tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42011609372563372202024-03-13T14:53:26.035-05:00Omaha Bookworms Book ClubLisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-85836518590148016782024-02-25T21:08:00.001-06:002024-02-25T21:08:39.046-06:00February <p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vQH6uURCgR7MW_2PxEycQ9rHIqf_lYUvwsyomMsbSv0K5H4SaqlUjmBJTo0Mmys_Do9OFDSP0jUZDiIfdj3aM87GgE7gMQ2H7_tJex_zLBCv8YQm2W8jjGH182Snc9VCJrXuFyWVFGJUelDZycMzHuh9Zl5LoTm4akzHzNHIJLna-4lZhWPRQUrOl1qd/s612/istockphoto-1357422632-612x612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="612" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vQH6uURCgR7MW_2PxEycQ9rHIqf_lYUvwsyomMsbSv0K5H4SaqlUjmBJTo0Mmys_Do9OFDSP0jUZDiIfdj3aM87GgE7gMQ2H7_tJex_zLBCv8YQm2W8jjGH182Snc9VCJrXuFyWVFGJUelDZycMzHuh9Zl5LoTm4akzHzNHIJLna-4lZhWPRQUrOl1qd/s320/istockphoto-1357422632-612x612.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Has it really been an entire year since I've updated this blog?! Bad book club leader, very bad! I've posted this year's reading list and moved our 2023 list to the Books Read tab. <p></p><p>We're off to a slow start in 2024 - sorry to say that I'm not picking books that have been popular with the group. </p><p>In January we read Melanie Benjamin's latest, <i>California Golden</i>. While we found a lot to discuss about the book, about the time period, parenting, women's place in history, we also had a lot to issues with it. Those of us who've recall reading others of Benjamin's books in book club, found this one to be not up to her usual standards. We just didn't feel like the writing was as good as other books and there were too many times when she chose overused phrases and similes. </p><p>This month we read Jane Austen's <i>Mansfield Park</i>. I've read it before and even I had to admit, on reread, that it's a bit of a slog to read. There is a lot of dialogue. A. Lot. Much of it is worked into paragraphs, rather than standing on its own, which slowed down the reading. Most people found that none of the characters were likable; some even found that the heroine of the book, Fanny, might well have been the hardest to like. We finished the evening playing a Jane Austen matching card game (think Memory). Things didn't start off well because someone (me!) hadn't read the instructions. Even when we were on the right track, things got a little silly. There are a lot of cards and the makers had to dig deep to come up with so many couples; that meant that even those who had read a lot of Austen had a hard time remembering which character went with which other character. Oh well, we got in some laughs and it was fun to do something different. </p><p>Ann forewarns us that next month's book, <i>The Buddha In The Attic</i>, is going to be depressing. It is, at least, much, much shorter than <i>Mansfield Park</i>!</p>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-60421130348892833342023-03-19T17:33:00.005-05:002023-03-19T17:33:45.440-05:00February - While The Patient Slept<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwI_rLVKDlN50HmuDOqIgupo4x9L4oo5FdrZxcUIFP38VsiARiFhEDAbgYIZ_VacrTNLSWcb-mgSVqInG5xJof9GIyzeeTHyHWCWBrTwkNz_Cg1zQ4KnOe_TmDvyYWdQYMAe6tjk-LZbSZ4JgQfQNK-S_TrHSqU_0wEN9lsIwE9Vw42kB7IUTyDjlfTw/s500/0803267266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="322" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwI_rLVKDlN50HmuDOqIgupo4x9L4oo5FdrZxcUIFP38VsiARiFhEDAbgYIZ_VacrTNLSWcb-mgSVqInG5xJof9GIyzeeTHyHWCWBrTwkNz_Cg1zQ4KnOe_TmDvyYWdQYMAe6tjk-LZbSZ4JgQfQNK-S_TrHSqU_0wEN9lsIwE9Vw42kB7IUTyDjlfTw/s320/0803267266.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>Our theme this year is "You Learn Something New Every Month." What, pray tell, could you possibly learn from reading a 90-year-old murder mystery? Well, you could learn about an author who haled from and began her writing career in, Nebraska. You could learn that Mignon Eberhart introduced a female "detective" into novels before Agatha Christie. And you could learn about an author you didn't know about whose writing you quite enjoyed. <p></p><p>This book was something of a surprise hit with most of us. It would fall into what we now call the "cozy mystery" genre, which seemed like just the kind of cleanse-your-palate read so many of us needed just now. Ann (I believe it was Ann) said she figured out who done it within the first 30 pages but enjoyed the book, nevertheless. Fortunately, she had marked the passage that gave it away for her so she could point out to the rest of us what we had missed. </p><p>We talked at some length about what kind of person we imagined Sarah Keate to look like and who we could picture playing her in a movie adaptation. As it turns out, a movie adaptation was made shortly after the book was released but it received such poor reviews it hardly seems worth paying the $3 it would cost to watch it. </p><p>Was it the best book we're likely to read this year. Nope. Was it worth reading? Sure; at just over 300 pages, it's not much of a time commitment, it doesn't present any disturbing themes or situations, and it's an easy, escapist read. And it even gave us plenty to talk about!</p>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-2648038371127326552023-01-18T21:29:00.003-06:002023-01-18T21:29:42.844-06:00Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPBAtdEc1vocRj0E5QCxpjAhYJx8CuFrlAoTD700v2lcw3PMK5Yg0hyBi7-Qy80PsnlACk5s8_zIAZTn6LmGNag2jPqeaCTTqv36mr035voaBR0HIg09w_LrQKFAg46XF1ISSRoVNqJlKQ_q5A0913NwUoyXEnMm7r6xqwrVCh1AG0UzPaN1mY7bGw9g/s500/9780345532831-us.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="332" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPBAtdEc1vocRj0E5QCxpjAhYJx8CuFrlAoTD700v2lcw3PMK5Yg0hyBi7-Qy80PsnlACk5s8_zIAZTn6LmGNag2jPqeaCTTqv36mr035voaBR0HIg09w_LrQKFAg46XF1ISSRoVNqJlKQ_q5A0913NwUoyXEnMm7r6xqwrVCh1AG0UzPaN1mY7bGw9g/s320/9780345532831-us.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>This year's theme is You Learn Something New Every Month and we kicked off the year with a good one, Kelly Corrigan's <i>Glitter and Glue</i>, which is a memoir about how Corrigan reconciled with her mother after growing up more or less feeling like her mom didn't care very much about her. <div><br /></div><div>While we spent some time talking about the book, we spent more time (intentionally this time!) talking about our own experiences relative to the book. In the book, Corrigan's mother tells Corrigan that her father is the glitter and her mom is the glue. We took turns talking about which of our own parents were which and which we were in our own childrearing adventures. Then we moved on to talking about when we finally appreciated or understood our own moms. We really did learn so much about each other with each of these questions. Many of us grew up in really big families and it was certainly a different experience than those of us who did not; both mom and dad tended to need to both be glue with that many children or they had to take turns more often. </div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone loved this book. Those who listened to it really loved that the pieces where Corrigan is voicing how her mother's voice sounded in her head as the reader did a terrific job. Those of us who read the most recent edition of the book shared how, in 2014, Corrigan wrote a second follow up to the book that gives readers closure with the family that Corrigan lived with during her time in Australia and a Q&A with her mom. We all would recommend this book as book a book to read purely for enjoyment and for book club discussions. We could probably have talked about the book for another hour but the restaurant kicked us out!</div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-23165934204801835992023-01-08T13:21:00.002-06:002023-01-08T13:23:25.157-06:002023 Book List<p>Wow, did I let 2022 escape from me! Nothing posted here since March. Not even the list of books for 2023 until the second week of the new year. I promise to do better in 2023! In the coming week I'll get everything updated on this page so things are current for you to use.</p><p>Starting with getting you (finally!) the list of books for 2023. The theme this year is "You Learn Something New Every Month." As always (you know me!), this list might change. I might try to work in my nonfiction to fit the theme. I might try to work in something that's on everyone's lips. I'm going to try to get book bags for a lot of these selections so we may be captive to when the bags become available. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0faeTVUjkOsGE5bSPhMiflHi7wN2dkCDQxlcXjVHvlrzEPqtLCttm7-gqhBygHag4tCgA1syCdij_RjyEic1V0J64CkhaRkuGBOury8nmQw06lawNe2I-ASIhareGReQTV82ZFznIwG67tB2sKJqMkGohISlF6tEjE_2oa2-_SYrlJEmeJW0-2bY_-w/s500/9780803267268-us.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0faeTVUjkOsGE5bSPhMiflHi7wN2dkCDQxlcXjVHvlrzEPqtLCttm7-gqhBygHag4tCgA1syCdij_RjyEic1V0J64CkhaRkuGBOury8nmQw06lawNe2I-ASIhareGReQTV82ZFznIwG67tB2sKJqMkGohISlF6tEjE_2oa2-_SYrlJEmeJW0-2bY_-w/s320/9780803267268-us.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>January: Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan (our nonfiction)<p></p><p>February: While The Patient Slept by Mignon Eberhart (our classic)</p><p>March: The Circle by Dave Eggers (book club bag)</p><p>April: Women Talking by Miriam Toewes (is being released as a movie)</p><p>May: Of Women & Salt by Gabriela Garcia (book club bag)</p><p>June: The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford (book club bag)</p><p>July: The Midnight Library by Matthew Haig (book club bag)</p><p>August: The Turk and My Mother by Mary Helen Stefaniak (book club bag)</p><p>September: Omaha Reads selection</p><p>October: Booth by Karen Joy Fowler</p><p>November: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (book club bag)</p><p>December: Holiday party and book exchange</p><p><br /></p>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-25039161094196106232022-04-17T11:25:00.003-05:002022-04-17T11:25:55.210-05:00February and March<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0Mr-YKYUO5e8EqU5mu34yo04Ktff6fC7x-_o2i3Q2qsEv143JmKz5t9v4MGAKTwgMjRqoru6TQ0-r5GhkppiNZmXem70Uo3yoTaZn72qQUi6QPtTkbJQAcRMzEz4Z-nbADufjvCbyR5cL_4UDHtrLP8HqaYgjRbSIF0tVeeKVrNr_AcrNRXtz86uRg/s396/lf-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="275" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd0Mr-YKYUO5e8EqU5mu34yo04Ktff6fC7x-_o2i3Q2qsEv143JmKz5t9v4MGAKTwgMjRqoru6TQ0-r5GhkppiNZmXem70Uo3yoTaZn72qQUi6QPtTkbJQAcRMzEz4Z-nbADufjvCbyR5cL_4UDHtrLP8HqaYgjRbSIF0tVeeKVrNr_AcrNRXtz86uRg/s320/lf-2.jpeg" width="222" /></a></div>Playing catch up - completely forgot to update the last two months! <div><br /></div><div>In February we read Annie Spence's <i>Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak In The Stacks</i>, which fit our theme for February of love because it's a series of love letters to books and libraries. It was not a big hit and initially posed some difficulty in figuring out how to discuss it. But a pop quiz got us talking about a lot of the different books that Spence talked about, a lot of the books we've read, and brought out some really fun stories from members. </div><div><br /></div><div>In March we read Colm Toibin's <i>Nora Webster</i>. Only four of us could make the meeting and only two of us had finished the book but we still managed to have a decent discussion about a book that none of us loved. It's a slow mover and we weren't entirely sure what Toibin's point was. The best part of there only being four of us was that we could sit around Cheryl's kitchen table and nosh and talk. But the best part of the evening was Mary Beth's Irish jokes which she tells with a fantastic Irish accent. </div><div><br /></div><div>Can't say that we can recommend either of these books for book clubs, although <i>Nora Webster </i>might have made for better discussion if we had all read it or if there had been more of us to talk about it so that we might have gotten other opinions. <br /><p> </p></div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-33835060316052899822022-02-13T22:02:00.005-06:002022-02-13T22:02:57.309-06:00January - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGY426Utd7v2j5wLpSyWi8ronBraNZIaEWOhfynmNHd4I1Uk3nOZXq0Tn8Yu4BRNlqlWHc10sz18QHDz9NN1PBVUOSiSDelLme0OeZFawm9vipBo2O5wjxyZjWvoDqfMNz_-_OVX5G3WYVzym9CUDulK7EKRcUv_VuD7hlK6I7_B8gSyVKru4G-C8E4A=s2560" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1696" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGY426Utd7v2j5wLpSyWi8ronBraNZIaEWOhfynmNHd4I1Uk3nOZXq0Tn8Yu4BRNlqlWHc10sz18QHDz9NN1PBVUOSiSDelLme0OeZFawm9vipBo2O5wjxyZjWvoDqfMNz_-_OVX5G3WYVzym9CUDulK7EKRcUv_VuD7hlK6I7_B8gSyVKru4G-C8E4A=w187-h282" width="187" /></a></div>For 2022, every book will represent a theme of the month. January is about new beginnings and no one in literature may have had more new beginnings than Addie LaRue. This is a long book but most of us were able to finish it. It was all love and roses for everyone (although some did love it) but it certainly gave us plenty to talk about. For this book, we divided into teams and each team took turns having players pick A or B questions. A questions were worth more but harder to answer and almost everyone picked them. In the end, it came down to a tie, which meant is was just like the show <i>Whose Line Is It Anyway, </i>where the points don't matter. <p></p><p>This one had us talking about religion, leaving a mark on the world, morality, and what we would give up for love. It was a rare fantasy book for our club which is proof that it's good to break out of routine now and again. </p><p>Sadly, we're back to Zoom meetings, with CoVid numbers up again, which works ok for book discussions but makes chatting with each other harder. Thanks to Linda for getting the meeting set up again. </p><p><br /></p>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-46305270467100317582022-02-13T21:47:00.002-06:002022-02-13T21:47:38.484-06:00December 2021<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBa0sF87VaYr41psBi_YisHjlws1-5UBBEOkIYES4x-kigCHqqyQW5cFL0eytcIZAc0jtrgmojv9eiL01LAWTSpPlTNhd7lIzEl82-v-xVlvJpRmU1RE-jBWBl_0kVXlUWGo2lTECWYBkwFtqANzA3qCVF0EylQHYqQE-ZhQVrFi3JDXqIEq1ktmlqxw=s650" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="650" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjBa0sF87VaYr41psBi_YisHjlws1-5UBBEOkIYES4x-kigCHqqyQW5cFL0eytcIZAc0jtrgmojv9eiL01LAWTSpPlTNhd7lIzEl82-v-xVlvJpRmU1RE-jBWBl_0kVXlUWGo2lTECWYBkwFtqANzA3qCVF0EylQHYqQE-ZhQVrFi3JDXqIEq1ktmlqxw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />December was party time - no pressure to read something with everything else going on this month. As we did last year, we exchanged blind date books and everyone of us came out of it with a new-to-us book that we were eager to read given by someone who enjoyed the books themselves. Some of us are so creative with their book descriptions! We awarded prizes to the three members who had earned the most points during 2021 - attending meetings, reading the books, hosting, bringing treats or wine. Mostly we talked...and talked...and talked. And maybe had a glass or two of wine. It was fun and relaxing and we all enjoyed the goodies everyone had brought to share. Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-7128073163034741352021-11-17T21:57:00.001-06:002021-11-17T21:57:17.072-06:00November - The Snow Child<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4ktaz6v9HKk/YZXNw6g9LBI/AAAAAAAAbOk/pKM1RYuKLcAbEtR3QhvYlNeyUvfdkdBtACLcBGAsYHQ/s499/41PWTKFpxyL._SX328_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="330" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4ktaz6v9HKk/YZXNw6g9LBI/AAAAAAAAbOk/pKM1RYuKLcAbEtR3QhvYlNeyUvfdkdBtACLcBGAsYHQ/w133-h200/41PWTKFpxyL._SX328_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Most of us probably don't remember the old days, when two of three members at a meeting had gotten to be the norm. Well, three was our turnout this month and only two of us had finished the book. While we both liked the book and enjoyed discussing it, it was hard to have a sustained discussion. <div><br /></div><div>If you were a person who picked up this book and found it entirely too depressing in the first 50 pages to continue, I beg of you to power on. Once the titular Snow Child has been created, once Jack and Mabel find friends, the book begins to be about something entirely different. It becomes a book about hope and renewed love, and family, in whatever form you find it. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the end, Alaska seems a little less imposing and hard and a little more about the hope of spring and the beauty of winter. And that snow child? Well, you'll just have to read the book to find out what happens to her. <br /><p><br /></p></div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-49626936518008609992021-10-20T22:41:00.003-05:002021-10-20T22:41:36.617-05:00September and October <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r8pw7PQj2y4/YXDeAbYPzhI/AAAAAAAAbL8/WgQ3R8SCAY0q422hAK-GT9PiNMQg9XL8gCLcBGAsYHQ/s666/9781538719343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="666" data-original-width="450" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r8pw7PQj2y4/YXDeAbYPzhI/AAAAAAAAbL8/WgQ3R8SCAY0q422hAK-GT9PiNMQg9XL8gCLcBGAsYHQ/w135-h200/9781538719343.jpg" width="135" /></a></div>The 2021 Omaha Reads selection was Amber Ruffin's and Lacey Lamar's <i>You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey</i>, which made it our selection for September. And the title is right - we couldn't believe what happened to Lacey. It was a tough read, especially since we live in the town where all of these things are happening. We're an educated group of ladies and don't live with our heads in the sand, but I think that all of us were shocked to find out just how racist so many of those who live in our city are. <div><br /></div><div>This is a book that really got us talking - about what happened to Lacey and to Amber and to their parents. It really made us think about the things we've done and said in the past that might have made it into a book like this. We actually went around the table and each of us made a confession. I was proud of our group for being able to do that and proud that we are a close enough group that we felt safe enough to be able to say those things. </div><div><br /></div><div>We all learned a lot from this book but one of the main things we may all of taken away from this book is to speak up when we see someone being racist. The number of times that others stood by while Lacey's job was in jeopardy, for example, were shocking. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GYt-el3RpTc/YXDf6ZfLF5I/AAAAAAAAbME/VrdHJBk6x6EwrTfcH4zcDJ5DiVo5mKNbwCLcBGAsYHQ/s482/lf-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GYt-el3RpTc/YXDf6ZfLF5I/AAAAAAAAbME/VrdHJBk6x6EwrTfcH4zcDJ5DiVo5mKNbwCLcBGAsYHQ/w124-h200/lf-2.jpeg" width="124" /></a></div>For October, the task was to find a book by a Canadian author which was set in Canada. After turning down a lot of books because they seemed to be too dark, our choice was Miriam Toews' <i>A Complicated Kindness</i>. It was too dark. And depressing. All of us found ourselves skimming at some point in the book as it seemed that the main character, teenager Nomi, was doing the same thing over and over again. But in writing the book that way, Toews does manage to convey the bleakness of life in a small, religious town in the middle of nowhere. Along the way, she alway sneaks in the details that move the book along. While we understood the reason Toews ended the book the way she did, none of us was a fan. We did discuss the book but as it was not a popular choice, it was tough to keep things on track. It was just too hard to read about the terrible things that happened to this young girl. <br /><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-26981707668052033802021-08-28T17:15:00.003-05:002021-08-28T17:15:39.250-05:00August - A Long Petal of the Sea <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kizlg24rBfE/YSq1E7e2aiI/AAAAAAAAbE4/xbwvCMrMvbIfvm7Lh_h2BJoZpl2BgSjSACLcBGAsYHQ/s375/9781984820150.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="247" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kizlg24rBfE/YSq1E7e2aiI/AAAAAAAAbE4/xbwvCMrMvbIfvm7Lh_h2BJoZpl2BgSjSACLcBGAsYHQ/w132-h200/9781984820150.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>It was hot, the boss (ha!) was gone, but I'm told that the questions I sent were discussed (although that might have been an agreed upon strategy to make me happy!) and Becky's backyard won high praise. This one was not a hit, although many agreed it was an eye opener about some historical events, particularly the Spanish Civil War. <div><br /></div><div>It was a disappointment for me, too; I'm finding it hard to believe that so many found this to be a "best of" book for 2020. Sadly, we can't recommend this for other book clubs, although there is a lot to be learned here, including that Allende's father was once the president of Chile. </div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-50580018580127842942021-08-01T22:46:00.004-05:002021-08-01T22:46:41.486-05:00July - The Summer Before The War <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nO9ZuMNQksg/YQdmw_SjkoI/AAAAAAAAbCM/ugvxRiIcfqQ2YcQ3L5OyC4Tys73cJenpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s450/9780812983203.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="291" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nO9ZuMNQksg/YQdmw_SjkoI/AAAAAAAAbCM/ugvxRiIcfqQ2YcQ3L5OyC4Tys73cJenpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/9780812983203.jpeg" width="207" /></a></div><i>The Summer Before The War </i>was our selection for a book about a teacher, with the lead character, Beatrice Nash, moving to a small town in East Sussex, England to accept a post as the Latin teacher just before World War II breaks out. <div><br /></div><div>It soon becomes obvious that Beatrice won't actually do that much teaching, at least not of students in a classroom, in this book but it was still a book that gave us a fair amount to discuss. It is a book that really helps the reader see both the time and place setting. Many of us are big fans of historical fiction and many of us enjoyed the slow pace of this book as it developed its characters. We by and large found the final chapters a bit jarring, though, as they are really different from the rest of the book. When asked which was each of our favorite characters from the book, most liked either Beatrice or Agatha (the woman responsible for bringing Beatrice to the village) for their wit, self-awareness, and longing to change the way of women. </div><div><br /></div><div>While we all agreed the book could have been 100 pages shorter, we weren't sure we were willing to give up the lovely descriptions or the meat of the story. Because Simonson does load the book up with heavier topics - immigration, war, sexual assault, class. The major theme, though, is the way women were forced to live their lives in that time and place. We talked about how so many of the women had learned out to use the men to get what they wanted without them actually having any power. We talked about the plight of a young immigrant who was pregnant because of rape and how it didn't matter to people why she was pregnant, only that she was. We talked about how Beatrice would not have been given the position without intervention, despite the fact that she was clearly the best candidate. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's a book that strolls alone as peacefully as the village in which it's set and it's long, which makes it a more difficult choice for some readers. But book clubs will find plenty to talk about here. </div><div><p><br /></p></div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-12994497617925753172021-06-29T21:39:00.001-05:002021-06-29T21:39:16.890-05:00June - The Little Paris Bookshop<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E0o6GFGwYTI/YNvOPCEPwTI/AAAAAAAAa4o/vfEfEcoeBhkYmE2PTjATkOJakmrZXcmTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s397/9781101889824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="344" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E0o6GFGwYTI/YNvOPCEPwTI/AAAAAAAAa4o/vfEfEcoeBhkYmE2PTjATkOJakmrZXcmTQCLcBGAsYHQ/w173-h200/9781101889824.jpg" width="173" /></a></div>My but we had a tough time staying on topic with our discussion in June! Luckily, more than one of us would get us back on track. You'd think we only saw each other once a year, not once a month! But there always seems to be so much to catch up with. <p></p><p>This book was not just our book about books but also our translated work; it was originally written in German, although Nina George now lives in France. We could definitely see both German and French influences in the book; a husband that's ok with his wife having a lover is definitely a French thing. </p><p>One of the publisher's questions that we discussed was how a book can heal or help you through things. Mostly we agreed that they can be an escape or a way to lift your mood but we did have a couple of examples where people felt that books had really impacted their lives. Another question had to do with a quote from a book that essentially asks if this is the kind of book that you enjoy but then forget about. For the most part, people felt like this is a book they would remember, although Linda had previously read it and could only remember that the bookshop was a barge. </p><p>There's a scene in the book that we all agreed really seemed out of place in the book, despite the way George used it to move the characters along (here we felt like it was the Germanic coming through). </p><p>We talked about how deceptive the title of the book is - the bookshop is only in Paris a short part of the book and while books play a big part in the book, the shop itself is more important for being the home to Jean and Max than for being a store. But we also acknowledged that we'd probably not have picked up this book had it been the titled "The Lavender Room," which is the translation of the title George gave it. Still, we were glad that we'd read it because it had a lot of interesting characters and made for good discussion...when we could stay on track!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-43447378756644039322021-05-24T17:39:00.002-05:002021-05-24T17:39:26.273-05:00May - Behold The Dreamers<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1meEGdqtQxA/YKwqFNo5-EI/AAAAAAAAatA/pektas_Ad2Qrj_9kKq_76SePHtIAXhYLgCLcBGAsYHQ/s475/35259724._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="311" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1meEGdqtQxA/YKwqFNo5-EI/AAAAAAAAatA/pektas_Ad2Qrj_9kKq_76SePHtIAXhYLgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/35259724._SY475_.jpg" /></a></div>We are all vaccinated! We are all vaccinated! It was so nice to get together at someone's home again, made even better by knowing that we had all taken the precaution to keep others safe. It is a little embarrassing that Ann's garage is cleaner than my house but it did make for a nice place to meet, enjoy the sun coming in the open door, and all fit comfortably. <p></p><p>We had a lot to say about <i>Behold The Dreamers</i>. A basket of questions was passed around, some of which were team questions. Every question that got asked elicited not just a response but a longer discussion of other aspects of the book. There were 17 slips with questions on them but we only got to 6 of them before an hour was up! We talked about the similarities and disparities between the couples in their marriages and their parenting styles and between the two main women. It's the mark of a good writer that Mbue Imbolo could make us understand and even sympathize with the wealthy couple. We talked about what Jende and Neni both went through and were willing to do to stay in the United States. That led to Linda being able to enlighten us on her own experiences working with immigrants. </p><p>Quite a few people didn't care for the ending, feeling that there was surely something more that Jende could have done to stay in the U. S. and that he left Neni with no choice despite her willingness to do whatever it took to stay. But it was also noted that in going back, they had changed their lives in Cameroon so much that life there might now be better. Some of us didn't feel it was in character for Neni to do what she did to Cathy, but, again, she was desperate to stay as we saw again and again. </p><p>Despite any concerns about flaws of the book, it's safe to say that this is a great book club choice which so much to discuss. And even though it's an Oprah book club selection, there is only the slightest hint of the kind of thing that has steered our book club away from Oprah's choices for years. </p>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-39077392665298963532021-04-22T20:01:00.002-05:002021-04-22T20:01:22.936-05:00April - Sunburn by Laura Lippman<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z5OowXTqfmg/YIIamlY1j4I/AAAAAAAAans/HDIPuxAFj_UGXcs1cJxvdYtQcv3N4fUugCLcBGAsYHQ/s406/9780062389985_p0_v3_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="268" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z5OowXTqfmg/YIIamlY1j4I/AAAAAAAAans/HDIPuxAFj_UGXcs1cJxvdYtQcv3N4fUugCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/9780062389985_p0_v3_s550x406.jpg" /></a></div>We have so many members fully vaccinated (and more part way there) that we were finally comfortable to meet INSIDE for the first time in more 13 months! In fact, it was the first time we've physically been together in six months and it was so much fun! <p></p><p>It would have been really easy for us to spend those two hours we were together just chatting, but we do like to call ourselves a book club so we really should spend some time every meeting talking about the book. To that end, we played a board game (albeit, one that had entirely too many spaces on it - gotta work on that) and divided into teams to answer questions. Some had multiple answers with the chance to move multiple spaces and many had the chance for one team to make some moves on the other team's turn. </p><p>We learned that some of us can really retain details, especially when it comes to food being discussed in a book. We found that we can justify a character's behavior even as we also find the character to be reprehensible on so many levels and that we can be very creative when comparing a character to an animal. And we found that even when we like a book, if you ask about the ways a book failed, we can pick that book apart like nobody's business. </p><p>Because of the way we chose books this year, it's been a year of unusual choices and this one definitely isn't the kind of book we would normally read or recommend for book clubs. But we did find a lot to talk about with this one and worked our way through all of the questions, even if we never reached the end of the game board.</p>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-13539491654106812442021-04-10T12:22:00.004-05:002021-04-10T12:22:49.082-05:00January, February, And March!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JZxcH7AJHqA/YHHUs7ajkMI/AAAAAAAAamE/MHkXeGniEpgBlcp99KnG6I8pRYyuTln7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s406/9781101973318_p0_v3_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="263" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JZxcH7AJHqA/YHHUs7ajkMI/AAAAAAAAamE/MHkXeGniEpgBlcp99KnG6I8pRYyuTln7gCLcBGAsYHQ/w129-h200/9781101973318_p0_v3_s550x406.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>Oh, my! How the year has gotten away from me! Let's try to catch up, shall we?<div><br /></div><div>In January we read Ariel Lawhon's <i>I Was Anastasia. </i>We had mixed feelings about this book. As with so many books where there are two story lines, we all felt like Anastasia's story was stronger than Anna's. The bigger issue, even though we understood why Lawhon did it, was the way that Lawhon wrote Anna's story in reverse. It made it difficult to keep track of that part of the story. But it did mean that Lawhon could have the two stories converge and reveal the truth behind Anna. We all knew, or looked up, the story of the Romanovs, so we also weren't entirely surprised by how the book ended; still, we held out hope for Anna. While this wasn't a perfect book, it was interesting, found us doing some research, and made for a good discussion. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TRL7FgP-vYs/YHHe2fhABAI/AAAAAAAAamM/PEWg0nmkEYwTnVbd5XxgjAzc1Jt2YwhhACLcBGAsYHQ/s332/220px-ColorPurple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="220" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TRL7FgP-vYs/YHHe2fhABAI/AAAAAAAAamM/PEWg0nmkEYwTnVbd5XxgjAzc1Jt2YwhhACLcBGAsYHQ/w133-h200/220px-ColorPurple.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>In February, we missed our meeting so we tried to discuss both our February and March books at our March "meeting." Our February book was Alice Walker's <i>The Color Purple</i>, which served as both our classic book for the year and fit the month's theme, which was banned books. <i>The Color Purple </i>has been banned in many places because of the amount of violence, particularly to women, in it. That was also the reason that many of our club couldn't keep reading the book. That made it hard to discuss the book so we spent very little time with it, other than to talk about how much of behavior, particularly violent behavior, is inherent versus learned. </div><div><br /></div><div>For March, we read Rachel Joyce's <i>The Music Shop</i> which we all enjoyed. Except...some of us really didn't like the ending and felt it was too staged and too cutesy. We liked Joyce's characters and we had many different favorites. We really enjoyed the music aspects of this book. With all of the music pieces Joyce referenced, Lisa S decided to make a Spotify playlist from the book, only to discover that there were already several options on Spotify. Because we hadn't talked in two months and were trying to talk about two books in one meeting, we didn't talk about this one as much as we might have otherwise. </div><div><br /></div><div>We were really hoping that with as many of us planning to be fully vaccinated by the April meeting we might be able to get together outside. Sadly, it's going to be too chilly yet. But by May, we may be able to really get together again. So looking forward to it!</div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-38071290582444987212020-11-18T21:50:00.000-06:002020-11-18T21:50:02.800-06:00Some Housekeeping!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bDeB72EtUh4/X7Xm2q8rRqI/AAAAAAAAaKk/an3HHaXz1mwq1_VUdw4Q6RylpfmoojQYQCLcBGAsYHQ/s574/BookClubIllo.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="574" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bDeB72EtUh4/X7Xm2q8rRqI/AAAAAAAAaKk/an3HHaXz1mwq1_VUdw4Q6RylpfmoojQYQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/BookClubIllo.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I've added the books for 2021 to the sidebar as well as adding the dates for our meetings. As a general rule, our meetings will always be the 3rd Tuesday of the month. Since we probably will have to do Zoom meetings through winter this year, weather should not impact us for sometime. But if there appears to be any weather related reason we might not be able to meet, please check your email before leaving for a meeting, in case we have to reschedule the meeting. Please note that our meeting in December is on the second Tuesday of the month to keep us from bumping up too close to the holidays.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zAxYqjGzE88/X7XrKy92ldI/AAAAAAAAaK4/Cxk8lUnYbww_r-g-5XUdc3E_4tCLAYmIwCLcBGAsYHQ/s512/unnamed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="440" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zAxYqjGzE88/X7XrKy92ldI/AAAAAAAAaK4/Cxk8lUnYbww_r-g-5XUdc3E_4tCLAYmIwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/unnamed.png" /></a></div><br />For those of you who were new to the Bookworms in 2020, I'm certain that we never brought you up to speed on the competition we started a couple of years ago. With a new year around the corner, I wanted to make sure you knew about how we earn points why; this is also a reminder to the rest of you about how to earn points. Hopefully 2021 will allow us more ways to earn points again, other than just reading the book and attending meetings. I'll be trying to work in some bonus ways to earn points, starting with watching movie adaptations of books we're reading. Here's how it works:<p></p>
Starting in January, you'll have a chance to earn points in several different ways. At our December meeting, prizes will be awarded. The top two point totals will win bookish prizes (and by "bookish," I might mean a bottle of wine to drink while you read a book!) and the person with the least points will win a lovely white elephant gift (I might have more fun with this prize than the other two!).<br /><br />Here's how you can earn points:<br />
<br />
Finish the book - 15 points <div>Reading enough to discuss the book - 5 points<br />
Host a meeting - 10 points</div><div>Bringing food or wine to a meeting - 2 points<br />
Attending a meeting - 5 points<br />
Organize a book-related, non-meeting event - 3 points<br />
Attend a non-meeting event (seeing an author, seeing a book-related movie, go to a play, do an activity you were inspired to do because of a book) - 3 points (an extra point if you've gone with book club friends)<br />
Introduce a new member - 3 points<br />
Recommend a book 1 point (2 points if your book is added to our reading list)<br />
Submit a question ahead of the meeting regarding the book - 1 point</div><div>Winning a book club game - 3 points</div><div><br />
If you can't come to the meeting, but have finished the book or if you've gone to a non-meeting event that qualifies, please let me know by email so I can add your points. Hopefully there will be bookish events to attend in 2021 again - author visits, movies released based on books, plays based on books, etc. Let me know if you think of any other ways we could earn points!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bcmupx7ih9o/X7XrVHDGi4I/AAAAAAAAaK8/YLcGQwYBDmkGUr-zLC9FfTeZZIpbXV-DACLcBGAsYHQ/s1100/istock-532852345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="1100" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bcmupx7ih9o/X7XrVHDGi4I/AAAAAAAAaK8/YLcGQwYBDmkGUr-zLC9FfTeZZIpbXV-DACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/istock-532852345.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-5721672927697358812020-11-18T21:15:00.002-06:002020-11-18T21:15:22.717-06:00November - Where The Crawdads Sing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dexWqzVlsfo/X7XeCOtFfZI/AAAAAAAAaKc/cYJRuBkfGaQN9b5HuD3YK_d7TCGRk0oVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s475/42583886._SY475_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="295" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dexWqzVlsfo/X7XeCOtFfZI/AAAAAAAAaKc/cYJRuBkfGaQN9b5HuD3YK_d7TCGRk0oVgCLcBGAsYHQ/w124-h200/42583886._SY475_.jpg" width="124" /></a></div>A year ago we put in for a library book club bag for this book. We were all the way up to 4th in line and then Covid hit. And we sat 4th in line for 7 months. Finally, we gave up and read it this month. As of the day we met, we were finally up to 2nd in line. When do you think we might finally have gotten that bag?! <p></p><div>This was the perfect book to end our serious reading for the year; we all enjoyed it (in fact, most of us loved it) and it gave us a lot to talk about. I had a list of questions but everyone just launched into talking about the book and we talked about it for a half hour before we needed any prompting. As we talk, we hit on a lot of things we agreed required a suspension of disbelief if you wanted to really enjoy the book. I always worry that when we start getting into the weeds talking about the book that it will lessen our enjoyment of the book. Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case here. </div><div><br /></div><div>A heads up to any other book clubs who want to read this book (if there are any left who haven't!) - there's a big reveal way at the end of this book which is impossible not to talk about. We talked a lot about that - whether or not we had figured it out ahead of time, if it was believable, and a specific piece of evidence. Actually, there were two reveals at the end but one of them was only marginally of interest to most of us except that we wished we had had time to go back through the book to see if it was more relevant than we thought it was. </div><div><br /></div><div>We kept going back to the fact that Kya's mother walked away from her two youngest children and left them with an abusive father: how that affected Kya and whether or not it was ever forgivable, why none of Kya's siblings ever came back for her, why not one single white person in the town seemed to have a heart when it came to this poor little girl. </div><div><br /></div><div>Whether you end of loving this book or not, we do recommend it for a book club selection. Owens' writes beautifully about the plants, the animals, the birds and the land. </div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-64789577674460971222020-11-14T13:27:00.002-06:002020-11-14T13:27:39.697-06:002021 Book Selections!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TkcdZSC6Vao/X7AvfliEkWI/AAAAAAAAaJk/0lvn02pU0hkdhrqV66Y3tsiOo39tf2bPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s475/33989585._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TkcdZSC6Vao/X7AvfliEkWI/AAAAAAAAaJk/0lvn02pU0hkdhrqV66Y3tsiOo39tf2bPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/33989585._SY475_.jpg" /></a></div>Remember that list of categories I gave you a few weeks ago? This seemed like a good idea to me until I started trying to pick books to fit that categories! The votes are in the categories with the most votes were: Books About Famous Women, Banned Books, Book Adapted Into Movies, Famous Nebraskans, Books With A Twist, Immigrant Stories, Books With Teachers, Books About Native Americans, Books Set In South America, Books by Canadian Authors, and Books About Books or Libraries. Several other categories also received votes so that when I was able to choose a book that fit more than one category, I selected from those categories. <p></p><p>Those of you who didn't join our club in the past year are well acquainted with the fact that I may, at random, change things up. I have not read most of these books but will read them ahead of the month we are reading them. If I decide that aren't good choices for discussion, I'll change things up. But, after something like 20 hours of looking at choices and changing and changing my selections, this is what we have for 2021 at this time: </p><p>January: <i>I Was Anastasia </i>by Ariel Lawhon (Famous Women)</p><p>February: <i>The Color Purple </i>by Alice Walker (Banned Books, Book Adapted To Movie)* **</p><p>March: <i>The Music Shop </i>by Rachel Joyce (Books With Music In The Title, Love Story)</p><p>April: <i>Sunburn </i>by Laura Lippman (Books With A Twist)</p><p>May: <i>Behold The Dreamers </i>by Imbolo Mbue (Immigrant Stories)</p><p>June: <i>The Little Paris Bookshop </i>by Nina George (Books About Books, Translated Books)</p><p>July: <i>Fall On Your Knees </i>by Ann-Marie MacDonald (Books by Canadian Author)</p><p>August: <i>The Water Is Wide </i>by Pat Conroy (Books With Teachers, Book Adapted to Movie)*</p><p>September: <i>I Am A Man </i>by Joe Starita (Famous Nebraskans, Books About Native Americans) ***</p><p>October: <i>A Long Petal Of The Sea </i>by Isabel Allende (Books Set In South America, Books With A Body of <span> <span> <span> </span></span></span>A Water In The Title)</p><p>November: <i>Weather </i>by Jenny Offill (Books With Weather In The Title)</p><p>December: Open</p><div style="text-align: left;">* Bonus points if you also watch the movie adaptation</div><div style="text-align: left;">** This is our classic selection for 2021</div><div style="text-align: left;">*** This is our nonfiction selection for 2021</div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-72202213535625635212020-11-14T12:42:00.003-06:002020-11-14T13:28:34.893-06:00October - After The Flood<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kl9UBjZXM5w/X7Ak5UrZK4I/AAAAAAAAaJY/XD-tlGb8umQv9n_eE34nTPN9C52YXrX5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/41088582.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="263" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kl9UBjZXM5w/X7Ak5UrZK4I/AAAAAAAAaJY/XD-tlGb8umQv9n_eE34nTPN9C52YXrX5QCLcBGAsYHQ/w131-h200/41088582.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>What a disappointment October was - we were so hoping for one more month of nice enough weather to be able to meet in person. Alas, we have begun Zoom meeting season. <p></p><div style="text-align: left;">This month we read the Omaha Reads' selection for 2020, <i>After The Flood</i>. I would say it's well outside our usual read but we do a pretty good job of mixing things up and it's not the first dystopian book we've read. We had a good discussion about the various characters, their motivations, and the believability of their actions. Although the violence in this one was less than many dystopian novels (and less than some Omaha Reads choices), there were still some tough to read parts that had some of us putting the book down. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What was the best part of reading this book, as with so many book club selections, was the discussion it lead to about our own lives. We talked about how we would react to the various trials that were faced but the most fun was having each person talk about what skills they would bring to a group trying to survive. We have a lot of gardeners so if we could find seeds, we'd be good. Some sewers, some who would be helpful in negotiating, some who are good problem solvers. Sadly, we don't have anyone who can hunt or fish so how well we would survive without any protein is debatable! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-77046468241858931762020-09-16T22:35:00.002-05:002020-09-16T22:36:28.485-05:00September - Furious Hours<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JO8W2eiJ-FE/X2LZU-yBEII/AAAAAAAAZ9U/IvxyGzmFSd8u0DHkImYIVwbr1zRCMy45wCLcBGAsYHQ/s406/9781101947869_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="263" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JO8W2eiJ-FE/X2LZU-yBEII/AAAAAAAAZ9U/IvxyGzmFSd8u0DHkImYIVwbr1zRCMy45wCLcBGAsYHQ/w129-h200/9781101947869_p0_v4_s550x406.jpg" width="129" /></a></div>This month we discussed Casey Cep’s Furious Hours, which was our nonfiction read for the year and also tied in with our classic book for the year, To Kill A Mockingbird. To change things up this month, we split into teams to answer questions about the book. The final question for each team was open-ended to allow for broader discussion about the book but a lot of the questions allowed us to get into more detail about the book. For example, we talked about narrative nonfiction which is a term everyone said they will not forget. Should that be on a year-end quiz?! <div><br /></div><div>We spent a lot of time talking about Harper Lee – why she never wrote another book and why she couldn’t write this book in particular. One idea was that she might not have been, despite the wild success of To Kill A Mockingbird, a great writer. That book drew heavily from her own experiences and she had not had to come up with an original idea; also, she was helped tremendously by a number of people, including her publisher. Another thought was that she might have been a perfectionist, writing and rewriting and never being happy with the finished product. Without someone to push her along, she was never able to finish another book and the pressure of trying to follow up her debut may have just been too great. <div><br /></div><div>Thanks to Lisa W for hosting again and to everyone who brought snacks and wine. It was great to be able to meet in person again. Hopefully we can get another month of good weather to do it again; it’s so much easier to socialize which is, of course, a big part of the reason we enjoy our group! Team Austen was the big winner of the game and will receive extra points for the win. </div></div>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-37177326169992403212020-08-30T11:39:00.002-05:002020-08-30T11:39:47.505-05:00 August - A Spool of Blue Thread<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F_3t8Xxblmg/X0vPBb9y76I/AAAAAAAAZ6I/xzPfikzTP10olR8yIUr8PrUFcVQQabXEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s450/9780553551044.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="450" height="230" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F_3t8Xxblmg/X0vPBb9y76I/AAAAAAAAZ6I/xzPfikzTP10olR8yIUr8PrUFcVQQabXEwCLcBGAsYHQ/w230-h230/9780553551044.jpeg" width="230" /></a></div>Couldn't keep them from talking about this book before our "official" discussion even began because those who hadn't finished had questions and those who had told those who hadn't that they hadn't missed much. Those who had finished this book admitted to being disappointed, having been waiting for some reveals at the end and a more fulfilling explanation as to the title of the book. <p></p><p>We were excited to get to meet in person again and Lisa W spoiled us with a great spread of heavy appetizers, lots of wine and drink holders beside every chair. It was beautiful evening and we were happy to welcome two new ladies. </p><p>To make things more interesting and to keep things on track, we played a scaled-for-the-outdoors version of Jeopardy. Categories included What A Character and Well, That's Novel among others. We talked about the motives of the characters, how our impression of some of the characters changed throughout the book, symbolism, and the structure of the book. The game also gave us a chance to talk about memorable books about families and it was fun to see how many of us interpreted that. </p><p>Definitely not our favorite book ever but it did give us a lot to discuss even if it was almost too dark to read the clues by the end of the evening! </p>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-51818039982346685792020-08-08T10:22:00.005-05:002020-08-08T10:38:30.259-05:00June and July - Olive, Again and Daisy Jones and The Six <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e8IPpKxg-lg/Xy6_wGm1JJI/AAAAAAAAZ2E/vwGsqG6lH90n9knDP4lC0Cr9FzvThypwwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/bookclub.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1673" data-original-width="2048" height="334" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e8IPpKxg-lg/Xy6_wGm1JJI/AAAAAAAAZ2E/vwGsqG6lH90n9knDP4lC0Cr9FzvThypwwCLcBGAsYHQ/w410-h334/bookclub.jpg" width="410" /></a></div> Playing catch up today before I've got three months to write up! <p></p><p>In June, we read Elizabeth Strout's follow up to her bestseller, <i>Olive Kitteridge</i>, <i>Olive, Again</i>. Because Zoom was starting to wear on all of us, it was time to switch things up a bit so we turned the book into a board game. The board was modeled after the game Candyland and let's just say that even reducing the number of spots on the board in half, there were still a lot of spots to land on between the beginning and the end. We were only using one die and finally had to go to doubling that number or we would have had to carry the game over to the next meeting! It certainly made us think about what we'd read and kept us on track talking about the book but may not have allowed for as in-depth a discussion as we might otherwise have had. It's something to try again, with some tweaking.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yuHhmEOa4mE/Xy7DiLEY2DI/AAAAAAAAZ2Q/PQof5a3Ao7IctinyLx_jdtAciitzbyNDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/IMG_3703.JPG" style="clear: right; display: block; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yuHhmEOa4mE/Xy7DiLEY2DI/AAAAAAAAZ2Q/PQof5a3Ao7IctinyLx_jdtAciitzbyNDQCLcBGAsYHQ/w410-h307/IMG_3703.JPG" width="410" /></a></div>In July, we finally got together in person again and we're hoping the weather will cooperate enough for us to continue to do that for a few more months. Lisa S couldn't be there but sent alone questions so there could still be some kind of discussion about <i>Daisy Jones and The Six</i> which had a lot to talk about even though it didn't have the feel of a heavy topic book. Linda was kind enough to host in her beautiful backyard. <p></p><p>Both books make good book club choices with a lot a characters and themes to talk about and we found that it wasn't necessary to have read Strout's first book about Olive to be able to enjoy the second. </p><p>A couple of points of housekeeping: </p><p>You'll see that our Race for the Prizes is very tight this year (not having meetings in house has reduced the number of points available!). If you are not able to come to the meeting, but have read the book, please let me know so I can award you points for that. Also, I forgot to record who won the board game in June so can whoever won please remind me so I can add your points to your total?</p><p>Also, at the rate things are going, I'm starting to think that a movie in December may not be an option. I think we all enjoyed not having to read a book last December, in addition to everything else we have going on in that month, so I'd like to keep that month clear. But we may also not be able to do a book exchange in the same way we did last year. I'm pondering some ideas as to how we might yet be able to make that work but let me know your thoughts about what else we could do to make our December meeting more fun if we have to do Zoom, as I suspect we might.</p>Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-79114240901133124272020-05-28T21:03:00.001-05:002020-05-28T21:03:56.706-05:00Eleanor Elephant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Month two of Zoom meetings and we all managed to get into the meeting without any problems. Yea, us! This month we welcomed Becky and we managed not to scare her off and even showed her that we can talk about the book when we really try.<br />
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The past couple of months we've chosen numbers that correspond to questions as our way to keep on track. This time we'd already answered four of the questions before we even got to the questions with a discussion of the book before we started that part. That's how great this book is as a book club choice. Some of us figured out the big reveal before we got to the end but most of us hadn't gotten to that. We talked about whether or not we thought Eleanor might have Asperger's or if her behavior was just a result of her upbringing. We all loved Eleanor and the way that Honeyman gradually brought her to the point she could come to grips with what had happened to her and the way friendship made all the difference in her life. We agreed that Honeyman showed how one person who shows kindness can make all the difference.<br />
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<br />Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-36566278847438234002020-05-28T20:46:00.000-05:002020-05-28T20:46:03.862-05:00Conviction by Denise Mina<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In March, Omaha had just had their first diagnosed case of Covid-19 and we were not much worried about it yet at that point. We met at Ann's and while we may not have hugged each other, we then thought that washing our hands was going to keep us pretty safe. A month later, it was a whole new ball game. Book club in the time of a pandemic means meetings are held via Zoom. This was our first meeting trying this technology and, for the most part, it went pretty well. We actually spent a lot of time talking about the book and might well have done a better job of not talking over each other as we do in person!<br />
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Conviction was recommended by Linda, based on an NPR review. Ann was the first person to read it and she finished it in two days. She was not alone in finding this to be a book to race through. We all liked this one, even though we had a few problems with it, including the fact that we thought the whole conflict of the book ended too easily. I believe only one of us figured out who-done-it before the end of the book which is always the mark of a good mystery. Would we recommend it? Yes. Would we recommend it for a book club? Again, yes. Mysteries don't always make for good discussion but this one had a lot going on with themes including sexual assault, eating disorders, the impact of social media, and remaking yourself.Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4201160937256337220.post-37000751005738541312020-03-11T22:00:00.002-05:002020-03-11T22:00:59.502-05:00March - To Kill A Mockingbird<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I must admit, we were a chatty bunch this month. Lots to talk about besides the book. CoVid19, upcoming theatrical performances both related to and not at all related to books we've read, new jobs, and kid updates. So we may not have given this book it's fair due as far as discussion was concerned.<br />
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We started by going around the room and talking about whether or not each person had previously read the book or not. If so, we wanted to know how this reading compared to their first reading. If not, how did they think they experience differed from what it might have been if they'd read it when they were younger. Only one person had never read the book before; Lisa W was reading it for the first time. Everyone else had different perspectives about the differences on reread. Grace had thought she might not need to actually reread it but in flipping through it, realized how much she'd forgotten about it.<br />
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We talked about Scout and her precociousness. We wondered about a girl who was raised to be, and acted in public, so polite, who didn't hesitate to question the authority of her teachers. We talked about how Lee didn't seem to care much for teachers as a whole; she portrays them as rigid and unaware. As we talked about the racism in the book, Ann brought up that kids are products of their upbringing and to an extent can't be blamed for their actions and words. We wondered how, then, so many of them grow and change and when in their lives does that happen. Grace had some really interesting stories to tell about her experience as a very young girl dealing with racists and being acutely aware that it was wrong.<br />
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We talked about the movie adaptation of the book and Cheryl and Mary Beth were of two minds about how good of an adaptation it was. Mary Beth felt that they had left out much of what makes us understand the actions of the characters. Lisa and Ann had differing opinions about how Jem was affected by what happened in the book. We don't always have really different opinions about the book and it was kind of interesting to have points we weren't necessarily ready to concede.<br />
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We all felt that Gregory Peck was the perfect Atticus and made that character even more of a man to be idolized. Lisa S pointed out that Harper Lee had based Atticus on her own father (the trial piece of the book is based on a trial where he defended two black men wrongly accused). That led us to wonder if the Atticus in this book was more accurate to her father or the Atticus in Go Set A Watchman which Lee actually wrote before this book and in which Atticus is definitely not the saint he is here.<br />
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We're eager to see the Broadway adaptation when it comes to Omaha next April and see what changes Aaron Sorkin made to the story.
Hey, it turns out we did get a lot of discussion in about the book, after all!Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05554217416500328610noreply@blogger.com0