Books We Read

For February 2012 -- A Vist From the Goon Squad

2012-02-10T11:14:00.002-06:00

A Visit From the Goon Squad
by Jennifer Egan
Meeting at Carmyn's new place
on February 29, 2012 at 6:00 pm

January 2012 -- Provenance by Laney Salisbury & Aly Sujo

2012-01-19T23:16:00.002-06:00

Provenance: How One Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art
by Laney Salisbury & Aly Sujo
We met at Kristine's place on January 18, 2012 at 6:00 pm

Soup was served. Yum.

For November/December 2011 -- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

2011-12-14T23:22:00.000-06:00

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot
We met on Tuesday, December 13, 2011
at Carmyn's place at 5:30 pm

On the menu:
chicken wild rice soup
mushroom beef soup
bread
fresh veggies and dip
dessert cheese ball

For October 2011 -- Divergent

2011-10-27T11:30:00.003-05:00

Divergent
by Veronica Roth

We met at Pam's on Tuesday, October 25th at 6:00 pm

For September 2011 -- Bel Canto

2011-09-30T13:30:00.003-05:00

Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett

For September's meeting we crashed the Grand Forks Public Library's Great Books book club meeting for that book. We met on Tuesday, September 20 from 7-8.

August 2011 -- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

2011-08-30T14:00:00.003-05:00

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford

We met at China Garden on Tuesday, August 16th
for our TENTH anniversary book club meeting.

July 2011 -- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

2011-07-22T09:00:00.003-05:00

The Outliers: The Story of Success
by Malcolm Gladwell

We met at Pam's on July 12th at 6:00 pm

June 2011 -- The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

2011-06-20T11:32:00.004-05:00

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
by Aimee Bender

We met at Kristi's at June 21st

On the Menu:

Particularly sad lemon cake

May 2011 -- The Help

2011-05-30T08:00:00.002-05:00

The Help
by Kathryn Stockett

We met at Andrea's house
on May ?, 2011

On the menu:
Walking tacos
Chocolate pie

For April 2011 -- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

2011-04-25T18:00:00.002-05:00

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
by Alan Bradley

UND Writers Conference -- Carl Phillips

2011-03-10T12:19:00.000-06:00

As usual this year, the UND Writers Conference is letting us host one of the writers for dinner one night. This year “our” writer is Carl Phillips:

Carl Phillips is the author of eleven books of poetry, most recently Double Shadow (2011) and Speak Low (2009). He has also written a book of prose, Coin of the Realm: Essays on the Life and Art of Poetry (2004) and translated Sophocles's Philoctetes (2004). A graduate of Harvard, where he majored in Classics, Phillips taught high school Latin for eight years, while writing the poems which would result in his first book, In the Blood, recipient of the Samuel French Morse Poetry Prize.

Our dinner is scheduled for 5:30-7:15 on Tuesday, March 29, right before Phillips’ reading at the UND Union Ballroom at 8pm.

RRVWP dinner guests may contact Kim to get involved and you may select between the following two volumes of poetry: Speak Low and Quiver of Arrows

Here are some reviews:

Speak Low
“This 10th book from the prolific Phillips is a quiet yet wounded reflection on Phillips’ signature subjects: relationships, distances, identity, and damage. Phillips’ remarkable ability to be clear yet illusive, as well as his dizzying syntax, are ever- present…”

Quiver of Arrows
“Phillips is a scholar and translator of classical Greek and a writer of syntactically complex, desire-drenched love poems that subtly, and beautifully, reinvent classical tropes and forms.”

“Quiver of Arrows is a generous gathering from Carl Phillips's work that showcases the twenty-year evolution of one of America's most distinctive—and one of poetry's most essential—contemporary voices. Hailed from the beginning of his career for a poetry provocative in its candor, uncompromising in its inquiry, and at once rigorous and innovative in its attention to craft, Phillips has in the course of eight critically acclaimed collections generated a sustained meditation on the restless and ever-shifting myth of human identity. Desire and loss, mastery and subjugation, belief and doubt, sex, animal instinct, human reason: these are among the lenses through which Phillips examines what it means to be that most bewildering, irresolvable conundrum, a human being in the world.”

For February 2011 -- Q & A by Vikas Swarup

2011-03-01T22:15:00.001-06:00

Q & A by Vikas Swarup

Meeting at Carmyn's place
February 16, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Date was switched to March 1st

I know we should have eaten Indian food, considering I did take those Indian cooking classes way back when but we opted for a soup night... perfect for a cold February night.

We (Pam, Brian, Carmyn & Andrea) did stick to the theme of the book in one way, however. I distributed a few trivial pursuit cards and we took turns asking one another questions. When someone knew an answer definitively, we asked him/her to explain the back story of "how" he/she learned that fact. It was fun to see how we each did have reasons or explanations for where we'd accumulated that nugget of knowledge.

Here's a bit about the book, from Publisher's Weekly:

When Ram Mohammad Thomas, an orphaned, uneducated waiter from Mumbai, wins a billion rupees on a quiz show, he finds himself thrown in jail. (Unable to pay out the prize, the program's producers bribed local authorities to declare Ram a cheater.) Enter attractive lawyer Smita Shah, to get Ram out of prison and listen to him explain, via flashbacks, how he knew the answers to all the show's questions. Indian diplomat Swarup's fanciful debut is based on a sound premise: you learn a lot about the world by living in it (Ram has survived abandonment, child abuse, murder). And just as the quiz show format is meant to distill his life story (each question prompts a separate flashback), Ram's life seems intended to distill the predicament of India's underclass in general.

Several of us had seen the movie and while the premise is the same the movie is quite different: the flashbacks, the relationships between the central characters, the level or type of violence our protagonist faces. Still, both were worth the time. Not only is the book on which the film is based a page turner and a fascinating look into the impoverished side of Indian culture, but the film was beautifully crafted and inspirational. I think we'd all agree that it's worth recommending.

For January 2011: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

2011-01-12T21:33:00.001-06:00

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Meeting at Kristine's at 6 pm
Wednesday, January 12, 2011

For October/November: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

2010-11-04T22:31:00.000-05:00

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
We met for the first part of the book discussion
at Bonzers on Nov. 3 at 5:00 pm

For September 2010 --The Things They Carried

2010-10-07T22:11:00.001-05:00

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
The Greater Grand Forks Big Read book selection
We met at Kon Nechi Wah's on Oct. 6th to discuss the book.

For August 2010: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

2010-08-27T22:28:00.001-05:00

The Elegance of The Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
We met at Kristine's on Wed. August 25th

For July 2010: War by Sebastian Junger

2010-07-29T10:24:00.000-05:00

War by Sebastian Junger
We met at 5:30 at Pam's on July 28th

For June 2010: Anne of Green Gables

2010-06-06T10:49:00.005-05:00

For June 2010 we are reading...
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Larry inspired our book club to read this children's classic when he mentioned his forthcoming stop in Prince Edward Island during his whirlwind summer travels. We'll be meeting at Carmyn's place on Monday June 28th at 5:30 pm.

Larry's pictures from Prince Edward Island

For May 2010 -- Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich

2010-05-25T17:11:00.003-05:00

Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich
We met on Tuesday May 25th at 6:00 pm at L' Bistro

For April 2010 - The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

2010-04-28T17:06:00.001-05:00

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
We met on April 27 at 5:30 pm at Bella Vino, the local wine bar

UND Writers Conference Dinner-- For March 2010

2010-03-31T17:15:00.000-05:00

UND Writers Conference 2010

2010-02-19T05:04:00.003-06:00

UND Writers Conference March 23-27, 2010
Click here for scheduled events

This year, the focus of the UND Writers Conference is electronic literature. “Our” writer this time around is Deena Larsen. She’ll be joining us for dinner on Tuesday, March 23, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Eagle’s Crest at the Kings’ Walk golf course in Grand Forks. Artist Cecillia Condit, will be joining us, too, and writer Nick Montfort might be with us, as well!

This year’s Writers Conference focuses on digital/electronic literature, so you have to go to these folks’ websites to read/see their work. There are no print copies for us to give you.
Space is limited, so they'll save spots for the first ten people who respond to Kim.

For February: Watership Down by Richard Adams

2010-02-08T05:02:00.001-06:00

Watership Down by Richard Adams

For November/December: That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx

2009-12-06T04:59:00.004-06:00

That Old Ace in the Hole
by Annie Proulx

Tuesday December 8th 6 pm
at Carmyn's place

The Festival of Trees -- A RRVWP book club service project

2009-11-28T14:26:00.001-06:00

Our book club participated in the LISTEN Center's Annual Festival of Trees this year. The trees, lights, and tree skirts are donated and all we had to provide was a theme, decorations and decorators. We decided that our tree might look cute covered in books and then the "decorations" would be dual-purposed, proving a family a wide range of books for kids of all ages and even some for the adults.

Book club members donated books and decorations and Andrea, Kristine and Carmyn got in the holiday spirit by decorating on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The trees were on display for a short time after that at the Columbia Mall and then they were distributed to local families in need.

Our theme was "Seasons G-READings" :) (Pam is always on hand for a good pun or two!)

For October: Lamb by Christopher Moore

2009-11-07T04:59:00.001-06:00

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
by Christopher Moore

For September: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

2009-09-30T04:56:00.001-05:00

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

For August: Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

2009-08-30T07:25:00.001-05:00

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

For July: The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

2009-07-27T20:50:00.004-05:00

The Diamond Age Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer by Neal Stephenson

Carmyn, Pam, Judy, Brian and Larry met at Pam's to discuss The Diamond Age over a bucket of chicken from the Venerable and Inscrutable Colonel Sanders.

For June: Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

2009-06-26T16:01:00.003-05:00

Carmyn, Pam, Brian, Andrea, Larry, and Kristine met at Pam's on June 25th for our discussion on Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Each year we usually try to read at least one of those books that many consider to be part of our literary consciousness--a classic. There are so many, and even as an English teacher, I've not read them all. It turned out THIS was a title many of us hadn't read.

The general response was mixed. I actually liked the book, though it was a bit "messed up" and demanded discussion. With the internet so handily available I immediately googled the book and read the Wikipedia page, some of the Spark Notes, and several articles about the book, including some biography pages of Kurt Vonnegut.

This was not my first exposure to Vonnegut, however. In college I read Cat's Cradle, a book which also inspired a "what the heck" as I read it. Both books have an irreverence for Christianity that might be part of why his work is so frequently getting "challenged" in schools and libraries. I, also, use the short story "Harrison Bergeron" with students.

One question that was posed at book club was "Why? Why is this book considered such a classic?"

We speculated and here are a few ideas that emerged. Slaughterhouse Five is a story within a story. It's a great example of post-modern writing. Part of the lesson that Billy Pilgrim learns from the Tralfamadorians (the aliens who abduct him and put him on display in a zoo on their planet) is demonstrated in the time travel. The structure of the novel seems to be doing something unusual and while that alone might be noteworthy, the subject matter is. We didn't completely solve this question.

It's an anti-war story told at a time when the world was rather fed up with the Vietnam War. It's a story about the bombing of Dresden and one man's response to that event. Vonnegut, himself, actually survived the bombing of Dresden and perhaps this is his way of dealing with that event.

This novel reminded me of Hemingway's short story "A Soldier's Home" which is in our American Literature textbook. In that story, Harold Krebs returns home from war and is clearly suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder. Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse Five is much the same. His apathy, "so it goes," to everything in his life from his wife, to his kids, to his job, is indicative of the sort of man he's become post-war. He only seems to get excited by Kilgore Trout, an unknown, unusual author whose work he's introduced to in the mental institution following the war. Kilgore Trout is a terrific character, the alien bit was great fun. And the war segments which actually do seem to appear in a chronological order were intriguing. Those bits made me want to know more about what happened in Dresden. They reminded me that I've read another version of that event in Jonathan Safron Foer's book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Slaughterhouse Five was worth the read, I'd recommend it even though some book club members would not. We had a rousing discussion, so there's always that!

For May: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

2009-05-30T15:51:00.003-05:00

We met on May 26th at Judy's to discuss The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Though we didn't really intend it to be this way, our May title is another YA book and another book on WW II. We all seemed to enjoy the book. Even though the story includes a hidden Jew, it is an entirely different perspective on the WW II experience.

The Book Thief is a childhood tale, a story of family and friends and reading and books in the midst of this horrific setting--a small town on the outskirts of Munich in Germany during WW II. It's sweet and funny and tender and loving but every action is shadowed by the world in which they live. It reminded me that people grew up like this. That entire childhoods were sprouted and spent under the shadow of Hitler, with fear lurking dark all around.

The story's narrator is Death and I liked that aspect, but because of that the whole construct of the point of view, of that narrative device, the book is a bit wobbly. I found his voice and fascination with color and use of synesthesia to be poetic and lovely, but some have found Zusak's writing style to be suspect.

One twitter friend admits that while she loved it, most in her book club found it just too depressing, though I 'm not sure anyone in OUR book club felt this way. I guess I found it uplifting. I felt that Hans and Rosa Hubermann were great heroes and wonderful parents and people. I loved so many small details in this book and the big ideas too. I'd highly recommend this one.

For April -- A Revolutionary War Theme

2009-04-29T07:02:00.004-05:00

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Volume 1 -- The Pox Party
by M.T. Anderson

On Tuesday April 28th, we met to discuss two books at Pam's place over crock pot lasagne and all sorts of delectable items.

We read Octavian Nothing along side the George Washington: Spymaster book and I felt the two were complementary texts. This one is a young adult novel which has a rather elevated vocabulary and explores some difficult issues. There was some discussion in our group as to whether or not we'd even call this a "YA book." It's meant to be written in the Gothic style and I think it's a very successful effort in that regard. It's quite neat, actually.

Much of the story is set in Pre-revolutionary war Boston at the home of Mr. Gitney or 03-01 as he prefers to be called (in his numerical system he's devised). There, young Octavian lives with his mother and it's not too long before we discover things are a bit unusual at the Novanglian College of Lucidity which is the official name for Gitney's "operation" in Boston. He has a team of researchers in science and all sorts of philosophical pursuits who come and go and are apparently studying Octavian as well.

The story explores the science and beliefs of the era, racial tensions, mounting tensions between the British and the Patriots, and personal freedoms and responsibilities. Most of the story is told through Octavian's eyes, but there is one section which I rather liked in which a young soldier named Evidence writes letters to his sister Fruition and we learn the events of the story that way.

A great scene in the story, which occurs just before all hell breaks loose, is the Pox Party which lends its name to the title of the book. In this scene Gitney rounds up friends and family and they infect themselves with a low dose of the small pox in an effort to become immune. One book club member commented that the scene reminded them of The Masque of the Red Death.

While not everyone in the group was finished with this book, I understood others to find it as engaging as I did.

George Washington, Spymaster:
How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War by Thomas B. Allen

While this book had a cool premise and lots of great resources I felt it was dry, too brief, and confusing as a result. I am all about the spy world and so learning about a founding father through that lens was neat.

The book is aimed at young readers and maybe if they were already studying the Revolutionary War this would make sense to them. However, I felt like there were so many names thrown at me with little sense of who they were or how they connected. It was a lot to keep track of and it just seemed like the author could have have delved a little deeper with each one to bring the reader into the personality and character of the various players in the story.

The notes at the end of the book that corresponded with the chapters were particularly fun. I also can see how some might get a real kick out of trying to write things in Tallmadge's code which is provided in the back of the book. The author includes a lot of websites where one can view other primary source materials and I thought that was a real bonus.

Another revolutionary book that was recommended by both Larry and Brian was Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fisher.

For March: The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

2009-04-09T22:07:00.005-05:00

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

For our March meeting we met at Carmyn's apt. on April 8th to discuss The Reader.

When I saw the film version of The Reader I instantly wanted to discuss it with someone. The ending was mystifying to me. I wanted to know how the two characters truly "felt" toward one another. Was it actually love? Was it love for both of them? I was struck by the story and immediately added the book to my "to read" list with hopes that a written version might add in a bit more explanation or narrative element complete with a bigger glimpse into the characters thoughts as if that would help me to understand better than the intense looks and implied emotions through action in the film.

What I discovered is that I actually knew LESS at times while reading the book. It seemed like there were some extra bits in the middle of the book. For some reason I don't recall him visiting with his father about the situation with Hanna at the trial... I think in the film he sees his professor. The ending was rather spot on.

Overall, I think the film was VERY well done and Kate Winslet was a terrific Hanna. I liked the book and it provided a very good book club discussion. I liked that the focus on the Holocaust was only minimal and while that colored and shaped much of what was going on in the book there was so much more. It was about personal responsibility, choices, and guilt.

To read this book in isolation would have been less satisfying for me than reading it and then discussing it with me book group.

UND Writers Conference

2009-04-03T22:10:00.001-05:00

RRVWP fellows with poet Greg Williamson
at The Toasted Frog Wed. April 1, 2009

For Feb. -- Writers Conference Book

2009-03-04T22:27:00.001-06:00

On March 4th we met at Judy's to discuss the various Writers Conference books we each chose to read.

Each year many of us take advantage of the opportunity to meet with an author from the conference and this year the RRVWP arranged for Greg Williamson, a poet, to be our guest author and provided copies of Errors in the Script for us to read. Still this year, we decided to each read our own picks and get together and discuss.

The 40th Annual UND Writers Conference will be held March 31-April 4, 2009, at UND.

Andrea read Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman and had mixed reviews but she's also read everything else he's written and enjoyed it all... She's also part done with St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell, a short story collection.

Marci finished the whole short story collection by Russell and enjoyed the book, though she wasn't able to attend the meeting.

Judy is reading Steve Almond's Candyfreak but isn't too "sweet" on it... She also remembered she'd read Feast of Love by Charles Baxter some time ago.

Carmyn has all of these on her "to read" list and is hoping to read a few more once she is done with Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman. She's really enjoying the essays in the Klosterman book and would happily read another. Carmyn's not read Baxter's Feast of Love, but she has seen the movie. Does that count?

UPDATE:
Following the conference I posted on my other blog about the event. For a closer look at the actual events, feel free to check out those posts on Greg Williamson Karen Russell and Steve Almond and Chuck Klosterman and Charles Baxter.

For January-- The Ghost in Love by Jonathan Carroll

2009-02-04T20:51:00.006-06:00

The Ghost in Love by Jonathan Carroll

We met to discuss this book on Wed. February 4th at 5:30 pm at Carmyn's place.

I served a creamy tomato soup and Pam brought a yummy pecan dessert, Judy brought some homemade bread and we had all sorts of other delectables as usual! I am getting hungry just thinking about it. Too bad we couldn't figure out a way to serve, Ofi, but I am getting ahead of myself here.

What can I say? This book is surely one of the strangest books I've ever read. The book is filled with the absurd: talking dogs, the angel of death, lesbian ghosts, white earless dogs covered in faint blue tattoos, telepathic connections to strangers, traveling to memories, meeting one's fractured self.

It's a book about fate and love (less about love than I thought it would be). It's about controlling our own destinies. The book seemed to have something to say about God. There was a lot of philosophy rolling around. A lot of ideas introduced in rapid succession which added to the profoundly bizarre nature of the tale. I don't usually say this, but I think this book could have benefited from about 150 more pages just to flesh out some of those ideas, to develop the characters. This seemed to be the consensus at book club.

I had some favorite moments. One with Danielle meeting herself at all different ages sitting on picnic benches having a feast with her favorite foods. Another moment I loved was when the dog and the ghost first reveal themselves to Ben. I love that the delicious food that Ling prepares for Ben is "Ofi." And when he asks what that is she replies: "It's love and magic; it's a kid's imagination made real." She explains that his childhood love, Gina, made up that word to describe the pretend food she made him. "Nothing is more delicious than childhood love."

Pilot, the dog, was probably the best character. I just don't think it was necessary that he be the reincarnation of Ben's Italian love who was tragically killed. That sort of spoiled things for me. I mean, what are the odds... and unless that somehow matters more, WHY even have that be part of the story.

This book was an interesting read, but not an essential one. Yet, it was fun to discuss as a group.

--review by Carmyn

The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs

2008-12-10T22:23:00.000-06:00

For December we met at Pam's on Dec. 10th to discuss The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A. J. Jacobs

Food:

Chicken tortilla soup

Tortilla chips and salsa

Sourdough bread and butter

Carrots and dip

Wine and more wine!

It's pretty funny. Entertaining, in a non-blasphemous way. I think that the rest of the group enjoyed it. Some maybe more than others.

Judy noted that this may be an entire new genre. People who do strange things so they can write books about them! She may be on to something.

Because I started reading this far too close to the book club time (are you sensing a trend with me?) I managed to only complete about half the book. But oh, what a half!

A year ago I borrowed but didn't read Jacobs' book, The Know it All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Man in the World. In that book he takes his readers through his journey of reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica A-Z.

In this one, The Year of Living Biblically, his task is to follow the Bible as literally as possible. I suppose to some it might seem blasphemous, but I think his treatment of the subject matter is just fine. A bit sensational, sure, but not particularly offensive. I felt the same way when I saw Jesus Camp. I was rather surprised by some of the things he discussed. I didn't know there was a Creation museum. That floored me. Also the existence of Clean Flicks. What the heck? I guess their practice of editing films was seen as in violation of copyright so now they simply offer "clean" movies rather than try to "clean them up."

Jacobs book is fascinating. Educational. Entertaining. Laugh-out-loud funny at times. His wife is a saint and also very funny--when she deliberately sits in every chair in their home... She has spunk and is good natured and takes her crazy husband in stride. Of course I'm only half done with the book... hmmmm.....

About a week prior to reading Jacobs' book, I was directed to look at this site, which is aimed at taking a closer look at Christian culture. I was intrigued by the way the site ended up complementing my reading. I was thinking Jacobs needed to take a look at that site. Of course I haven't even gotten to the last three months of his experiment yet, when he focuses more on the New Testament.The website, is worth a browse. I started with Stephanie's first posts back in August and worked my way forward. The site might be perceived as rude. Or mocking. I suppose there is an element of the mocking involved. Still the bottom line is that so much of what I read on that site is true of my experience. I could think of examples within the Christian culture I know, on nearly every one of the 55 posts I read. Lest you think I'm pointing a finger and laughing, please realize that I know I've subscribed to many, many of these traits at one point in time. My favorite posts? #12, #19, #25, #27, #39, #45, #56 .... If I don't quit, I'll have marked them all! :)

In case you are curious as to why Stephanie is writing this blog, she addresses that in a number of the comments I've read in which she defends herself and her posts to those who are offended. Stephy says: "Christian culture doesn't have anything to do with Jesus himself. But people in Christian culture feel that doing many of these cultural things are imperative to relationship with him, and they're not. Also, Christian culture is a way to avoid true relationship and a way to "play house" if you will, little rituals and mandates not decreed by God yet they make us feel like we are closer to God. Anything can be used to avoid relationship of course, we are endlessly creative in finding ways to avoid it, because true relationship is messy and reveals things to us about ourselves that we'd rather not see. Christian culture is a very pervasive thing that isn't clearly addressed and I think it should be. So I'm writing about it."

Both the book and this blog play around with these ideas. Ideas many hold sacred. Yet, if you let yourself, you might find yourself laughing and this book was certainly educational as well as entertaining. A. J. Jacobs has a rare and unusual mind and did I mention we thought his wife was a saint?

Fought Over Any Good Books Lately?

2008-12-06T19:54:00.000-06:00

Judy shared this with our group over email. As she stated when she sent it, I guess we are the lucky ones. Read on....

From the New York Times
By JOANNE KAUFMAN
Published: December 5, 2008

JOCELYN BOWIE was thrilled by the invitation to join a book group. She had just returned to her hometown, Bloomington, Ind., to take an administration job at Indiana University, and thought she had won a ticket to a top echelon. “I was hoping to network with all these women in upper-level jobs at I.U., then I found they were in the book group,” she said. “I thought, ‘Great! They’ll see how wonderful I am, and we’ll have these great conversations about books.’ ”

Ms. Bowie cannot pinpoint the precise moment when disillusion replaced delight. Maybe it was the evening she tried to persuade everyone to look beyond Oprah Winfrey’s picks, “and they all said ‘What’s wrong with Oprah?’ ” she said.

Or perhaps it was the meeting when she lobbied for literary classics like “Emma” and the rest of the group was abuzz about “The Secret Life of Bees,” a pop-lit best seller.

The last straw came when the group picked “The Da Vinci Code” and someone suggested the discussion would be enriched by delving into the author’s source material. “It was bad enough that they wanted to read ‘Da Vinci Code’ in the first place,” Ms. Bowie said, “but then they wanted to talk about it.” She quit shortly after, making up a polite excuse: “I told the organizer, ‘You’re reading fiction, and I’m reading history right now.’ ”

Yes, it’s a nice, high-minded idea to join a book group, a way to make friends and read books that might otherwise sit untouched. But what happens when you wind up hating all the literary selections — or the other members? Breaking up isn’t so hard to do when it means freedom from inane critical commentary, political maneuvering, hurt feelings, bad chick lit and even worse chardonnay.

“Who knew a book group could be such a soap opera?” said Barb Burg, senior vice president at Bantam Dell, which publishes many titles adopted by book groups. “You’d think it would just be about the book. But wherever I go, people want to talk to me about the infighting and the politics.”

One member may push for John Updike, while everyone else is set on John Grisham. One person wants to have a glass of wine and talk about the book, while everyone else wants to get drunk and talk about their spouses. “There are all these power struggles about what book gets chosen,” Ms. Burg said. Then come the complaints: “It’s too long, it’s too short, it’s not literary enough, it’s too literary ... ”

Read the complete article here.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

2008-11-24T20:20:00.002-06:00

For October/November we had a spirited discussion of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski on Wednesday November 12 at Carmyn's apt. We also had sour creamy cheesy baked chicken breasts, baked potatoes, green beans, and apple crisp and apple pie ice cream for dessert!

I have been sort of waiting to write about this until after I'd finished the book, but that still hasn't happened so I'll not prolong this any further.

Most everyone in our group enjoyed this book quite a bit. I liked it too, but simply ran out of time and then kept on being busy afterward. The Hamlet connections were the focus of much of our discussion. Having a number of English teachers in the group certainly helps. It's been ages since I've read Hamlet, but even I recognized many of the allusions.

I found the language and imagery to be engaging and I enjoyed the descriptions of the dog training aspects, mainly because it was so unfamiliar.

I intend to finish the book, probably over vacation. In the meantime, here are a few words from Goodreads on the book:

Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home... spoilers omitted....David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes—the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain—create a riveting family saga, a brilliant exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern classic.

Read this one. It comes highly recommended.

Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins

2008-09-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

For September's book club meeting we drove to the Northland Inn in Crookston, MN where we were treated to a delicious meal by our Crookston pal, Larry! There we discussed Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins.

Judy suggested this book and I'm glad she did. Since she'd read this one in July, she decided to try another Wiggins book rather than reread this one. She enjoyed John Dollar, but would recommend that readers just dive in and avoid finding out too much about the book before beginning. She felt that some of the surprise and wonder was stripped away by knowing the "gist" of the book before she began.

Andrea, Judy and I all finished the book and Larry and Brian were at about the same spot in the story. We discussed Wiggins' writing style and while Judy and I enjoyed the poetic, rather "literary style" of language, Larry found Wiggins' writing style grating. I enjoyed the character descriptions and really did love the characters and the way they were portrayed in this novel-- the watery-eyed, blinking, science nerd Foss, his young wispy white-haired wife Opal, the sometimes drunken, womanizing, says-it-like-it-is, Flash. We also were impressed with the time span of the book and the historical references made to things like the Scopes Monkey Trial, WWI trench warfare, prohibition, ku klux klan, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Manhatten project. The story is a tender, intriguing, often heartbreaking look at a young couple's journey through these years reflecting both his desire to contribute to science and passion for things that are luminescent and their mutual desire to have a child.

Wiggins uses imagery relating to fish, to things that are illuminated, and of course there is the the frequent reference to things unseen. I really enjoyed this book and those that finished it seemed to as well. There was some comment that the ending seemed a bit "pat," or a bit too neat, but that didn't really detract from the overall experience for me. I would recommend this book.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

2008-08-26T22:38:00.000-05:00

For August we read The Alienist by Caleb Carr
We met at Andrea's for tacos on August 21, at 6:00 pm.

We were split in our love of the book. Judy, for whom this was a reread, enjoyed the book, as did Pam who was pages away from finishing it. Both Carmyn and Brian who were midway through the story liked what they'd read so far, but Kristine and Andrea were less than impressed. Andrea was abandoning it, whereas Kristine read the entire thing.

It was fun to read about H.H. Holmes in the first chapter because many of us had read about him in an earlier book club pick, The Devil in the White City. Though that book was a nonfiction read and this one a fictional account with only a few mentions of historical figures. It was interesting to learn about the time period and more than once I wished I could dine at Delmonico's with the gang--the food descriptions were heavenly. The serial killer bits were pretty much the opposite. While this book didn't rock my world, it was a pleasurable read and worth the time it took.

Pam told us about another book she'd read by Caleb Carr --The Italian Secretary. That book was written as part of a commission by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's estate for a group of current authors to write new tales. Carr's story emerged in the form of a novel and so it was published separately rather than as part of the collection. So, if you've run out of the original Sherlock Holmes' stories, you'll have to give this collection a try or check out Carr's novel.

Young Adult Novel-- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

2008-07-25T11:08:00.001-05:00

For July we read the young adult novel Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
and we met at Kristine's for BBQs and all sorts of yummy food.

Author Study-- Louise Erdrich -- Reader's Choice

2008-06-25T21:00:00.000-05:00

For June we met at the Porpoura coffee shop to discuss our Erdrich books.

Carmyn read Tracks
Judy read A Plague of Doves
Kristine started Love Medicine and then abandoned it for The Antelope Wife
Brian read two of her children's books: The Birchbark House and The Game of Silence

The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin

2008-05-25T22:54:00.000-05:00

For May we read The Children's Blizzard and met at Judy's house.

UND Writer's Conference Book -- Junot Diaz

2008-03-28T10:48:00.000-05:00

Our featured author of the UND Writer's Conference was Junot Diaz.

Some chose to read his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and others read his short story collection Drown. We had the opportunity to meet with Diaz at The Toasted Frog.

Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky

2008-02-25T16:21:00.000-06:00

For February we read Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky
We met on Sunday, February 24th at Judy's.

The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie

2008-01-13T10:32:00.000-06:00

We read The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie

and met for brunch and book talk at Kristine's place on Saturday, January 12th.

Author Study---Sherman Alexie--Reader's Choice

2007-11-28T06:34:00.000-06:00

Sherman Alexie. For November we did an author study. Readers could choose a book by this author and we discussed our choices and his writing style and subject at Aaltos Garden Cafe, a new restaurant at the Canad Inns, at 6:00 pm on Tuesday Nov. 2oth.

Carmyn read Flight

Brian read The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Judy read Flight, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Andrea read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and Flight

Larry read Ten Little Indians

Kristine read The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Pam read Flight

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

2007-10-29T06:30:00.000-05:00

For October we read: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
We met at Judy's for brunch on Saturday October 27th

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

2007-09-28T21:28:00.000-05:00

For September we read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.
We met at Carmyn's place on Tuesday Sept. 18th at 6:30 pm

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

2007-08-22T08:59:00.000-05:00

For August we read Sophie's World

by Jostein Gaarder.

We met at Pam's on

Tuesday August 21st at 6:30 pm

Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros

2007-07-30T07:40:00.000-05:00

For July we read Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros.

We met at Pam's on Thursday July 19th

In the true spirit of book club the food was fantastic. (See pictures below) Almost unintentionally everything was in the three colors of the Mexican flag, from the guacamole to the strawberries. The book was a little less fantastic. Only Kristine managed to finish in time for our meeting. Judy and Brian aren't planning to complete it. And Pam, Carmyn, and Larry all hope to..... eventually. (I'm still working on that!) Our responses to Caramelo were mixed, though it was evident no one LOVED the book and everyone thought it dragged. Several in the group had read House on Mango Street or "Eleven" and expected this to be similar in style or format and found that Cisneros didn't quite live up to that expectation.

The structre of this novel seemed different from her previous ones, and we focused on that for awhile commenting, too, on the placement of the footnotes and what we thought of them. I didn't mind them, but agreed that they broke up the flow of the reading since they were at the end of the chapter. One suggestion was they'd be better placed at the bottom of the page where the notation occured rather than at the end of the chapter because they slowed down the reading or caused you to have to flip back and forth or forget why it was marked.

Judy pointed out that if this book had been written with a language other than Spanish sprinkled in, the sheer volume of the foreign words would not have been tolerated. It DID had an impressive amount of untranslated Spanish in the book and we spent some time looking at examples of that and shooting words Pam's way seeking explanations.

Pam liked the middle section best... while Larry prefered the first section. I didn't really have an opinion on that. I did, however, have a bit of trouble keeping the various characters straight in my head... we were learning about a young girl, her father's and mother's stories, and her grandparent's stories as they happened in Mexico City, Acapulco, Chicago etc.

I think Cisnero's style of language is pretty poetic... but Kristine had the exact opposite perspective on that. She didn't like the way Cisneros' sentences seemed so staccato while I found tons of rich description and poetry in what she wrote. Brian felt that there was TOO much description in the story and it detracted from whatever current story she was on... you'd lose track of the thread in the midst of the description.

Another thing Kristine pointed out had to do with the title and its role in the story. Caramelo. The grandma had a caramelo scarf in the story and it is also the name of the book... Since she alone, completed the book, we asked her what happens with the scarf. She felt the idea wasn't developed... she said it was like Cisnero's editor told her to go back and mention the damn scarf every 75 pages or so to keep the continuity but it really wasn't any big thing and it held no epiphany and it was more than anything contrived and lacking what it could possibly have offered.

Still, it was a good discussion and the book was interesting. I'm just not sure it was one I would recommend. Try another Cisneros book first.

Kristine's Mexican Flag Veggies

Larry's Dos Equis Beer and Pam's Flautas

Mexican candy to add even more authenticity.

Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan

2007-06-27T21:05:00.000-05:00

On June 27, we drove out to Kristi's "country home" to discuss Amy Tan's book Saving Fish From Drowning. It was a cool evening and perfect for the corn chowder Kristi made for the group. She also made spinach dip and a delicious jello fruit salad. Pam brought tinto de verano--red wine and lemonade. Kristine brought bread and Brian remembered our healthy side with veggies and dip. Marci and Carmyn brought fruit and monster cookies (compliments of our friend Anna, who also joined us) for dessert. Judy topped off the evening with a still warm homemade apple pie, that was to die for.

As we sat around the high topped table we heard consensus from the group. This wasn't the best Amy Tan any of us had read. For many of us, the story lacked sympathetic characters. For others, it was the Author's Note at the beginning they found troubling. The book hinted that the story was real.. or based on some realistic research.. because of a fictional author's note at the beginning. Kristine was intrigued enough to pause her reading and try to determine if any of these people or places existed and then was saddened to learn it was all a sort of "trick of the author." I hadn't even thought about it and simply assumed that while the story had to be fiction, I trusted the author's note to be real and that the story was BASED on some events or discoveries the author made. It wasn't until our book meeting that --I-- discovered otherwise.

We were amazed at the naivety of the Karen tribe, at the obnoxiousness of the travelers--truly playing out the role of the "ugly American" for its readers. Some readers liked Heidi by the end, so I guess there was a sympathetic connection to some extent. However, I can't say I was anything but relieved to be done with the story when it finally concluded. I love Amy Tan books but this one lacked some of the charm and magic I found in her earlier novels. In her author comments she says after her mother died that she was thinking she could no longer do mother and daughter books anymore and that her mother found a new voice in this one in the ghost narrator of Bibi Chen. I guess I did like her character for the most part but it still wasn't enough for me.

Interestingly though, Judy admitted she'd not been able to finish the book before book club. This was not because she didn't have time, but because she was reading it right before her trip to Peru and couldn't continue because it just seemed like a bad idea to read about travelers being kidnapped in a foreign country right before she was embarking on a huge adventure not unlike our characters. (why invite worry, right?)

Well, now we've been to Burma/Myanmar and back..... next stop Mexico with Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros.

May's Catch Up Month

2007-05-15T18:06:00.000-05:00

Catch-Up Month!
Meeting was Monday May 14
at Carmyn's Place

We each picked a book club book we'd not managed to finish during the past year and we tried to complete it for this meeting. For folks like Larry, who've completed every book, he simply needed to find a book he's been dying to read and go for it!

Here's what we've read this year:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
For September we each read an adolescent lit book
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Then we did a book swap for our January meeting
For Feb, we read Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
For March, our UND Writers Conference author, Stuart Dybek's book of short stories -- Childhood and other Neighborhoods.
For April, The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

The Food:
Carmyn provided colorful bean dip and tortilla chips
Pam brought brats and buns in the spirit of "Catch-up"
Marci's brought veggies to dip in a lemon dill dip.
Brian brought spinach dip and crackers.
Judy brought dessert.
Larry brought beer
Kristi brought Blue Moose spicy spinach dip and chips

The Readers:
Carmyn read The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Richards but didn't finish it. Not sure I will.

Pam read Wicked by Gregory Maguire and The Other Boelyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory (a book from her OTHER book club!)

Larry read Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. This wasn't originally a book club selection. It's a darker look at the future, a sci fi book with a changed approach--almost prophetic. It features a girl with a unique talent--she's a human beta-test for products, logos. She works as a consultant.

Brian read Assassination Vacation by Sara Vowell. Brian hadn't originally come to the meeting where we read this book and so this was a perfect chance to jump in and read one we KNEW he'd enjoy. We were right. And talking about it again as a group was like reminiscing a fond memory.

Marci read ?

Kristi read Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards--didn't like it very much-- and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls--loved it.

Judy read NOTHING... she was surviving the end of the school year! Almost there.

We also set the books for the next three months:
For June--
Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan

For July--
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros

For August--
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaardner

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

2007-05-01T09:34:00.000-05:00

The Memory Keeper's Daughter
by Kim Edwards

We met on Tuesday April 24 at Marci's House and enjoyed some delicious Papa Murphy's pizza... pepperoni and, a book club favorite, gourmet vegetarian. We enjoyed warm cheesy herb bread, fresh veggies, wine, Amber Bock beer, and Pepperidge Farms coconut cake for dessert.
Larry, Judy, Christine, Kristi, Marci, Pam, and I were all there and the discussion was immediate. Though no one seemed to "love" the book, it seemed everyone had something to say. I was at a disadvantage having only read the first few chapters; however, I'll have a chance to read it since next month is "catch up" month.

Some of our discussion centered around our discontent with certain aspects of the novel. It was mentioned that Kim Edwards was a short story writer before and we questioned if THAT was why her work seemed to have issues with concluding and how it could almost be a short story within a larger work from time to time. We agreed that parts were moving, but I also think that one claim was "the ending sucked" and another commenter felt it was "wimpy and sad." We talked about the grief of miscarriage or that of the loss of a child or a father. We also discussed the roles of husbands and wives in that historical time period and what life would be life for someone with mental disabilities in that era as compared to today. We questioned if things could have been different for Nora and David, if he'd been truthful. For a book we didn't love we actually had a pretty good conversation.

------------------------------------------------

"But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad,
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill."
--from Hamlet, Shakespeare

Our discussion time moved on to a more playful conversation including some Latin, a explanation of chiasmus, discussion of sonnets and what iambic meter sounds like, and some wonderfully cheesy jokes by Kristi involving a duck and his bill!

Childhood and Other Neighborhoods by Stuart Dybek

2007-03-30T00:03:00.000-05:00

For the month of March we read a collection of short stories by Stuart Dybek and then had an opportunity to meet with him when he was at the university for the Writer's Conference.

We met as a group a week earlier, at Judy's house, to discuss his work.

I am still working on finishing the book and writing this post but I can post two of the recipes, by special request. Carmyn made the soup, using Sara D's recipe (see, Sara... you are STILL with us even though you are far away in PA) and Judy made the scrumptious dessert.

Pumpkin Crab Soup

1-24 oz. can of pumpkin
6 cups chicken stock
1 large onion, sliced
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. cumin powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 pound crab meat (from the can is what I used)
6 oz. skim milk (or you can use cream, I did)
pepper to taste

Heat oil in a skillet and add onion. Saute for 5-8 minutes. Add cumin, cayenne, and basil. Stir for a minute. Pour in chicken stock and add pumpkin. Simmer covered for 15-20 minutes. Add crab meat and simmer the soup for 3-5 minutes. Add milk and stir. Serve!

Rum Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1/2 cup cold water
1/3 cup veg. oil
1/2 cup Capt. Morgan Spiced Rum
3 eggs

Mix and pour over 1 cup chopped pecans in tube pan.

Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees (toothpick test).
poke holes in cake and then glaze with the following mixture:

Glaze

1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar

Combine and boil 5 minutes
then add 1/2 cup rum.

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

2007-02-22T22:38:00.000-06:00

February 20, 2007 Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
Location: The Toasted Frog 7:00 pm

This was my first trip to The Toasted Frog, though I think I may be the last person in town to go there. I was not disappointed. I snacked on Larry's order of sweet potato fries (light and yummy!) while we waited at the bar and I ordered the fish taco which was wonderful. Back in the conference room where we met to discuss our book, I had dessert: deep fried cheesecake and all of that rich and delicious food was washed down with a Newcastle. Pam, Judy, Larry and I discussed the book though at the time of the meeting only Judy was done reading. Now, I think we've all managed to finish and I may not be accurate in saying this but I think we all enjoyed it.

Judy listened to the audiobook version and reported that the story had many voices reading various sections including Conan O'Brien, Dave Eggers, Stephen King, Jon Stewart and, of course, Vowell herself, whose distinct voice and deadpan delivery will be familiar to fans of NPR's This American Life.

Because they can sum this book up better than I can, I'll include the review from Publisher's Weekly on the Amazon site:

What do you get when a woman who's obsessed with death and U.S. history goes on vacation? This wacky, weirdly enthralling exploration of the first three presidential assassinations. Vowell (The Partly Cloudy Patriot), a contributor to NPR's This American Life and the voice of teenage superhero Violet Parr in The Incredibles, takes readers on a pilgrimage of sorts to the sites and monuments that pay homage to Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley, visiting everything from grave sites and simple plaques (like the one in Buffalo that marks the place where McKinley was shot) to places like the National Museum of Health and Medicine, where fragments of Lincoln's skull are on display. An expert tour guide, Vowell brings into sharp focus not only the figures involved in the assassinations, but the social and political circumstances that led to each-and she does so in the witty, sometimes irreverent manner that her fans have come to expect. Thus, readers learn not only about how Garfield found himself caught between the Stalwarts and the Half-Breeds, bitterly divided factions of the Republican party, but how his assassin, Charles Guiteau, a supporter of the Stalwarts and an occasional member of the Oneida Community, "was the one guy in a free love commune who could not get laid." Vowell also draws frequent connections between past events and the present, noting similarities between McKinley's preemptive war against Cuba and the Philippines and the current war in Iraq. This is history at its most morbid and most fascinating and, fortunately, one needn't share Vowell's interest in the macabre to thoroughly enjoy this unusual tour.

Pam is quick to say that the Garfield section was her favorite. The book being divided into only four chapters reads a little slower for those of us who enjoy a good chapter break now and then. The Lincoln section was interesting but it was also a little overwhelming. I had favorite bits all through the book and I was amazed at the parallels one can draw from these historical presidents and their lives to the political world of today. I also marveled at the connectedness of their world and the strange coincidences that show up again and again in the details Sarah Vowell explores.

Before I finished the last section of the book, I blogged about this book elsewhere. Feel free to check it out if you are interested in reading more of my thoughts on the book. I would highly recommend this title and I think I need to pick up one of her other books... A Partly Cloudy Patriot, perhaps.

December Book Exchange

2007-01-05T17:08:00.000-06:00

December Book Exchange Discussion
Thursday January 4th, 2007
Location: Marci's House at 6:00 pm

The Food:
Soup season continues
Judy brought a roasted pepper bean soup. We drank wines brought by Larry and Kristine. Carmyn brought sour dough and french bread from the Dakota Harvest Bakery, and Marci provided a yummy spinach dip and fresh veggies. Pam and her dessert were missed but Marci found some jam and so we had jam and bread for dessert as we sat by the fire and discussed our books from the exchange.

The Books:

One theme emerged.... few of us had time to read all the delicious books we brought home from the last meeting. Christmas vacation always seems like such a gift of days upon days off and then the reality hits and well.... only Judy completely finished her selection: The Painted Drum. Though I did finish ONE of my three options, Wit and Pam, who couldn't make it, did finish one of hers as well: The Chill.

Kristine finished two books over break: An imal Farm by George Orwell and The Island by Gary Paulsen. However she is still reading Tomcat in Love by Tim O'Brien as recommended by Larry for her Dec. book exchange book. She found that she was unable to empathize with the narrator and liked the bits with Viet Nam best. He is a bit of a scoundrel and she is hoping that the book will resolve itself by the ending (Larry assures us it will, though he points out that our "Tomcat" becomes less likeable as the story goes on). Ultimately Kristine is determined to find out if Lorna Sue (Tom's ex-wife) is, in fact, involved in an incestuous relationship with her brother... Hmmmm......

Larry is reading Patty Jane's House of Curl by Lorna Lardvick as recommended by Pam. It's Lardvick's first novel and it focuses on two sisters in Minnesota who have faced hardship and loss and bond to form a collective strength and a hair salon. In some ways it compares to Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes in spirit and to Steel Magnolias with its fellowship of women gathered in a hair salon. Larry read part one and had to put the book down to deal with the almost predictable plot-driven tragedies... "It was almost melodramatic--it grosses me out!" were the words he used. However part two is where the salon comes in and the women begin to rebuild their lives. Larry's connection to the story can be found in his own memories of his mother's hair salon that was part of his childhood home... smelling of permanent waves and housing a Coke machine full of those curvy cold Coke bottles.

Marci read about 1/3 of The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter as recommended by Judy. So far she likes it but doesn't "love it." The thing she DID enjoy was the different perspectives on the various love stories. Feast of Love is a book about writing a book and that was somewhat annoying to Judy when she first read it, but later it all gets even more connected and that makes it better. She was glad she read it and Marci is eager to finish it as well. Marci thought she might still try to read Picture Bride by Yoshika Uchida as recommended by Judy.

Carmyn read W;t by Margaret Edson as recommended by Kristine. This play is typical in its brevity but powerful in its message. I really enjoyed it and am thinking about buying a copy for myself. I had once seen a few minutes of the film version of the play starring Emma Thompson and oddly enough the bit I'd seen ended up being one of my favorite bits. The one thing I regretted is that I didn't know as much about John Donne as I ought. I felt that this book was one that explored the ideas of life and death and illness and regret, but it also emphasized the power of literature. Now, I'm afraid I'll need to start to study Donne's poetry. I also started the The Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdez-Rodriguez as recommended by Pam but am only about 1/3 of the way through the book. I was just consumed by reading a biography of Woody Guthrie over break and that left far too little time for other reads. I still plan to at least "taste" The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs as recommended by Kristine.

Judy read The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich as recommended by Larry. This book is different from the typical Erdrich in that it is initially set in New Hampshire. The story begins with some nominally Native American folk who live there and it connects to North Dakota with the drum which one of the main characters steals from an estate sale in order to return it to its home in North Dakota... a sort of spiritual quest. Since Judy LOVES Erdrich books she wasn't disappointed and though it didn't take the place of her favorite (Tracks) it was a pleasure to read Erdrich's latest.

Pam read The Chill by Ross MacDonald as recommended by Carmyn and she really appreciated the older style of mystery: the sort that gets solved not by CSI teams or forensic squads but by interviews, questioning and old fashioned putting two and two together. Her other book was The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland as recommended by Marci.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

2006-11-30T20:44:00.000-06:00

November 30, 2006 The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Location: Carmyn's Apartment at 6:00 pm

The Food:
Soup season at book club is my favorite.
Marci brought a corn chowder that was perfect for a chilly November evening. We drank Newcastle beer brought by Larry and a bottle of red and a bottle of white compliments of Kristine. Carmyn provided artichoke dip* and a veggie tray, and Pam brought two kinds of delicious bread. Judy's banana cream pie and cookies (the cookies were a particular favorite for me: chocolate hazelnut creme de piroline) offered a sweet ending.

The Book:
This memoir, recommended by Pam, was a hit for everyone.

The Glass Castle is a no-holds barred tale of a nomadic, deprived childhood told with the hypnotic wonderment of a child who always wants to believe that Daddy will be a hero in the end and that Momma really does know best. You are enrapt reading about Walls and her siblings rifling through trash cans at school looking for food, doing the skedaddle in the middle of the night, or waiting for Dad to come home after another bender. It's a riveting story and a testament to Walls' indomitable desire to rise above a life that could have easily turned her into just another tragic headline.... Walls tells the story from the point of view of herself as a child, recalling the events as she saw them at each respective age. Scavenger hunts in the desert and late-night escapes from the family's latest town are treated as adventures.
excerpt of a review by Denise Hazlick
MSNBC

One word repeatedly rose to the surface in our book discussion: resiliency. This story is one that demonstrates how resilient the children were in the Walls family. At times the parents seemed so amazing... creative, innovative, strong, intelligent, nonconformist, unflappable. Yet, they were also horrible... alcoholic father, excitement addict mother who'd hoard chocolate bars while her kids nearly starved, an unwillingness to work, stealing from the kids' hard earned cash, deplorable living conditions. Walls story raises questions about homelessness and family life, about dependency and responsibility, about education (the homeschooled and the unschooled), and about how far the ties to family should reach. I think we'd all agree this was a good read and one worth recommending.

Read an interview with the author here.

The Book Exchange:
We drew names and then pitched our book picks .... here's how it shaped up.

Kristine will read
Tomcat in Love by Tim O'Brien as recommended by Larry

Larry will read
Patty Jane's House of Curl by Lorna Lardvick as recommended by Pam
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman as recommended by Judy

Pam will read
The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland as recommended by Marci

Marci will read
Picture Bride by Yoshiko Uchida as recommended by Judy
The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter as recommended by Judy
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (borrowed from Carmyn, referred to in The Glass Castle)

Carmyn will read
Wit by Margaret Edson as recommended by Kristine
The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs as recommended by Kristine
The Dirty Girls Social Club by Alisa Valdez-Rodriguez as recommended by Pam

Judy will read
The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich as recommended by Larry

*The Artichoke Dip Recipe*

Combine:

One can of drained and food processed artichokes (not the marinated kind)
One cup of sour cream
One cup of mayo (I used the Canola Mayo kind)
One cup of parmesan cheese
One 8 oz block of Philadelphia cream cheese
Two-Three swish swishes of Tabasco sauce
Two-Three swish swishes of Worcestershire sauce

It helps to grease the baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Enjoy!

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

2006-10-30T20:42:00.000-06:00

October 30, 2006 Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Location: Pam's house at 6:00 pm

Our first snow may have been what kept Larry away, or perhaps it was because I forgot to send a reminder e-mail. Oops. However, those of us who could make it warmed up to Pam's delicious cider and enjoyed a main course of Judy's carrot orange soup--perfect for Halloween. I brought veggies and Marci brought bread and we all felt very healthy until we ate Kristine's caramel brownies. Sigh. And yes, it was with brownies that Kristine made her debut at book club. We'd have extended a hearty welcome regardless. Yay.

Marci gets the award for the fastest read, though I am afraid I may have enjoyed it a wee bit more than she did. I must applaud her effort considering her long-standing distaste for the film The Wizard of Oz. I have never read any of the original books (there are 14 of them) and have only watched the film, but I suspect after looking at the Annotated Wizard of Oz that I own much of the the original stories tie into this imagined life of Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West. I was surprised by the amount of politics, religion, and sex that comprise this fantastical tale and understand that L. Frank Baum had some things to say in the original tales as well. Now I may have to actually READ them. What I enjoyed most was the way the Maguire story wove in details from the film and I realized just how much I like the "literary allusion." Judy says, "It rewards the reader" and perhaps that is part of the pleasure. I loved how this book gave me a different view on the talking lion and on the yellow brick road or even why the ruby slippers were so important to Elphaba.

Marci and I even engaged in a post-book club discussion and tried to answer each other's unanswered questions and read together our favorite bits over the phone which goes to show that this title definitely was discussion worthy with topics like the nature of evil and hope and goodness and more. Most of our group found the book to be rather long and dense and while it was very appropriate for the Halloween holiday, it was a bit challenging for this time of year. However, I would encourage folks to finish it, if they've started.

Perhaps we should all take in the Broadway musical if we get a chance or read the sequel Son of a Witch. And perhaps we might give some time to the questions in this reading guide.

Reader's Choice of a Young Adult Novel

2006-09-21T15:11:00.000-05:00

Each year we designate one month to read young adult literature so we can find books to recommend to students and get a chance to see what is "out there." This month we also made our annual trek to Crookston to meet up with Larry at the country club. Pam, Judy, Marci, Larry and I met to discuss our books and share a meal on Tuesday, September 19th. Kristi was unable to make it but did share that she was reading and enjoying Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman.

Judy read Asylum for Nightface by Bruce Brooks

"A 14-year-old boy is shocked when his hash-smoking parents return from vacation as zealous converts. "Some readers may be put off by the author's satirical depiction of born-again Christians, others will applaud his attempt to challenge fundamentalism," said Publisher's Weekly. Ages 12-up. Judy pointed out that though she wasn't quite done with the book it seemed to be heading for a grim ending.

Larry read Lyddie by Katherine Paterson

"In 1843, three years after her father abandons his failing Vermont farm, 10-year-old Lyddie and her younger brother Charles are hired out as servants, while Mama and the two youngest children go off to live with relatives. After spending a grueling year working in a tavern, Lyddie flees to Lowell, Mass., in hopes of finding a better job that will provide enough income to pay off farm debts and allow the family to be reunited. Life continues to be a struggle after she is employed in a cloth factory, but Lyddie finds refuge from wretched working conditions by burying herself in books. Learning that she cannot return home--the family farm has been sold to Quaker neighbors--the girl is seized by a burning desire to gain independence by attending college. Readers will sympathize with Lyddie's hardships and admire her determination to create a better life for herself. Paterson clearly depicts the effects of poverty during the 19th century, focusing on the plight of factory workers enslaved by their dismal jobs. Impeccably researched and expertly crafted, this book is sure to satisfy those interested in America's industrialization period." Ages 10-14. says Publisher's Weekly.

Those who'd read this book before talked about how it didn't have a romantic ending and instead showed some independence of spirit in how Lyddie is determined to have her "own life."

Carmyn read Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks

"Flunking out of school and already hooked on drugs, the 14-year-old narrator, secretly molested by his stepfather, emotionally abandoned by his weak mother, leaves his mobile home in the depressed upstate New York community of Au Sable and becomes a homeless mall rat. In a burst of bravado, he acquires a crossed bones tattoo, changes his name from Chappie to Bone, and attempts to find some focus in his dead-end existence. Convinced that he is destined for a criminal career, Bone vents his anger in acts of senseless destruction. His vulnerability and his need for love and direction are fused when he and a seven-year-old waif he has rescued from a pedophile take refuge in an abandoned schoolbus with an illegal alien from Jamaica called I-Man, whose Rastafarian wisdom and gentle demeanor are fed by liberal consumption of marijuana, which he deals. It is when Bone follows I-Man to Jamaica that the narrative falters. Though the drug-permeated Jamaican milieu is portrayed with impressive authenticity, the improbability of Bone's macabre adventures there frays the plot's credibility. The novel's strengths-Bone's cool, wisecracking voice and colloquial speech, the details of an adolescent's culture-are diluted by its excesses-too many descriptions of marijuana highs, too many coincidences. Yet one finishes the book with indelible sympathy for tough-guy Bone, touched by his loneliness, fear and desperation, and having absorbed Banks's message: that (as he said recently), society's failure to save its children is "the main unrecognized tragedy of our time." said Publisher's Weekly.

I really didn't enjoy this book and I'm not sure I would recommend it.

Marci read Gifts by Ursula Le Guin

"Grade 7 Up–In this well-realized fantasy, the people of the Uplands have unusual and potentially dangerous abilities that can involve the killing or maiming of others. Gry can communicate with animals, but she refuses to use her gift to call creatures to the hunt, a stance her mother doesn't understand. The males in Orrec's line have the power of unmaking–or destroying–other living things. However, because his mother is a Lowlander, there is concern that this ability will not run true to him. When his gift finally manifests itself, it seems to be uncontrollable. His father blindfolds him so that he will not mistakenly hurt someone, and everyone fears him. Meanwhile, Ogge Drum, a greedy and cruel landowner, causes heartache for Orrec and his family. There is a strong sense of foreboding throughout the novel. The characters, who are well rounded and believable, often fail to understand the extent of the responsibility that comes with great power. In the end, Gry and Orrec come to recognize the true nature of their gifts and how best to use them. Readers can enjoy this story as a suspenseful struggle between good and evil, or they can delve deeper and come away with a better understanding of the choices that all individuals must make if they are to realize their full potential. An excellent choice for discussion and contemplation."–School Library Journal

I could see Marci wasn't "in love" with this book. She tried to stretch herself by choosing a fantasy title and in the end I am not sure this was the choice. Several of us had read other books by Ursula Le Guin and enjoyed them very much. Like, Kristi, I would recommend A Wrinkle in Time above all others.

Pam read Hoot by Carl Hiassen

"With a Florida setting and pro-environment, anti-development message, Hiaasen returns to familiar turf for his first novel for young readers," wrote PW. "Several suspenseful scenes, along with dollops of humor, help make this quite a hoot indeed." Ages 10-up. Publishers Weekly

Everyone had read this one but Larry and we'd all recommend it. Larry and Judy had each read some of his books for adults as well. Sick Puppy and Skinny Dip were mentioned. Apparently he's got quite the sense of humor but those are definitely "adult" as in not aimed at a middle school audience.

and Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filipovic

From the Publisher
"When Zlata's Diary was first published at the height of the Bosnian conflict, it became an international bestseller and was compared to The Diary of Anne Frank, both for the freshness of its voice and the grimness of the world it describes. It begins as the day-today record of the life of a typical eleven-year-old girl, preoccupied by piano lessons and birthday parties. But as war engulfs Sarajevo, Zlata Filipovic becomes a witness to food shortages and the deaths of friends and learns to wait out bombardments in a neighbor's cellar. Yet throughout she remains courageous and observant. The result is a book that has the power to move and instruct readers a world away. "

Pam and Larry agreed this was no Anne Frank. Instead the story fell a little flat. Wanting to give the book the benefit of the doubt, we decided something was "lost in translation."

and A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews

From the Publisher
In this stunning coming-of-age novel, award-winner Miriam Toews balances grief and hope in the voice of a witty, beleaguered teenager whose family is shattered by fundamentalist Christianity.

"Half of our family, the better-looking half, is missing," Nomi Nickel tells us at the beginning of A Complicated Kindness. Left alone with her sad, peculiar father, her days are spent piecing together why her mother and sister have disappeared and contemplating her inevitable career at Happy Family Farms, a chicken slaughterhouse on the outskirts of East Village. Not the East Village in New York City where Nomi would prefer to live, but an oppressive town founded by Mennonites on the cold, flat plains of Manitoba, Canada.

This darkly funny novel is the world according to the unforgettable Nomi, a bewildered and wry sixteen-year-old trapped in a town governed by fundamentalist religion and in the shattered remains of a family it destroyed. In Nomi's droll, refreshing voice, we're told the story of an eccentric, loving family that falls apart as each member lands on a collision course with the only community any of them have ever known. A work of fierce humor and tragedy by a writer who has taken the American market by storm, this searing, tender, comic testament to family love will break your heart."

Both Pam and Judy read this one and part of the attraction was the regional nature of the story. Pam compared it to a different memoir she'd just read The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls and explained why the Walls book was such a superior book, despite the fact that one was fiction and the other a memoir. For her the construction of Castle gave the reader a better sense of WHERE the story was headed and she felt that was something A Complicated Kindness lacked. Direction and Conclusion. It just sort of fizzled out. Still, it sounds like it was interesting.

Kristi read Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman

Children's Literature - Reviewed by Anne Marie Pace
"Based on the true events of June 3, 1980, in Grand Island, Nebraska, this novel chronicles the experiences of fictional character twelve-year-old Dan Hatch and his friend Arthur on a night when seven tornadoes battered the area, destroying over 500 homes and leaving four people dead. Alone with Dan's baby brother, Dan and Arthur have to use every scrap of courage they can find to keep themselves and the baby safe, reunite with their families, and eventually save an elderly neighbor. Ruckman's careful detailing of the tornado hitting the house and the ensuing damage, along with the destruction of the town, bring the events vividly home to the reader. Some adults might question Dan's mother's decision to allow the boys to reenter the destroyed, and now dangerous neighborhood in order to find Mrs. Smiley while she stays behind to care for the baby, but kids will find it exciting and daring. Upper elementary students who love adventure will race through this fast-paced story. Ages 8 to 12."

The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

2006-08-07T22:58:00.000-05:00

August 7, 2006 -- The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
Location: Blue Moose at 6:30

Sometimes there are moments when a person has to make a decision, as opposed to just letting things just happen. A person then has to happen himself. I have never done this. Life bounced off me, and bounced me, and now it was going to bounce me to death.—from The Memory of Running (p. 77)

Meet Smithson "Smithy" Ide, an overweight, friendless, chain-smoking, forty-three-year-old drunk who works as a quality control inspector at a toy-action-figure factory in Rhode Island. By all accounts, especially Smithy's own, he's a loser. Then, within one week, Smithy's beloved parents are killed in a car crash, and Smithy learns that his emotionally troubled, long-lost sister, Bethany, has turned up in a morgue in Los Angeles. Unmoored by the loss of his entire family-Smithy had always hoped Bethany might return-he rolls down the driveway of his parents' house on his old Raleigh bicycle into an epic journey that will take him clear across the country. (read more here)

Moving between past and present in alternating chapters, Smithy's story is so gripping several of our group found themselves skipping ahead to read how one strand turned out before they were willing to move back to the present in the next chapter. Marci pointed out the great "cliff-hangers" that inspired her to do that....
"Sal thought he heard a muffled scream from inside the car; then it turned into the high reeds and disappeared." (chap. 14)
"That's when Carl Greenleaf's pick up truck hit me from behind." (chap. 29)
"...and the fat-faced redheaded guy shot me." (chap.47)

Pam noticed the metaphor of legs in the story. I guess it makes sense because Smithy was a "running man" though he doesn't really run again until the very end. He often feels his fears or inadequacies first in his legs. The title of the book shows up when their dog gets fixed. "He'll have the memory of running. Then he'll forget about girl dogs and be fat and happy." --Bethany"You thought my legs is all there is." --Norma"I don't have legs enough for my family." -- Smithy

We found ourselves trying to decide if Norma, the neighbor confined to her wheelchair who'd been nursing a 40 year crush on Smithy, was believable.... But we all believed Bethany--the "voice" and her poses. We hated Glen Golden (the golfing psychiatrist) and Georgiana Glass and decided this book didn't paint a very good picture of the medical profession and what's with all the "G's?" This story made us think about humanity... the different people Smithy meets, the way he is treated, the conclusions we jump to...

This was a pleasant book.... despite the sadness and the struggle, it wasn't maudlin. We were all glad to have read it. Thanks for the recommendation Larry.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

2006-07-06T22:21:00.000-05:00

July 6, 2006 -- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson (nonfiction)

Meeting Location: Suite 49 at 6:30

Here's the Random House link for the book.

taken from Amazon.com
Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that The Devil in the White City is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison. The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims. Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing. --John Moe

*********

Judy, Marci, Larry, Pam and I met on the patio for drinks, dinner, and dessert.... and of course to discuss the book. I was pleasantly surprised with this historical work and that view was shared by most. Initially the book was recommended to Larry by a student, and I actually purchased this a few months ago for my father, not even realizing it was nonfiction.

We all agreed that this book is like "a spoonful of sugar" when it comes to learning about history, not that we are opposed to that either. But as Judy said, the book asked "little of us as readers" and was a pleasant read. I would guess that many students would enjoy this glimpse into our history. I had never realized how this one event--The Chicago World's Fair of 1893-- did so much to shape our world... From Cracker Jacks to the Ferris Wheel, from Buffalo Bill to Frank Lloyd Wright, so many new ideas, products, people were introduced or cited within the pages of this book which focuses on a fairly narrow slice of history.

Marci shared excerpts from Failure is Impossible, a book about Susan B. Anthony, that included the speech she gave (alluded to in our book) rejecting the idea of closing public places on the sabbath,

"It seems to me the common sense thing that all public places of art, science and learning should be open to suit the convenience of all classes of people; the ten hours of each week-day for such as have leisure, the evenings and Sundays for those whose bread-winning employments occupy every one of those ten hours of each of the six week-days."

I was particularly struck by the suggestion that Walt Disney's father who worked on creating the "White City" would later tell stories about it to his sons, possibly planting an idea for what would come to be Disneyland.

We discussed the idea of the two stories.... how they ran side by side and yet never converged and what we though about that aspect of the narrative. Larry reiterated his distaste for stories that jump from one perspective to another and I guess this is the second book we've read this summer to do that. I am not nearly so troubled by that sort of thing and I actually thought the storyline of Holmes, the serial killer, provided an element that broke up some of the dense detail of the city and its construction.

Pam created a list of dynamite questions suitable for book club trivia or perhaps to be used at our trivia group on Saturday nights. This book is oozing with little known facts that appeal to to folks like us. It was noted that the beginning and the ending of the book with the sea voyage of Burnham on the Olympic was a clever way to bookend the story.

This is one we'd recommend.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

2006-06-03T16:07:00.000-05:00

May-June 2006 -- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer (fiction)

Meeting Location: Capones

We were scheduled to meet at the end of May but with the end of school year and all, people were having a hard time finishing the book. Since I'd read it in February it wasn't so bad for me, but I did want to reread it and I hadn't done that yet either. So we rescheduled on June 3rd at Capone's for a Saturday lunch. Larry, Judy, Pam and I were there to discuss and it seemed that the general agreement was this book deserves a thumbs up. Not sure about the rest, but I intend to read Everything is Illuminated, Safran Foer's other book that was recently made into a movie.

One aspect of this book that I found delightful was the visual layout of the pages... there were photographs and unusual things done with the typography. One thing I liked but others found somewhat distracting was the dual stories that were happening in periodic alternating chapters in which we hear the voices of Oskar's grandmother and that of his grandfather. I actually liked those bits quite a lot and felt that they added depth to his story.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Oskar Schell is an inventor, Francophile, tambourine player, Shakespearean actor, jeweler, pacifist. He is nine years old. And he is on an urgent, secret search through the five boroughs of New York to find the lock that fits a mysterious key belonging to his father, who died in the attacks on the World Trade Center.An inspired creation, Oskar is endearing, exasperating, and unforgettable. His search for the lock careens from Central Park to Coney Island to the Bronx and beyond. But it also travels into history, to Dresden and Hiroshima, where horrific bombings once shattered other lives. Along the way, Oskar encounters a motley assortment of humanity—a 103-year-old war reporter, a tour guide who never leaves the Empire State Building, lovers enraptured or scorned—all survivors in their own ways. Ultimately, Oskar ends his journey where it began, at his father's grave. But now he is accompanied by the silent stranger who has been renting the spare room of his grandmother's apartment. They are there to dig up his father's empty coffin.

Our Spring Catch Up Session

2006-04-19T08:17:00.000-05:00

April 2006 -- Spring Catch-Up Session
Meeting Location: Hilton Garden Inn

This time around Larry, Pam and I met at The Hilton Garden Inn. We enjoyed a meal and discussed the books we completed for that month. The object was to go back into the recent book club past and find a title we'd not completed, read it and spend time discussing those books further.

Larry read Shadow of the Wind (La Sombra Del Viento) by Carlos Ruiz Zafron. He also read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and Shakespeare: A Biography by Peter Ackroyd

Pam read Gilead by Marilynne Robinson and some British murder mysteries.

Carmyn tried to read Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.... it's just not happening (Larry said not to be too hard on myself but that the book might appeal to an older person.... Hmmmm)
Instead she read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Public Image by Muriel Spark and The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.

Letters to a Teacher by Sam Pickering

2006-03-19T18:36:00.000-06:00

March 2006 -- Letters to a Teacher by Sam Pickering (nonfiction)
Writer's Conference Author
Meeting Location: Suite 49 & Hilton Garden Inn

Each year one author at the UND Writer's Conference agrees to meet with our RRVWP participants and our book club members usually try to get involved and make that our book for the month of February or March. This year our author was Sam Pickering and we met at Suite 49 in their back room to discuss. The food was good and the conversation too, unfortunately the good conversation happened around Mr. Pickering rather than as stimulated by his presence... there may have been too many people or perhaps we shouldn't have tried to EAT and discuss... a coffee shop or the fireside room at Christus Rex might have been better suited for our purposes. Nevertheless Mr. Pickering echoed back many of his remarks from his book and the following night he entertained the crowd at the Empire Theatre as he offered more of his remarks on teaching and life.

Having recently read Teacher Man by Frank McCourt didn't help this reading situation. In some ways, I felt both books were a bit similar and neither were quite what I had in mind. For the month of March we did meet once BEFORE to discuss this title at the Hilton Garden Inn and Judy, Kristi, Larry, Pam and I were able to prepare for our meeting and discuss the book fully and prepare to meet the author.

1421 The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies

2006-02-05T08:47:00.000-06:00

February 2006 -- 1421 The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies
Meeting Location: Judy's House

This nonfiction selection was one of many suggested at the previous meeting and Larry even had a DVD which he brought to our discussion. Following the meeting, Judy, Pam and I all watched it. I found this book fascinating but I never did finish it. Judy found it to be almost too much like a "research paper" and yet the concept was very intriguing... Pam read a different book by mistake. :)

Our discussion was at Judy's and this month was a small group... Larry, Judy and I. But we had DELICIOUS food following the Chinese theme.. I brought some takeout (not very creative, I'll admit) Judy made hot and sour soup and Larry brought Tsingtao beer. I can't remember much of the discussion... but I haven't forgotten that soup. Yum.

Choice of a Young Adult Novel

2006-01-03T21:03:00.000-06:00

January 2006 -- Reader's Choice of a Young Adult Novel
Meeting Location: Carmyn's Apartment

Some might wonder at this choice of genre for an adult book club. However, we are all teachers and are in a position of recommending books to kids and the best way to do that is to read young adult books. We also expand our knowledge base and hear about many books as we discuss our varied titles. This book gathering was held at Carmyn's apartment and Larry, Brian, Judy and Pam were in attendance.

Carmyn read Siberia by Ann Halem and Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson

Pam read Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan

Larry read Izzy Willy & Nilly by Cynthia Voigt & 7th Son by Orson Scott Card

Brian read The Boys are Back in Town by Christopher Golden

Judy read Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

2005-12-05T14:38:00.000-06:00

November-December 2005 -- Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (fiction)
Meeting Location: Judy's place

Marilynne Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize after the publication of this book. That is supposed to mean something, and while I suspect the book is good and has a point and is one I might enjoy, I didn't finish it. Others liked it though.

Taken from the Amazon site:

The narrator, John Ames, is 76, a preacher who has lived almost all of his life in Gilead, Iowa. He is writing a letter to his almost seven-year-old son, the blessing of his second marriage. It is a summing-up, an apologia, a consideration of his life. Robinson takes the story away from being simply the reminiscences of one man and moves it into the realm of a meditation on fathers and children, particularly sons, on faith, and on the imperfectability of man.

The reason for the letter is Ames's failing health. He wants to leave an account of himself for this son who will never really know him. His greatest regret is that he hasn't much to leave them, in worldly terms. "Your mother told you I'm writing your begats, and you seemed very pleased with the idea. Well, then. What should I record for you?" In the course of the narrative, John Ames records himself, inside and out, in a meditative style. Robinson's prose asks the reader to slow down to the pace of an old man in Gilead, Iowa, in 1956. Ames writes of his father and grandfather, estranged over his grandfather's departure for Kansas to march for abolition and his father's lifelong pacifism. The tension between them, their love for each other and their inability to bridge the chasm of their beliefs is a constant source of rumination for John Ames. Fathers and sons.

The other constant in the book is Ames's friendship since childhood with "old Boughton," a Presbyterian minister. Boughton, father of many children, favors his son, named John Ames Boughton, above all others. Ames must constantly monitor his tendency to be envious of Boughton's bounteous family; his first wife died in childbirth and the baby died almost immediately after her. Jack Boughton is a ne'er-do-well, Ames knows it and strives to love him as he knows he should. Jack arrives in Gilead after a long absence, full of charm and mischief, causing Ames to wonder what influence he might have on Ames's young wife and son when Ames dies.

These are the things that Ames tells his son about: his ancestors, the nature of love and friendship, the part that faith and prayer play in every life and an awareness of one's own culpability. There is also reconciliation without resignation, self-awareness without deprecation, abundant good humor, philosophical queries--Jack asks, "'Do you ever wonder why American Christianity seems to wait for the real thinking to be done elsewhere?'"--and an ongoing sense of childlike wonder at the beauty and variety of God's world.

In Marilynne Robinson's hands, there is a balm in Gilead, as the old spiritual tells us. --Valerie Ryan

Reader's Choice of a Jasper Fforde Book

2005-10-17T14:11:00.000-05:00

October 2005 --Reader's Choice of a Jasper Fforde Book (fiction/fantasy)

For October we met at Bonzers in the back room and discussed a variety of Jasper Fforde books and between us, every one of his books were covered. For more information about this author check out his website and that will also provide a good idea of the sort of books he writes.

Thursday Next Books:

The Eyre Affair

Lost in a Good Book

The Well of Lost Plots

Something Rotten

And a New Title:

The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime

Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

2005-09-20T22:42:00.000-05:00

September 2005 -- Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

Meeting location: Crookston Country Club

From Publishers Weekly
Christopher Boone, the autistic 15-year-old narrator of this revelatory novel, relaxes by groaning and doing math problems in his head, eats red-but not yellow or brown-foods and screams when he is touched. Strange as he may seem, other people are far more of a conundrum to him, for he lacks the intuitive "theory of mind" by which most of us sense what's going on in other people's heads. When his neighbor's poodle is killed and Christopher is falsely accused of the crime, he decides that he will take a page from Sherlock Holmes (one of his favorite characters) and track down the killer. As the mystery leads him to the secrets of his parents' broken marriage and then into an odyssey to find his place in the world, he must fall back on deductive logic to navigate the emotional complexities of a social world that remains a closed book to him. In the hands of first-time novelist Haddon, Christopher is a fascinating case study and, above all, a sympathetic boy: not closed off, as the stereotype would have it, but too open-overwhelmed by sensations, bereft of the filters through which normal people screen their surroundings. Christopher can only make sense of the chaos of stimuli by imposing arbitrary patterns ("4 yellow cars in a row made it a Black Day, which is a day when I don't speak to anyone and sit on my own reading books and don't eat my lunch and Take No Risks"). His literal-minded observations make for a kind of poetic sensibility and a poignant evocation of character. Though Christopher insists, "This will not be a funny book. I cannot tell jokes because I do not understand them," the novel brims with touching, ironic humor. The result is an eye-opening work in a unique and compelling literary voice. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Swap From July

2005-08-20T22:48:00.000-05:00

August 2005 -- Book Swap Discussion
Location: Missy's Place

Carmyn read Carumba! by Nina Marie Martinez and I read House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer .... both recommended by Pam.

Judy read About a Boy by Nick Hornby recommended by Carmyn.

Missy read ??? by ???? recommended by Larry.

Larry read Handling Sin by Michael Malone recommended by Pam.

Pam read True Notebooks by Mark Salzman recommended by Missy.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

2005-07-20T19:49:00.000-05:00

July 2005 -- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (fiction)

Location: Kristi's Country Home

The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseni

2005-06-20T15:52:00.000-05:00

June 2005 -- The Kite Runner by Khaled Housseni (fiction)

Location: Pam's Place

Catch-Up Session

2005-05-20T20:32:00.000-05:00

May 2005 -- Catch Up Session at Judy's

Carmyn finished Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi.

Pam finished The Known World by Edward P. Jones.

Reader's Choice of Kathleen Norris Titles

2005-04-10T22:34:00.000-05:00

April 2005 -- Any book by Kathleen Norris ( Writer's Conference author)
Meeting Location: Christus Rex Fireside Room

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

2005-03-16T20:39:00.000-06:00

March 2005 -- Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (memoir)

Location: Pam's House

The Known World by Edward P. Jones

2005-02-15T19:41:00.000-06:00

February 2005 -- The Known World by Edward P. Jones (fiction)
Meeting Location: Marci's House

Reader's Choice of a Young Adult Book

2005-01-07T20:58:00.000-06:00

January 2005 -- Reader's Choice of a Young Adult Book
Meeting Location: Kristi's house in town

House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Tales of Despereaux by Kate diCamillo

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

2004-12-10T20:00:00.000-06:00

December 2004 -- Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (fiction)
Meeting Location: Judy's House

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

2004-10-10T20:02:00.000-05:00

October 2004 -- Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (essays)
Meeting Location: Carmyn's Apartment
Attire: Corduroy and Denim

The Shadow of the Wind (La Sombra del Viento) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

2004-09-20T22:04:00.000-05:00

September 2004 -- The Shadow of the Wind (La Sombra del Viento) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (fiction) Meeting Location: Blue Moose

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman -- The Quality of Life Report by Meghan Daum

2004-07-20T17:26:00.000-05:00

July 2004 -- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and The Quality of Life Report by Meghan Daum (fiction) Meeting Location: Grizzly's

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

2004-06-20T20:30:00.000-05:00

June 2004 -- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (fiction)
Meeting Location: Pam's House

Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayes

2004-05-20T20:41:00.000-05:00

May 2004 -- Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy by Frances Mayes (memoir)
Meeting Location: Lola's Italian Restaurant

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

2004-04-10T22:41:00.000-05:00

April 2004 -- Fast Food Nation The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser (nonfiction) Meeting Location: Blue Moose

The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich

2004-03-20T20:42:00.000-06:00

March 2004 -- The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich (fiction)
Meeting Location: Branigans

What I Think I Did by Larry Woiwode

2004-02-26T20:43:00.000-06:00

February 2004 -- What I Think I Did: A Season of Survival in Two Acts by Larry Woiwode (writer's conference author)

Reader's Choice of a Young Adult Title

2004-01-20T20:50:00.000-06:00

January 2004 -- Reader's Choice of a Young Adult Title

Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America by

2003-11-17T20:24:00.000-06:00

November 2003 -- Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenrich

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

2003-10-20T19:23:00.000-05:00

October 2003 -- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (fiction)

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

2003-09-20T20:23:00.000-05:00

September 2003 -- The Secret History by Donna Tartt (fiction)

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

2003-08-20T17:22:00.000-05:00

August 2003 -- Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand (nonfiction)

Reader's Choice from our Summer Reading Lists

2003-07-22T22:31:00.000-05:00

July 2003 -- Reader's Choice from our Summer Reading Lists
Meeting Location: Blue Moose

Larry read 334 by Thomas Disch
Brian read Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War & Other B attles by Anthony Swofford
Carmyn read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

2003-06-14T22:21:00.000-05:00

June 2003 -- Life of Pi by Yann Martel (fiction)

The Dream of the Marsh Wren by Pattiann Rogers

2003-04-10T22:17:00.000-05:00

April 2003 -- The Dream of the Marsh Wren: Writing as Reciprocal Creation by Pattiann Rogers (poetry and writing)
2003 Writer's Conference Author

the Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

2003-03-22T22:14:00.000-06:00

March 2003 -- The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks (nonfiction)
2003 Writer's Conference Author

Reader's Choice of a Louise Erdrich book

2003-02-06T22:08:00.000-06:00

February 2003 -- Readers Choice of a Louise Erdrich book (fiction)
Meeting Location: East Grand Forks Campbell Library

Judy read Tracks by Louise Erdrich
I attempted to read Tales of Burning Love by Louise Erdrich
Larry read ???

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

2003-01-04T22:06:00.000-06:00

January 2003 -- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (fiction)

Christmas Party Book Talk

2002-12-22T12:04:00.000-06:00

December 2002 -- Christmas Party at Carmyn's
We each shared a book or two we enjoyed to swap if someone was interested

Judy shared Janet Evanovich mysteries. Here's her website.