The Christmas Cookie Club

Written by Ann Pearlman

Narrated by Gabra Zackman

Ann Pearlman’s irresistible novel provides the perfect ingredients for a fun and touching read about a group of women who gather each year to share a journey of friendship, hope, heartbreak—and recipes.

Every year at Christmastime, Marnie and her closest girlfriends mark their calendars for the cookie exchange. Everyone has to bring a batch of homemade cookies and a bottle of wine, but this year, it’s their stories that are especially important—the passion and hopefulness of new romance, the betrayal and disillusionment some relationships bring, the joys and fears of motherhood, the stress of financial troubles. On this evening, at least, the sisterly love they have for one another rises above it all. Celebrating courage and joy in spite of hard times and honoring the importance of women’s friendships as well as the embracing bonds of community, Ann Pearlman’s delightful novel speaks to us all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Oct 20, 2009
• ISBN: 9780743598293

Ann Pearlman

Ann Pearlman is a writer of both fiction and nonfiction books, including Getting Free: Women and Psychotherapy and Keep the Home Fires Burning: How to Have an Affair with Your Spouse, Inside the Crips, The Christmas Cookie Club, and A Gift for My Sister. Her memoir, Infidelity, was nominated for a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize and made into a Lifetime movie by Lionsgate. Also an artist, she recently illustrated a short story, Other Lives, which is available as an ebook. 

Reviews for The Christmas Cookie Club

[ellelainey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love cookies. I bake them and it's like therapy, as well. I love a good get together with your besties and friends and family. And I love Disney the dog.

I thought this story was great. Well thought out, original, realistic and very much the kind of thing you would get if you threw your own Cookie Club party with a bunch of girls. Hectic lives seep into the cookies and before you know it, you're reminiscing about days gone by and lost loves.

I think the characters here are real, emotional, and individual. Though some of them share the same experiences, you never feel like there's just one box for characters and they each have a different name. These are people you can imagine meeting, talking to, getting on well with and enjoying a good party with.

Overall a success. The reason it's not 5 stars? I had a little bit of difficulty first getting into it, first off. I didn't like the way Sissy spoke, not because it was with an accent, but before previously we hadn't been told she had an accent. It was difficult to read and a little racist to me. There is to be another book and although I'd love to read more about what happened to these women, it states that the next book is about the daughters Tara and Sky. I want to find out what happened next to these women before I move onto new ones. And, of course, I was left with unanswered questions. I hate that, unless they're going to be answered in the next book. I don't see how, since it's about completely different people.

[salsabrarian · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The idea of the cookie club sounds like fun but ultimately it's stories about middle-aged ladies with problems. I found the party hostess way too Oprah-wise for me.

[jenni01_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful story about women and their friendships.

[starknits_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book with my book club. We picked it because it seemed like a good book for the season. I really enjoyed the recipes and the ingredient profiles before each chapter. I thought the story was good. It was a good lite and fast read.

[solacewinter · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is depressing. It is filled with dark tales about how women have been beaten down by life, men, drugs, and society. Every woman in this novel has a depressing story. And yet, when the novel finishes, the reader will feel good. These are also women who are loved and love one another and find a way to claw through the refuse that is thrown upon them and come out smelling like daisies. While nothing is fully resolved, 12 stories in 272 pages is not enough to resolve much, each story reaches a point that can be of some satisfaction. An interesting Christmas novel that is perfect to recognize the spirit and love that this time of year should bring.

[bermudaonion_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marnie is the organizer of The Christmas Cookie Club - a group of twelve women who gather once a year to ring in the holiday season and exchange cookies. Everyone brings thirteen dozen cookies ? a dozen for each of them and a dozen for a charity. The club has been meeting for sixteen years and has some strict rules: 1. No chocolate chip cookies. 2. No cookie bars. 3. No paper plates covered in saran wrap. 4. No more than twelve in the group. 5. You can?t miss a year. 6. You have tenure after five years. 7. It?s always on the first Monday in December. 8. Bring copies of the recipe for everyone.Since Marnie is the organizer, she is the common bond between all of the women and knows everyone?s secrets. For the most part, these women are supportive of each other through life?s ups and downs, and boy, do they do they have their fair share of struggles.THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE CLUB by Ann Pearlman takes place during one of the club?s meetings. A little bit of each character?s back story is filled in so the reader learns how they?re connected to Marnie and how they came to be a member of the club. I enjoyed spending an evening with the ladies of the club. Most of the women in this character driven novel have had their share of adversities and have become stronger because of them. It was a pleasure getting to know them and reading about how their friendships helped them survive the tough times. This book did tug at my heart strings at times and I became teary-eyed at more than one point while reading it.For me, THE CHRISTMAS CLUB isn?t really a Christmas story at all ? it just happens to take place during the holiday season. Instead, it?s a story about the strength of women and the importance of friendship. After finishing the book, I reflected on how lucky I?ve been to know some remarkable women over the years.THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE CLUB also includes recipes and interesting information about cookie ingredients such as vanilla and sugar. I found that information fascinating and learned a few new things!

[cats57_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The Christmas Cookie Club is aptly named for (and I'm stating the obvious here) they are a club and they exchange cookies. They also exchange stories about their cookies why they chose the recipes and they exchange hugs and platitudes.This by far was the most depressing, so called Christmas book and maybe the most depressing book period, that I have read this year (2009). In a group of friends this large you would naturally expect to see some depressing back stories, but this book took the cake. I mean one woman's son fell off of a high rise and became impaled on re-bar, leaving behind a fiance --- nothing says Merry Christmas to me as someone trying to get over the grizzly death of her son. Or how about this one; through the entire book we are kept on tenterhooks waiting to find out if the leader of the group, Marnie's daughter is going to miscarry yet another child.The reason I gave it two stars instead of only one, is for the recipes and the history behind so any of the ingredients (sugar, chocolate vanilla etc) and that was the most interesting part of this book

[sugarcreekranch · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This novel is about a group of women who gather once a year for an annual cookie exchange. Each of the 12 chapters focuses on one of the attendees, telling of past or recent events that made her the person she is now. Each chapter also has a cookie recipe, and between the chapters are interesting bits of the history or chemistry of various baking ingredients.I admit to being a bit bored by this book. While there are some interesting characters with interesting pasts, nothing much "happens" in the course of the book. The big conflict or mystery is that the party hostess is anxiously awaiting medical news from a family member. I could have set this book down at any point and been completely free of the "what will happen next?" feeling.

[glade1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Read this one in a single day. It was a quick and reasonably entertaining read. It's the story of 12 (mostly middle-aged) girlfriends who gather annually for a Christmas cookie exchange, and it tells each individual's tale, with all the triumph, failure, joy, and tragedy that accompanies life. Interspersed with the story are recipes for the cookies as well as little essays about certain common baking ingredients. The recipes and essays were the highlight of the book for me. I'm going to copy some of them before passing the book along.This book has me thinking about starting my own cookie exchange. I have lost touch with a lot of friends and this would be a nice way of guaranteeing we would see each other at least once a year!

[brandie_14 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story was okay. I enjoyed it. I think I liked more how the author wove everything together and shared so much even though the book takes place in one night.I will say, there were quite a few characters and more than once I had to stop and figure out who was who because I couldn't keep track of all of them!

[zoharlaor · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

?The Christmas Cookie Club? is a short novel which takes place on one December evening. The event is the annual Christmas Cookie party where twelve women exchange cookies and donate some for charity. Each cookie delivery comes with a story, a recipe and a few historical facts about the ingredients. The host of the event is Marnie, who started the club, created the rules and has had a complex life herself.Even though each chapter is supposed to be about the woman presenting the cookies, it isn?t since we hear the story through Marnie?s ears and are privy to her thoughts. So basically Marnie goes on tangents, as we all do from time to time, when a word or a phrase reminds her of another event. This is a short novel which in turn is divided into twelve short stories. There are many characters but I didn?t get vested in any of them and the narration is mainly done by Marnie. We find out about the ups and downs of the lives of these women, with some insightful comments which get lost somewhere in the narration.I found this book a bit convoluted, but not hard to read. The many characters were not easy to keep track of, especially since their spouses, parents and children were all part of the interwoven story. I have to admit that the characters are personable and likeable (mostly) and each story is delivered passionately but due to the circumstances, where each woman has a tragic occurrence or a secret, the uber-drama seems to take over from time to time.For me, melodrama only works if I can make and emotional connection with the character, but because Ann Perlman was trying to keep the book to a reasonable size (or even short) the depth and exploration of character wasn?t there.At the beginning of every chapter there is a cookie recipe and at the end Ms. Pearlman wrote a short history of some ingredient (chocolate, salt, etc.). I think that the recipes and the historical information were certainly a nice touch, if you don?t like it then skip over them since they are in between chapters. I don?t know why people complain about them taking away from the story since they are not part of the story in the first place ? nor do they add any insights or information ? they are ?extras? and should be treated as such. Maybe if they were included as appendices less people would have complained but as I said, I thought it was properly done and a nice touch.Please keep in mind, that as a man, chick-lit usually doesn?t speak to me. For example I find it ridiculous that one moment everyone is in tears and the next a ?dance party? breaks out.Does this really happen?Do women really dance around the kitchen table like they are in some kind of Nora Ephron movie?If this really happens, good for you and more power.

[gingersnap000 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Christmas Cookie Club should be read not as a feel good holiday spirit book but as a friendship book. In reality, all people are not created equal but individuals who may have a dark period in their life. Being a woman of 61 years young, I could relate to at least half the characters who represent the twelve chapters in the book. I related to Marnie and Vera most of all but I have known successful women who include me in their circle of friends because of the individual that my life has created me to be.Although the history portion of the food products took away from the novel, history and baking are favorites so I took the time to reread the history. Baking is a science like chemistry and when creating a cookie that does not bake successfully, the compotents were not correct. This book made me cry, laugh and learn. Each woman could be a friend of mine or yours unless you are a Carrie Bradshaw.

[andsoitgoes_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Depressing, predictable, stereotypes. Little joy in this cookie club. Recipes were good as were the history of different ingredients. Wouldn't recommend it as a Christmas story unless you want to be depressed.

[imbookingit · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars, probably.I liked the characters and the overall setup of the book. In each chapter, a character shared her cookies and a story related to them, and Marnie filled in with her memories of that person.Unfortunately, the book never quite came together for me. Maybe it was a little too much drama, spread among too many character in such a short book. All I knew of each character was her problems, which took up far more space than the love and support of the party. I didn't get sucked into any of the drama, since I didn't know the characters well enough, so I didn't find it depressing, it just enough to distance me from the book a bit.Between each chapter, there was a short essay on one of the cookie ingredients. While these were interesting, they interrupted the flow of the book for me in a way the recipes didn't.Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it didn't compel me to keep reading during a very busy time of year.