sametimenextmonth: October 2012

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

October 2012 Book Club

First things first; an update on November and December Book Club dates. November will be hosted by Lou and will be November 16. December will be at Laura's new home on Sunday, December 9 at 6:00 p.m. We moved these dates around to accommodate everyone during the holidays.

November's book is recommended by Arnora and is "Madame Tussuad", an historical biography. December's book will be House on Mango St. Both Darby and Terry have taught this book and should be great guides. Coming in at roughly 110 pages helped us decide on this book during the always busy Christmas time. Also, The Life of Pi has been made into a movie that will premiere in December. Plans are being made to attend for those who are interested.

For October, Lis was our gracious host. We really missed about half the girls this time. Laura, Lou, Denise, Pam and Barb were unable to be with us. Those that attended enjoyed a delicious meal. I provided a Mexican Shrimp cocktail appetizer. I know, those that couldn't be there will be shocked that I actually attempted something that looked like cooking! Lis provided hummus and the main course of Pork Medallions with avocado sauce and Konig Kartoffeln (queen potatoes). Carla G brought a salad, Diana brought Chicken and Squash soup, Darby brought bread. Lis also provided a Razzleberry pie that went amazingly well with Janie's brownies. We had a beautiful assortment of wines as you can see by the photograph along with coffee and tea.

Our October book was a fitting story by Carlos Luis Zafon called "The Prisoner of Heaven". It was suitably creepy and gory for the Halloween month and continues the saga of the Sempere family and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

We don't always use guided questions for our discussion but this time the questions were appropriate and kept us on topic, to some degree. Poor Diana was having a tough time "herding the cats" as I like to call it. Our discussion kept veering off into tangents but I wasn't ready to give up on it. Once we settled down, after second helpings of dinner, we were able to delve into the story.

Diana said that you didn't really have to read all three of the stories - she felt that any could be read on its own for the enjoyment of the language and the mystery. And, we agreed. However, I was enjoying trying to remember the characters and the story lines as it has been a while since I read the last two. It made me want to revisit them.

This is a great unraveling of the mystery as to what happened to Daniel's mother and though "in time" it takes place after Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, chronologically it predates them. The stories are taking place in Barcelona during a time of the Fascist Regime. In the end, his theme revolves around the actions of revolution, and the various totalitarianism, Fascist, or dictatorship type governments who create wars with the intent to persecute the intellectuals, artists, writers and other free thinkers. They are the first to be killed or imprisoned and their art destroyed or hidden away in the attempt to control the masses. Daniel's family, as bookstore owners and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books protect these most precious of gifts of artistic expression and freedom of speech. Darby had a brilliant quote that I think bears remembering and repeating: War is the playground for corruption. The book also mirrored some aspects of the classic book The Count of Monte Cristo.

The book rated a 4 for those who read it.

Monday, October 8, 2012

September 2012 Book Club

First, my apologies for such a late post. September got really busy for me and I have just now had the chance to sit down and compose. That said, thanks to Pam for hosting our book club in September. We missed Denise, Janie, Laura, Terry and Arnora. Our food had a decidedly Italian Tuscan theme this month in keeping with our book Beautiful Ruins. The book opens on the shore of Porto Vergogna in Italy.

Pam made a savory pesto salad and we complimented the meal with:

Green salad: Sherrie
Tomato, basil, mozarrella salad: Diana
Tuscan chicken soup: Lou
Tuscan white been dip and pita chips: Darby
Apple dump cake: Carla G

I brought some fresh cut Zinnia's because I knew we'd be missing Arnora's floral centerpiece. Pam's dog, Arlo, tried to get in on the food!

Laura was unable to join us but loved the book and commented the "ruins" was a metaphor both for the architecture and the humans. The translation for Porto Vergogna is Port of Shame and the translation for the hotel there is "Hotel of the Adequate View."

There was a lot of duality in this book starting with the dual locations of Italy and Hollywood. Many of the characters (and there were many) lives mirrored each other across the coasts and over generations. There were static characters such as Michael Deane and those who were able to make change like Pasquale.

An Amazon review I thought was very appropriate and succinct: Beautiful Ruins is a story of flawed yet fascinating people, navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbably dreams."

The book was mostly enjoyed by those that read it and rated it 3.85.

On a personal note, I surprised one day to turn the page and find that one of the characters was writing a movie script about the Donner party and Truckee, California. In August, I vacationed with my sisters in the Lake Tahoe area and we spent three nights in Truckee. It seems that a number of our books this year have collided with my travels.

Lis hosts our group in October and our book is The Prisoner of Heaven.

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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

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

October 2012 Book Club

Monday, October 8, 2012

September 2012 Book Club

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