Updates

Hello!

I had so much fun at our meeting yesterday! Wow, were we ever productive!

I added Lindsey to the blog list, so she should be receiving all of these updates now. And I updated the info in the sidebar, showing out next meeting dates (let me know if I got anything wrong). Just so no one is confused, this is actually a blog post but it is being delivered automatically to your email inbox, so it really looks more like an email. But I think there is an option somewhere in this "email" that lets you go right to the blog page.

Or you can click here: http://bookettesbc.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Colleen in a few days! : )

-Carolyn

Christine's Final Clue

The holidays are a time for families to come together. 

It's all in the family! 

Christine, your book belongs to this family.

Yours truly,

Secrette Bookette

Where we read: Nightwoods

On Key Biscayne, FL.

Who are we? The Bookettes. Where do we read? Everywhere.

This is for Colleen ...

You Secret Santa wants you to know that today is a very important day.

I hope you received my earlier clue. If not, it is probably under a snow pile out front, or else in a squirrel's nest!

Nightwoods Inspiration

Hey ladies -- I know we'll be seeing each other soon, but I wanted to drop in and leave a few links for inspiration as we continue reading this weekend.

Here's a positive review from the Washington Post

Although I made it sound in my emails like I didn't enjoy this book, I actually have mixed feelings and probably stand somewhere int he middle ... here are some things I had fun thinking about:

-Bud's Jesus/blood references and obsession
-the depiction of the children - he left out the "cutsy" and made them almost eerie. Yea?
-An awesome quote about falling in love (don't remember the page, but I'll tell you on Sunday)
-the parenting theme (we see many different parent relationships in the book)
-Bud, in my opinion, was the most interesting character. But why did he throw up so much?!

Well, that's nothing super insightful ... feel free to add to the list! Or we can just talk on Sunday : )

-Carolyn

P.S. I updated the sidebar with dates and books read. Does anyone have pictures from Rachel's meeting this summer? Or Heidi's in October? I'd be happy to post them if you email them my way.

Meeting #16: Water for Elephants

Hi ladies,

Sorry if you just got a short little blurb from me about Little Bee ... I was doing some housekeeping and didn't think we had a post for that one yet, but we do, so I deleted the one I was writing. Sorry for the confusion.

But if anyone has photos from Water for Elephants they'd like to add, just add them to this post or you can email them to me. I think that was one of the first meetings where we were all there, so quite the momentous occasion!

If I remember correctly, we all gathered at Heidi's on a dark and stormy night in October, where we dined on homey foods like meatloaf, yum. Moose kept us entertained, as per usual. : )

-Carolyn

Stretching the Biblical Re-telling?

I finished Water for Elephants last night! Afterwards I had a hard time putting the book down so I read the interview with Sara Gruen. I'm intrigued by how she used Jacob from the book of Genesis as the backbone for the novel. Honestly, I don't think I would have noticed this on my own, but below are some biblical references that other people noticed. Have any of you made other connections? Is this biblical re-telling a stretch?

• Anagrams: both exact and phonetic: Catherine Hale=Leah, Marlena L'Arche=Rachel, Alan Bunkel (Uncle Al)=Uncle Laban 
• flat rock that he sleeps on on the river bank at the beginning of the book
• the dream
• the animal husbandry for Uncle Laban
• Jacob and Rachel (Marlena) leave with Uncle Al's (Uncle Laban's) best livestock
• Jacob must do an additional seven years of animal husbandry in order to be with Marlena
• he breaks his hip
• some of his children's names are the same 

In the interview with Sara Gruen at the end of the novel, the author admits that at the time she started to write Water for Elephants she was working on another book but stumbled across old circus photos. The photos inspired her to research and eventually write the book. I think incorporating the photos in the book adds a touch of truth. Can't wait to discuss this more next Friday!

Happy reading...

Marit

Meeting #15: Unaccustomed Earth

What a summer finale! I think our discussion last night was one of the best yet. We talked about the Indian/American experience, and how it is perceived from different generations. The book also brought about new challenges for our club. This was our first collection of short stories, and we struggled to agree on a theme that laced these disparate tales together. Some themes that were suggested include: the diaspora experience, love, relationships, family and assimilation/nonconformity.

Since this book was so different from everything else we have read, we all tried to liken it to something familiar:

1. A Seinfeld episode - a seemingly superficial exploration of everyday life (but in reality, it's very nuanced and subtle renderings of the most intricate workings of human nature).
2.  A cocktail party - this book was an opportunity to meet many "characters" in a short period of time. After the party's over, it hard to keep everyone's name and story straight. But it's still so much fun to meet them all!
3.  A foreign film - we're so used to watching (or in our case reading) action packed plot lines that when confronted with something slow moving it can be challenging to adjust to the new pace.

Everyone had something to say about the book's opening quote:

Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth. -Nathaniel Hawthorne

Last night we "struck our roots into unaccustomed earth," and began a new Bookettes tradition: we'll now give each book an off-the-cuff grade for technical soundness and artistic merit (if these criteria sound familiar, you were probably a childhood figure skating fan too). Our group grade was an A- / B+. Some ladies felt the stories' endings were rushed, and were unattracted to the book's melancholy tone, while others related well to the themes, and were taken by Lahiri's signature exquisite prose.

Happy reading! I can't wait for our next meeting at Heidi's.

Cheers-

Solveig

Meeting #14: Lovin' Little Bee

Our evening at Rachel's started off with some exciting news: Mitch proposed to Colleen!! Congratulations to both of you.

Rachel's backyard is the secret garden of St. Paul. Absolutely perfect- and so close to everything. We agreed that next bookclub at Rachel's should start off with a shopping trip to Primp (a nearby boutique store)!

Rachel served refreshing dinner and drinks on that hot summer evening. I think it's fair to say that overall we liked the book. Many people commented on how well written and unpredictable it was. We also had an interesting discussion regarding the book's cover and title. I don't know if I can speak for everyone, but I totally judge a book by it's cover and this cover definitely did not clue me into how dark the book would be. Who knew that men --errr, at least that Chris Cleave-- understand women so well. If I didn't know better I would never have guessed this book was written by a man. Part of our discussion also centered on the idea of books that are written from different perspectives. How did Cleave determine what parts to write from who's perspective?

Since this bookclub meeting was almost over a month ago, I'm sure I don't remember all of the details. What else stood out to you? Oh, and please add any pictures that you have!

Looking forward to next Thursday!

-Marit

Calling all Bookettes!

I thought I'd check out the ol' blog today and realized it's been a while since we've made a post. Someone want to write about Little Bee and our time hanging out in Rachel's amazing backyard? I can write up something quick too, but thought I'd give someone else the chance first. Rach, did you snap the picture? Do you know how to upload it to the blog? If not I can show you how or else just email me the pic and I'll post it.

Anyone been reading in some fun locations recently?

Can't wait to see everyone next week! I'm about halfway through the book and am loving it. These stories go together so perfectly, and some really have unexpected endings!

Happy reading!

Carolyn

Meeting #13: Sex Lives of Cannibals

We had a great time this morning discussing The Sex Lives of Cannibals, which for the record, isn't actually about that too much ; )

Read more about what we ATE over on our recipe page!

Next up? Little Bee.

Where we read: The Sex Lives of Cannibals

...at the Jardin des Tuileries (the Tuileries garden) in Paris, right next to the Louvre.

~Christine

Meeting #12: Sarah's Key

Cream and sugar?

Why yes, thank you.

Christine had us over to her adorable apartment this past Sunday for champagne, sandwiches, tea, and dessert. Oh, and to discuss Sarah's Key too, of course ; )

But let's look at the desserts first:

YUM. They were all delectable. I should know. I tasted all of them. 

Here's Chrstine being the wonderful hostess that she is:

Marit and Solveig, the sisters in the group:

We all loved the little frills on these pink napkins. Looks how cute they are stacked on that stool? I just had to take a picture! And of course the I {heart} BC had to make an appearance ... on the sandwich tray (which were amazing, btw. Can't wait for the Curry Chutney Chicken recipe. From Christine. The CCC from C, ha! And the Cinnamon Walnut Scones!)

 

 

A lost of discussing was going on ...

Most of us really liked the book ... some of us found certain characters annoying and inconsistent, but for the most part, we'd recommend this book. And by "some of us" I meant "me." I don't think Solveig's expression in the below photo has anything to do with her taste for the book ; )

The group! (Solveig had to leave early to go serve football celebrities at the Edina Grill)

Cutest party favors! And hostess! (Sorry this pic got a little pixelated ... I think that happened when I tried to lighten it.)

Remember to email Rachel with your vote by Monday! (Meeting will be Thursday evening, July 7)

Hope you are all enjoying Sex Lives of Cannibals! I have yet to crack the cover but I've heard it is hilarious. We'll discuss that Saturday Mary 21 at 10am -- my house!

Carolyn

Oops, duplicate post!

Hahaha... just realized I already posted about our March meeting at Heidi's. Oops. Now you have two versions!

Meeting #11b: The Devil in the White City

I forgot to post these pictures from our March bookclub meeting at Heidi's. So here they are! We didn't get a group shot, but we were a small group: Heidi, Rachel, Carolyn, Marit, and Christine (am I forgetting anyone?). 

In honor of Devil in the White City, Heidi treated us to World's Fair goodies: taffy and candies, popcorn, and Cracker Jack (which made its debut at the Chicago World's Fair).

And for lunch, she served up homemade Chicago Deep-Dish Pizza! I could've sworn we were in Chicago back in the 1890s with Dr. Holmes slinking right around the corner .... ; ) Well ok, we'll leave the mass-murderer out of the picture.

We had a great discussion about architecture, Chicago, the nature of evil, and whether or not we've lost some of that wonder and awe that was so alive during the Fair.

VOTE for May Book!

***Email me your vote by next Wednesday March 15th at carolyn.pierson@gmail.com***


I know, I'm jumping the gun a little bit here, but I already know what books I want to suggest for when I host bookclub in May, so why not get the vote going? Although I've really been enjoying our books of late, I've decided we are in need of something lighthearted, uplifting, and funny.


Here they are:

1. A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel

Stats: Paperback, 282 pages, available used on Amazon for .. it looks like less than a dollar?! 

How I heard about it: My coworker who also recommended The Book Thief. I think she has great taste in books.

What it's about: It's a hilarious memoir of a girl growing up in a small town in Indiana in 1965. 

Synopsis: When Haven Kimmel was born in 1965, Mooreland, Indiana was a sleepy little hamlet of three hundred people. Nicknamed "Zippy" for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was possessed of big eyes and even bigger ears.

More: It's a clich to say that a good memoir reads like a well-crafted work of fiction, but Kimmel's smooth, impeccably humorous prose evokes her childhood as vividly as any novel. Born in 1965, she grew up in Mooreland, Ind., a place that by some "mysterious and powerful mathematical principle" perpetually retains a population of 300, a place where there's no point learning the street names because it's just as easy to say, "We live at the four-way stop sign." Hers is less a formal autobiography than a collection of vignettes comprising the things a small child would remember: sick birds, a new bike, reading comics at the drugstore, the mean old lady down the street. The truths of childhood are rendered in lush yet simple prose; here's Zippy describing a friend who hates wearing girls' clothes: "Julie in a dress was like the rest of us in quicksand." Over and over, we encounter pearls of third-grade wisdom revealed in a child's assured voice: "There are a finite number of times one can safely climb the same tree in a single day"; or, regarding Jesus, "Everyone around me was flat-out in love with him, and who wouldn't be? He was good with animals, he loved his mother, and he wasn't afraid of blind people." (Mar.) Forecast: Dreamy and comforting, spiced with flashes of wit, this book seems a natural for readers of the Oprah school of women's fiction (e.g., Elizabeth Berg, Janet Fitch). The startling baby photograph on the cover should catch browsers' eyes.

Here are some reviews:This is an absolutely hysterical down-home kind of memoir of Haven Kimmel’s growing up years in Mooreland, Indiana. She’s goofy and strange, and full of spunk and energy. 

This book is proof that each of us has plenty of material in our `ordinary' lives to use as material for writing a memoir. 

Reading this book was such pure, emphatic joy. Zippy reminds me a bit of a female Dennis the Menace -- little bit of a pest, but sweet, mostly innocent, and a lot curious. The stories inside are told with a poignant tone, a wistfullness for the days when life was simple, despite how big it all seemed when you were only 3-feet-tall.

Read more on Amazon

Read more reviews on Goodreads

2. The Leisure Seeker, by Michael Zadoorian

Stats: Hardcover and softcover, 288 pages, $6.50 hardcover used on amazon. Looks like there are cheap paperback versions too, they just didn't show up on the initial search page.

How I heard about it: My grandparents both loved this book and are passing it around my family. They both have an excellent taste in books.

What it's about: A couple in their 80s decide to go on one last road trip. He has Alzheimer's and she is terminal with cancer. From what I gather it is one of those funny yet sad books that makes you appreciate life.

Synopsis: 

John and Ella Robina have shared a wonderful life for more than fifty years. Now in their eighties, Ella suffers from cancer and has chosen to stop treatment. John has Alzheimer's. Yearning for one last adventure, the self-proclaimed "down-on-their-luck geezers" kidnap themselves from the adult children and doctors who seem to run their lives to steal away from their home in suburban Detroit on a forbidden vacation of rediscovery.

With Ella as his vigilant copilot, John steers their '78 Leisure Seeker RV along the forgotten roads of Route 66 toward Disneyland in search of a past they're having a damned hard time remembering. Yet Ella is determined to prove that, when it comes to life, a person can go back for seconds—sneak a little extra time, grab a small portion more—even when everyone says you can't.

Darkly observant, told with humor, affection, and a touch of irony, The Leisure Seeker is an odyssey through the ghost towns, deserted trailer parks, forgotten tourist attractions, giant roadside icons, and crumbling back roads of America. Ultimately it is the story of Ella and John: the people they encounter, the problems they overcome, the experiences they have lived, the love they share, and their courage to take back the end of their own lives.

MORE: What do you do when the life you've shared for over 50 years is coming to an end? Ella, who has cancer, and John, who has Alzheimer's, leave behind their doctors and grown kids for one last road trip to Disneyland. They follow Route 66 from their hometown of Detroit, visiting former tourist attractions that are nearly as decrepit as they are. With the freedom of those with nothing to lose, determined to live their remaining lives to the fullest, they do so with love, humor and charm. Zadoorian’s offbeat humor and obvious sympathy for his characters takes a story that could have been grim in the wrong hands and turns it into one of the most delightful books I’ve read in years.

Reviews: 

This book was an incredible story of meeting life on its own terms right up until the very end. Though parts of the book are laugh-out-loud funny, others will bring tears to your eyes. 

You know what I loved the most about this book? It made me stop worrying so much about being middle-aged; in fact, after I finished it, I felt downright young. And it gave me courage

But be aware, this is not some depressing book filled with nothing but 

complaints about aging and sadness about the good old days being gone.
It is funny, bittersweet, tense and hysterical. Things happen! This
is a story that moves along and, like any good book, you keep wanting
to get back to it to see what will happen next. Very importantly,
there are no false dramas used to move things along. There are no
trumped up dark family secrets so often used to create fake tension.
The beauty of this story is the normal-ness. These are plain people
who are interesting just because we can identify so much with their
insights and lives. Their choice is actually to continue to be as
normal as they can be: to not be crammed into all of these last minute
definitions of "patient", "cancer sufferer", "old person" and the rest
of it, and try to do something that for them is quite normal: get in
the RV and take a vacation from all of that! 

Read more on Amazon

Read more on Goodreads

3. The Sex Lives of Cannibals, by J. Maarten Troost

Stats: 272 pages, paperback, available used on Amazon for cheap!

How I heard about it: Hannah, our former bookclub member, recommended this book. I think I remember Anna saying it was good too.

What it's about: Nothing to do with sex or cannibals. Unfortunately, haha. It's a funny travel memoir about a guy who moves with his wife to a tiny remote island that ends up being absolutely nothing that they expect it will be. Crazy adventures ensure. Supposedly his writing style/voice is similar to well-known Bill Bryson.

Synopsis: At the age of twenty-six, Maarten Troost—who had been pushing the snooze button on the alarm clock of life by racking up useless graduate degrees and muddling through a series of temp jobs—decided to pack up his flip-flops and move to Tarawa, a remote South Pacific island in the Republic of Kiribati. He was restless and lacked direction, and the idea of dropping everything and moving to the ends of the Earth was irresistibly romantic. He should have known better.

The Sex Lives of Cannibals tells the hilarious story of what happens when Troost discovers that Tarawa is not the island paradise he dreamed of. Falling into one amusing misadventure after another, Troost struggles through relentless, stifling heat, a variety of deadly bacteria, polluted seas, toxic fish, and worst of all, no television or coffee. And that’s just the first day.

Sunburned, emaciated, and stinging with sea lice, Troost spends the next two years battling incompetent government officials, alarmingly large critters, erratic electricity, and a paucity of food options. He contends with a cast of bizarre local characters, including “Half-Dead Fred” and the self-proclaimed Poet Laureate of Tarawa (a British drunkard who’s never written a poem in his life), and eventually settles into the ebb and flow of island life, just before his return to the culture shock of civilization.

With the rollicking wit of Bill Bryson, the brilliant travel exposition of Paul Theroux, and a hipster edge that is entirely Troost’s own, The Sex Lives of Cannibals is the ultimate vicarious adventure. Readers may never long to set foot on Tarawa, but they’ll want to travel with Troost time and time again.

Reviews: 

I think this email is long enough! Just go to amazon, b&n, or Goodreads if you want to read some reviews.

***I know known of these books are your classic novel, so just for fun I'll let you know the other -- more serious -- books I was considering. If no one likes the above ideas we can vote on one of the following:

1. Little Bee, by Chris Cleave (304 pages)

2. The Beekeeper's Apprentice, by Laurie R. King (I was going to have a bee theme going on, haha). (384 pages)

3. The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls (288 pages)

Again, make sure you email me your vote by next Tuesday!

I hope everyone is enjoying Sarah's Key so far! I've found it to be a very addicting book!

Carolyn

carolyn.pierson@gmail.com