to be too much women's lit for me, all that touchy-feely stuff, too much about emotions and high drama of the OMG kind.

Kate didn't succumb to cancer after all, and her daughter signed both of them for a rafting trip down the Grand Canyon, something Kate really didn't want to do, something she would do to please her daughter; pleasing others is what she did best. At More...

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2011

Jackie rated it:

Erica Bauermeister, author of the luminescent "The School of Essential Ingredients" has done it again. Her new book is told in multiple voices, all women, all having agreed to a challenge that they do one thing that scares them within one year. The catch was that their friend Kate, as part of her celebration for being declared clean of all cancer after 18 months, got to pick what that thing was. Many of the challenges seem benign--"get rid of those books", "learn to m More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 12, 2011

Amanda rated it:

Joy For Beginners is a story about seven women who are all at different stages in their lives, but have managed to become best friends anyway. One of the things that has tied them together is nursing Kate through breast cancer. At her victory party, she agrees to go white-water rafting with her college-aged daughter if each of her friends will face her own fears within the next year.

Kate has listened, both with her ears and her heart while her friends talked about their lives during More...

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Mar 04, 2011

Bea rated it:

I won this book through Readinggroupguides.com. A women with five good friends makes it through cancer treatment and is proclaimed free of cancer. Her friends throw a celebration party, but she insists that what she wants for gifts is to assign each of them a task that she knows they really want and need and they don't even know it themselves. That's the sappy part and why I would give the book only a 3 1/2. The rest is really very good. The author describes a trip to Venice in such a way th More...

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Oct 08, 2011

Crystal rated it:

If I could sum up this book in one word, the word would be heartwarming!! I'd actually give this book 4.5 stars. I enjoyed the writing style so much. It seemed like the author wrote the book so effortlessly, but had an eye for really great detail. I mean, she wrote about 4 to 5 pages about friendship bread! As for the characters, my favorites were Sara, Kate and Ava. I enjoyed reading about their backgrounds a lot and the tasks they had to face. Caroline's story made me want to cry my eyes out. More...

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