June Book Club 2012

June's Book Club was held pool side at Denise's home. English Pub food was the fare of the evening and Denise provided soup and salad, Laura brought Fish and Chips from Baker Street. Liz brought sweet potato fettuccine, Diana brought Cider and Peach Dump Cake, Pam brought honied walnuts/honey goat cheese and strawberries, Janie brought Amish butter and bread.

Denise, Diana and I had all been traveling in the UK recently and we wanted more of the pub food. Also, our book, Corduroy Mansions was set in the Pimlico neighborhood of London where pub food is a staple. On that note, Diana and I were actually able to visit Pimlico on our trip to London. Diana bought several commemorative tea towels and we ended up dining with the owners of the gift store. They were able to fill us in on the history of the neighborhood over pizza and a beer. This did make the book a little more personal and meaningful for me.

The book is the first in a trilogy by Alexander McCall Smith written in a similar fashion to his 44 Scotland series. Both books are about apartment buildings and their residents and how their lives interact. Interestingly, our May book, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, was also about the residents of an apartment building. Seems we often, unwittingly, pick books of similar theme. The books similar in context but differ in their depth. Where Hedgehog was deep,  philosophical and dealt with life and death matters, Corduroy Mansions was lighter and more subtle.

Smith says that he prefers to write characters rather than plot. The group was a little divided on their enjoyment of this style. There are those that appreciated how the lack of plot mirrors daily life. Often nothing really significant happens and endings are not necessarily tied up in a neat fashion. Others were frustrated by the number of characters to keep up with and the fact that events that seemed to be leading up to something just didn't. Those that read Smith regularly said these story lines may or may not be picked up in the subsequent books. Most of us agreed that there were lots of comical parts to the book and everyone liked the introduction of William's dog, Freddie De Lay Hay. The book rated from 2-4 with 3.3 overall.

I made a hasty comment that perhaps we shouldn't read anymore of Smith's books because they are so "light". My apologies to those who love this author and I would like to amend that remark to perhaps reading him at say, Christmas, when we often look for lighter fare during a busy time.


Carla G. was absent but recommended several books for next months consideration. And, we're sorry we didn’t choose one of your books, yet. I believe a couple ladies had already read the Paris Wife and were not that enthusiastic about it. We looked at the other two and also discussed the following books, of which we chose the first two, one for July and one August. However, we had such a tough time choosing and want everyone to have input. So at present here’s the suggested reading, but other than the first and second books, the others are possible books, nothing set in stone.

For July we picked "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson. Having read two of his books that were very popular with the group we decided to try this one.

For August, we decided on "The Hare with the Amber Eyes" by Edmond Duvall. This book, part biography, part memoir, and part detective story intrigued us all.

Also up for consideration for future reading is "Wild"  by Cheryl Strayed  a memoir. This is a fairly new book and with a waiting list at the Library so we decided to wait to give it a better chance of availability. The Vanishers by Heidi Julavita is a novel with a paranormal theme and seemed like a possible selection for October (Halloween). And finally, The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty a 1922 historical novel.

We missed Lou, Terry, Carla G. and Barb. As a reminder, July's book club will still be on the 3rd Friday and then in August we'll be moving back to the 2nd Friday.

May 2012 Book Club

First, my apologies girls for the late post. As you know, Diana and I took a little trip across the pond and preparation and departure got in my way.

This months book club was held at Terry's lovely home where we found her and Darby making shrimp tempura along with cold shrimp. Our side dishes were an Asian salad, potatoes and asparagus, chips and salsa and cookies for dessert. We held the actual discussion in Terry's backyard oasis and the weather was perfect. It was a beautiful night. We were missing Lou, Denise, Lis and Barb.

May's book was "Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier. We've previously read her books "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" and "Burning Bright".

"Remarkable Creatures" is about the friendship of two women living in the south coast of England circa 1810 and their discovery of fossils in the area. Mary Anning is 12 years old when she discovers her first fossil. At this time in history, Darwin is only 2. Elizabeth Philpot has been sent by her brother to live in Lyme Regis because it's cheaper for him. Elizabeth is older than Mary and teaches her to read. In the 1800's women are not routinely educated, especially in rural areas. But after Mary learns to read she also teaches herself geology and anatomy and ends up working with a professor at Oxford on the documentation of the fossils.

It must be kept in mind, at this time in history, there is no theory of evolution and most people hold to the theory of creationism. Fossils of extinct animals and dinosaurs do not figure into the equation of current thought.

There are many themes throughout the book: Creationism/Evolution; City living/country living; Education and the age of enlightenment vs. the dark ages.  Feminism and the condition of women is a big theme. At this time in history women are not allowed to walk the streets without an escort and these two are breaking barriers in a field that is dominated by men. There are other class and social issues.

It's true that Mary found several significant fossils from 1811-1828 and that her findings were some of the basis and influence for Darwin's work to come later. The fossils provided a different kind of life for Mary and Elizabeth than they would have normally had. Col. Birch helped them to auction the fossils to fund their life and work.

Of those that read the book - the rating was 3.2

June's book is Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith. Diana and I visited Pimlico, the London burrough where the story takes place. It was very fun to put ourselves into the story.