March 2023 Chickasha Field Trip

Introducing our speakers

On Friday, March 3, Diana, Carla A., Lis, Laura, Arnora, and Sherrie attended an author event at the University of Science and Arts in Chickasha. We had gotten word that David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon would be speaking. He was preceded by Hannibal Johnson, author of Black Wall Street. 

It was short notice and I am sorry that everyone could not attend the event. Both speakers did a great job of presenting their material. After their presentations, they did a joint Q&A and then did a book signing. 

I, personally, had not put together that these events were taking place at approximately the same time. The Osage murders took place over a longer period of 1910-1930 and the Tulsa Race Massacre took place in 1920. Because the Osage murders began earlier in time I hadn't noticed the overlap. Concurrently, women in the U.S. were "given" the right to vote. Having read Killers of the Flower Moon, visiting Pawhuska and the Greenwood District in Tulsa, hearing the authors of these historical events in person was quite meaningful. 

Diana, as usual, did a spectacular job finding us a cute, cozy, comfortable Airbnb within walking distance of the auditorium. We found a great coffee shop, visited a unique used bookstore, and did a little shopping at the historic dinner before the events. And, took our photo at the Christmas Story leg lamp. After, we had great pizza at The Flower Shop and then a glass of wine at Shakespeare Winery. 

On Saturday, we lingered at the Airbnb and then had a fantastic burger and fries at J &W Grill. I had the best Root Beer I've ever had. It was the perfect ratio of syrup to carbonation and the slivered ice made it almost slushy. 

We did a bit more exploring of the historic area and stopped in at Liberty Drug where they have an old-fashioned ice cream counter and Diana found the owner knew some of her family members, before heading home. It was just a perfect combination of friends and fun with intellectual stimulation. 

I have now made it a point to follow the college on Facebook. Diana, Darby, and I attended a talk there by Niel Gaiman and Diana also saw Margaret Atwood there. I'll try to keep an eye on future speakers we might be interested in. Chickasha is only about 40 minutes from Norman, so it's not necessary to spend the night but it was fun to do so! 

March 2023 Book Club

 

This year seems to be "zooming" by! And, thankfully, we are not meeting on Zoom! 

March has predictably come roaring in like a lion. We met at Denise's lovely home on the lake. The temperature was perfect and though the wind kept us from sitting outside it didn't keep us from enjoying the view.

This month begins our shift to Sunday afternoon meetings. Sunday afternoons worked well after the hard quarantine was lifted but we were still trying to keep our safe distances by meeting outside. We decided to switch back to Sunday afternoons to avoid work traffic on Friday evenings and driving at night. 

Denise provided a hearty white bean Italian vegetarian soup, corn muffins with honey butter, and two bottles of Pinot Noir. Leslie brought a Sherry cheese dip with crackers and celery, and Barb brought Hummus with crackers and peanut butter pretzels. Sherrie brought asparagus. Diana brought us beautiful, individual chocolate cakes. Arnora brought beautiful flowers and mixed nuts. There were other assorted wines but I didn't see who brought them. 

We missed Laura, Janie, Pam, Tammy, Carla G., Lou, Darby, and Terry. 

Lessons in Chemistry is a bestselling novel from 2022. The story chronicles the life of Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist who is forced to become a television chef when she finds herself a young, single mother in the late 1950s. The story focuses on Elizabeth but is about women's lives, careers, struggle for empowerment, and their relationship with each other in the late 50s and 60s. 

Like the author, Elizabeth teaches herself chemistry at the library. They share the same hobby of rowing and similar dogs. Six-thirty was based on a dog that Bonnie Garmus had who'd been abused but was highly intelligent and had a large vocabulary of words he recognized.

After my son was homeschooled during High School in the mid-1990s, I observed that if you had great reading and comprehension skills, you could teach yourself just about anything. I'm not sure that I, personally, could master any math on my own. I have to say that impresses me about the author and her main character. However, my friend Linda has a granddaughter who just taught herself some form of chemistry when the professor of the college she attends left and was not replaced. She moved colleges and did not miss a beat. 

Bonnie's setting for the book is the late 1950s and early 1960s. This is just post WWII and the "Red Scare" of anti-communism. Religion and politics both play a role in the book. During both world wars, American men fought overseas and women took their jobs in the workplace. This allowed women a real taste of personal freedom as they earned their own incomes for the first time. When the men came home there was a big push for women to also "go back home." 

I read a book written in the late 1980s that talked about how many of the popular TV shows of the post-war like Leave it to Beaver and Donna Reed were literally a form of propaganda to encourage women to go back to being homemakers. But women liked their freedom and began to campaign for equal pay and other equal rights. Elizabeth finds herself, unwittingly, at the forefront of that movement. 

Elizabeth is a single mother when she is presented with the unusual circumstance of taking a job in front of the camera in a Julia Child-like role on a cooking show. She'd already been living an unconventional life of not marrying her live-in boyfriend, another chemist. And she's forced out of her job when he dies unexpectedly and she finds herself pregnant. At the time, there were no laws protecting women in the workplace when they became pregnant, married, or not. 

This book provided a walk down memory lane for some of us who had experienced similar sexual harassment in the workplace. And, that subject has been recently revisited by the "Me Too" movement. We talked about how things have changed but there's still much work to do regarding equal rights. And, we've seen recently how quickly the "rights" you have can be taken from you. 

Most of us liked the book and it rated a 4.125. One member raised her rating after the discussion. 

Our next book is Ruth Ozeki's, "The Book of Form and Emptiness" and we meet at Diana's. 

February Book Club 2023

 

January 2023 is in the bag! February's book club brings us to Leslie's lovely home. Her beautiful dogs, Max and Mabel, greeted us warmly and we had a chance to meet her husband! 

Leslie provided us with two delicious soups! A butternut squash soup with hints of curry and her family favorite, a sausage bean and kale soup. Just what we needed after a week spent hibernating during a mild winter ice storm. Lis brought a beautiful and abundant fruit tray. Caral G brought a gorgeous salad and Diana made Arnora's recipe of hot corn dip. Denise provided the sour cream lemon bundt cake and we had some lovely wines. Arnora brought salted nuts (a favorite of mine) and a floral bouquet for the table. 

We missed Carla A, Pam, Janie, Terry, and our "adjunct" members Tammy, Lou, Darby, and Terry (always in our hearts.)

Our second book of the year is the bestselling memoir, "The Girl with Seven Names," co-authored by Hyeonseo Lee and D. B. John. Arnora recommended this book after having read it for her church book club. 

Hyeonseo Lee grew up in North Korea on the border of China. She escaped to China in 1997 at age seventeen. Then, in 2008, she went to live in Seoul, South Korea where she graduated from  Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. She is now married to her American husband, Brian Gleason. They live in S. Korea and Hyeonseo is a regular speaker on the international stage fostering human rights and awareness of the plight of North Koreans. Her TED talk has been viewed nearly four million times.

This short synopsis does not begin to describe the long and arduous journey Hyeonseo makes from her complicated birth to the life she is living now. Growing up in North Korea under the regime of the 'Kim" dynasty. N. Korean borders are closed to people coming in or going out. Information about the outside world and N. Korea's own history is carefully guarded and administered by the supreme leader. His grandfather was Kim Il-sung who was the "founder and first supreme leader" after its establishment in 1948. His father was Kim Jong-Il, the second supreme leader until his death in 1994. 

Hyeonseo describes her family and her life growing up in N. Korea and the "education" she received during her formative years and never questioning their loyalty or the methods used to enforce it. Until the famine that occurred in the 1990s. Circumstances that led her into the homes of certain friends and relatives in different parts of the country started to pull back the curtain of the lies they'd been fed. Because her family lived at the border of China she decides to cross the bridge with a friend with the intention of returning. But, that fateful move sent her on a 12-year, harrowing journey of hiding out in China and S. Korea.  Changing her name and identity (seven times) as she moved from place to place she narrowly escapes border guards, a brothel, and a physical attack until, through cunning, deception, and sheer force of will to survive she is reunited with her family. 

The book was well received and rated a 5. We all agreed there is a special category of book where it is well written, well researched (if it's a biography) and we are glad we have read it because it opened our minds to a subject we were unaware. However, the subject matter is hard, cruel, devastating, and hard to wrap our heads around. To say we "love" such a book seems not to convey the accuracy of our feelings but I am working on finding, or making a word for that!  

Our next book is "Lessons in Chemistry" by Bonnie Garmus and we will meet at Denise's home. In April, we will discuss "The Book of Form and Emptiness" by Ruth Ozeki at Diana's. Hostesses are set through July. 

For the time being, we are moving our meetings to Sunday afternoon. This should help us avoid driving after dark and fighting with work traffic on a Friday evening. 

Also, we have been talking about working on a "classic" book at some point. We haven't decided yet which month to discuss it but I think we have decided on a book. 

The Little Prince is short (less than one hundred pages) and written by the French aviator and author, Antoine St. Exupery. The book was first published in 1943 making this its 80th anniversary. It is the second most translated book in the world after the Bible. It is a sweet, funny, poignant story that is deceiving in its simplicity. It is a story for children of all ages.  I recommend the first translation by Katherine Wood or, the 70th Anniversary edition translated by Richard Howard. The anniversary edition has wonderful side notes about the author's bio and letters written by many people praising the book and its impact on their lives. 

On a final note and interesting coincidence, the Morgan Library owns the original manuscript and drawings by the author who also illustrated the book. You can find a couple of informative talks about the collection on their website. Also, you can find several audio recordings for free on YouTube. 

January 2023 Book Club

 

Seems surreal to me that we are at the beginning of 2023. The last three years have been a wild wide and "Cheers to a Happier Healthier" New Year for us all!

We start out our new Book Club year with The Personal Librarian. Lis and Jackie hosted our New Year's pajama party with breakfast/brunch foods continuing our tradition. We missed Barb, Janie, Tammy, Arnora and as always Lou, Darby and Terry. 

Lis hosted our annual pajama party this year with brunch/breakfast foods. We had two casseroles and a quiche, sticky buns, scones, chicken sausage and fruit. We complemented our breakfast with Mimosas, Pomegranate Sangria, wines, coffee and tea. 

The Personal Librarian is an historical fiction based on the true-life story of Belle de Costa Green, the personal librarian for the Pierpont Morgan Library beginning in 1905. She remained in the position after Mr. Morgan's death and was named its director in 1924. She retired from the position in 1948 just two years before her death having worked there for 45 years. 

Morgan considered her a member of his family, much to the consternation of his daughter, Anne. He left her $50,000 in his will. A great sum of money for the day. She could have lived on it the rest of her life but continued to work for the museum at $10,000 a year. 

The book follows the story of Belle Marion Greener, born to a black, but light skinned, couple. The Greener's had six children before their separation. Mrs. Greener insisted that their family pass as white for better financial and social opportunities. Mr. Greener was a staunch civil rights champion and was infuriated that his wife listed the family as white on a census record. He left the family and was appointed the first black ambassador to a white country, Russia. There he began a family with a Japanese woman and had three more children. He never divorced his first wife. He own father abandoned the family for the gold rush and never returned.

Belle's job as a librarian, first for Princeton, then for Mr. Morgan supported her family throughout the years. And, she was able to pull off the fabrication. All of the main characters in this book were leading double lives. Mr. Morgan, among other things, juggled as many as four mistresses at one time into his 70's. His daughter, Anne, was in a three-way affair with two women. Most people in their circle knew about it and the other "Boston Marriages" but looked the other way. Belle also has an affair with married art historian, Bernard Berenson. He was in an "open marriage" with his wife, who at one point begs Belle to take him back. 

Belle's accomplishments as librarian and curator for the Morgan Library rivaled, if not outweighed, the accomplishments of her father. His resume is quite impressive. She is another brilliant, strong, independent, woman who was ahead of her time and whose story has not been widely known. She was also quite courageous as "passing" for white, if she'd been found out, could have gotten her and her family hanged at the time.

Belle's story was very interesting and sent several of us down the rabbit hole of searching out other historical facts about the time and the people. Everyone liked the book and rated it 4.66.

Leslie is hosting our February meeting and our book is "The Girl with Seven Names" by Hyeoneseo Lee. 

UPDATE: Laura has sent the following comments and upgraded her rating. 

"I know our ratings don't matter in the larger context of our world, lol. But, I am revising my rating of The Personal Librarian to a 5. I rated a 4 simply because the writing itself did not seem quite worthy of the highest rating. But, I have discussed this book with multiple people outside my book circle. It is a wonderful conversation starter and a wonderful example of why I love historical fiction so much. The story itself and the fact it was not revealed until 2007 are just amazing! The fact that we are interested enough to plan a trip to the big Apple is exciting beyond words!"

December 2022 Book Club

185 blogs and 245 books and... 10 Years of Christmas Book Club at Laura's. George took our annual photo this year. 

December concludes our 2022 year and 20 years of wonderful friendships and great books! 

It was a warm and misty evening and Laura's home, as always, was warm and welcoming! We missed Janie, Tammy, Lou and Darby. We continue to miss Terry but we know she is with us in spirit. This year we decided to do individual gifts and draw numbers along with our tradition of exchanging Christmas cards. But first we ate! Our main dishes were provided by Laura who provided tea, scones, chicken salad and egg sandwiches, and Carla A who brought chili, and Mexican relish. The rest of the group rounded out the meal with cream cheese topped with sweet and spicy Jalapeno's, sausage rolls, and an assortment of cookies, wine and beer. 

After our meal we discussed our book The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson. A narrowboat is a particular kind of canal boat built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. At one time, the UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution. With the advent of the railway, commercial travel on the canals diminished. Transportation of goods by canal had all but diminished by the 1970's Many of today's narrowboats have been converted into permanent residences or holiday rentals. 

The story of our December book is about a canal journey taken by three women who have not previously known each other. They seem to have nothing in common and are brought together by a chance meeting unknowingly orchestrated by a very independent dog. All three women are at a crossroads, but the summer is just beginning and a three month adventure awaits. The story is a journey through not only the winding and twisting canals but the winding and twisting phases of life. 

The book was well received by those who finished it and rated it a 3.7.

We finished the evening opening our lovely gifts. 

And, so we bring another year to a close. Twelve months of great reading, and two retreats! 

This has also been a year that continues to see Covid in various forms, a variety of flu and other viruses. Thankfully, everyone last night was in good health. We all send our prayers and good wishes to Janie's husband Jim. He is being treated for an infection caused from a shoulder surgery. As soon as the infection is under control he will undergo a reverse shoulder replacement. Arnora's husband, Stan, is recovering well from his shoulder surgery. Diana has had some health concerns recently and we send her good thoughts and our prayers for answers from her test results next week. 

Our first book club for January 2023 will be at Lis' home and we are reading The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. 

Diana also put together a Shutterfly photo book of our 2022 year. She has posted the link to our Facebook page. As well, she carries on the tradition of her Christmas card with photos of our book covers. 

Merry Christmas to All!

And a Happy New Year!

November 2022 Book Club

 

Blog 184 - 244 Books read! 

It's hard to believe that we are already at November's book club! Things in the world have somewhat stabilized since the initial quarantine. in 2020. Some things in the world have changed, some went back to "normal" and others still remain in some sort of transition. 

What has remained the same, and something we've been able to count on, is each other! After a year of meeting on Zoom, we transitioned to patios and outdoor spaces. We even tried a hybrid version with some meeting at Carla G's and others joining by Zoom. The virus is still among us. It seems more contagious but less deadly. It has certainly been a remarkable time of history to be living through. 

That said, our monthly meetings, however, they happened, have been an anchor point for something to look forward to each month. 

Lis decided to make a trip to Germany to visit her sister and brother and Diana volunteered to take her place as host. The house was decked out in fall decor. Diana and Ember greeted us at the door. Ember served as a perfect co-hostess working hard to keep our feet warm. Diana served a delicious sweet and spicy turkey sausage chili and cornbread. She also made the perfect chocolate cake in honor of Lis' birthday this week. We lit a birthday candle and sent her a video of us singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out her candle. The house and the meal provided a warm and cozy spot for our discussion. 

We missed Lis, Barb, Leslie, Janie, Tammy, Lou, Darby and Terry but, we always feel each one in spirit! It was good to have Denise back. She was recovering from an exciting European vacation, a wedding and a bad case of an upper respiratory infection. Congratulations to Cassie and Emmett on their marriage!

This month's book was about a misanthropic octopus!  Described as "ultimately a feel good but deceptively simple" story about a widowed Aquarium employee named Tova and Marcellus McSquiddles, the octopus she meets in a daring tank rescue. Marcellus happily uses all eight of his tentacles, his three hearts and his sharp brain to help Tova solve the 30 year mystery of her missing son. Each of the characters, human and animal, needed each other in a specific way, whether they knew it at first or not. The two main characters were connected by grief and loss. Different ways of dealing with grief were examined. Tova must keep busy to keep the feelings of grief at bay. Her grandson remains stagnant and in a cycle of self-sabotage. 

We had a brief discussion about animals in our own lives and how we had felt seen by them. We also discussed how the book would have been different if it had been set in Arizona or Milwaukee as opposed to the PNW. Keys of all types were a theme throughout the book. We talked about Tova's Dala Horses and our own family heirlooms. Sometimes things we value, including photos, are not appreciated by the generation we'd like to leave them to. This book also brings to light the importance of Aquariums and Zoos in their efforts to rehabilitate and protect the animals while they entertain and educate the public. Many of these institutions have come a long way in their treatment of animals in captivity as we have personally witnessed at the Endangered Ark. 

The book was well liked and rated 4.1.

December's book club will be on the 9th at Laura's as is our tradition. The book is the Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson. Laura pointed out there are some episodes of Travel by Narrowboat on Amazon Prime she recommends as a supplement to the book. 

In the spirit of keeping things simple, we have decided, this year, to buy only one gift and we'll draw numbers. But, keep those Christmas cards coming. They are a favorite part of the holiday for us. 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and see you in December!

October 2022 Book Club

 

Carla G hosted our October meeting. Autumn is always my favorite time of year. Yet, when it arrives, I wonder how it got here so fast? I have noticed, overtime, the people see September as a fall month but not in Oklahoma. I tell people that September is a BER month, not a BRR month. I noticed that it was actually the first day of fall that I felt the chill in the morning temperature. I'm not getting out the heavy sweaters and coats just yet but I will definitely take the cooler days. The weather was so beautiful that we sat out on the patio to enjoy our discussion!

We missed Barb and Denise who are finishing up a European vacation. Tammy was unable to join but Leslie managed to make it between college sports events. Lou couldn't be here this month but read and loved the book. And, as always we miss Darby and Terry. Laura and Carla A both made it back from trips to New Mexico and Arizona. They weren't together but their paths crisscrossed! I always enjoy traveling vicariously!

We had so much good food last night! Carla G provided the Sweet Potato Chicken Chili. Carla A brought homemade Indian Tacos made by a new acquaintance, Valerie. I brought assorted peach/pear cobbler and Janie brought some beautifully decorated cookies. Lis brought a corn salad. Arnora brought the floral bouquet and nuts. There was fruit tray (sorry, I missed who brought that) and many bottles of beer, wine and a Honey Whisky courtesy of Diana
. Nothing like a Whisky Shot to start off the book club!

I recommended this month's book. Lis had read it as well and concurred. We read it recently in my "little book club" and I loved it so much that I ordered a hard copy and instantly reread it. 

Set in rural Pennsylvania's Endless Mountains, the story is described as redemptive and one that will touch the hearts of those who've lost a loved one. When I was researching books for the little book club and I read the summary, I almost dismissed it. But, the girls were looking for something light to read and I had seen it described somewhere as an enchanted fairy tale. 

In the book, one of the main characters says something about how most Fairy Tales start sad and end happy. And, that is reflected in this story of three people who come together to mourn the loss of an important person in their lives. The unexpected and dramatic deaths of two spouses on the same day and the ensuing events lead to an anxious but happy climax.  

There is a "story within the story" of a Grum who trades his love for gold. This story mirrors what is going

on in the "real" story of one of the main characters and added the element of fairy tale. 

I thought the author did a great job of weaving fairy tale into reality and showing the reader that life is full of enchantment and magic even in the midst of great loss. That there is nothing wrong with using story, metaphor and alchemy to salve our wounds. We go into the dark forest many times in our lives and we work our way out of it. 

We talked about the signs and symbols in nature. Diana pointed out how we are connected to all things but modern life has so disconnected from nature that we don't see or understand the signs. 

We were in agreement that the author perfectly hit the right notes of tragedy, grief, coming of age, mystery and magic and the book rated 4.5 

Our next book is "Remarkably Bright Creatures."