November - Winter's Bone

I so wish I could tell you we had a great conversation about this book because there is so much to talk about in it but we had a couple of people be able to make the meeting that we haven't seen in a few months and we spent way more time catching up than talking about the book. That's what happens when your book club members become friends!

We didn't entirely forget that we'd read a book. We talked about the book versus the movie (and agreed that the movie is a great adaptation although Mary Beth felt like some of what got left out of the movie would have made the movie even better). We talked about how good the writing is in this book, although we got off topic (again!) before Linda could read some of what she'd bookmarked. We talked about the violence in the book and how that is both easier to read than watch and how it is not.

Imagine how much more we would have talked about the book if Lisa S had just pulled out her notes and wrangled the group into talking about the book better!

October: LaRose by Louise Erdrich

To get our discussion going for this book, we played a version of Jeopardy which allowed us to talk about the characters, the events of the book, and the lives of Native Americans.

Ann was a big fan of the book...until the end, which she was really disappointed in and she was not alone. We did find it curious that the book ends with its focus on a different character than any of the characters which were in the forefront of the novel to that point.

We talked about the violence in the book including Landreaux's shooting of Dusty, Maggie's attacks on boys who were trying to molest her and LaRose's attempt to get revenge on those boys, and Peter's attempt to kill Landreaux. We talked about the weight the children carried - LaRose having to go back and forth between homes, Maggie and LaRose who have to try to keep Nola from committing suicide, Romeo's son who is raised by Landreaux and his wife because his father is unable to raise him.

Interwoven into the current story are the stories of the LaRoses before this boy but we felt that, despite much being made of the importance of these prior LaRoses, only one of them really got any attention. And there didn't seem to be a connection between this LaRose and those.

Despite some reservations about parts of the book, we still had a really good discussion about this book, which is actually the third book in a trilogy but can be read independently.

September: Educated by Tara Westover

This is what happens when you don't keep up with the book blog - I can't remember talking about much this book. Which seems odd because I know we had a good discussion about it.

 We did talk about which of the parents were most culpable for the damage done to their children - the father who was clearly not right minded or the mother who seemed aware that things were wrong but always backed her husband. We talked about Westover's parents always siding with their son who was abusing Tara, making excuses for his behavior. We talked about Westover's mother's business which made her the real breadwinner of the family and how she still deferred to her husband. We were all astonished by Westover's ability to pull herself out of her circumstances and her unwillingness to acknowledge that the Mormon faith was partially to blame for what had happened to their family.

We would definitely recommend this book for other book clubs.

August - Becoming

Playing catch up - time to get August updated before we meet for September!

We had a great discussion about Michelle Obama's book, Becoming. Those of us who listened to it highly recommend the audiobook but we all agreed that it was a book well worth reading. We all learned so much about Ms. Obama's upbringing and were impressed with what her parents were willing to give up to give their children a better life.

We felt that Obama was honest about her relationship with her husband even as she was being fiercely protective of him. We were all impressed with her willingness to step into the world of politics with him even though she really didn't like that world. We talked about how hard it must be to raise children in the bubble that is the White House and how other First Families had managed it.

We did, as we always do, get off topic quite a bit but much of August's off-topic conversation was related to the topics brought up by the book - politics, parenting, getting into colleges. I always consider that we've read a good book when it gets us talking about things related to the book as well as the book and relating things in the book to our own lives.

July - The Great Alone

We had such a good meeting in July! There were seven of us and everyone had read the book. Needless to say, it meant we got to spend a lot of time discussing this one.

This time our "game" was to draw statements about the book and say whether or not we agreed with them and why. Some of them were about the writing, some of them were about the events in the book, some of them were about the characters. The statements were meant as a kind of provocation and they really worked in that people were very vocal in their reasons for their answers and others jumped in with their opinions as well.

Most of us had grown up during the time period this book was set in so we could remember what it was like for people returning from the Vietnam war and the state of women's rights at that time. Imagining Alaska at that time was trickier but even those of us with less knowledge about that thought the Allbright family would have had an even more difficult time than Hannah portrayed. We talked about the pacing of the book and all agreed that it felt rushed toward the end and somewhat implausible. At first, most people seemed to feel that Hannah had not added too much to the book, but during discussion, we did agree that there were somethings that were more than needed to be added. And we agreed that the ending would have been better had it not been so "happily ever after."

This one was a hit with everyone and has a lot to discuss. We'd definitely recommend it for other book clubs.

May and June - Ragtime

With just two of us at the May meeting, and with one of us not having been able to read the book for medical reasons, there was no discussion of E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime. Only three of us attended the play this month. We did enjoy the evening out and chatted about the book some. The three of us agreed that the book of the play does a good job of encapsulating a book that has a lot going on. We didn't find most of the music that memorable and had some quibbles with the sound and some of the voices; but, overall, enjoyed the show. The playhouse did do a find job with the sets which needed to work for a lot of different settings.

With the low turnout the past two months, I'm wondering if it's time to revisit the discussion about whether or not we should continue this book club. I understand everyone is busy and if it just doesn't work any longer, that's fine. If enough people are still interested in continuing, we will absolutely keep things going.

Assuming we continue, please note that ALL meetings will be on the third Tuesday of the month with   the exception of severe weather or special events (such as this play or a movie night). Dates are also noted on this site. I will only be sending out monthly reminders of the meetings, assuming we continue, until we find a permanent home for our meetings or if we will be meeting in someone's home. 

If you will not be able to attend a meeting, can you please let me know as soon as you are aware of a conflict. That way I will know ahead of time if there will be enough of us for me to prepare a game or other activity, such as we've done the past few months.

April - China Dolls

With just four of us at the meeting to discuss Lisa See's China Dolls, the chance for a big money win at our version of Jeopardy was great. Ok, maybe not as much money as the guy who's won over a million dollars on the real show but still, it got competitive!

I think we all agreed that this wasn't a great book and the writing left something to be desired. But we did all learn a lot about this time and place and the book gave us a new perspective on the immigrant experience as well as what it means to be from another culture but born in the U.S., especially in a time of war.

We didn't really buy the friendship between the three main characters but their relationship gave us a lot to talk about. Ann had the "who-dun-it" mystery of the book figured out well in advance (and, no, it's not a mystery book but there is a lingering question of who stabbed who in the back) which probably had her questioning even more than the rest of us why these women stayed together for so many years.

A little research showed us that clubs, such as the one the main characters worked in, including the one they worked in, really existed. At the end of the book, one of the character's granddaughter asks another of the main characters if she didn't feel like she was perpetuating stereotypes by having been part of that scene. I'm sure it was a question that See wanted to explore that had her wanting to write the book.

Would we recommend the book? Hmm, that's a toss up. There is a lot to discuss and a lot to learn so for book clubs, it works for that. But there are so many other books that address the immigrant experience better, we'd probably agree that book clubs should look elsewhere.

March - How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

For March, we read a book about Dominican Republicans who immigrated to the United States in the 1960's. Julia Alvarez chose to write How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents in reverse chronological order and we found that we actually spent more time in the DR than the US which gave us a foundation for why they assimilated the way they did. While this people liked the book, they largely found it forgettable and more than a little confusing as we tried to keep track of whose point of view we were reading.

To get us talking about the book (and as a way to make sure we kept on track!), we played a Jeopardy-like game this month which was a lot of fun, and which we'll probably tweak and use again for other books. Under headings that included "What A Character" and "That's Novel," we talked about the different characters in the book, the way the novel was written,  immigration, and some words associated with the novel.

While this might not have been the most popular book we ever read, we did find a lot to discuss and I think it did make a good choice for a book club discussion, particularly when we were able to include some information about Alvarez and her own history which is very similar to the book.

February - The Custom of the Country

After January's meeting was first postponed and then cancelled because of the winter weather, imagine our disappointment when February's meeting had to be postponed as well. And then, on the rescheduled day, more snow. At that point, we just couldn't bother to care any more. And while we had a small turnout, with just four of us at the meeting, we had a really good discussion about a book that sort of surprised us all. Lisa S. is a big fan of Wharton's so it was not a surprise that she enjoyed it but Ann (who was ready to put it down a ways into the book) and Nancy (who listened to the book on audio) found they just had to find out what was going to happen to our anti-heroine, Undine. Unlike so many characters you might dislike in a book but eventually find yourself caring about, none of us came to care what happened to Undine, other than to see what she had up her sleeve next. Of course, she wasn't the only unlikable character in the book! We played a new game where each of us drew a character name and then had to use three words of phrases to see if the rest of the group could guess which character we had. It was a lot of fun and had us really thinking about the individual characters and how they interacted with the other characters. We'll definitely be playing this game again. We also talked some about Wharton and her daring attacks on upper class society given that she was a part of it. We never did get a chance to talk about how she didn't seem to care much for her female characters and I wonder what those of you who read the book think about that? Thanks for hosting, Ann! Next up, Julia Alvarez' How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.

December - Let's Party!

Because we all have enough going on already, this year, we opted to not to read a book in December (ok, there's a good chance a lot of us wouldn't have read the book even if we would have planned to read one). Instead, we just gathered to have some cider, wine, snacks, and a lot of time to chat, guilt free.

Prizes were awarded to the people with the most book club points for the year. To no one's surprise, Ann took first place and received a 2019 bookish hardcover planner. To everyone's surprise, Cheryl came in second (even she will admit this was surprising!) and was awarded a bottle of wine. We'll do the points again in the coming year (with a few tweaks) and I'm already thinking about prizes. We finished the night with a cookie exchange.

The reading schedule for 2019 has been posted but, as always, changes are likely to happen and your suggestions will be considered. Bear in mind that our theme for 2019 is "The American Experience" and we'd like to stick to books that can contribute to that in some way.