September Book Club 2023

 

Blog 194 - Book 255

We met at Denise's home this month.  The weather was beautiful. Finally, we are getting a bit of a break from the heat. 

We had a Jimmy Buffett theme going on as he passed on September 1. Denise and Don played Buffet music and Don was making us the perfect margaritas. We toasted Jimmy and shared some of our favorite memories of his music and concerts. For all that his music was about relaxing beach time, lots of fun drinks, and things like dogs... he might have been the hardest-working musician in showbiz. And, he certainly was one of the most successful. 

We talked a bit about how you mourn someone you never knew but who impacted your life. Much like the authors that we read.  And, after all, Jimmy put music to his storytelling. 

I think we were only missing Tammy, and of course, Leslie. Tammy might have been on her boat toasting Jimmy with us! And, Leslie told me she saw a house she loved and it has a perfect porch for a book club! 

We want to give Don a special "thank you!" After mixing our delicious margaritas he stuck around and served us water and cleaned up in the kitchen. I snapped a pic of him taking a break when he thought we weren't looking. 

                                                                Running with Sherman  

                                                                 Christopher McDougal

Our book this month was a non-fiction memoir about a family that rescues a donkey they call Sherman. Chris and his wife had, on a whim, bought a farm in Amish country not knowing anything about farm life. They learned as they went with the help of the people in the community. At one point, his daughter decided she wanted a donkey for her birthday, and at the same time, he knew someone who was trying to homes for several animals who were being neglected by an animal hoarder. And, this is how they came to meet Sherman. 

This book reminded me of parts of The Elephant Whisperer, Dirty Chicks, and West with Giraffes. All of the books are about how we think we are rescuing animals but they end up rescuing us as well. 

Though the book isn't spiritually based, I felt that the meeting of this donkey and this family was somehow divinely guided. Chris is a runner and has already written one book about barefoot running. And, it turns out, that donkeys need a job to do. They needed a purpose and Sherman became a runner and ended up running the Burro Races in Leadville, Colorado. 

How they got Sherman to the farm reminded me of the transportation of the elephants to Thula Thula. Learning about donkeys and their care, some of which I could have done without, was similar to the family in Dirty Chicks learning how to care for their farm animals. And, transporting Sherman to Colorado from Pennsylvania was a bit like transporting the giraffes to California. Similar but different. Caring for Sherman as he recovers from the worst kind of neglect and integrating him into the farm family required the help of the whole community. Each person or family that got involved with Sherman had particular emotional needs and, in the end, an entire community was healed. 

I had never heard of the Burro races before but Diana's friend, Nancy Burgess, had lived in Leadville and attended many of the races. 

I would say this was a charming and heartwarming story that I am happy to have read. Carla Andeson updated us on the more recent events in the McDougal family. During the pandemic, they decided to live in Hawaii where his wife is from. Sherman and the other animals are together and serve their purpose as therapy animals. On a final note, I thought it might be fun to find a wine with a Donkey logo. Two very nice young people at the Spirit Shop helped me out and the Donkey even had a bandaid on it! The book rated a 4.3. 

Our next book is The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. This book is quite long - 30 hours to read and most of us have been working on it already. 

Running with Sherman by Christopher McDougall 

A heartwarming story about a family that trains a rescue donkey to run one of the most challenging races in America and the process of discovering the life-changing power of the human-animal connections.

Chris and Mika McDougal, on what seems like a whim, decide to live on a farm in Amish country. Having no experience with agrarian life, they rely on their neighbors' knowledge and support. 

The first part of this story, the transfer of the traumatized donkey reminds me of Elephant Whisperer. Transferring the donkey might not have been quite as dramatic as a truck full of rogue elephants, but it was nonetheless difficult. The poor donkey had been kept by an animal hoarder and had been severely neglected and abused. 

I also thought the story also had similar elements to Dirty Chicks. Initially, when Chris and Mika buy the farm, they have no experience with farm animals. What follows are some very visually graphic details of the feeding and care of these animals. 

The first issue that needed immediate care was Sherman's hooves. His very existence was touch and go for days. Surprisingly, one of their goats adopted Sherman and gave him his attention and affection. Soon. Sherman was improving and taking some first tentative steps toward the road. From this poor specimen of an animal, Sherman ends up running with two other donkeys and three people on a very challenging race. The healing that happens between animals and humans in this story is truly inspiring, uplifting, and humorous. 

August Book Club 2023

 

194 Blogs - 254 Books

Leslie hosted this month's book club at Blu. She reserved the lounge that was set up with sofas, chairs, and tables. We had a lovely meal and refreshing drinks. Several of us ended the evening having ice cream at the local Dairy Queen in deference to the book. 

This was a rare meeting where all of our local members were present and Lou was visiting from Florida. That meant we were all present except for Tammy and Darby, whom we missed! 

While we had a delightful time, we were all mindful that this was Leslie's last meeting before moving to Tulsa in the middle of the month. We know that she will join us when she can and we plan to travel to Tulsa for an occasional meeting. We wish them all the best but will miss having her close. 

Not only did Lou join us but her husband, Gene, dropped by for a few minutes when he picked her up. We caught up with him on what he is doing now and he gave us his comments on the book. He and Lou listened on their long drive. His comments mirrored those of the group. 

"Finding Salvation at the Dairy Queen" by Susan Gregg Gilmore

The book is set in a small Georgia town of less than 2,000 people in 1972-75. Catherine Grace is the daughter of Ringgold, Georgia's third-generation Baptist Preacher of the only church in town. Her mother died unexpectedly when she was six in a tragic accident. Catherine and her sister are trying to navigate what's left of their childhood without their mother. Catherine is quick-witted, more than a little stubborn, and desperately trying to figure out a way to escape her small-town life. She is on the eve of graduating and every Saturday afternoon, she sits at the Dairy Queen, eating Dilly Bars and plotting her getaway to Atlanta. 

Like many small towns, everyone knows everyone. Church is an important part of the community. It provides a spiritual and moral base and is a community of support and socialization. But, it can also be a breeding ground for judgment and gossip. Not everyone is who they seem on the surface. The book's central theme seems to be how the characters work their way to forgiveness as the many secrets and lies of the characters are revealed. A secondary theme was that of mothers and mothering. After Catherine's mother dies, the girls are mothered by a variety of people they know in the community and come in contact with. 

The book generated an interesting discussion but did not rank, overall, as one of our favorites. Everyone agreed that it did fill our need for something on a lighter note for the summer. The author treated a lot of serious and dark subject matter with humor. The book ranked 3.2. 

Our September 10 meeting will be at Denise's home. The book of the month is "Running with Sherman." Carla G has volunteered to host in October. Our book is the latest from Abraham Verghese, "The Covenant of Water." This is a new, hot off-the-shelf book.  At 736 pages, it is longer than most of our books and might be hard to come by at the Library so, we're suggesting an early start. 

July Book Club 2023

193 Blogs - 253 Books

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Arnora is our July hostess and she made the best French Dip Sandwiches I have ever had. Our theme was Sunflowers from Diana and Arnora's gardens along with some garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers thanks to Carla G and Leslie. Leslie also brought cheese and olives. Caral Gibbs turned her tomatoes and cucumbers into a salad. Along with the French Dip Arnora also had Terry's strawberry salad. Lis brought a Blueberry dessert from her day picking them fresh. The meal was delightful as always. We missed Pam, Janie, Laura, Tammy, Denise, and our out-of-town members.  We had a great discussion about this month's book. The book summary discussion points are below. Everyone unanimously loved the book and it rated a 5.

Next month, we will either meet at Sweet Basil or Leslie's and our book is Finding Salvation at the Dairy Queen. We are switching September's book to Running with Sherman as the other book is not available at the Library. 

Horse by Geraldine Brooks 

Summary

"Horse" is a historical fiction novel told from the perspective of six characters over three time periods. The novel interweaves the story of the Black equestrians who made their white owners fabulously wealthy in the mid-1800s,  with those of contemporary young professionals struggling to form relationships despite racial tensions in 2019. What connects the timelines is the racing horse, Lexington, the painter who chronicled his journey, and the art dealer, Martha Jackson, who came into possession of one of the paintings in the 1950s and bequeathed it to the Smithsonian.

The author did a masterful job of fluidly shifting between the timelines and making the fictional characters as real as true-to-life people. 

The story of the horse, Darly-Lexington starts in Lexington, KY just prior to the Civil War and follows the horse and his groom, Jarrett, through the war and after until the horse's death. Lexington is still one of the most famous horses in the history of racing. He won six of his seven races and came in second once. He was the third-best moneymaker at that time. And, for 20 years held the record as the fastest racehorse in the world. After he was retired due to his eyesight he sired 575 foals and to this day no racehorse has produced as many champions. 

The book is complex and layered and too much to retell here.

I will say I would put this book alongside The Personal Librarian as two of my favorite historical fiction novels.

Everyone thought the author did a great job of moving through the various timelines and characters. Some stories with multiple timelines can be confusing and hard to follow but this author told the story in a very fluid manner. She informed us of a history of horseracing none of us knew while giving us compelling characters we could relate to. She made history relevant to current situations and brought to our attention again how our history informs the present and though things have changed, we still have a long way to go in our human evolution. 

June Book Club 2023

192 blogs - 252 books 

We have now reached the halfway point in 2023. Our hostess for this month, Barb, served tender and crispy buttermilk fried chicken. Laura brought amazing Collard Greens. Diana brought biscuits and Peach Cobbler. Janie brought both Deviled Eggs and Guacamole Deviled Eggs. Lis brought Watermelon Salad, and Carla brought cheese, olives, and crackers. Arnora brought the beautiful flowers and mixed nuts and we had our usual assortments of wine and tea. We missed Pam, Denise, and our long-distance members. Speaking of our out-of-town members, Leslie announced that she'll soon be moving to Tulsa! While we are excited about her opportunity, we are sad to see her leave town. However, Tulsa is close enough that we think we can still make the meetings happen. 

Actually, Barb co-hosted our book club this month with Asia and Sammy. They were equally welcoming and affectionate throughout our visits. 

Klara and the Sun is written by Kazuo Ishiguro, the Nobel Prize for Literature for his book Remains of the Day. The setting is a dystopian future in which some children are genetically engineered, or "lifted" for enhanced academic ability. As schooling is provided entirely at home by on-screen tutors, opportunities for socialization are limited and parents who can afford it often buy their children androids as companions. They are referred to as A.F.'s or, Artificial Friends. This book was longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize. 

In her review for The New York Times, Radhia Jones notes that Klara and The Sun returns to the theme of The Remains of the Day as "Ishiguro gives voice to: not the human, but the clone, not the lord, but the servant. This book complements his brilliant vision, though it doesn't reach the artistic heights of his past achievements. 

The book was recommended by Barb and was well liked receiving a rating of 3.52. The group agreed that the author did a good job of communicating A. F.'s emotional life. And, we were sad at the end when Klara was "put on the shelf" to slowly fade away. Much like the older generation of people are somewhat "put out to pasture" when they have served their duty in the workforce. There was a lot of comparison to other dystopian literature such as Brave New World or Blade Runner. The ending where Josie grows up and goes to college leaving Klara behind, reminded me of Toy Story. Laura pointed out that one of the themes in the book is "faith." Klara puts her faith in the sun to heal Josie and tries to convince others to believe with her. 

It was disturbing that in this future environment, parents have taken their efforts to see their children succeed so desperately they are willing to not only have them genetically modified but to replace them with A.F.'s when the modification goes wrong and the child dies. 

This book made for a lively discussion and forced us to think about where the current advancements in Artificial Intelligence are taking us. 

July's book is "Horse" by Gwendolyn Brooks. We will meet at Anora's on July 9 at 4:00 p.m. 

For the next couple of months, we have opted for, hopefully, lighter reading. We have chosen "Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen" by Susan Gregg Gilmore. 

And, for September, we travel vicariously to Europe for some adventure with "The Getaway Girls" by Dee MacDonald. 

                                    191 Blogs - 251 books read 
We find ourselves in the month of May already. Our spring weather has been turbulent with tornadoes in February and April. That's early in the season even for Oklahoma. Here's hoping we got them out of the way early! Carla Gibbs is our hostess this month. She served chicken salad sandwiches, a veggie and cheese tray, iced tea, and a delicious lemon-blueberry dessert. Arnora brought the flowers and nuts and Pam brought watermelon. Lis brought spinach dip, crackers, wine, and Janie. We are all so glad to see Janie after a brief absence while she has been taking care of Jim. Diana brought picked asparagus and Hard Seltzer. Pam brought watermelon. Carla also served up some yummy after-dinner coffee drinks! We missed Barb and our out-of-towners; Tammy, Darby, and Lou.
 

Brief Author Bio 

This month's book is Thistlefoot by Genna Rose Nethercoft. it is described as being in the vein of modern fairy tales by Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" and Naomi Novik's "Spinning Silver." This was a debut novel in 2022 and she has also published several works of poetry. She is the founder of Traveling Poetry Emporium which is a team of poets for hire. She is an Associate Producer of Grim and Mild where she conducts supernatural and historical research for the podcast Lore. She lives in the woodlands of Vermont next to an old cemetery.  

Discussion

Siblings Bellatine and Isaac Yaga receive the strange inheritance of a house that speaks and grows

chicken legs. It is a sentient structure that can walk about. Bellatine is a winemaker and Isaac is a wayfaring street performer and con artist. The two have been estranged since childhood. The house is named Thistlefoot. We learn that Thistle is not native to America. Immigrants to this country brought unknowingly brought it with them. Thistle is known for its roughness. It has a prickly flower and thorny leaves that keep it from being eaten by wildlife. But, it provides a substantial amount of food for birds, insects, and butterflies. In America, it is considered an invasive weed. However, some varieties have medicinal qualities. In Victorian times, the Thistle was known as a flower of intrusion and a warning against intrusion. 

The book is rooted in Jewish myth and rich in Eastern European folklore and is about healing from generational trauma. The author intended this book to be about the Jewish diaspora that is part of her family history. Her mother's side of the family lived in a place that is now Ukraine and they were displaced by war. She changed the name of the town and used historical events woven into the folklore. However, the story will resonate with any culture that has been the victim of an attack and dispersed from their homeland. 

There were too many layers and too much symbolism to relate it all here. However, I do think it worth mentioning that Diana said she had trouble getting into the book until she decided she just had to suspend her literal thinking and let the story wash over her. She pointed out that as long as people's stories are retold they are not forgotten. I would add that you can't heal what you don't know. And, it's now been scientifically proven that trauma can be passed down in our DNA. But, whether trauma is from our ancestors or something we experience in the present, we have the power to heal it. And, part of the healing is in the stories we tell. 

Of those present, all but one had finished the book and it rated 3.75.

On June 4, we will meet at Barb's to discuss Klara and the Sun. And, on July 9, we will meet at Arnora's to discuss Horse. 

 

April Book Club 2023

April's meeting was hosted by Diana and she served quiche in honor of eggs and Spring as we are coming up on Easter next weekend. 

In addition to her quiche, she also served pickled asparagus and bread and butter pickles.  Lis brought fruit and pimento cheese dip and wine, Carla Gibbs brought a garden salad and Leslie brought a cucumber salad. Denise brought scones and Laura brought an apple pie and chocolate and caramel sauces. As always, there was an assortment of wines. From our local members, we missed Pam, Carla A., and Janie. The combination of flavors was just perfect for a late-afternoon brunch! 

As I did not get a chance to read the book yet, I will give a summary from the reader's guide:

"The Book of Form and Emptiness is, in many ways, the coming-of-age story of a boy grappling with his own mind, his own creativity, and his own perplexing experiences, at a moment of profound loss. The book is narrating Benny's life, and sometimes Benny intervenes to challenge or correct, or complain."

Laura really loved this book and was worried that other members would not resonate with it. But, it rated a 4

for those who read it. Diana has about 100 pages to go and I plan on reading it after listening to the discussion. Laura mentioned that this is really a book about books and that intrigued me. 

One of the points of our discussion became about opposing ideas and I offered this quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald: 

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless yet be determined to make them otherwise."

Listening to Laura's explanation of the book and why it resonated with her so deeply, enhanced the experience for even those who had finished the book. I have asked her to write something in her words and I will add it here soon. 

Our May meeting will be at Carla G's and our book is Thistlefoot by GenaRose Nethercott.

June's meeting will be at Barb's and our book will be Klara and the Sun by Kauai Ishiguro. 

July's meeting will be at Arnora's and our book is Horse by Geraldine Brooks. 

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!