sametimenextmonth: July Book Club 2025

Monday, June 30, 2025

July Book Club 2025

Our July book club was held at Buffalo Lodge in Sweetwater, Oklahoma. We had such a good time last year, it seemed like a good idea to make it an annual event.

The property is remote, peaceful, and beautiful. We were greeted by Tammy and a resident Road Runner. We all enjoyed sitting outside and identifying the different birds we saw and heard. There was a beautiful sunset and a waxing crescent moon. There was supposed to be a meteor shower, but while there were one or two shooting stars, no one stayed up for the shower.

As usual for one of our events, there was so much great food. Tammy and Randall provided smoked ribs, chicken thighs, and handmade spring rolls. Laura brought lemon, rosemary, and cornmeal donuts from a recipe in the book. She also made egg bites for breakfast. Barb brought a blueberry Buckle. There really was too much food to try and recount, but it was wonderful. And, I've attached photos to help us remember it all. We had a variety of beers, and Diana brought Limoncello.

This time we also had a variety of creative projects to work on. Thanks to our book, our theme was "birds." Tammy had patterns and cards for us to use to make bird mobiles. I led a simple "paint and sip" painting project with two bird patterns to choose from. We played music, ate, drank, and created to our heart's content. Those who didn't want to paint put a puzzle together that Arnora brought.

Our book, "Other Birds," by Sarah Addison Allen, was a perfect summer read/listen. Described as "a magical realism tale" set in a South Carolina coastal town near Charleston.

This book's setting is similar in tone to 44 Scotland and The Twilight Garden. A group of residents, in a cobblestone, horseshoe-shaped building, are connected by a series of intertwined stories. Only this time, three of the residents are ghosts. We follow Zoey Hennessey as she takes possession of the apartment her deceased mother has left her. On her first night, she hears a noise and wakes to find that one of the residents has died in an accident in her apartment. She is tasked, along with another resident, Charlotte, to clear out the hoarder's apartment. Gradually, she meets all the residents and uncovers the many secrets and mysteries that lie within the apartment and in herself. I usually like to call these stories palette cleansers, but upon reflection, the story was more than met the eye.

All of the characters in the story had been abandoned by parents or caregivers who had substance abuse issues. They either learned to parent themselves or were raised by someone other than a parent. They were hiding in plain sight, running from something or hoping to find something. They were living in a community, pretending to be something other than themselves and keeping their dark secrets. The story has a tense but satisfying ending.

I think it takes a deft hand to take such serious subject matter and make it seem light and charming at the same time. The book a rated 4.12 for those that read it.

Everyone agreed that this retreat was a perfect "do-over." Last year at this time, though we all enjoyed ourselves, at least two of us were suffering pain that required surgery. This year, everyone is recovered and healthy, and all were able to celebrate the progress. We look forward to many more retreats together!

Our August book is the 1972 modern classic "Watership Down" by Richard Adams. Our September book is "The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd, published in 2014.

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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, June 30, 2025

July Book Club 2025

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