August Book Club 2021

Thanks to Denise for hosting our August Book Club. It was a beautiful day!

Last year, Diana had arranged for her friend and poet, Vivian Nida to recite from her book of poems, "From Circus Town, USA." Diana met Vivian when she was a student in one of her high school classes. They had been in intermittent contact over the years. Vivian grew up in Hugo, Oklahoma and her book of poems is inspired by the circuses that wintered there over the years. Of course, we have a connection to the Endangered Ark Foundation that grew out of those circuses. Vivian's initial visit to book club was postponed due to Covid last year. Our patience was certainly rewarded! Vivian read to us from her book and shared photos of her family, the town and, the circus. She regaled us with charming anecdotes and even brought us Animal Cracker cookies.                                      

Our book for August was "The Lost Apothecary," a debut novel by Sarah Penn.This story is told from the perspective of two time periods. In current day London, aspiring historian, Caroline Parcewell, is spending her 19th wedding anniversary alone. On the eve of this long awaited trip, Caroline finds out about her husband's infidelity. She decides to make the trip alone to give herself time to process her situation. On a field trip she discovers an old apothecary bottle that becomes a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that happened in London 200 years earlier.

In 18th century London, a female apothecary is carrying on the business of her deceased mother. She has a predominantly female clientele and an underground reputation for selling well disguised poisons that enable some of these women to do away with abusive and oppressive husbands. The book was fairly well received and rated a 3.4.

The book was fairly well received and rated a 3.4.

July Book Club 2021

 

The weather mild weather continues to hold as we move into summer. In May, it rained 27 out of 31 days. We continued to have rain, though not as much, and milder than normal temps in June. And, it was still lovely enough for us to dine on Diana's patio this month, though we moved our discussion inside. 

We had a double miracle this month as EVERY in state member was present and 100% of members read the book. This month, Carla's granddaughter, Bailee, also joined us. I don't think we bored her too much!

We had a lovely, light dinner that included chicken salad sandwiches as well as other cold sandwiches, and a cobbler with ice cream for dessert! Perfect for a summer's night. 

Our book for July was the Rose Code by Kate Quinn. She is another recurring author for the group as we recently enjoyed her book, "The Alice Network." 

The Rose Code is another story set in WWII England. The story is about three female code breakers; Osla, Mab and Beth at Bletchley Park during the war. The women form a friendship and a book club over the years, but a betrayal and traitor among their colleagues lands one of them in a locked up asylum in the years after the war. But, through a letter carefully smuggled out, she's able to issue a cry for help from her confinement.

I thought the author did a particularly good job with her descriptions putting me, in my imagination, right in the thick of the action sequences.

The book rated a 4.5. 

June Book Club 2021

 

Blog Post # 172  Book #234

Barb hosted us on her lovely patio for June and her friend Debra joined us. We had a wonderful meal that included smoked salmon. The weather was perfect and we were joined by a very interested Firefly that made her presence known. This Firefly flew into the middle of our circle and then proceeded to come face to face with each one of us hovering in front of our eyes for several seconds each. And, she did it twice. Unanimously, we agreed that Terry was making her presence known! And, what a perfect book to coincide with this synchronicity as Barbara Kingsolver writes so poetically about nature. 

Ms. Kingsolver has been a favorite author of this group almost since its inception. And, Prodigal Summer has rated the favorite of all books among several of our members. It was decided to revisit this book at the beginning of summer as a refreshing for some and a new read for others. 

This story is told of a small Appalachian town during a single, humid summer when three interweaving stories of love, loss and family unfold against a backdrop of the lush wildness of the Virginia mountains. The story follows Deanna, a solitary woman working as a park ranger, Lusa, a recently widowed entomologist at odds with her late farmer husband's tight-knit family, and Garnett, an old man who dreams of restoring the lineage of the extinct American Chestnut Tree.

Kingsolver's extensive education in biology is on display in this book. Her writing also exhibits her knowledge of rural Virginia, where she grew up. 

The rating for this book was off our usual chart of 1-5 as some gave it a 5.5 and even a 6. 

May Book Club 2021

 

Blog Post #171  Book #233

Pam hosted May's book club on her patio. This found us meeting for dinner on a beautiful Friday night. Tammy and Lily were able to join us this month and we were excited to see them! 

This month we were missing Janie, Carla G, Leslie. We always miss Lou and Darby who live away and Terry will be forever missed.

Our book for May was The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. The story is about Nora, a 30-something woman who is regretful about her life and feels alienated and unneeded in this world. In the depths of her wallowing, she comes across the Midnight Library. In it, each book represents a portal into another variation of what her life could have been. As she reads each volume, they allow her access to different versions of her life; relationships she could have stayed with, careers she could have pursued and so on.

As she jumps in and out of these alternate realities, Nora's journey of self-discovery results in a life-affirming and reflective story about the choices we make, the paths we've chosen and each our places in the world. 

The book was well received and rated a 3.95.

April Book Club 2021

 

Blog Post #170  Book #232

April finds us continuing a new tradition of meeting in outdoor spaces as the Corona Virus is still an issue. Last month, all but two of us had received our vaccines. This month, we are fully vaccinated and the guideline is safe for vaccinated people to meet in small groups in outdoor spaces without our masks!

Carla Gibbs hosted us on her patio this month and the promised warmer temperatures have arrived. We met again on Sunday afternoon with our lighter snacks and drinks. 

This months book is Lisa Wingate's, "The Book of Lost Friends." In the past, we really enjoyed her book, "Before We Were Yours."

Both of her books were inspired by true events that have happened in history.

The author is telling the story of actual advertisements that appeared in Southern newspapers after the end of the Civil War, as newly freed slaves desperately searched for loved ones who had been sold away.

The common story trope of two different timelines is used but there are three different perspectives. The first of the two storylines traces the adventures of three women who, a decade after the Civil War, undertake a dangerous journey from war-ravaged Louisiana to the open frontier of Texas in an effort to reclaim to prove paternity and gain an inheritance. Miss Lavinia, Juneau Jane and Hannie Gossett are in a race against time to find William Gossett before he dies. William has fathered his daughter Miss Lavinia with his white wife. But, also fathered Juneau Jane by his black mistress. Hannie is a "freed" slave, who now at 18 is on a mission to find the family she was separated from when they were sold off the plantation. 

The second storyline follows the efforts of a first year high school English teacher, Benedetta Silva, in a rural Louisiana town. While trying to engage her students, she stumbles onto an abandoned Antebellum home with two adjacent cemeteries. One for the white people who lived in the home and a separate one for the slaves. 

The two timelines are brought together as the Gossett Grove Planation is the setting for both but in different times. Benedetta is able to spark the interest of her students in uncovering of the names of people in the slave cemetery and as they do, the secrets of the Gossett family come to life and threaten some of the current day residents who still maintain power in the town. 

The book was well received and rated a 4.5 for those who read it 

March Book Club 2021

 

Blog Post #168  Book #230

For the first time in a full year, we met in person! Weather was predicted to be nice and Laura volunteered her patio. We broke with our tradition of a Friday night book club and met on Sunday afternoon. We decided on a menu of light snacks as we were meeting in the middle of the afternoon.

The promised warm temperatures didn't quite materialize but, we had cozy blankets and the firepit going. 

This was also the first meeting we have had in person since Terry's passing. We missed her but, we felt like she was making her presence through the birds that came to visit. 

Our book this month was Jodi Picoult's "The Book of Two Ways." We have read several of her books and liked them, for the most part. 

The protagonist of our story is Dawn Edelstein. Dawn is a Death Doula living with her physicist husband and teenage daughter. Before she married she was a graduate student living in Egypt with a fellow graduate named Wyatt.

The story opens with Dawn surviving a plane crash. As the accident is unfolding she finds she is not seeing her current life flash before her eyes but, her past life in Egypt with Wyatt. She finds herself not going home but to Egypt. The unfolding story could be a bit confusing as the time lines of the past merged with the present. 

The Book of Two Ways was actually an ancient Egyptian funerary text that provided a map to the path that one takes in the afterlife. There are two roads that one can take, one by land and the other by water. This is the frame the author uses for Dawn to contemplate the two paths in her life; where they have taken her, where they are taking her.  Dawn's present day profession as a Death Doula also mirrors her interest in the way the Ancient Egyptians dealt with death. 

The book rated a 3.9 with  one "I loved it" and one, "I almost loved it." 

February Book Club 2021

 

Blog Post #167  Book #229

This month finds us still meeting by Zoom. The blog is shorter when we don't have photos of our gathering, food and drinks! 

Our book this month was suggested by Leslie. 

The Bird family lives in an picturesque Cotswolds village in England. That is until a tragedy strikes one weekend that tears the family apart. Years pass as the children grow up and move on with their separate lives. 

Eventually, something happens that brings the family back to their childhood home and to what really happened on that fateful Easter weekend.  It is the story of one family's desire to restore long-forgotten peace and to unearth the many secrets hidden within the nooks and crannies of home. 

The book rated 3.85 among those who read it.