December 2011 Meeting

Good grief - I just realized that I never updated the blog/website for November. So I promise I will get it updated for November AND December. In the meantime, here's the scoop.

We will meet on Friday, December 30th.
Donna will be our hostess.
Kim will bring book selections, and
Fran will lead our discussion.

We are reading Border Songs, by Jim Lynch. The Amazon Book Description says:

Set in the previously sleepy hinterlands straddling Washington state and British Columbia, Border Songs is the story of Brandon Vanderkool, six foot eight, frequently tongue-tied, severely dyslexic, and romantically inept. Passionate about bird-watching, Brandon has a hard time mustering enthusiasm for his new job as a Border Patrol agent guarding thirty miles of largely invisible boundary. But to everyone’s surprise, he excels at catching illegals, and as drug runners, politicians, surveillance cameras, and a potential sweetheart flock to this scrap of land, Brandon is suddenly at the center of something much bigger than himself.

A magnificent novel of birding, smuggling, farming and extraordinary love, Border Songs welcomes us to a changing community populated with some of the most memorable characters in recent fiction.

There are plenty of copies available from Contra Costa Library.

November 2011 Meeting

Better late than never...

This month, we read Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier. Written in 1938.

This is the chilling classic of a girl haunted by her own imagination and by the ghost of Rebecca de Winter. After honeymooning in Italy the dashing Max de Winter returns with his innocent young bride to Manderley, the beautiful family estate in Cornwall. Yet the former mistress' disturbing presence lingers throughout the house. Du Maurier's shy heroine is tortured by constant comparisons to the glittering socialite who was her precedessor and she is heading towards tragedy and despair when Rebecca herself appears...

October 2011 Meeting

We will be reading The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver.

And VERY IMPORTANT === we changed the meeting date to October 21st. Turns out Denise and at least two others had other events come up on the originally-scheduled date. CHANGE YOUR CALENDAR!

Sheila leads discussion
Lisa brings books to choose
Fran brings food

See you then!

September 2011 meeting

Our September meeting will be on September 23rd.
Lisa will bring food
Sheila will bring books for October and
Sherrie will facilitate our discussion

We selected The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, by Heidi Durrow. The Library Journal says this:

Durrow's first novel, inspired by a real event, won the 2008 Bellwether Prize for best fiction manuscript addressing issues of social justice. The young protagonist, Rachel, is the only survivor after her mother apparently threw her and her two siblings from a roof and then jumped to her own death. Like a good mystery, this book builds to the startling revelation of what really happened and why a loving mother would kill her children. But there's much more, and if the novel has a weakness, it's that it oozes conflict. Rachel, who is biracial, is abandoned by her father; a boy who witnesses the rooftop incident has his own difficulties, including a neglectful mother who's also a prostitute. But one can't help but be drawn in by these characters and by the novel's exploration of race and identity.

I am often asked, what books were not selected? and they were

Street of a Thousand Blossoms, by Gail Tsukiyama
Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
Little Bee, by Chris Cleaves


See you Sept 23rd!

August 2011 Meeting

This month, we will be reading The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music by Steve Lopez. This is a biography by Steve Lopez, columnist for the L.A. Times and tells the story of his attempts to help a homeless musician improve his situation.

Lopez heard a violin and found a former Juilliard prodigy, now homeless, whose life he tried to resurrect.

The book was published in 2008 and has been made into a film starring Jamie Foxx.

We haven't read a biography/autobiography in almost a year (the last was Mrs. Mike, I believe), so this will provide a change of pace for us.

Our next meeting is Friday (of course), August 26th.

Hostess: Sheila
Book selections for September: Sherrie
Facilitatress: Rachel

This posting comes a few weeks late, and I apologize for that. I have been distracted with family matters. We haven't had any news about Brooke, though, have we?? The Date is fast approaching...

July 2011 Meeting

This month, we will be reading Stopover in Venice, by Kathryn Walker. Here is a brief review from BOOKLIST:

Walker’s debut novel is an intriguing mix of romance, art history, and mystery. Fans of Tracy Chevalier will be drawn to Walker’s blending of past and present as she tells the story of Nel, a young woman on tour in Europe with her husband, Antony, a famous musician. Frustrated with her marriage and a life that has become drab, Nel gets off the train they’re taking to Verona and returns to Venice. There she rescues a small dog, an act of mercy that leads her to the dog’s owner, a countess, handsome Matteo, and past mysteries. As Matteo painstakingly uncovers a beautiful fresco in the countess’ home, Nel reads the diaries that turn up in a back room and tell the story of the nuns who once ran a hospital there during the time of the plague. Intrigued by her new friends, a discovery that could shock the art world, and a love story that has survived the ages, Nel begins to understand what she actually wants out of life.

So, we are reading a first novel, and mention of Tracy Chevalier tweaks my interest. Remarkable Creatures was one of this year's books, and it seems most of us enjoyed it...

Take note that the schedule has changed. Lisa will be unable to attend in July and August, so Sherrie and Sheila have moved up a month, and Lisa has dropped down two months. If you are not one of these three people, your schedule is not affected.

Our next meeting is Friday, July 22, 2011

Sherrie is hostess
Rachel will bring book selections
Brooke will lead our discussion

June 2011 Meeting

This month, we are reading The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri

"This first novel is an Indian American saga, covering several generations of the Ganguli family across three decades. Newlyweds Ashoke and Ashima leave India for the Boston area shortly after their traditional arranged marriage. The young husband, an engineering graduate student, is ready to be part of U.S. culture, but Ashima, disoriented and homesick, is less taken with late-Sixties America. She develops ties with other Bengali expatriates, forming lifelong friendships that help preserve the old ways in a new country. When the first Ganguli baby arrives, he is named Gogol in commemoration of a strange, life-saving encounter with the Russian writer's oeuvre. As Gogol matures, his unusual name proves to be a burden, though no more than the tensions and confusions of growing up as a first-generation American. This poignant treatment of the immigrant experience is a rich, stimulating fusion of authentic emotion, ironic observation, and revealing details."

Although this is her first novel, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Interpreter of Maladies, a short story collection that we read in 2007.

Our meeting is Friday, June 24th.

Rachel is the hostess
Brooke is bringing book selections
Denise will lead our discussion.

Members wanted to share their book jacket statement about their book club experience. Original suggesion was a 75 word essay. Please bring 1 copy for everyone. If someone would like to assist with putting these into folders for a keepsake that would be great.

May 2011 Meeting

This month, we will be reading The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy. Here is a brief synopsis borrowed from Amazon.com:

Set in revolutionary France, this mesmerizing novel embraces all the best qualities of fiction: suspense, drama, romance, mystery and even a dash of history. As heads roll in 1792 Paris, one man vows to save innocent lives. Using only his wits and cunning, the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel goes undercover to rescue the condemned. But will he be discovered--and sent to the guillotine himself? An everyday aristocrat by day, a daring rescuer by night, the Scarlet Pimpernel is crime fiction's first character who uses hidden identity to pursue justice.

Sounds like a lot of fun. For those who are keeping track, the other two book choices were The Hundred Secret Senses, by Amy Tan and The Gatherine, by Anne Enright.

Our next meeting will be Friday, May 20th, 2011.

Brooke will bring food
Denise will bring book selections and
Donna will lead our discussion

See y'all there!!

April 2011 Meeting Information

First of all: our April 22nd meeting will be our ELEVENTH ANNIVERSARY!! Denise will be our hostess and planning some special activities.

She has given us homework: Write the text for the front flap of a book expressing your view of our book group.

We will be reading Pdddy Clark, Ha Ha Ha, by Roddy Doyle

Donna will bring our book selections and Kim will lead the discussion.

Lisa reports that she believe she will be able to attend in April - she has been released to spend short periods of time with a back brace on.

2011-2012 Calendar

We need to review our calendar for the remainder of 2011. It is astonishing how many 4th Fridays land on a holiday weekend. So this is a listing of fourth Fridays for the rest of 2011:

• April 22 -- Good Friday --> I suspect we must have already decided that this was OK, since it is NEXT MONTH!!
• May 27 - Memorial Day weekend - propose May 20th, which will be 4 weeks after the April meeting
  
• June 24
• July 22
• Aug 26
• Sept 23
• Oct 28
• Nov 25 - Thanksgiving weekend (Thanksgiving Nov 24th) - propose meeting Dec 2
  
• December 23rd - the day before the day before Christmas - propose meeting Dec 30

January 2012 is a 4-Friday month, so if we moved our meeting to the first Friday of January, we would have a Very Short interval between meetings in January. Comments?? We can discuss in more detail at our meeting March 25th.

March 2011 meeting

Greetings, book friends! I am trying to stay up-to-date with my book group responsibilities.

Our next meeting is Friday, March 25, 2011.

We have chosen to read Remarkable Creatures, by Tracy Chevalier

Fran will lead our discussion
Kim will bring the April book selections and
Donna will bring food.

NOTE: Audio CD's are available through Link+