January and February Books

Hope y'all had a merry Christmas! And that you're ready to get into a new year of great books and fun meetings. I've got a book list for the new year that I'll be posting on the blog soon--I just have one or two more months to iron out.

But for now...here's the plan:

January book: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann

Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Discussion led by Amber Westfall

Thu, Jan 21st

7:00pm

Location: Yet to be determined (volunteers?)

This book is only about 250 pages and, according to Amber, a very fast read. The libraries have tons of copies, though you may have to place a hold on it. Here's a customer review from Amazon:

"Set in both London and Guernsey Island, this novel follows author Juliet as she becomes friends with the inhabitants of the island shortly after the end of World

War 2. Told in epistolary style, Juliet learns of the occupied island and its deprivations, as well as the resounding spirit of the people who live there. As she writes, she becomes more and more intrigued with the stories of the people who survived the hard times, and she decides to create a book based on their experiences. In order to gather more information, Juliet moves temporarily to the island and soon finds herself immsersed in the culture and relationships.

"This is absolutely one of the most delightful books I've read all year. The characters are real, the relationships are unique, and Juliet is hysterically funny, as well as warm hearted and genuine. I did have a bit of trouble keeping all the characters straight in the beginning, but once I caught on, I was enthralled. The pages just fly by and while you will learn a little of what happened to Guernsey during World War 2, you will learn much more about love and friendship. Highly recommended!"

February book: Villette by Charlotte Bronte

Discussion led by Margaret Morrison

Wed, Feb 10th

7:00pm

Location: Margaret Morrison's house

Villette is supposed to be the most autobiographical of Bronte's works, moreso than Jane Eyre. The libraries have copies of it but I found you have to search for "Villette" as a keyword and not as the title or for some reason it didn't bring it up. Most copies of it are within a book of her (and sometimes Emily's) complete works. Again, another Amazon customer review:

"It was her last completed book, always in the shadow of Jane Eyre. It was insightful, irreverent, angry, tragic, funny, bizarre, gothic and wonderfully honest. At the time, the novel was harshly criticized by men, even feminist men like George Eliot's lover. But George Eliot herself and Virginia Wolf believed it to be her best work.

"How unusual first of all to have a heroine like Lucy Snowe, not of noble blood, not rich, not charming, not even good-looking as women (esp in the Victorian period) were expected to be. Like the other characters, she is flawed, contradictory and multi-faceted in a way one rarely sees in literature but continually witnesses in real life. Yet she is decidedly brilliant, original and imaginative like no other. Unconventional and delightfully subversive! In many ways, this is a truly modern novel to this day. I've never read a novel that so honestly and unflinchingly captures the plight of a woman-artist making her own way in the world despite the obstacles thrown in her path."

Villette is a little beefier than Guernsey--about 600 pages. So if you're planning on coming to both meetings, I'd go ahead and get Villette and begin working on that since there is only about 3 weeks between them.

I'm really excited about both these books and the ones we have planned through the end of summer. Happy reading and enjoy the rest of your Christmas break!

What a wonderful Christmasy/Hanukkahy meeting!

Thanks so much to everyone who came to our Dec 1st meeting, who brought food, insightful comments, and their sparkling personalities with them. :) We had a great meeting and learned a lot more about our holiday short stories. Thanks especially to Lee Anne for hosting us in her beautiful home and getting all of us in the Christmas spirit. Thanks also to Shelley for her help obtaining and researching, "Menashe and Rachel" for us. It was the perfect evening!

December Book Club--two seasonal short stories

Pardon my lateness for those of you I haven't spoken to already...

We are meeting this month, but we have chosen two short stories to read due to the fact that I know all of us are super-busy at this time of year--not the best time to dive into a big book.

The first story is one I know everyone knows of but perhaps few of us have actually read: The Gift of the Magi by O Henry. This one is available lots of places online (the link below is one option) and is absolutely delightful.

http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/1014/

The second one is a Hanukkah story Shelley found for us that is also wonderful: "Menashe and Rachel" by Isaac Bashevis Singer. We have a pdf copy that I will email everyone on the email list as an attachment (send me an email if you are not on that list and I'll be sure to send it to you--emilyeyringrobertson@gmail.com).

It can also be found in the book, The Power of Light by Singer which is a collection of his stories, several copies of which can be found at the Athens library. The stories all tie somewhat together, so you may want to check it out and read more than one!

We are meeting at Lee Anne Pope's house (thanks Lee Anne!) which is a great central location close to Athens and Watkinsville:

Tuesday, Dec 1st

7 pm

1431 Lakewood Manor Drive

Athens

706-850-6477 (Lee Anne)

Finally, we asking everyone who would like to to bring a Christmas goodie to share. Shelley is leading our discussion, which is always very enlightening and, um . . . exciting. :) Just kidding, Shell. She's amazing. We all know it.

Looking forward to it!!!

URGENT: Still looking for a few good books...

All right, most of you have heard that we're compiling a new list of books to read for the next 9 months or so. But I've gotten very little feedback!

So I want everyone who reads this to take a second to leave a comment with one book they'd like to read. Otherwise we'll be stuck with all of my and about 2 other people's choices, which I guess I wouldn't entirely mind.

And here are some of the suggestions so far:

The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Literary Society
Daniel Deronda by George Elliott
Vanity Fair by William Thackeray
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Lyman Bushman (scheduled many months in advance to give us time!)
Les Mis by Victor Hugo (also scheduled well in advance)

Thanks!

A Poem For Your Reading Enjoyment

I ran across this poem the other day, and I really liked it and thought I'd share it.

The Dream

O God, in the dream the terrible horse began
To paw at the air, and make for me with his blows.
Fear kept for thirty-five years poured through his mane,
And retribution equally old, or nearly, breathed through his nose.

Coward complete, I lay and wept on the ground
When some strong creature appeared, and leapt for the rein.
Another woman, as I lay half in a swound,
Leapt in the air, and clutched at the leather and chain.

Give him, she said, something of yours as a charm
Throw him, she said, some poor thing you alone claim.
No, no, I cried, he heates me; he's out for harm,
And whether I yield or not, it is all the same.

But, like a lion in a legend, when I flung the glove
Pulled from my sweating, my cold right hand,
The terrible beast, that no one may understand,
Came to my side, and put down his head in love.

Louise Bogan (1897-1970)

My Sister's Keeper meeting and please post suggestions for new books

We have a plan for our next book club meeting.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult
Tuesday, Oct 13, 2009
7pm
Ruth Monson's house at 579 Milledge Circle

Looking forward to having a fun time discussing this book. Also, we'd like to make a 9-12 mo. schedule of books for this meeting so please bring your suggestions or email them to me if you won't be able to make it. We won't plan a lot for the next few months due to the holidays (maybe one holiday-related book to discuss in November) and then we'll have a monthly book after that starting in Jan.

I'd like to be better about having a meeting every month, perhaps back to always having it the first week of the month. I know for most of us, obtaining and completing the book club book every thirty days is a bit much, but we also have such a variety of genres people are interested in. I think if we have a book for every month but have different types of books then people can read the books they're most interested in and still be able to participate regularly. Plus there are a few long books that people would like to do but that would require us to know about well in advance to get them done in time (Rough Stone Rolling, Les Mis). I hope getting a schedule will allow us to fit in some of those longer works as well.

Maybe what I'll do is make another quiz on the website after our next meeting with all the books we've recently discussed and the ones that come up then, we'll have it open for a week or two, and then I'll put together a schedule based on the top ones. Please don't forget to also volunteer to host us if you're willing to. If we have you scheduled for a date that, as it gets closer, won't work for you, we can always change it later.

Thanks. Looking forward to next Tuesday!

And a few things I forgot...

I was going to mention this last night and forgot:

First, Greg Mortensen is scheduled to be the Forum speaker at BYU on Oct. 27th. I wish I could go! I'm telling all my family there to have read his book by then and try to go. I'm sure the Marriott Center will be packed. Just thought you'd find that interesting.

Also, they're working on a second book (not with Relin as the writer this time though) that's due out in December. It's like, "Stones into Schools" and sounds like it follows up the progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan since the last book.

Oh, and we need a location and discussion leader for next time. Volunteers???

Three Cups of Tea...and some fruit and dip, crackers, homemade bread, etc.

Thanks to everyone who came to last night's Book Club. Thanks so much to Debbie for allowing us to have it in her beautiful home. Seriously, it was worth coming just for the wonderful smell of her famous homemade bread that hits you when you walk through the door. Amazing! We had 3 hrs. of great discussion and I think we covered just about EVERYTHING, in the book and out of it. We all agreed that Greg Mortensen certainly is cut from a different cloth and we're glad he is and able to do what he does (and that his amazing wife supports him).

I think we all are a little more committed to doing what we can do in our own spheres of influence, and heaven knows there is plenty of need for service and promoting education in our own community. It was very interesting to hear Kathy's experience sharing it with her 4th grade class. And we got some money together to pass onto Bozeman to support the cause. If any of you who weren't there wanted to contribute, two others will be bringing me something on Sunday and I'll be sending it in next week.

So, just a reminder that next month is, "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Piccoult, well liked by several who have already read it. We'll aim to meet mid-Septemberish so get reading! :)

(And by the way, any of you can just let me know when you want to have a girls' movie night at my house for "Shopaholic." Or "The Magic Flute" for that matter.)

Happy reading!

TUESDAY NIGHT! Aug 18th

Book Club meeting to discuss "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortensen and Mr. Relin

7:00 pm

Debbie Stephens' (new) house

Please call for address/directions

706-621-3775 (Emily)

Refreshments will be provided.

I know all of us have been really moved by the story in this book. It's amazing how one person willing to serve and with a little financial help, can make such important changes in the world. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the "Pennies for Peace" campaigns where schoolchildren pool all their pennies together to raise money for the Central Asia Institute (Kathy, didn't you say that your class did that together?).

Anyway, I thought we should do a "Pennies (and spare change) for Peace" drive at our Book Club meeting. What if all of us empty out our couches, dressers, purses, and cars and bring it to the meeting and see what we can easily pull together to pass onto Bozeman without putting anyone out? Every little bit helps--even if we just scrape together a group check for $20. I'll put a jar by the door if you have some you want to drop in.

Not only are we going to have a larger than usual group this time from what I hear (because everyone loves this book!), but we may even have a representative or two from the opposite sex. Just passing that along in the chance that any other spouses/friends/coworkers would care to come along. We're more than happy to make exceptions. :) It'll be a fun meeting, a good one to invite someone new to.

See you there!

Our July/August book choices

Thanks to all who came last Tuesday to our book club meeting. We had a great discussion, great dessert, a lot of great people there--the usual. :) Thanks so much to Charis for having us to her lovely house and providing such a delicious treat. Thanks to Karen for digging up the info on Afghanistan and helping us understand better the background for the story.

We're continuing one more month on our Afghanistan/Taliban/Pakistan theme by reading, by popular demand...(drumroll)..."Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin.

Many of you have recently read this and loved it. Several more of us already had wanted to read it. I'm 1/3 of the way through it and love it and am trying to convince James to read it. It's an amazing story, made so much better by the fact that it's true!

That being said, we again neglected to figure out a discussant and a meeting location. If you would be interested in either, please shoot me an email.

Also, for the following month, in case you've already read "Three Cups of Tea," we're reading "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi (Jody?) Piccoult. It's been made into a movie that's recently come out and raises a lot of good topics for discussion.

Happy reading!

June book

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Several people at our last meeting suggested we read this one next. It's about two women in Afghanistan and the challenges they face. I grabbed it when I was at the library last Wednesday and I'm nearly done with it (and I usually take my time reading most books). I can't put it down. It's very good and very, very thought-provoking. I think we'll have a very good discussion from it--probably a little like after reading, "To Destroy You is No Loss," which means bring your Kleenex!

Although several recommended this book, we never actually decided on a discussant or a location (and it can be anyone--not necessarily someone who previously read it). So let me know if you're interested. Let's plan to meet around the end of June or very first part of July.

The local libraries and the library system has lots of copies--they're also cheap on Amazon. Here's a link if you want to see more about the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Splendid-Suns-Khaled-Hosseini/dp/159448385X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244207038&sr=8-1#

Madame Bovary

Tuesday, 26 May
7:00 pm
Amber Robbins' house

Amy Harris is leading the discussion. See you there!

Plans for Spring

Hi everyone,



Thanks to everyone who came and participated in our Wednesday Letters night! It was a lot of fun and I think we all gained a few insights on the book. Sorry about the scheduling conflicts for those who read the book but couldn't make it. Hopefully, we'll have better luck next time picking a good day.

Speaking of which, continuing on our theme of women and their wild ways, our next book, which we'll be discussing the first part of May, is Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.

From Amazon: For this novel of French bourgeois life in all its inglorious banality, Flaubert invented a paradoxically original and wholly modern style. His heroine, Emma Bovary, a bored provincial housewife, abandons her husband to pursue the libertine Rodolphe in a desperate love affair. A succès de scandale in its day, Madame Bovary remains a powerful and arousing novel.

Amy Harris is leading the discussion and the meeting will be held at Charis Call's house, possibly May 7th or 14th (both Thursdays). However, it's looking more and more like Thursdays are not as good for everyone, so if you'd prefer we tried a Tuesday in May (the 5th or the 12th) please leave a comment or let me know.

Finally, sometime soon we also want to schedule a book club meeting to discuss The Hundred Dresses, our theme for our Relief Society service project, which will probably be a big meeting. We'll plan a few fun things for that in addition to discussing the book--I'll keep you posted.

Happy reading!

The Wednesday Letters

Current plans for this month's meeting are:

Thursday, Mar. 26th

7 pm

Emily Robertson's house

We'll look forward to seeing you there!

Plans for March

First, thanks a ton to all who came and participated in our last meeting about dear Martha Ballard and her many adventures as a early colonial midwife. As usual, the book sparked lots of great conversation topics (some of them more relevant to the book than others but all of them great)! Thanks to April (and Breanna) for opening their home to us and for the amazing spread of food. It was lots of fun!

Once again, we're going to make a slight deviation from our previously posted calendar and squeeze in a shorter read before we launch into Madame Bovary--New York Times bestseller The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright. It's readable in an afternoon or so and is a very enjoyable book.

I think it will be a nice change of venue as we've been reading many wonderful but also intense AND LONG books the last several months. And if you haven't come for awhile because you don't have much time to read, then this is the perfect month for you to join us!

The Athens Library has two copies and most of the area libraries have at least one copy. Also, Deseret Book is clearancing it out for $1.99 and I'm sure there's plenty available for cheap at Amazon and the usual places. Also, there may be a copy or two among our members if you'd prefer to just borrow one.

I'm also looking for a location and possibly a discussant for this if anyone is interested. Otherwise, you'll be driving to the southern recesses of Oconee County to join me at my place, which I'll be more than glad to have you do! :)  If you are planning on reading this book and coming to the meeting for it, please either email me or leave a comment about which Tuesdays and Thursdays you'd be available to meet this month.  As far as I know, only Mar 19th is for sure not an option (RS Birthday Enrichment).

Happy reading!

New Plans For the New Year

Discussion of A Midwife's Tale: The Story of Martha Ballard, based on her diary and other books on midwifery

Pick any of several currently popular books about midwives and we'll discuss their stories and common themes we find at our next meeting.

Feb. 5th at 7pm

Location and discussant yet to be found! Please let Emily know if you're interested in either/both!