ASD Reads (and Entertains): The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue

We love being in a book club. We get to read books that we would probably never have opened, mingle with friends and enjoy dinner at one member's home. COVID has relegated us to zoom for over a year, so I was very excited to host the first in person dinner! Since we hadn't seen the group for quite awhile, I tried to make it special.

I just finished sprucing up my backyard with some new Pottery Barn furniture so I wanted to start the festivities there. The weather in California has just begun to warm up; the early evenings have been glorious. I also wanted to be sure that everyone was comfortable being together. As it turned out, all of us have been double vaccinated; this allowed us to be both outside and inside.

I belong to a few wine clubs so we began with a Napa Valley selection: Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc, Trefethen Chardonnay and Goldeneye Rose. I figure if there is enough wine, dinner mishaps may be overlooked! I love Ina Garten's sundried tomato dip; I served it with veggies, crackers, olives and marcona olives. We spent almost an hour relaxing outside, then moved into the dining room for dinner.

I again leaned on an Ina Garten recipe: farro tabbouleh with feta. This is a dish that my sister-in-law recommended and it didn't disappoint. Although it seems rather complicated (I had never made a recipe with farro) it turned out to be fantastic. The combination of farro with cucumber, chickpeas, mint, and feta is delicious. We also feasted on almond green beans and yummy kabobs that I purchased at a local restaurant, Chicken Maison.

The finale was a bit unusual. This group often has berries and cookies as a dessert. I had purchased both but really wanted to mix it up. If you follow our instagram, Harriet and I love Yasso bars. I wasn't sure if everyone would be as in love with them as we are (most were a couple were not) but decided that would be a fun dessert for everyone to try. At that point, we really did need to discuss the book.

In our book club, the dinner host also selects the book. My pick was The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. I had been following the reviews of this book for months and although it is a fantasy with a very unusual premise, it had been on the best seller lists for 34 weeks. Not to give the plot away, but it is a tale of a girl who makes a deal with the devil. Her life is not her own because her soul ultimately belongs to him, however, the way she navigates through life is so compelling. It was a risky selection but fortunately it was deemed a winner by most of the group. If you haven't read it, it is a journey worth taking.

I hope you enjoyed our book club event! We loved having you!

Wendy