Bupper Club: The One and Only by Emily Giffin
This past Monday was my turn to host our Bupper Club. Our Bupper group has been just a handful of us for a few years so we decided to extend an invitation to new friends! Each of us invited a friend to join and I have to say…it seemed like a success. We were a bit nervous to combine friends who didn’t know each other but we seemed to have a pretty good dynamic going and I’m seriously thrilled to see our Bupper Club grow! Disclaimer: I might have gone a little overboard trying to impress our new Bupper members. I’ll try to play it cool and be more smooth on my next turn.
I chose Emily Giffin’s The One and Only because I’ve never read any of her books. (GASP!) Kat has been obsessed with Emily Giffin for a while now so I knew I couldn’t go wrong. I must say…the reviews were definitely mixed. The One and Only takes place in the small college town of Walker, Texas. This town swears by one thing – football. The story focuses on the life of Shea Rigsby, a thirty-three year old who hasn’t quite figured out what she wants out of life. Shea’s lifelong best friend, Lucy, just so happens to be the daughter of Coach Carr – legendary head coach at Walker. When Coach Carr’s wife suddenly passes away, events are set in motion that challenge loyalty, friendships, and unconventional love.
Like I said, our Bupper Club was all over the board on this one. Some of us loved it, some of us grew to love it, and some of us never quite got there but one thing was for certain – it was a definite page-turner. I won’t spoil the story for you so go pick up a copy here and decide for yourself!
On to the good stuff! Obviously I had to run with the football theme so I hosted my very own Walker tailgate! I bought plenty of Walker teal paper from Hobby Lobby and went to town.
[ the MEAL ]
Wings, burgers, deviled eggs, and beer were of course on the menu. And what’s a good tailgate without a spinach and artichoke dip? My Pinterest experiment of the night was homemade football-shaped oatmeal cream pies. OMG, they were so good. I’ll definitely feature these in a food post during football season!
For those of you who read the book, you’ll know that Coach Carr drank a strawberry milkshake and had Big Red gum on game days for good luck. Coach Carr’s good luck eats definitely made the list!
[ discussion QUESTIONS for The One and Only ]
Note: I removed questions that would have been obvious spoilers. Feel free to email us if you’ve read the book and want the complete list of discussion questions!
1. The reviews are pretty mixed online. Most people either rate it 5 stars, or 1 star – giving it an average of 3 star reviews. What star would you give it?
2. Who loved the ending? Did you side with Lucy?
3. After Shea admits to her dad who she is in love with, is her reaction a normal one? How do you think a real life dad (like yours!) would react?
4. Coach admits to a bit of a cover up with the accusation of rape against Ryan from his then girlfriend. Coach said he never believed her, but do you think he’s just telling himself that?
5. Before it ended, what did you think Shea was going to do with her life after quitting her job? Move to NYC? Stay in Walker?
6. Has anybody read anything else from Emily Giffin? How does this compare to her other books?
7. Who do you see playing Coach Carr, Shea, and Lucy in a movie?
Did anybody read along with us? Without spoiling the ending, what did you think?