Thanks to everyone who came and brought wonderful books to put under the tree. We had a great time as usual, and the food was amazing. There were some wonderful books to be had including a pop-up version of The Little Prince that was so lovely that we were all very jealous of Wendy who ended up with it.
The big winner for the night in terms of swap might have been the annotated Lolita. Not much of an edition (I brought it) but the amount of insight the annotations offer is amazing, all the more so when considering Nabokov wrote it in English, his third language. Lolita is considered one of the best novels ever written, and among most controversial.
The other contender for most swapped was The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. Val was determined to have this book and lucky for her, she drew number 1 so it went home with her. We added this one to the reading list for March, so we can catch up with her.
For January, we decided on The Signature of All Things, by Elizabeth Gilbert. This is supposedly very different from her blockbuster Eat, Pray. Love and I personally love her writing, so I am looking forward to this. Our next meeting is Jan. 18, at 6:30. For a change, we are going to meet at a restaurant and decided to try Maple and Pine at the Quirk Hotel, if it can accommodate our group.
For fun, here is the full list of books and who brought them.
Fall of Giants by Ken Follett - Jean
Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall - Wendy
Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler - Dawn
The Little Prince (pop-up edition) by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - Maggie
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert - Lynn
Val brought a three-fer:
Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
Ahab's Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
The Red Tent by Anita Diamont
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro - Liz
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante - Ashley (I think)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - Celia
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee - Kathy (who could not come but sent a book anyway, thank you!)
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini - Carol
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny - Julie (Mary got this one, I already bought it, I was so jealous.)
The group wanted to read a biography of a strong woman or a classic for February (not Lolita, sadly) so we compromised and came up with Joan of Arc by Mark Twain. I can't wait!
See you all Jan. 18 at Maple and Pine, Quirk Hotel, 6:30 pm. Happy Holidays!
Friday, December 18, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
A Marriage of Opposites, by Alice Hoffman
Thank you to Ashley for hosting the book club meeting in your lovely home! We had a lively discussion of this book (and of a couple of wines - more on that later) that took many looping turns but kept coming back to the central themes of the book.
A Marriage of Opposites, by Alice Hoffman tells the story of Rachel Pomié's life and experiences in St. Thomas in the early 1800's. Rachel was the mother of the painter Camille Pisarro and this book explores the development of his artistic voice, but the persistent influences of his mother's childhood, her family, and the community's traditions regarding religion, race and class echo throughout both Rachel and Camille's lives, as does the tropical lushness and fertility of the island of St. Thomas.
Our discussion ranged from the life of women in the St. Thomas, then under Danish rule, and the religious tolerance that her Jewish family found there. We discussed women's rights to property, to vote, and had to do a quick Google for the date of suffrage in England (1928) and in the US (1920). Some notable women we were interested in learning more about are Madame Clicqot, The Grande Dame of Champagne, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and Beryl Markham.
We agreed that we enjoyed the book, and the discussion that proved that the social confines experienced by Rachel, her friends and family were still pertinent and in need of examination and re-examination to see where gains have been made, what we are taking for granted and what we still need to achieve.
Wine Notes: We enjoyed two wines, one called Two Vines, a Columbia Valley 2012 Merlot/Cabernet blend, and a Nero d'Avola by Archeo, 2013.
We were very sad to hear of the passing of Celia and Rick's beautiful dog Jessica, and send her our love, sympathies and condolences. We will all miss Jessica, as she was an honorary member of the book club, and we spent many happy book club meetings petting her and getting to give her treats from her special drawer. She was a great dog.
A Marriage of Opposites, by Alice Hoffman tells the story of Rachel Pomié's life and experiences in St. Thomas in the early 1800's. Rachel was the mother of the painter Camille Pisarro and this book explores the development of his artistic voice, but the persistent influences of his mother's childhood, her family, and the community's traditions regarding religion, race and class echo throughout both Rachel and Camille's lives, as does the tropical lushness and fertility of the island of St. Thomas.
Our discussion ranged from the life of women in the St. Thomas, then under Danish rule, and the religious tolerance that her Jewish family found there. We discussed women's rights to property, to vote, and had to do a quick Google for the date of suffrage in England (1928) and in the US (1920). Some notable women we were interested in learning more about are Madame Clicqot, The Grande Dame of Champagne, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and Beryl Markham.
We agreed that we enjoyed the book, and the discussion that proved that the social confines experienced by Rachel, her friends and family were still pertinent and in need of examination and re-examination to see where gains have been made, what we are taking for granted and what we still need to achieve.
Wine Notes: We enjoyed two wines, one called Two Vines, a Columbia Valley 2012 Merlot/Cabernet blend, and a Nero d'Avola by Archeo, 2013.
We were very sad to hear of the passing of Celia and Rick's beautiful dog Jessica, and send her our love, sympathies and condolences. We will all miss Jessica, as she was an honorary member of the book club, and we spent many happy book club meetings petting her and getting to give her treats from her special drawer. She was a great dog.
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