Hello all, Rosie could chat with the club either Tuesday 12 December or Wednesday 6th December early evening UK time if that suits everyone? Please let me know who your preference (& if neither work will revisit more dates). Thanks, Cuttlefish @Landbiscuit @Purdie @geoff.hom @Amparo @hitchedandhiking @sledgejoyce @AlisonFagan @Southernsitter
Hello all, Rosie could chat with the club either Tuesday 12 December or Wednesday 6th December early evening UK time if that suits everyone? Please let me know who your preference (& if neither work will revisit more dates). Thanks, Cuttlefish @andrealovesanimals @MaggieUU @Tgo53 @CanadianLynda @Catgoddess_99 @luckycat @Karen_E @Samox24 @SoloTraveler @mars
Hi @Cuttlefish. Iām sorry if I wasnāt clear, but the topic I posted in my previous reply should be used for anything related to this book. Including scheduling. The whole point is to separate that for those who are interested, and to leave this topic (āongoing discussion for future booksā) for just picking books.
Oh I see. Thanks @geoff.hom will try that one again
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Now I am NOT suggesting we read this book but I thought you might get a kick out of this book club selection.
Book club spends 28 years reading one book and no one knows what itās about
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Last-day call to join our next book club meeting! Itās today (Wed), 6 pm UK time. Iām in Texas, so thatās 12 pm CT.
Link and more details in this topic:
For our previous books, I felt that reading it beforehand was pretty important. This oneās different. Like horses? Curious how they could be used to train business executives and elite athletes? It sounds like Rosie will explain!
Also, Iām behind reading two other books (āQuietā by Susan Cain and āPracticing the Wayā by John Mark Comer), so I donāt plan to participate in the next book for our club. Someone, please feel free to step up and organize the next book/meeting!
Well that was fab! Thanks all of you. And great to meet you all in the flesh so to speak. Let me know if you want to connect with Rosie directly or find her here 
Chat soon
Cuttlefish
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Argh, just realised I missed the last book club as I wasnāt paying attention on the forum! Hopefully Iāll get along to one in the New Year. Happy festive period yāall 
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Thanks, @Amparo! Iād never heard of this book or Mr. Goggins, so I looked a little online. It looks very inspiring! I now have a used copy in the mail. (āClean version,ā which is fine by me.) 
I see thereās also a sequel. What are your thoughts on either book/Goggins?
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This is a book Iāve had on my reading list for quite a while. Been ploughing through many others these last couple of months and at my current sit, there it is saying Ā« itās time Ā».
The storyline is based on his real life and how he grew to learn how to apply not only self discipline but focus. He not only never lost sight of his vision, the life he believed he could have, he demonstrates how he did it. In every chapter he outlines the specific manner in which the reader, no matter your personal situation how you can take the skills and practice and apply to achieve their personal dreams.
What I love is the clarity, the gift he has to teach the methods in a manner applicable to anyone. He is not trying to make anyone a copy of himself but rather for one to identify what one really wants and how to actually become that person.
Itās brilliant. He gives it to you straight. Itās not for those who are comfortable and sensitive to the truth.
I will get my own copy when I get home to share with my family.
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What is interesting about his story is that he never wanted to be a SEAL, he just wanted to achieve the status and use it for his personal brand. I donāt think he was ever deployed. So these were all personal and individual achievements.
SEALS must be TEAM players. In fact that is part of what must be present for selection to the most elite teams. He is not well liked amongst the SEAL community and most of them donāt even know who he is. His career there was undistinguished. So personally Iām not interested in reading his book because I feel like he coopts qualities of elite military teams when he lacks the essential qualities that define them beyond their physicality. Toughness goes well beyond BUDS. Toughness is found in the guy who takes 27 rounds and comes up fighting (Mike Day).
One could have an entirely different conversation about elite athletes and their abilities.
Iād encourage anyone who is planning to read this to listen to some interviews heās done and others have done in response.
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I thought THS members might be interested in this one, Plunge by Liesbet Collaert. This memoir is about a constant traveler who ends up sailing to the South Pacific with her husband and two dogs. It sounds a lot more intetesting if you read the blurb on Goidreads.
Plunge ā One Womanās Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary by Liesbet Collaert Plunge ā One Womanās Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary by Liesbet Collaert | Goodreads
Liesbet is also a former THS sitter, now traveling in South America in a truck camper with her husband and rescue dog.
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This looks a great book @Makelikeanapeman and thank you for this suggestion for the Book Club. 
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Sounds like a Seinfeld episode! 
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Hello All,
After a brief hiatus, the Trusted Housesitters Book Club is back! We are hoping for many new members!
We were fortunate to have the authors of each of our previous selections in attendance. This may not be the case going forward, as many of the books on this list are by renowned authors who command a hefty fee for their appearances. I will, however, where possible attempt to contact them.
Why should you join? Besides the fact that itās very cool to meet forum friends you had heretofore only known by their forum user names, reading and discussing books will exercise your mind, expand your knowledge, broaden your interests, make you better read, foster new friendships and make for a good time!
I have compiled a preliminary list of titles that have been suggested, plus some new ones. Please take a look at these. If there are others you find intriguing, please add your suggestions to the list over the next few days. We will then take a vote.
The suggestions include Travels with Charley, Nobel laureate, John Steinbeckās tale about a road trip across America with his French poodle, Charley; Canāt Hurt Me - Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by the only member of the U.S. Armed Forces ever to complete Navy SEAL training, U.S. Army Ranger School, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training, a sought-after motivational speaker; What the Dog Saw, ingenious observations of modern-day life by the author of The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers; The Empress and the English Doctor: How Catherine the Great defied a deadly virus, a historical thriller about the race to beat smallpox; The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, a novel about small town secrets and the people who keep them. Named Best Book of the Year by NPR/Fresh Air, Washington Post, New Yorker and Time Magazine; The Bee Sting, a tragi-comedy about an Irish family, winner of multiple awards, named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, The Guardian, The Economist, New York Public Library, BBC, and more, shortlisted for the Booker Prize; and Plunge, a nomad writes of her world travels by land and sea with her husband and dog.
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I am adding three selections for consideration recommended by @Carla:
A fascinating story of a woman given two years to live who embarks on a journey across American by horse in 1954. A tale of her adventures and the people she meets, including Andrew Wyeth and Art Linkletter.
A memoir by a leading voice for pit bull rescue and the star of Animal Planetās hit show Pit Bulls & Parolees.
A horse trainer and equine-facilitated therapy practitioner examines the human-equine spiritual connection.
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All,
Here is the list of books up for a vote. Would you choose your first, second and third choices and either post them here or DM them to me?
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
Canāt Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
The Empress and the English Doctor: How Catherine the Great defied a deadly virus by Lucy Ward
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Plunge: One Womanās Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary by Liesbet Collaert
My Life Among the Underdogs: A Memoir by Tia Torres
The Housesitterās Guide to the Galaxy by Jessica Holmes
I am tagging those who have participated, suggested books or expressed interest. Thanks! @Makelikeanapeman @hitchedandhiking @Landbiscuit @Tgo53 @Mmasters1111 @andrealovesanimals @CanadianLynda @Catgoddess_99 @SoloTraveler @luckycat
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This is a continuation of the last post, the list of books up for a vote. @FluffyFriends @geoff.hom @Cuttlefish @MaggieUU @laura358 @PVGemini @sledgejoyce @Sam_F @Southernsitter @Amparo @Purdie @Karen_E @Sitandsat
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Kind of a coincidence, you may have seen the very sad news that actor Gary Sineseās son recently passed away from cancer. I then happened to read that Gary Sinese narrated the audio book of John Steinbeckās, Travels with Charley, recommended by @Amparo . She also pointed out that itās in the public domain so free of charge.
Take a look here ā you can see the actual camper that he named Rocinante after Don Quixoteās horse, that took Steinbeck 10,000 miles with his standard poodle, Charley.
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