The Summary: Good afternoon, and happy Friday! I want to thank everyone for a great discussion of Vegan's Daily Companion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau this month. I don't know about you, but this month went super fast for me, and I can't believe it will be May next week. Be sure to have the Preface, Introduction, and Part One of The Bond by Wayne Pacelle read for next week's discussion—I'm sure it's going to be a great and informative read.

I hope you guys enjoy your weekend, and I'll see you next week!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Hello everyone! I am reporting from San Diego, Calif., where I am taking a brief vacation. I just recently went to Pokéz, which has excellent vegan Mexican fare—it was delicious. If any of you have any other restaurant suggestions, I'd love to hear about them!

We have now finished Vegan's Daily Companion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, which was a fun and light read, and a book that is definitely a keeper. I look forward to going back and trying out the recipes and various tips! We will begin our discussion of The Bond by Wayne Pacelle next week, beginning on Monday, May 2—pick up a copy from the VN Store if you don't have one already.

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. What is your favorite book by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and why? If not this one, why not?

2. Have you tried any of the recipes from the Saturdays and Sundays? Which ones, and how were they?

The Assignment: Please read the Preface, Introduction, and Part One of The Bond for our discussion on Monday, May 2.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Happy Friday everyone! I have recently arrived in San Diego, Calif., which is gorgeous. I hope everyone else has a fun Easter weekend planned as well!

Thanks for our discussion this week, in which we talked about our favorite books and movies with an animal-rights message, as well as animal sanctuaries and rescuing animals. As to the first discussion question, I recently received How to Train Your Dragon from Netflix, which I heard has a great animal-rights message. It recently won Best Feature Film from HSUS at the annual Genesis Awards, and I really look forward to watching it. Have any of you seen it yet? What did you think?

I'll now leave you to enjoy the weekend, and will pick up this Monday with our final discussion of Vegan's Daily Companion.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good evening VegNews Book Clubbers! We are in the third week of our discussion of Vegan's Daily Companion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and almost nearing the end. I can't believe how fast this month has flown by! I will actually be out of town beginning this Thursday until next Tuesday, but I'll be sure to wrap up our discussion this week, as well as post the final discussion next Monday.

I hope you are enjoying this book so far! I know I've mentioned this before, but one of my favorite sections is the "Animals in the Arts" series, because I'm a film and literature nut myself. I really enjoy seeing symbolism in the arts, which are really why they are created in the first place. I've read and seen some of the films and books that CPG mentions, and hope to catch up on the others.

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. What is your favorite book or film which symbolizes animal rights?

2. There are many stories of rescued animals within this book. Have you ever been to an animal sanctuary or rescued an animal yourself? What was that experience like?

The Assignment: Please read Day 281 to the end of Vegan's Daily Companion, and try to do at least one thing, such as make a recipe or try one of the foods CPG features, for our discussion on Monday, April 25.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Good morning VegNews Book Clubbers, and my sincere apologies for the late wrap up post. I want to thank those who participated in last week's discussion of Vegan's Daily Companion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, in which we talked about if you have practiced any of the tips in the book, and where you go to look at cute pictures of animals. Every answer was different for my first question, which is great! And many of you already have furry friends, so you choose to look at them instead of a computer screen. That is definitely the way to go!

I will be posting this week's discussion later today, and I look forward to seeing the conversation started. Until then!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers, and welcome to the second week of our discussion of Vegan's Daily Companion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau! I hope you guys are enjoying this inspirational read so far. The VN Store copies are now sold out, but the book is available at many other places, so be sure to get your copy soon to join in the conversation.

I asked you to read Day 116 to Day 203 for our discussion this week. Due to the book being laid out like a day minder, there's really not much to summarize, but I will talk about how the book has affected me so far. CPG stresses the idea of eating a diet based on whole foods throughout the book, and features a different food at the beginning of each week. I have definitely found myself wanting to cook with more unprocessed foods throughout the month so far, which I think is a really good thing. I'm excited to broaden my culinary horizons!

Second, Day 199 really caught my attention—probably because of the photo of the very adorable pig. The topic of that day is looking at images of animals, or spending time in the presence of animals, to increase overall health. I personally do not have a companion animal, but I do dog sit occasionally, and I've realized that I'm much calmer at those times, and happier overall. Unfortunately, I will not be able to adopt a companion animal any time soon, but I'll definitely be taking CPG's advice, and will try to look at an animal each day. I also hope that you have taken some of her advice as well!

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. Have you practiced any of the advice or tips from any of the days so far? If so, which day, and how did it affect your day or week?

2. What websites do you use to get your daily dose of cute animals?

The Assignment: Please read Day 204 to Day 280 of Vegan's Daily Companion, and try to do at least one thing, such as make a recipe or try one of the foods CPG features, for our discussion on Monday, April 18.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary: Happy Friday everyone, and thanks for a great first week of our discussion of Vegan's Daily Companion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. If you don't have a copy of the book yet, hurry to get a signed copy at the VN Store—they're going fast!

I asked two discussion questions for this past week. First, I asked if you will use the book on a daily basis after reading it all the way through with the Book Club. There were varying answers. Some of you will use it for inspiration on a daily or weekly basis, or when you just need a little boost, or a good recipe to make. Some of you also said that you might pass the book on to family members or friends in order to spread the message of veganism. These are all wonderful ideas!

For the second question, I asked what your favorite themed day of the week is. Tuesdays were a big winner; they deal with communicating veganism effectively. This is very important, because the vegan lifestyle is a hot topic, and one that everyone wants to discuss, whether they're for it or not. Fridays were a close second though, which are the stories of hope, including stories of rescued animals. Who doesn't love reading about animals who beat the system?

Again, thank you for all of the discussion this week, and I look forward to discussing Day 116 to Day 203 next week. Have a great weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! I hope you enjoyed the week off, and also were able to use the time to begin your reading of this month's book, Vegan's Daily Companion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (CPG). I think this is actually one of my favorite books so far with the Book Club—maybe because of its simplicity. I really find it to be a breath of fresh air, and I hope you guys are enjoying it too. If you do not have a copy yet, there are signed copies on the VN Store, so be sure to get yours today!

This book is quite different from our past reads, because it's meant to be a "daily companion," throughout the year. As explained in the "How to use this book" section, the book is more like a day minder, with sections for each day of the year, though Saturdays and Sundays are grouped together. Each day of the week has a different theme: Mondays are about food; Tuesdays talk about communicating veganism effectively; Wednesdays deal with health; Thursdays share about animals in literature and film; Fridays give stories of hope, such as a profile of a rescued animal; and weekends are for recipes.

As mentioned above, I am really enjoying this book, and once I read it all the way through, I plan to use it as a day minder. It's a very inspirational and positive book, and I look forward to having it by my side throughout the year!

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. After reading through with the Book Club, do you think you'll use this book on a daily basis?

2. What's your favorite themed day of the week, and why?

The Assignment: Please read Day 116 to Day 203 of Vegan's Daily Companion, and try to do at least one thing, such as make a recipe or try one of the foods CPG features, for our discussion on Monday, April 11.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig