sametimenextmonth: September 2011 Book Club

Monday, September 12, 2011

September 2011 Book Club

As we continue to celebrate 10 years of book club we convened at cabins at Medicine Park (Lawton) Oklahoma for a fall retreat. Laura secured two cabins for us: White Horse Lodge and Buffalo Gal and we started arriving around 2 on Friday. Since we had two days of food I cannot begin to list all of the items individually by person. However, I will hit a few. We started out with Darby's delicious Pork Verde on Friday night & Terry brought cheesecake for dessert. Laura made a breakfast casserole for Saturday morning. We ate our lunch out at the Winery and cooked chicken, salmon, steak, veggies and fruit on the grill Saturday evening. We mixed those leftovers with eggs for Sunday morning breakfast. As always, the food was great. Hats off to the cooks! And really thanks to everyone who brought food, wine, coffee, condiments, the charcoal and lighter, paper plates & cups, etc. As always we probably could have fed the whole of Medicine Park on the food we brought.

The cabins were just darling and slept us all quite comfortably. I slept on a screened in porch for the first time in my life. Something else I can check off of my "sand pail" list as my friend, Donna, likes to call it. The weather cooperated nicely as the scorching heat of the summer has backed off considerably. We had a large patio between the two cabins which served as a "great room" for gathering and we had our book club meeting there on Friday after dinner by the light of the Chimenea. We were so sorry that Barb, Pam and Lou could not be with us. But we welcomed guest Jackie Odell and returning book club member Tammy Tipton! We were so excited to learn that Tammy has moved back to Oklahoma, even if that might be temporarily. We look forward to her returning to book club as time permits while she is "land locked!"

We almost had our first male book club member as fellow "camper" Gordon kept trying to join the group. I think the poor guy finally got frustrated and gave up on getting any attention.

Our book this month was "Burning Bright" by Tracy Chevalier. This author also penned "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" that book club read during its first year. Laura had found this book life changing for her and so we thought another by the same author would be a good read. The review of "Burning Bright" said it was a fictional account of the life of poet and artist William Blake. Some of the words used to describe the story were: impassioned, full of pageantry, energetic, a vivid story, and exhilarating. Unfortunately, for all us, the story fell far short of the description. Even for those who liked it better than others, the concensus was that the William Blake was a "vehicle" for the story but that it wasn't about him. The story is told through the eyes of a family living in London next door to Blake at the time of the French Revolution. Everyone, without exception, wanted more about Blake.

Most agreed that the story was slow but a few found it more interesting than others. I personally found it dull, repetitive and droning. When Laura read "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" it was the first historical fiction for her that actually captivated her and transported her to another time. She was with the girl as she mixed the paints and she could inhale the smells of the studio. We did not find this portrait of London in 1792 as intoxicating. The book rated a 2.6.

During the rest of our weekend we took a little stroll through the main street of town and did a little shopping. We really enjoyed our lunch at the winery and tried to find some "action" on Saturday night but the only music in town was a guy with a guitar, a bud light and an Ipod. He sang one of his original songs for us and a couple of us attempted a dance under the full moon and disco ball. Sounds corny and it was - but we got a kick out of it. Unfortunately, Diana twisted her ankle and one of the air conditioners made a fuss but all in all it was a perfect weekend with all the usual suspects rounded up for a great time: best friends, great food & drinks, stimulating conversation and a lot of laughs.

Throughout the weekend we reminisced and recounted some of our favorite book club memories. And here is to the next 10 years!

October's book is Beyond Seduction by Emma Holly. This will be a new genre for us. Stay tuned!

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2015 Hosts and Books

Jan 9 - Pam Boeck - All the Light We Cannot See
Feb 6 - Lou Christian - Alif the Unseen
March 6 - Terry Cummings - Kind of Kin
April 3 - Janie Tisdale - The Girl on the Train
May 1 - Arnora Parish - The Stolen Child
Jun 5 - Barb Barrow - The Elephant Whisperer
July 10 - Diana Beal - Lone Wolf
Aug 7 - Denise McGough - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry
Sept 11 - Sherrie Phillips - H is for Hawk
Oct 2 - Arnora Parish - The Boy Who Drew Monsters
Nov 6 - Sherrie Phillips
Dec - Laura Madden - A Child's Christmas in Wales & Christmas Day in the Morning

The Honey Tree - Mary Oliver

And so at last I climbed

the honey tree, ate

chunks of pure light, ate

the bodies of bees that could not

get out of my way, ate

the dark hair of the leaves,

the rippling bark,

the heartwood. Such

frenzy! But joy does that,

I'm told, in the beginning.

Later, maybe,

I'll come here only

sometimes and with a

middling hunger. But now

I climb like a snake

I clamber like a bear to

the nuzzling place, to the light

salvaged by the thighs

of bees and racked up

in the body of the tree.

Oh, anyone can see

how I love myself at last!

how I love the world! climbing

by day or night

in the wind, in the leaves, kneeling

at the secret rip, the cords

of my body stretching

and singing in the

heaven of appetite.

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Lis and Diana's Review of Isaac's Storm

Lis said: This book centers around the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas, in 1901 and is blamed for the death of over 4500 people. Although the story wasn't a page-turner for most, it was full of interesting historical and scientific data while building up to describing accounts of the devastation and aftermath that the storm created. In my opinion, it is debatable whether the book should be considered a true fiction or a non-fiction. Hand in hand with the storm description, the book tells about the creation of the National Weather Service and the struggle that the organization went through to earn the people's trust. When looking back over the disaster, the author identifies areas of misuse and false pride - in the bureaucratic sector as well as the people's personal lives - that, if it had been overcome, might have averted some of the lost lives. Building up to the storm, the author touches on many historical facts surrounding the era, such as the state of Arkansas passing legislation a few decades earlier to legalize the proper pronunciation of its name to be "Arkansaw." Into this background, the author creates the characters that he was able to find in his research that made up the early Weather Service and some of the residence of Galveston, their spouses and children, making us shiver with dread over successful and unsuccessful rescue efforts. After bringing to life the unimaginable aftermath, with whole neighborhoods destroyed and bodies at every step, the book concludes with Galveston's recovery and a large chapter of Acknowledgements for the extensive support and research that the author relied on. I for one enjoyed the book immensely and, after the first third, found it difficult to put down till the end. Elisabeth Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

Diana said: The old saying, "hind sight is 20/20" comes to mind while reading the hurricane account of Galveston, Texas in 1901. Author Eric Larson's story reminded me of his first book we read, Devil in the White City, as he combined historical facts and real people while piecing together a plausible tale of personalities and lives. I have huge respect for writing historical fiction, as the writer not only has to devise an interesting story but also works as an investigator and researcher in the process. The first third of the story was slow and at times I found myself skimming the pages waiting for action. I think this may have been purposeful by Larson. As a reader I was going about my daily business and uninvolved like the townspeople of Galveston noting the changing winds and heading off to work. I took occasional notice of Isaac's trip to the American west by stage and his appearance as a "dandy", the use of telegraph as the primary form of communication from on location to another and it was surprising to find out the American and Cuban weather men held so little regard for each other. Americans found the Cuban forecasters primitive, romantic and unreliable. But once the hurricane was upon Galveston, I was spellbound for the remainder of the book. With the exception of once when I had to put the story down due to the brutal descriptions of decaying bodies which I found overwhelming. For me the story telling mimicked the event itself. Galveston and the rest of the U.S. were going along with business as usual, and then wham! A hurricane the magnitude no one expected or had experienced before bursts forth with action and drama and left no one untouched including me.

Lis' review of A Thousand Splendid Suns

The story playing in Afghanistan made it another compelling read and a walk through a different culture, very foreign to most of us. I had the fortune to have also read the book The Kite Runner by the same author and found that the two stories make great companion books, almost a must-read duo. Our month's selection takes us into the Arabic culture through the life of two women, one of them a servant girl's bastard child - and yes, I used the old fashioned term for illegitimate child on purpose to stay with the tone of the novel. The other woman is depicted as a well-educated, emancipated young woman from a progressive, westernized family. Through the turmoils surrounding Afghanistan's recent 30-year history, their lives intertwine with the same abusive husband and their attempt to deal with the changes brought on by the Russian occupation, the takeover of the Mujahedin and, eventually, the Taliban. The companion book, The Kite Runner, deals with the same political and social upheavals in Afghanistan but is told through the life of a man and his very devoted male servant. A Thousand Splendid Suns evoked a lot of emotion for most of us, feeling comfortable as well educated American women that have rights and can expect a certain social standing that greatly exceeds the animal-like treatment of our female Afghan counterparts under Taliban rule. Needless to say, we had a lively discussion about Afghanistan's troubles, the interactions of both women's parents' influences, their different upbringing, and how it made them relate to each other. We found similarities to the book Shanturam in this author's use of the cinema, especially Bollywood movies. One thing we did not discuss though that I found enticing, was the advantages of being able to skip hair and make-up treatments through the use of a Burka! Blue was, after all, the favored color of my youth, although I always preferred much darker shades. What do you think, ladies, Burkas in our future?

sametimenextmonth

Monday, September 12, 2011

September 2011 Book Club

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