The Bookettes "Accidentally Tour" NE Minneapolis

Hi Ladies -

I just sent out an invite for our October book club get-together. Let me know if you didn't get the invite and I'll be sure to get the details to you asap! Sorry about the late notice!

Happy Reading!
Hannah

Meeting #7: Anthropology of an American Girl

Where we met: Sarah's adorable apartment overlooking the river

What we ate: amazing apps, including apples and goat cheese (or was it bre?) on french bread, carved out zucchini boats with veggies (and what else was in there?), and the tastiest crab cake ever!!! (Sarah, post the recipe!). I know I am forgetting a few items. Someone want to fill that in?

What we drank: I think they were mimosas! Classic : )

What we read: Anthropology of an American Girl (obviously)

What we discussed: How the book was more like looking at a painting than reading a novel.
That was my favorite take-away idea from the meeting. Anyone want to fill in what kept them thinking after the meeting was over? We talked for a pretty long time - perhaps the longest yet? Most of us didn't particularly enjoy the book, but after the meeting most of us agreed that had we discussed the book while reading it, perhaps we could've enjoyed it more.

Those of you who couldn't make it, want to fill us in on your particular thoughts? Hannah, I remember you mentioned you had an opinion on the word "anthropology". I am curious to know what that is! Of course everyone is busy so if you don't have time that's fine. Just thought I'd make it easy for people to participate here if they want to.

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying The Accidental Tourist!

-Carolyn

Volunteers?

I have a group photo of some pretty cute bookettes last month at Sarah's... if anyone wants to do a quick write up of that meeting, I'll add the photo. Any takers? Just a little summary of the wonderful apps and drinks we enjoyed (can't wait for that crab cake recipe Sarah! My mom wants it too, by the way, haha), the amazing view overlooking the river with that golden sunset, and our longest conversation to date (perhaps?). Just thought it would be nice to get this pic up on the blog before we delve too far into our next book. If you decide you want to write up the summary just include the appropriate tag at the bottom (Meeting Journal I think it is). Or if you don't know how to post something on the blog and want to send me a few sentence I can add it to the blog for you!
- Carolyn

Need HELP?

Although only 6 votes came in (are we sure that everyone is receiving email updates for the blog?), it looks like we have chosen The Help for our meeting at Marit's in November! I've heard from lots of people that it's extremely good, so I can't wait to dive into it.

As I briefly mentioned at the end of our last meeting, my mom's book club just finished reading The Help as well. Since it's still so new, I think it's only available in hardcover (as far as I know...). My mom mentioned that if anyone is interested she could see how many copies she can borrow from the ladies in her group! It's understandable, of course, if you like to own your own copy so as to make notes/markings/fold pages, etc. But if you're interested in saving some money and borrowing a copy, let me know (either comment on this post below or just email me: christinehanso@gmail.com) and I'll see how many copies my mom and I can round up. I can pass them along at our meeting at Hannah's in October, or if you want to start reading it sooner we can plan to meet up at an earlier date too.

Let me know if you are at all interested!

~Christine

P.S. You're right Carolyn...I didn't know that Muriel would be so annoying.

First Five: The Accidental Tourist

1. I was immediately drawn to Macon's relationship with his wife and their dealing with the loss of their son -- that part of the story feels so real. I actually think the first chapter is the most well-written; that's what got me hooked.

2. Anything with the dog or the dog trainer (Muriel) I find a bit annoying -- she's so over-the-top! Maybe I'm a little too much like Macon myself, so this wild woman just irritates me. Also, to me marriage is a sacred thing so I find myself rooting for him to figure things out with his wife.

3. Anne Tyler's writing is good enough but there isn't much that jumps out off the page -- I like my little golden nuggets popping up throughout a book, like were so prevalent in Let the Great World Spin. I'll keep my eyes open though and underline anything I find for further discussion.

4. I like that there is clear symbolism in this book (the dog, the house, etc.). Although perhaps a little too obvious and doesn't really teach us anything we didn't already know about Macon's character.

5. As I get further into this book I am getting a little annoyed at Macon and his passiveness. Even when life starts turning around for him he sort of just goes with it -- doesn't make any real moves or decisions on his own. (I don't want to say anything too specific about this in case you haven't reached this point yet).


What are your First Five impressions of the book?


Maybe we can use our First Five (and Midway Musings? haha...) to prompt us in our next meeting!

Remember to VOTE!

Only half of us have voted so far for the November book selection, and there are only about 48 hours left to do it! So if you'd like to voice your opinion on what we read after The Accidental Tourist, go ahead and VOTE soon! (Thanks again, Marit, for the awesome suggestions and providing the summaries!)

It's Time to Vote for our November 18 Meeting!

I hope one of these choices interests you... We have lots of time, but the poll closes in one week, so cast your vote by September 12. Our November meeting marks the one year anniversary of the Bookettes, and what a great year it has been.


Midwives by Chris Bohjalian, 385 pgs

On an icy winter night of 1981 in the rustic community of Reddington, Vermont, seasoned midwife Sibyl Danforth is forced to make a life-or-death decision that will change her world forever. Trapped by the weather in an isolated farmhouse, cut off from the hospital or even the emergency squad, she takes desperate measures to save the life of a baby, performing a cesarean section on a woman she believes has died of a stroke during a long and painful labor. But what if the woman was still alive during the surgery? What if Sibyl herself inadvertently killed her? The hair-raising story of Charlotte Bedford's death and of the subsequent trial of Sibyl Danforth is hauntingly told by Sibyl's fourteen-year-old daughter Connie, now an obstetrician. She is remembering, and it is through her intelligent and watchful eyes that we witness the tragic effects of Charlotte's death and Sibyl's trial. And as Sibyl faces the antagonism of the law, the hostility of the medical establishment, and the nagging accusations of her own conscience, we are compelled to confront questions of human responsibility that are fundamental to our society. As with all of the very best novels, Midwives provides no easy answers; rather, it consistently engages, moves, and challenges our ways of thinking.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake, 336 pgs

Those who carry the truth sometimes bear a terrible weight... 

It is 1940. While war is raging in Europe, in the United States President Roosevelt promises he won’t send American boys over to fight. 

Iris James is the postmistress and spinster of Franklin, Massachusetts, a small town on Cape Cod. Iris knows a lot more about the townspeople that she will ever say. She knows that Emma Trask has come to marry the town’s young doctor. She knows that Harry Vale, the town’s mechanic, inspects the ocean from the tower of the town hall, searching in vain for German U-Boats he is certain will come. Iris firmly believes that her job is to deliver and keep people’s secrets, to pass along the news of love and sorrow that letters carry. Yet one day Iris does the unthinkable: she slips a letter into her pocket. And then she does something even worse --- she reads the letter, then doesn’t deliver it. 

Meanwhile, seemingly fearless American radio gal Frankie Bard is working with Edward R. Murrow, reporting from the Blitz in London. Frankie’s radio dispatches crinkle across the Atlantic, imploring listeners to pay attention to what is going on as the Nazis bomb London nightly. Then, in the last, desperate days of the summer of 1941, Frankie rides the trains out of Germany and reports what is happening. But while most of the townspeople of Franklin are convinced the war “overseas” can’t touch them, Iris and Emma --- unable to tear themselves away from Frankie’s voice --- know better. 

Alternating between an America on the eve of entering into World War II, still safe and snug in its inability to grasp the danger at hand, and a Europe being torn apart by war, the two stories collide in a letter, bringing the war finally home to Franklin. 

The Postmistress is a tale of three unforgettable women, of lost innocence, of what happens to love when those we cherish leave us. It examines how we tell each other stories --- how we bear the fact that that war is going on at the same time as ordinary lives continue. Filled with stunning parallels to our lives today, it is a remarkable novel.

Girl in Translation, Jean Kwok, 304 pgs

(Hardcover only, but Amazon has copies starting at $12)

Girl In Translation

Lastly, I thought I’d try this book one more time…

 The Help (451 pgs) is a 2009 novel by American author Kathryn Stockett. It is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s.

The novel is told from the perspective of three characters: Aibileen Clark, a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson, an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared. These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.