Novel Discussions

Group Pictures-Rest of 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:10:00 +0000

August Meeting @ Kate's- Close Your Eyes Hold Hands

September Meeting @ the game- This is Where I Leave You

October Meeting @ Veronica's- Boy, Snow, Bird

November Meeting @ Susan's- Modoc

December Meeting @ Karen's- Some Luck

Group Picture-The Husband's Secret

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 13:53:00 +0000

We had a great lunch meeting at Heather's in July with barbequed pork and angel food cake!

Group Picture-The Burgess Boys

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 17:07:00 +0000

We had a fun breakfast meeting at Natalie's to discuss The Burgess Boys.

Group Picture-The Storied Life of AJ Fikry

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 19 May 2014 01:00:00 +0000

2014 meetings so far...

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sat, 10 May 2014 17:13:00 +0000

for Hollow City (the play got 0 hearts since we didn't stay the whole time!)

Group Pictures, Rest of 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 14:18:00 +0000

July Book Choices!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:09:00 +0000

In July, we'll read a Patriotic book. Here are the options...

The President's Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity by Nancy Gibbs, Michael Duffy | Hardcover, 641 pages

The first history of the private relationships among modern American presidents—their backroom deals, rescue missions, secret alliances, and enduring rivalries. The Presidents Club, established at Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration by Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover, is a complicated place: its members are bound forever by the experience of the Oval Office and yet are eternal rivals for history’s favor. Among their secrets: How Jack Kennedy tried to blame Ike for the Bay of Pigs. How Ike quietly helped Reagan win his first race in 1966. How Richard Nixon conspired with Lyndon Johnson to get elected and then betrayed him. How Jerry Ford and Jimmy Carter turned a deep enmity into an alliance. The letter from Nixon that Bill Clinton rereads every year. The unspoken pact between a father and son named Bush. And the roots of the rivalry between Clinton and Barack Obama.

Journalists and presidential historians Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy offer a new tool to understand the presidency by exploring the club as a hidden instrument of power that has changed the course of history.

It has a 4.16 rating on Goodreads.

Gabby: A Story of Courage, Love and Resilience by Gabrielle Giffords, Jeffrey Zaslow, Mark Kelly | Paperback, 336 pages

Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly’s story is a reminder of the power of true grit, the patience needed to navigate unimaginable obstacles, and the transcendence of love. Their arrival in the world spotlight came under the worst of circumstances. On January 8, 2011, while meeting with her constituents in Tucson, Arizona, Gabby was the victim of an assassination attempt that left six people dead and thirteen wounded. Gabby was shot in the head; doctors called her survival “miraculous.” As the nation grieved and sought to understand the attack, Gabby remained in private, focused on her againstall- odds recovery. Intimate, inspiring, and unforgettably moving, Gabby provides an unflinching look at the overwhelming challenges of brain injury, the painstaking process of learning to communicate again, and the responsibilities that fall to a loving spouse who wants the best possible treatment for his wife. Told in Mark’s voice and from Gabby’s heart, the book also chronicles the lives that brought these two extraordinary people together—their humor, their ambitions, their sense of duty, their long-distance marriage, and their desire for family.

A new, moving final chapter brings Gabby’s story up to date, including the state of her health and her announcement that she would leave the House of Representatives.

It has a 4.13 rating on Goodreads.

The Great Santini by Pat Conroy | Paperback, 496 pages

Step into the powerhouse life of Bull Meecham. He’s all Marine—fighter pilot, king of the clouds, and absolute ruler of his family. Lillian is his wife—beautiful, southern-bred, with a core of velvet steel. Without her cool head, her kids would be in real trouble. Ben is the oldest, a born athlete whose best never satisfies the big man. Ben’s got to stand up, even fight back, against a father who doesn’t give in—not to his men, not to his wife, and certainly not to his son. Bull Meecham is undoubtedly Pat Conroy’s most explosive character—a man you should hate, but a man you will love.

It has a 4.05 rating on Goodreads.

I will be hosting the July meeting.

Group Picture-The Paternity Test

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 12 May 2013 16:43:00 +0000

No bad reviews this month! We all liked The Paternity Test!

We met at Bread Co. and Karen brought lots of goodies! Thanks! Get well soon, Mary.

June Book Choices!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sat, 04 May 2013 17:01:00 +0000

We're almost to the midpoint of the year! 2013 is flying by! It's time to select from the sports genre...

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach | Paperback, 512 pages

At Westish College, a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league stardom. But when a routine throw goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people are upended.

Henry’s fight against self-doubt threatens to ruin his future. College president Guert Affenlight, a longtime bachelor, has fallen unexpectedly and helplessly in love. Owen Dunne, Henry’s gay roommate and teammate, becomes caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz, the Harpooners’ team captain and Henry’ best friend, realizes he has guided Henry’s career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight, Guert’s daughter, returns to Westish after escaping an ill-fated marriage, determined to start a new life.

As the season counts down to its climactic final game, these five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets. In the process they forge new bonds, and help one another find their true paths. Written with boundless intelligence and filled with the tenderness of youth, The Art of Fielding is an expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment—to oneself and to others.

The Art of Fielding has a 3.98 rating on Goodreads.

Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig by Johnathan Eig | Paperback, 432 pages

Lou Gehrig was a baseball legend -- the Iron Horse, the stoic New York Yankee who was the greatest first baseman in history, a man whose consecutive-games streak was ended by a horrible disease that now bears his name. But as this definitive new biography makes clear, Gehrig's life was more complicated -- and, perhaps, even more heroic -- than anyone really knew.

Drawing on new interviews and more than two hundred pages of previously unpublished letters to and from Gehrig, Luckiest Man gives us an intimate portrait of the man who became an American hero: his life as a shy and awkward youth growing up in New York City, his unlikely friendship with Babe Ruth (a friendship that allegedly ended over rumors that Ruth had had an affair with Gehrig's wife), and his stellar career with the Yankees, where his consecutive-games streak stood for more than half a century. What was not previously known, however, is that symptoms of Gehrig's affliction began appearing in 1938, earlier than is commonly acknowledged. Later, aware that he was dying, Gehrig exhibited a perseverance that was truly inspiring; he lived the last two years of his short life with the same grace and dignity with which he gave his now-famous "luckiest man" speech.

Luckiest Man has a 4.20 rating on Goodreads.

Calico Joe by John Grisham | Paperback, 240 pages

In the summer of 1973 Joe Castle was the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone had ever seen. The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas dazzled Cub fans as he hit home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shattered all rookie records.

Calico Joe quickly became the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faced Calico Joe, Paul was in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his Dad. Then Warren threw a fastball that would change their lives forever…

In John Grisham’s new novel the baseball is thrilling, but it’s what happens off the field that makes Calico Joe a classic.

Calico Joe has a 3.76 rating on Goodreads.

Natalie is hosting the June meeting.

Group Picture-Stiff

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:27:00 +0000

We read a very unique and interesting book this month! I think most of us will be reading another book by Mary Roach. Very different!

I think Gary rushed through the picture-taking process this time! Good enough!

Heather re-joined this month after maternity leave/sabbatical!

Happy Birthday, Beverly Cleary!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:28:00 +0000

One rainy Sunday when I was in the third grade, I picked up a book to look at the pictures and discovered that even though I did not want to, I was reading. I have been a reader ever since.~ Beverly Cleary

Born in McMinnville, Oregon, and, until she was old enough to attend school, lived on a farm in Yamhill, a town so small it had no library. Her mother arranged with the State Library to have books sent to Yamhill and acted as librarian in a lodge room upstairs over a bank. There young Beverly learned to love books. However, when the family moved to Portland, Beverly soon found herself in the grammar school's low reading circle, an experience that has given her sympathy for the problems of struggling readers.
By the third grade she had conquered reading and spent much of her childhood either with books or on her way to and from the public library. Before long her school librarian was suggesting that she should write for boys and girls when she grew up. The idea appealed to her, and she decided that someday she would write the books she longed to read but was unable to find on the library shelves, funny stories about her neighborhood and the sort of children she knew. And so Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, and her other beloved characters were born.
When children ask Mrs. Cleary where she finds her ideas, she replies, "From my own experience and from the world around me." She included a passage about the D.E.A.R. program in Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (second chapter) because she was inspired by letters she received from children who participated in "Drop Everything and Read" activities. Their interest and enthusiasm encouraged her to provide the same experience to Ramona, who enjoys D.E.A.R. time with the rest of her class.
Mrs. Cleary's books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the 2003 National Medal of Art from the National Endowment of the Arts and the 1984 John Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. Her Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 were named 1978 and 1982 Newbery Honor Books, respectively.
Among Mrs. Cleary's other awards are the American Library Association's 1975 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the Catholic Library Association's 1980 Regina Medal, and the University of Southern Mississippi's 1982 Silver Medallion, all presented in recognition of her lasting contribution to children's literature. In addition, Mrs. Cleary was the 1984 United States author nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, a prestigious international award.
Equally important are the more than 35 statewide awards Mrs. Cleary's books have received based on the direct votes of her young readers. In 2000, to honor her invaluable contributions to children's literature, Beverly Cleary was named a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress. This witty and warm author is truly an international favorite. Mrs. Cleary's books appear in over twenty countries in fourteen languages and her characters, including Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, Otis Spofford, and Beezus and Ramona Quimby, as well as Ribsy, Socks, and Ralph S. Mouse, have delighted children for generations. And her popularity has not diminished.

Information found on Beverly Cleary's website.

May Book Choices!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 16:47:00 +0000

We need an official vote...which one will it be for May?

The Paternity Test by Michael Lowenthal | Hardcover, 288 pages

Having a baby to save a marriage—it’s the oldest of clichés. But what if the marriage at risk is a gay one, and having a baby involves a surrogate mother?

Pat Faunce is a faltering romantic, a former poetry major who now writes textbooks. A decade into his relationship with Stu, an airline pilot from a fraught Jewish family, he fears he’s losing Stu to other men—and losing himself in their “no rules” arrangement. Yearning for a baby and a deeper commitment, he pressures Stu to move from Manhattan to Cape Cod, to the cottage where Pat spent boyhood summers.

As they struggle to adjust to their new life, they enlist a surrogate: Debora, a charismatic Brazilian immigrant, married to Danny, an American carpenter. Gradually, Pat and Debora bond, drawn together by the logistics of getting pregnant and away from their spouses. Pat gets caught between loyalties—to Stu and his family, to Debora, to his own potent desires—and wonders: is he fit to be a father?

In one of the first novels to explore the experience of gay men seeking a child through surrogacy, Michael Lowenthal writes passionately about marriages and mistakes, loyalty and betrayal, and about how our drive to create families can complicate the ones we already have. The Paternity Test is a provocative look at the new “family values.”

It has a 3.72 rating on Goodreads.

The Round House by Louise Erdrich | Hardcover, 321 pages

One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning.

Written with undeniable urgency, and illuminating the harsh realities of contemporary life in a community where Ojibwe and white live uneasily together, The Round House is a brilliant and entertaining novel, a masterpiece of literary fiction. Louise Erdrich embraces tragedy, the comic, a spirit world very much present in the lives of her all-too-human characters, and a tale of injustice that is, unfortunately, an authentic reflection of what happens in our own world today.

It has a 3.98 rating on Goodreads.

The Year that Everything Changed by Georgia Bockoven | Paperback, 432 pages

As Jessie Patrick Reed's attorney, I'm writing to you on behalfof your father, Jessie Patrick Reed. I regret to inform you thatMr. Reed is dying. He has expressed a desire to see you . . .

Elizabeth, even though sustained by a loving family, has suffered the mostfrom her father's seeming abandonment and for years has protected herselfwith a deep-seated anger that she hides from everyone.

Ginger, in love with a married man, will be forced to reevaluate everyrelationship she's ever had and will reach stunning conclusions that will changeher life forever.

Rachel learns of her father's existence the same day she finds out that herhusband of ten years has had an affair. She will receive the understanding andsupport she needs to survive from an unlikely and surprising source.

Christine is a young filmmaker, barely out of college, who now mustdecide if her few precious memories of a man she believed to be long dead areenough to give him a second chance.

Four sisters who never knew the others existed will find strength, love, and answers in the most unexpected places in . . . "The Year EverythingChanged."

It has a 3.56 rating on Goodreads.

Let's vote!

Spring Challenge 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:43:00 +0000

Well, the first weekend of spring in St. Louis this year was not what we were expecting! It still feels like winter with a foot of snow! It's still officially spring, though; that means it's time for the spring challenge. Let's make it an easy one this time. We'll read the follow up to Jeff Well's first book that we enjoyed so much. This spring we'll read All My Patients Kick and Bite.

The highly amusing, uplifting and entertaining follow-up to All My Patients Have Tales... In this second collection by our intrepid vet, Jeff Wells has his work cut out for him when he learns that llamas do not take kindly to having their toenails trimmed, dog owners in the medical field can be a real pain, Scottish Highland cattle stick together and just might run a vet out of their enclosure, and fixing an overly amorous burro often needs to be prioritized. Told with Wells’s trademark humor and gentle touch, these and many other heartwarming, heartbreaking, funny and strange stories will give readers a whole new appreciation for those who care for our pets.

This should be a pretty easy challenge that we can all actually finish!

Group Picture-All My Patients Have Tales

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:20:00 +0000

We read a fun, uplifting book this month. We needed it after last month's book. We loved this book...and we're going to read his follow-up book too! We're suckers for animal stories!

Linda is not pictured, but her iPad is, see right.

This meeting was a decoy event for the surprise party planned later in the day for Karen's 60th birthday! We pulled it off...barely!

April Book Choices!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:34:00 +0000

It's the comedy genre for April...

Seriously, I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres | Paperback, 269 pages

Everyone loves Ellen! Television icon, actress and proud wife, Ellen is a star like none other. This comedienne is known for her talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which is going strong.

Seriously… I’m Kidding is a look at Ellen’s life through her humour.

In her own words, Ellen says, “I've experienced a whole lot the last few years and I have a lot to share ... I think you'll find I've left no stone unturned, no door unopened, no window unbroken, no rug unvacuumed, no ivories untickled. What I'm saying is, let us begin, shall we?”

Seriously, I'm Kidding has a 3.65 rating on Goodreads.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach | Paperback, 320 pages

Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.

In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries—from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.

Roach is also the author of Spook and Bonk as well as others. Stiff has a 4.05 rating on Goodreads.

Death by Chocolate by Sally Berneathy | Paperback, 256 pages

Lindsay Powell awakens one bright Sunday morning to find her almost-ex-husband in bed beside her. Had she really been glad to see the cheating creep standing on her front porch last night? At that burst of insanity she should have called 911, requested she be declared mentally incompetent and locked up for her own protection.

While sleeping with the jerk feels like the absolute worst thing that could happen, that error becomes insignificant as Lindsay’s life rapidly spirals downward into complete chaos and a near-deadly bout with the chocolate she loves.

Lindsay’s neighbor, Paula, is an enigmatic single mom of a two-year old boy. Though Lindsay and Paula have worked together for two years, Lindsay has no idea why her friend dyes her blond hair brown, hides from people and insists on always having a second exit. Secrets from Paula’s past have come back to put all their lives in jeopardy.

Determined to help her secretive friend, Lindsay enlists the reluctant aid of another neighbor, Fred, a computer nerd who rarely leaves his always-tidy house. In spite of his mundane existence, Fred possesses arcane tidbits of knowledge about such things as hidden microphones, guns and the inside of maximum security prisons.

Battling Paula’s elusive stalker, poisoned chocolate, Lindsay’s irritating almost-ex, and a dead man, Lindsay needs more than a chocolate fix to survive.

Death by Chocolate has a 4.20 rating on Goodreads.

Vote for your favorite!

Group Picture-The Sandcastle Girls

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:20:00 +0000

So, this book was a surprise to a lot of us. We were expecting a romance and that's not what we really got. Only two of us finished this book on time (we were thinking it would have been more of a quick read). I think we would have liked it better as a whole if we hadn't been expecting a different type of book.

We were mostly all new to the topic of the Armenian genocide. How could something so horrible be almost unknown to us?

March Book Choices!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:48:00 +0000

The March theme is animals! Which book do you want to read next?

Modoc:The True Story of the Greatest Elephant that Ever Lived by Raph Helfer | Paperback, 345 pages

Modoc is the joint biography of a man and an elephant born in a small German circus town on the same day in 1896. Bram was the son of an elephant trainer, Modoc the daughter of his prize performer. The boy and animal grew up devoted to each other. When the Wunderzircus was sold to an American, with no provision to take along the human staff, Bram stowed away on the ship to prevent being separated from his beloved Modoc. A shipwreck off the Indian coast and a sojourn with a maharajah were only the beginning of the pair's incredible adventures. They battled bandits, armed revolutionaries, cruel animal trainers, and greedy circus owners in their quest to stay together. They triumphed against the odds and thrilled American circus audiences with Modoc's dazzling solo performances, only to be torn apart with brutal suddenness, seemingly never to meet again. Hollywood animal trainer Ralph Helfer rescued Modoc from ill-treatment and learned her astonishing story when Bram rediscovered her at Helfer's company. His emotional retelling of this true-life adventure epic will make pulses race and bring tears to readers' eyes.

Helfer is the author of 4 books about animals. Modoc has a 4.17 rating on Goodreads.

The Horse God Built by Lawrence Scanlan | Paperback, 352 pages

He was the perfect horse, it was said, "the horse God built."

Most of us know the legend of Secretariat, the tall, handsome chestnut racehorse whose string of honors runs long and rich: the only two-year-old ever to win Horse of the Year, in 1972; winner in 1973 of the Triple Crown, his times in all three races still unsurpassed; featured on the cover of Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated; the only horse listed on ESPN's top fifty athletes of the twentieth century (ahead of Mickey Mantle). His final race at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack is a touchstone memory for horse lovers everywhere. Yet while Secretariat will be remembered forever, one man, Eddie "Shorty" Sweat, who was pivotal to the great horse's success, has been all but forgotten---until now.

In The Horse God Built, bestselling equestrian writer Lawrence Scanlan has written a tribute to an exceptional man that is also a backroads journey to a corner of the racing world rarely visited. As a young black man growing up in South Carolina, Eddie Sweat struggled at several occupations before settling on the job he was born for---groom to North America's finest racehorses. As Secretariat's groom, loyal friend, and protector, Eddie understood the horse far better than anyone else. A wildly generous man who could read a horse with his eyes, he shared in little of the financial success or glamour of Secretariat's wins on the track, but won the heart of Big Red with his soft words and relentless devotion.

In Scanlan's rich narrative, we get a groom's-eye view of the racing world and the vantage of a man who spent every possible moment with the horse he loved, yet who often basked in the horse's glory from the sidelines. More than anything else, The Horse God Built is a moving portrait of the powerful bond between human and horse.

Scanlan is the author of 6 best-selling books about horses. The Horse God Built has a 4.10 rating on Goodreads.

A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron | Paperback, 336 pages

This is the remarkable story of one endearing dog’s search for his purpose over the course of several lives. More than just another charming dog story, A Dog’s Purpose touches on the universal quest for an answer to life's most basic question: Why are we here?

Surprised to find himself reborn as a rambunctious golden-haired puppy after a tragically short life as a stray mutt, Bailey’s search for his new life’s meaning leads him into the loving arms of 8-year-old Ethan. During their countless adventures Bailey joyously discovers how to be a good dog.
But this life as a beloved family pet is not the end of Bailey’s journey. Reborn as a puppy yet again, Bailey wonders—will he ever find his purpose?

Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh-out-loud funny, A Dog's Purpose is not only the emotional and hilarious story of a dog's many lives, but also a dog's-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man's best friend. This moving and beautifully crafted story teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose.

A Dog's Purpose was a NY Times bestseller, along with its sequel, A Dog's Journey. Cameron is currently working on the screenplay for the movie adaptation by Dream Works. It has a 4.32 rating on Goodreads.

Which book will you vote for?

Group Picture-Heaven is Here

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:03:00 +0000

We had another great discussion! Check out The Nie Nie Dialogues if you haven't already!

Thanks to Linda for hosting this month.

February Book Choices!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 17:20:00 +0000

It's time to select the February book. We'll choose from the romance genre this time.

The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian | Paperback, 304 pages

When Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Aleppo, Syria she has a diploma from Mount Holyoke, a crash course in nursing, and only the most basic grasp of the Armenian language. The year is 1915 and she has volunteered on behalf of the Boston-based Friends of Armenia to help deliver food and medical aid to refugees of the Armenian genocide. There Elizabeth becomes friendly with Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter. When Armen leaves Aleppo and travels south into Egypt to join the British army, he begins to write Elizabeth letters, and comes to realize that he has fallen in love with the wealthy, young American woman who is so different from the wife he lost.

Fast forward to the present day, where we meet Laura Petrosian, a novelist living in suburban New York. Although her grandparents’ ornate Pelham home was affectionately nicknamed “The Ottoman Annex,” Laura has never really given her Armenian heritage much thought. But when an old friend calls, claiming to have seen a newspaper photo of Laura’s grandmother promoting an exhibit at a Boston museum, Laura embarks on a journey back through her family’s history that reveals love, loss – and a wrenching secret that has been buried for generations.

The Sandcastle Girls is Bohjalian's 15th book. It has a 3.86 rating on Goodreads. Read an excerpt here.

The News from Spain by Joan Wickersham | Hardcover, 224 pages

In these seven beautifully wrought variations on a theme, a series of characters trace and retrace eternal yet ever-changing patterns of love and longing, connection and loss. The stories range over centuries and continents—from eighteenth-century Vienna, where Mozart and his librettist Da Ponte are collaborating on their operas, to America in the 1940s, where a love triangle unfolds among a doctor, a journalist, and the president’s wife. A race-car driver’s widow, a nursing-home resident and her daughter, a paralyzed dancer married to a famous choreographer—all feel the overwhelming force of passion and renunciation. With uncanny emotional exactitude, Wickersham shows how we never really know what’s in someone else’s heart, or in our own; how we continually try to explain others and to console ourselves; and how love, like storytelling, is ultimately a work of the imagination.

This is Wickersham's 3rd book. Her last book, a memoir, was a National Book Award Finalist. Her many prize-winning short stories have been published in various magazines. The News from Spain has a 4.19 rating on Goodreads.

The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani | Paperback, 496 pages

The fateful first meeting of Enza and Ciro takes place amid the haunting majesty of the Italian Alps at the turn of the last century. Still teenagers, they are separated when Ciro is banished from his village and sent to hide in New York's Little Italy, apprenticed to a shoemaker, leaving a bereft Enza behind. But when her own family faces disaster, she, too, is forced to emigrate to America. Though destiny will reunite the star-crossed lovers, it will, just as abruptly, separate them once again—sending Ciro off to serve in World War I, while Enza is drawn into the glamorous world of the opera . . . and into the life of the international singing sensation Enrico Caruso. Still, Enza and Ciro have been touched by fate—and, ultimately, the power of their love will change their lives forever.

A riveting historical epic of love and family, war and loss, risk and destiny, inspired by the author's own family history, The Shoemaker's Wife is the novel Adriana Trigiani was born to write.

Trigiani is the author of 14 books, including a cookbook she co-authored with her sisters. The Shoemaker's Wife has a 4.02 rating on Goodreads.

Which one do you want to read?

2012 Challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 16:59:00 +0000

Did you finish the challenge books for 2012?

Back Roads by Tawni O'Dell

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

We'll continue reading Steve Jobs for the 2013 winter challenge since it's sooooo long. We need to set a meeting time to discuss Back Roads, and maybe we can just go see the movie Anna Karenina.

One Little Word

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 16:51:00 +0000

Did you participate in One Little Word in 2012?

My word for 2012 was ACCOMPLISH. In 2012, I accomplished a few things. I finished my residency and started a new job. I set up a new home office (I've been wanting to do for awhile). I was able to maintain ~90% of my weight loss from the previous year. I didn't accomplish as much with my reading. I only read a few extra books beyond the book club selections. More next year!

For 2013, my new word will be BALANCE. What will your word be?

Book Awards 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 15:33:00 +0000

We read a lot of great books this year. It was tough to give these awards to just one book, but here's what we decided...

Overall Favorite Book

Best Discussion

Most Well-Written Book (had to pick 2)

Funniest Moment (we loved the funny male characters in both of these!)

Gary honking the horn was pretty funny!

Favorite Female Character: Offred

Favorite Male Character: Will

Best Topic

Most Impactful Book

Most Recommended Book: All of them!

Favorite Cover

Best Ending (had to pick 2)

Saddest Moment: Benny's murder

Worst Female Villain: Hannah

Worst Male Villain: Silas

2012 was a great reading year!

Group Pictures-The Call

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:33:00 +0000

We had our book club Christmas party yesterday! Lots of cookies, gifts, and food! We had a great discussion of The Call. I think we all ended up liking this one (especially Veronica and Linda) besides Karen.

Take 1

Take 2

Well, who knows how many takes with Tony taking the picture!

Linda was chosen as member of the year for 2012...more pictures and awards to come!

BookPage Top 50 Books of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:57:00 +0000

http://bookpage.com/bestof2012

1. This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz

2. Wild by Cheryl Strayed

3. Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

4. May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes

5. The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

6. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

7. The Round House by Louise Erdrich

8. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

9. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

10. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

11. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

12. Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

13. The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson

14. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

15. Thomas Jefferson by Jon Meacham

16. The Mansion of Happiness by Jill Lepore

17. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

18. The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

19. Love’s Winning Plays by Inman Majors

20. Broken Harbor by Tana French

21. Home by Toni Morrison

22. NW by Zadie Smith

23. Mortality by Christopher Hitchens

24. The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger

25. You Came Back by Christopher Coake

26. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

27. Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie

28. Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures by Emma Straub

29. San Miguel by T.C. Boyle

30. Coming to My Senses by Alyssa Harad

31. Arcadia by Lauren Groff

32. The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

33. Heading Out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick

34. Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins

35. Canada by Richard Ford

36. By the Iowa Sea by Joe Blair

37. The Cove by Ron Rash

38. Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

39. Winter Journal by Paul Auster

40. Gypsy Boy by Mikey Walsh

41. The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones

42. In One Person by John Irving

43. Capital by John Lanchester

44. Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson

45. A Partial History of Lost Causes by Jennifer duBois

46. A Good American by Alex George

47. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

48. Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan

49. Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung

50. Carry the One by Carol Anshaw

January Book Choices!

noreply@blogger.com (Kate) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 14:27:00 +0000

It's time to select our first book of 2013! We'll choose from memoirs for January.

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe | Paperback, 352 pages

“What are you reading?”

That’s the question Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne, as they sit in the waiting room of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 2007, Mary Anne returned from a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan suffering from what her doctors believed was a rare type of hepatitis. Months later she was diagnosed with a form of advanced pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, often in six months or less.

This is the inspiring true story of a son and his mother, who start a “book club” that brings them together as her life comes to a close. Over the next two years, Will and Mary Anne carry on conversations that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal, prompted by an eclectic array of books and a shared passion for reading. Their list jumps from classic to popular, from poetry to mysteries, from fantastic to spiritual. The issues they discuss include questions of faith and courage as well as everyday topics such as expressing gratitude and learning to listen. Throughout, they are constantly reminded of the power of books to comfort us, astonish us, teach us, and tell us what we need to do with our lives and in the world. Reading isn’t the opposite of doing; it’s the opposite of dying.

Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other—and rediscover their lives—through their favorite books. When they read, they aren’t a sick person and a well person, but a mother and a son taking a journey together. The result is a profoundly moving tale of loss that is also a joyful, and often humorous, celebration of life: Will’s love letter to his mother, and theirs to the printed page.

Schwalbe is the founder of cookstr.com and has worked in publishing and journalism. This is his first memoir. It has a 4.11 rating on Goodreads.

Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson | Hardcover, 320 pages

Stephanie Nielson began sharing her life in 2005 on the Nie Nie dialogues, drawing readers in with her warmth and candor. She quickly attracted a loyal following that was captivated by the upbeat mother happily raising her young children, madly in love with her husband, Christian (Mr. Nielson to her readers), and filled with gratitude for her blessed life.

However, everything changed in an instant on a sunny day in August 2008, when Stephanie and Christian were in a horrific plane crash. Christian was burned over 40 percent of his body, and Stephanie was on the brink of death, with burns over 80 percent of her body. She would remain in a coma for four months.

In the aftermath of this harrowing tragedy, Stephanie maintained a stunning sense of humor, optimism, and resilience. She has since shared this strength of spirit with others through her blog, in magazine features, and on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Now, in this moving memoir, Stephanie tells the full, extraordinary story of her unlikely recovery and the incredible love behind it—from a riveting account of the crash to all that followed in its wake. With vivid detail, Stephanie recounts her emotional and physical journey, from her first painful days after awakening from the coma to the first time she saw her face in the mirror, the first kiss she shared with Christian after the accident, and the first time she talked to her children after their long separation. She also reflects back on life before the accident, to her happy childhood as one of nine siblings, her close-knit community and strong Mormon faith, and her fairy-tale love story, all of which became her foundation of strength as she rebuilt her life.

What emerges from the wreckage of a tragic accident is a unique perspective on joy, beauty, and overcoming adversity that is as gripping as it is inspirational. Heaven Is Here is a poignant reminder of how faith and family, love and community can bolster us, sustain us, and quite literally, in some cases, save us.

This is Stephanie's first book. She is a well known Mormon mommy blogger. Heaven is Here has a 4.24 rating on Goodreads.

Louise: Amended by Louise Krug | Paperback, 200 pages

A beautiful young woman from Kansas is about to embark on the life of her dreams—California! Glossy journalism! French boyfriend!—only to suffer a brain bleed that collapses the right side of her body, leaving her with double vision, facial paralysis, and a dragging foot.

An unflinching, wise, and darkly funny portrait of sudden disability and painstaking recovery, the memoir presents not only Louise's perspective, but also the reaction of her loved ones—we see, in fictional interludes, what it must have been like for Louise's boyfriend to bathe her, or for her mother to apply lipstick to her nearly immobile mouth. Challenging the notion that one person's tragedy is a single person's story, Louise: Amended depicts a dismantling—and rebirth—of an entire family.
At age twenty-two, Louise Krug suffered a brain bleed and underwent an emergency craniotomy that disrupted her ability to walk, see, and move half her face. Now, six years later, Louise has astounded doctors and loved ones by recovering not only much of her vision and mobility, but a ferocious spirit and enviable grace. She currently lives with her husband Nick and daughter Olive in Lawrence, Kansas, where she's a PhD candidate and teacher.

Louise: Amended is Krug's first book. It has a 4.08 rating on Goodreads.

We'll talk about the schedule for next year at the December meeting, but the January meeting will likely be hosted by Linda.