The book is a detailed account of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders and their experiences in the Cuban theater during the Spanish-American War. Full of interesting anecdotes and behind-the-scenes facts, it began to drag with the weight of all that information. The restaurant, once a top rated place, disappointed. The food was good, but the service and atmosphere were substandard. Our next book is Isabelle Allende, A Long Petal of the Sea. Others considerted were Horse by Geraldine Brooks, and This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger.
We are seven handsome and charming* guys who meet at a different restaurant every month or so, having read a book in common, and discuss whatever we want--generally the assigned book, but usually many other timely topics as well. We rotate the responsibility to suggest titles, but the group has the final say. Our book club rules: 1) Anything goes, fiction or nonfiction; 2) paperbacks are preferred; and 3) staying under 300 pages is desirable (N.B., we violate this one all the time). We rate all books and restaurants on a 5-point scale.* All other adjectives were vetoed.