Sunday, April 21, 2024

The Book woman of Troublesome Creek

 Our next meeting of the year was held at Pam's house.  The BookWoman of Troublesome Creek was about 19 year old Cussy Carter-the last living female of the Blue People ancestry- who lived in Kentucky.

We almost had full attendance at this meeting.  The desserts were awesome and the discussion lively. Everyone was fascinated by the story of the "blue people of Kentucky."  Not a subject we ever learned about in school for sure.  Also, equally interesting was the story of the librarians who travelled from place to place delivering the books.  The book seemed a little contrived and predictable to many and more like a young adult novel.   A lively discussion by all and and certainly glad we learned a little about the region.  

Definitely a fun read.


Hello Beautiful


 Our third meeting of this year was held at Lisa H's house.   The book was Hello Beautiful   by Anne Napolitano.      Of course I hold a bias here as it was my pick.  I loved this book from the very beginning.   First, of course because of my Italian upbringing and second because of the four sisters.  I remember when my daughter Natalie called me on the phone crying when she was pregnant to say "  I'm so glad Lily will have a sister!"


The reviews however were mixed.   Many felt frustrated about the actions of the mom in the story and thought it didn't hold true.  Others felt it was contrived when the basketball players combed the city looking for William.    Many thought that the basketball angle was well thought out.  Everyone loved the character of "Kent."  


I'm holding fast on my opinion of this book.  What makes a book club so wonderful however is the varying opinions. How boring it would be if everyone agreed all the time!  



Saturday, February 3, 2024

 February 3rd, 2024


Our second book club meeting of the year was held at Lynn's house on Thursday, Feb. 1st.  It was an outdoor meeting held by Lynn's beautiful, very warm outdoor fireplace.    We actually ended up taking off our jackets for a bit. In attendance (in person) were myself, Lynn, Janet, and Kirsten.  On Zoom, were Lisa Elkins and Mitra.   The book was NORTH WOODS by Daniel Mason. This was a magnificent book.   All in attendance gave the book highly rated 5's.  I was the only one in disagreement because I listened to it and found it hard to understand but certainly realize the brilliance of the author.


Many of the ladies in fact expressed that when chapters ended they were sad to see the characters leave and they wanted more time with them.   Mitra provided much insight to the way the character's connected to each other.  Everyone (except me lol). had so many great things to add about the layers within the book. I kept asking "wait a minute, what happened in this chapter?'  

It was a wonderful night and am looking forward to next month's book.


Hello Beautiful.            by Anne Napolitano


Please feel free to comment on this blog entry and add more.


Best,

Lisa


Saturday, January 13, 2024

 January 9th, 2024


Happy New Year to all readers.....Our first book club of the year met at Keiko's house on a Tuesday night.....The day was crazy with threats of rainstorms, winds etc.   A flurry of texts went back and forth about who was attending in person or who was attending by Zoom.   

In person attendance ended up being;   Laura, Debbie, Janet, Lisa H, Keiko(host), Pam, and Mitra.

On zoom were Lynn K, Kirsten, and Marlyn....Lisa E and Madge couldn't make it.

We started by listing our best and worst choices of the previous year's books....Although choices were varied the clear choice of best was awarded to DemonCopperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.   We all agreed when a book is good it is truly apparent.    

This month's selection was  Trust   by Hernan Diaz.      (A Pulitzer Prize winner)

Scores were variable with several people really liking it to some people being confused by the structure of the book.    Mitra really liked it and gave it a five.......The plot revolves around a successful financier and his wife who not only survived the crash of 1929 but thrived and added to their wealth.   The story is told through 4 perspectives...Book one is a fictional account, book two is the financier's perspective, book three is told through the lens of the woman hired to write the story, and the final installment is told through the diary of the wife... Pam gave a terrific synopsis of the book....

The discussion this evening was thoughtful and thought provoking...When views about books are varied it alway provides a more interesting discussion.....Keiko even had some payday candies to integrate the theme.

Overall it was an interesting way to start the new year in books....


Next up

February.         Northwoods

March.             Hello Beautiful


Ladies please feel free to comment and add to this post.....See you all soon..



 



Thursday, January 4, 2024

Book Club Book list @ 9/2021

 (Updated 1/4/2024)

                              Year 1 September 2007

1.       9/07 The Glass Castle,  by Jeannette Walls

2.       10/07 Kabul Beauty School,  by Deborah Rodriguez

3.       11/07 Loving Frank , by Nancy Horan

4.       1/08 The Dissident,  by Nell Freudenberger

5.       2/08 A Spot of Bother,  by Mark Haddon

6.       3/08 The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, by Maggie O’Farrell

7.       4/08 Paint it Black,  by Janet Fitch

8.       5/08 Disgrace,  by J.M. Coetzee

9.       6/08 Echo Maker , by Richard Powers

10.   7/08 My Antonia,  by Willa Cather

                      Year 2

11.   9/08 Kavalier and Clay,  by Michael Chabon

12.   10/08 The Art of Racing In The Rain,  by Garth Sein

13.   11/08 The Good Earth,  by Pearl S. Buck

14.   12/08 Object Lessons,  by Anna Quindlen

15.   1/09 The Flander’s Panel,  by Arturo Perez-Reverte

16.   2/09 The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao,  by Jumot Diaz

17.   3/09 The Seduction of Water,  by Carol Goodman

18.   4/09 Howards End,  by E. M. Forster

19.   5/09 The Book Thief,  by Markus Zusak

20.   6/09 Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,  by Jamie Ford

21.   7/09 People of the Book,  by Geraldine Brooks

                     Year 3

22.   9/09 The Story of Edgar Sawtelle,  by David Wroblewski

23.   10/09 The Help,  by Kathryn Stockett

24.   11/09 Olive Kitteridge,  by Elizabeth Strout

25.   12/09 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,  by Mary Ann Shaffer/Annie Barrows

26.   1/10 The Elegance of the Hedgehog,  by Muriel Barbery

27.   2/10 Nine Parts of Desire,  by Geraldine Brooks

28.   3/10 Traveling with Pomegranates,  by Sue Monk Kidd/Ann Kidd Taylor

29.   4/10 Wickett’s Remedy,  by Myla Goldberg

30.   5/10 Ender’s Game,  by Orson Scott Card

31.   6/10 Lady Chatterley’s Lover,  by D.H. Lawrence

32.   7/10 Pearl of China,  by Anchee Min

                          Year 4

33.   9/10 Let The Great World Spin, by Colum McCann

34.   10/10 Cutting For Stone, by Abraham Verghese

35.   11/10 The Girl Who Played With The Dragon Tattoo, by Steig Larsson

36.   12/10 The Girl Who Played With Fire, by Steig Larsson

37.   1/11 The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, by Steig Larsson

38.   2/11 Moloka’i , by Alan Brennert

39.   3/11 An Inconvenient Elephant, by Judy Renee Singer

40.   4/11 The Shadow Of The Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

41.   5/11 Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand

42.   6/11 Little Bee, by Chris Cleave

43.   7/11 The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

                           Year 5

44.   9/11 The Way To Paradise, by Mario Vargas Llosa

45.   10/11 When A Crocodile Eats The Sun, by Peter Goodwin

46.   11/11 Bossy Pants, by Tina Fey

47.   12/11 City of Thieves, by David Benioff

48.   1/12 The Budda In The Attic, by Julia Otsuka

49.   2/12 The Warmth Of Other Suns: The Epic Story Of America’s Great Migration, by Isabel Wilkerson

50.   3/12 America Alone: The End Of The World As We Know It, by Mark Steyn

51.   4/12 My Long Trip Home: A Family Memoir, by Mark Whitaker

52.   5/12 The Tiger’s Wife, by Tea Obreht

53.   6/12 To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

54.   7/12 Defending Jacob, by William Landay

55.   8/12 Biography, choice of biographies

                         Year 6

56.   9/12 Behind The Beautiful Forevers, by Katherine Boo

57.   10/12 Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn

58.   11/12 State of Wonder by, Ann Patchett

59.   12/12 Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne

60.   1/13 The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

61.   2/13 City of Women, by David Gilham

62.   3/13 Wild, by Cheryl Strayed

63.   4/13 Round House, by Louisa Erdrich

64.   5/13 The Kitchen House, by Kathleen Grissom

65.   6/13 The Middlestein’s, by Jami Attenberg

66.   7/13 The Aviator’s Wife, by Melanie Benjamin

                               Year 7

67.   9/13 The Burgess Boys, by Elizabeth Strout

68.   10/13 The Mountains Echoes, by Khaled Hasseini

69.   11/13 Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

70.   12/13 We are Water, by Wally Lamb

71.   1/14 Secret Daughter, by Shilpi Gowda

72.   2/14 Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler

73.   3/14 Orange is the New Black, by Piper Kerman

74.   4/14 The Cookoo’s Calling by Robert Galbrath

75.   5/14 The Lowland, by Jhumpa Lahiri

76.   6/14 Under the Starry Sky, by Nancy Horan

77.   7/14 Five Days at Memorial, by Sheri Fink

78.   8/14 The Invention of Wings, by Sue Monk Kidd

                                Year 8

79.   9/14 Notorious Life, by Kate Manning

80.   10/14 The Valley of Amazement, by Amy Tan

81.   11/14 The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman

82.   12/14 Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett

83.   1/15 The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel Brown

84.   2/15 You Should have Known, by Jean Korelitz

85.   3/15 The Children’s Act, by  Ian McEwan

86.   4/15 The Walk Across the Sun, by Corban Addison

87.   5/15 The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson

88.   6/15 Americanah, by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie

89.   7/15 The Boston Girl, by Anita Diamant

90.   8/15 The Residence, by Kate Anderson Brower

                                    Year 9

91.   9/15 The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen

92.   10/15 Bettyville, by George Hodgman

93.   11/15 Missoula, by John Krakauer

94.   12/15 Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah

95.   1/16 God Help the Child, by Toni Morrison

96.   2/16 Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

97.   3/16 My Name is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout

98.   4/16 The Door by Magda, Magda Szabo

99.   5/16 The Art of Hearing Heart Beats, by Jan-Philipp Sendker

100.           6/16 My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

101.           7/16 Avenue of Mysteries, by John Irving

102.           8/16 M Train, by Patti Smith

                               

                                                Year 10

103.           9/16 Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson

104.           10/16 Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

105.           11/16 The Underground Railroad by Colsom Whitehead

106.           12/16 A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman

107.           1/17 Midnight in Broad Daylight by Pamela Rosner Sakamoto

108.           2/17 Runaway by Alice Munro

109.           3/17 Commonwealth by Ann Patchet

110.           4/17 Tess of the D’Urbivilles by Thoms Hardy

111.           5/17 A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

112.           6/17 The Space Between Us by Thirty Umrigar

113.           7/17 Short Stories by Anton Chekhov

114.           8/17 The Girls by Emma Cline

Year 11

115.           9/17 Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein

116.           10/17 The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

117.           11/17 Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

118.           12/17 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

119.           1/18 Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

120.           2/18 Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel

121.           3/18 [NYC Opera Outing!]

122.           4/18 Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

123.           5/18 Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

124.           6/18 Educated by Tara Westover

125.           7/18 To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

126.           8/18 Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

Year 12

127.           9/18 The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn

128.           10/18 The Red-Haired Woman by Orhan Pamuk

129.           11/18 Killers of the Flower Moon by David Gramm

130.           12/18 There There by Tommy Orange

131.           1/19 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

132.           2/19 I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

133.           3/19 The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urea

134.           4/19 UnSheltered by Barbara Kingsilver

135.           5/19 The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

136.           6/19 The Power by Naomi Alderman

137.           7/19 Maybe You Should Talk To Someone by Lori Gottlieb

138.           8/19 Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

Year 13

139.           9/19 Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

140.           10/19 The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

141.           11/19 Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

142.           12/19 Paris in the Present Tense by Mark Helprin

143.           1/20 Book by Toni Morrison (Reader’s Choice)

144.           2/20 Know My Name by Chanel Miller 

145.           3/20 The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

146.           4/20 Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

147.           5/20 Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami

148.           6/20 A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

149.           7/20 The Animal Family by Randall Jarrell

150.           8/20 Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts

                                                Year 14

151.           9/20 The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

152.           10/20 The Mountains Sing by Que Mai Phan Nguyen

153.           11/20 Street Car Named Desire; Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams

154.           12/20 Akin by Emma Donoghue

155.           1/21 The Splendid and The Vile by Erik Larson

156.           2/21 The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

157.           3/21 Heavy, An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

158.           4/21 Olive Again, by Elizabeth Strout

159.           5/21 The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Dare

160.           6/21 A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

161.           7/21 Inherit The Wind; The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee

162.           8/21 The Four Winds by Kirsten Hannah

                                                Year 15

163. 9/21 The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

164. 10/21 The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkah

165. 11/21 Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

166. 12/21 The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende

167. 1/22 The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

168. 2/22 The Swim In A Pond In The Rain and Other Short Stories by George Saunders

169. 3/22 Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

170. 4/22 Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman

171. 5/22 Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

172. 6/22 The Animal Family by Randall Jerrell

7/22 Skipped – no book

173. 8/22 Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty


Year 16


174. 9/22 Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh


175. 10/22 The Night Watchman by Louise Erdich

176. 11/22 Rashomon & In a Grove by Ryunosuke Akutagawa

177. 12/22 The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

1/23 Skipped – no book

178. 2/23 Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

179. 3/23 Evening in Paradise, and Others by Lucia Berlin

180. 4/23 The Book of Language by Sue Monk Kidd

181. 5/23 Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

182. 6/23 Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

183. 7/23 Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner

184. 8/23 Born a Crime by Trevor Noah


Year 17

185. 9/23 Ines of My Soul by Isabel Allende

186. 10/23 It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

187. 11/23 The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

188. 12/23 Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

189. 1/24 Trust by Hernan Diaz

190. 2/24 North Woods by Daniel Mason