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Rosemary and her sister Anne, our Zona Rosa Book Club editor

My sister, Anne Webster, is a memoirist who has also been called one of the best nurse-poets in the country.  Not so coincidentally, she is also one of the best and most widely read people I know.  Both of us love poetry and good writing of any kind, and throughout the years—between swapping recipes, comparing notes on our kids, and checking out one another’s new clothes—we’ve enjoyed many hours of talking about writing and life.  My favorite vision of my sister is of her seated in the overstuffed chair in her den, avidly perusing a new book of poetry. Anne—along with a few other Zona Rosans—writes a mini-review of every book she reads during the year, and at the end of that year, she gives each of us the very special gift of her list.

In addition, at every regular Zona Rosa meeting, we pass around a notebook in which members write or paste reviews of books they’ve read, with the one caveat that they review them as honestly and concretely as possible. 

Since all of us in Zona Rosa are different, the books we choose to review reflect our individual tastes, passions, and projects  (for example, while I was writing SECRETS OF THE ZONA ROSA, my bedside table and writing desk were surrounded by tall stacks of books on women’s lives—how we live them, how we can improve them—as well as endless tomes of quotes as source material for just the right lines to precede every section in the book). 

These mini-reviews help us hone our skills and also give us fresh ideas on what we might like to read ourselves. I like to tease that if they never write a review in the notebook, I’ll think they never read—which we all know is an a priori activity for those of us who write!

Indeed, in our shared book lust, Anne, the Zona Rosans, and I are lucky. And now through the Zona Rosa Book Club, we hope to pass some of that thrill on to you.

The books we describe—the reviews will all be written by Zona Rosans or Sub Rosans, and some by Anne herself—will be a mix of those we feel to be of special interest to the kind of women (and sometimes men) who share our special vision. 

And best of all, many of the books reviewed will be by the Zona Rosans, former Zona Rosans, and friends of Zona Rosa—proving once again that writing-and-sisterhood works!

*Book Titles To Die For – Like The Perfect Dress, There’s Nothing Better. 

Better Homes and Husbands

In addition, we’ve also had fun listing book titles we love—whether for their zaniness or the way they perfectly capture the author’s vision. Among them have been FAT GIRLS AND LAWN CHAIRS, ANGRY HOUSEWIVES EATING BON BONS, I HAD BRAIN SURGERY – WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?, ESCAPE FROM HOUSE BEAUTIFUL, HOW TO SET HIS THIGHS ON FIRE,THE BOOK OF THE ROTTEN DAUGHTER, EVERYTHING ABOUT ME IS FAKE. . .AND I’M PERFECT, WIVES BEHAVING BADLY, TARGET UNDERWEAR AND A VERA WANG GOWN, DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY, OR WHEN I GET ON MY FEET, YOU’LL BE SORRY,  I USED TO MISS HIM BUT MY AIM IS IMPROVING, and MINE ARE SPECTACULAR (yes, the author means exactly what you think!).

HOT PINK NEWS FLASH:  BEST BOOK TITLE OF THE PAST YEAR! P.M.S., OR PROBLEMS MEN STARTED by Nikki Hardin, Founder and Editor- in-Chief of Skirt! (Read more about Nikki, and her ability to take risks, in Chapter Three of Rosemary's book, SECRETS OF THE ZONA ROSA.)

Thinking about such titles gives us the courage to follow our instincts and step out onto a limb with our own, such as Deborah’s COOK AND F**K BOOK, Connie’s HAILEY’S CONFIDENCE, Kathleen’s TRIALS OF A DEAD LAWYER’S WIFE, and Charlotte’s ROAD TRIP OF LOVE: TALES OF A TEXAS JEW GIRL. 

They also help us realize that the old rules don’t apply – that yes, titles can be long, and yes, they can be quirky, provocative. In addition, playing around with them while honing our creativity is fun.

Read the Zona Rosa BOOK LUST Reviews: