• Raising Boys

  • In The Kitchen

  • Family Travels

This Is Where I Leave You- The Book Club #TIWILY #TIWILYbookclub

Don’t you love it when a book is not only engaging, but long after you read it you keep thinking about it? I’m having book hangover and unable to pick up another book to read because I’m still lost in the world of This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, a New York Times bestseller that is hitting the theaters September 19th.

this is where i leave you book club

I took my besties out for a fun brunch to chat about This Is Where I Leave You. We received copies for each of us to read and get together for a fun Book Club, and we were also able to join in on the film’s facebook page to share our thoughts with others reading the book, a virtual book club with other fans. You can join the Wednesday #TIWILY Book Club also, and may win signed movie posters or a trip to the premiere in Hollywood while participating.

book club brunch-1

book club brunch

book club brunch-3

This Is Where I Leave You stars an award-winning cast, including Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, and Jane Fonda, and we can’t wait to see the film rendition of a book we now love (and with great actors too). Honestly, I just want to jump back into the Foxman family and feel like I’m part of the familiar angst and love once again,

We got together at a local eatery for brunch and chatting, and these are just a few of the many points we discussed during our book club:

– We of course focused quite a bit on the story between Judd and Jen. Judd discovers his wife in bed with his boss and we feel initially feel sorry for him, but as Judd’s character is fleshed out we realize the ways he let his wife down, most particularly after her miscarriage, and we found ourselves feeling compassion toward her (a total 180 from our initial impression of her). His later actions (kinda creepy) make him even less sympathetic, and I loved the levels his character is given. We don’t know the ending to his story, some things are left up in the air, and I feel like we really didn’t need to know.

– Penny, a childhood friend of Judd’s, sort of floundered over the years, and reminded us all of someone we knew…to be honest, I thought of her a bit after finishing the novel. She is a sort of sad character and felt so familiar to me, like a friend who needed help and was sort of left behind, never found love but wanted to, that I wanted to just jump into the novel as a character and help her.

– The sibling relationships resonated with us. I understood the confusing spectrum of sibling relationships in a home with multiple brothers and sisters, where you quickly go from feeling like you’ll always be there for each other. to wanting to ring each other’s necks and not talking for weeks. When the brothers in the novel fought, even bitterly, you sensed that it wouldn’t be a permanent rift, because that is the nature of sibling relationships- we had to live with these people for at least 18 years whether or not we got along, so we forgave a lot, lol. I loved this aspect of the novel because it was so real and it’s what made us root for the family most.

– The dynamics between the children and parents would take sooo long to discuss here, but we discussed them at length, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on that.

Have you read the book? Did any parts have a particularly strong impact on you? Join us in talking about our pick of the month for our book club chat, and check out the movie in theaters starting September 19th!

september 2014 book club selection

This is a partnered post.




  • This sounds like such a great book. I’m traveling quite a bit in September and need to pick up a copy to read while I’m on the plane and in the airports!

  • You read that so fast! I’m bringing it with me on the plane tomorrow so I will have a good long time to enjoy it!

  • I haven’t read the book but it seems to have spurred on quite a discussion for you. The cast of actors will surely bring the movie to life.

  • I saw the preview for this movie the other day. After seeing that and reading your review, I have got to get a copy of the book and read it before the movie comes out. It looks like a great book to get lost in.

  • Penelope

    We went to Pennsylvania this last weekend and I stayed up late each night reading it…some parts are What??! and other parts are Hahahaha! (I can’t wait to hear your opinion on a certain part when it’s done, but I don’t want to spoil it- it was WEIRD!)

  • I can’t wait to read this book and see this movie. It sounds so utterly good.

  • We had a great book club going. We only read books that were going to be released as movies in the near future so that way we had an excuse to get together twice. As our kids got a little busier, my girlfriends and I let our book club go. I’m inspired to restart it though!

  • This would be a fun movie to watch, I would try to read the book before watching though 🙂

  • Penelope

    I’m with you, I miss that girl time- we let ours go a lot too 🙁

  • i haven’t read the book. I’d like to read it and see the movie.

  • I’ve been hearing a lot on this book, it sounds like a great read.