Sea of Tranquility - not a big hit

What a lovely night we had at Karin's house! It is very beautiful, as you would expect, and we laughed and laughed and laughed at all kinds of things, not many of them related to the book. It was a blast! 

As far as the book goes, not a happy group, as not many of us liked it much. I did, but mostly because it was beautifully written, although she did not have that much to say. The structure was somewhat difficult to follow, and the time travel, and space travel was confusing, and I got all the people confused more than once.

That being said, the premise was interesting and kept some of us involved and turning pages. It is an interesting moral dilemma - if you know the future and can save heartache but cause other issues, do you do it? And how do you know it will cause issues? Interesting. 

And so we go on - our next meeting will be Oct. 17 at Ashley's, our book is Horse by Geraldine Brooks and we have a special guest! Mary will bring along her friend Ann Archer, whose family owned the farm where this story starts. Can't wait! 

See you all then! 

Gaudy Night - great stuff!

 Hello all and thanks to Margo for hosting! Too hot for the porch but a wonderful night anyway, thank you! What a fun conversation about what was, at its time, a ground-breaking novel with rather ground-breaking characters. Ashley in particular knew a lot about this book and where it fit in the Lord Peter Whimsey stories of Dorothy L. Sayers. 

While this book definitely stood alone, Ashley's ability to put it into context was illuminating. Harriet Vane, the main character, was back at her college at Oxford for an Alumnae dinner. Expecting a cool reception since she had previously been on trial for murdering the man she lived with. In the thirties! Not the done thing. 

Expectations and pre-conceived roles played a big part in how the book moved along. I could almost see Harriet's eyes rolling every time she is asked about Lord Peter Whimsey. What was he like, was he going to show up, did she have any insight into him? Oh to be a handsome, wealthy member of the aristocracy, even one (his ground--breaking part) with shell-shock from WW1 and also a reputation for womenizing.  

While this was a good story, it left me a bit puzzled about why it was considered such an important book for Sayers. Again, written in the 1930's, with a plot that hinged on education for women and their role in the world, perhaps it was the topic. It was also a lovely read, with well-defined characters and a plot that moved right along, at least after painting the picture of life at this secluded women's college. 

All in all, we liked it, and if you have questions about it, Ashley is your best source. 

Our next book brings us back to the current day. It is Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. She is the author of Glass Hotel and Station Eleven, both relatively popular books. We are going to Karin's new house at Monument Square, can't wait. The date is August 15, at 6:30. See you all there! 

By the way, I was at the library the other day picking up Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, and was surprised when I was handed a lovely canvas bag with eight copies of the book and a discussion guide inside. It was a Book Club Kit! Nice to know such a thing exists, maybe we should give one a whirl! 

See you all on the 15th. 

Palace of the Drowned - some said yes, most said no

With a title like Palace of the Drowned, one might expect a relatively grim story, hopefully still a gripping one. This novel was not as grim as might be expected but not everyone found it gripping. The characters were quite vivid and some felt this was a story of women's friendships, with the inevitable positives and negatives of any life-long strong bond. 

The character at the center of the story, an author with dwindling literary success and a very public and flamboyant failure, is an unreliable narrator from the start. Angry at her rich friend who has lent her a palace in Venice but has not arrived as promised, her gloomy outlook seems to match the descriptions of Venice in the winter. Cold, damp, deserted and resistant to newcomers, it seems one more rejection, until she meets a young woman who admires her and wants to be her friend. 

Never mind that she doesn't want this friend and that she is also unreliable and intrusive. Needless to say, it doesn't end well for anyone. Sadly, the plot felt contrived, the characters actions unbelievable and the writing a bit overwrought, at least for some of us. Others felt it was interesting as it was hard to guess what might happen, and a lot did seem to happen. That is why we read and discuss, for differences of opinion. A good night, and a good discussion! 

Many thanks to Kathy Baker for hosting in her beautiful home with gorgeous newly mown hay fields out the back windows and lovely art on all the ways. It was great! 

And on we go. By popular demand, we are changing the July book away from Dickens but staying with a British classic writer. We are reading Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers, which is considered one of her best of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. I am reading it and am quite involved already, immersed in Oxford University in the 30's. Our date is July 18 and we will be at Margo's, thank you Margo! 

See you all there! 

What a week! A conversation with the author of the Henna Artist and a discussion of Small Things Like These

 Well, in my opinion, it doesn't get much better than this past week in book club world. Lucky us, we had a great conversation with an actual author of an actual best seller and then got to read a beautifully crafted book, perfectly reflecting both its time and the universal search for one's place in the universe. 

So let's start with The Henna Artist author, Alka Joshi, who is now the author of its sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur. What a great conversation! Quibble away on the book as you will, it doesn't diminish a bit the fascinating story of how it came to be - a story of persistent, hard work, thick skin and an openness to input. Alka Joshi is obviously an accomplished and motivated person, with a great career in advertising, then moving on to writing a novel.  Over a decade she wrote a draft, rewrote it, found an agent, amended, re-amended, got an editor, rewrote, rethought and finally said good enough. Most of us would have given up on year 2 or 3, but somehow she persisted and her book was published, when she was 62 years old. Makes me feel like I have definitely been wasting time and more important, intention. 

After all this time, as the publication date came into view, so did Covid. One day before her publication celebrations, everyone went home and locked their doors. Ever resourceful, Joshi started reaching out online and the rest is history. A best seller, a sequel, a TV adaption, another book in the series, what a story! And that is not even within the pages of the book. Joshi was delightful, interesting, inspiring and also reminded us all that writing a novel is an imagination, not a history, no matter how realistic. Thank you, thank you!! For those marathoners among us, she has spoken to more than 750 book club groups, can you even imagine? 

Those thanks extend in particular to Jean, who organized the entire event, thank you so very much Jean! With all you had going on, it was herculean to get this done. And Fiona helped so much in getting the technology organized, with her husband Bill's support. Lucky us! Someday we will have to read one of Bill's book's for the group, theoretical math is a challenge we need. 

And so on we go to Small Things Like These, a book I love so much it is hard to talk about it. In a spare 146 pages, author Claire Keegan creates an entire culture, putting its everyday moral questions in focus. Her style is reminiscent of Marilyn Robinson in its ability to represent emotional complexity in spare, clear language. Moral dilemma is the norm here, but clarity of moral direction is not, it is the point. There are few novels I feel as strongly about as this one, it is a work of genius, in its technique and its message. Could we only have had another 100 pages, but alas, when the work is perfect, more does not help. 

But there are more great books. I recently finished Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, by Olga Tokarczuk, winner of the Nobel Prize in 2018. Despite the off-putting title, this is a wonderful read, philosophical, polemic, entertaining. It is a book of choices, much like The Henna Artist, in a completely different environment, about the entire world we live in, questions for us all. Just great. 

And now I am knee-deep in The Promise by Dalmon Galgut, which is the same topic, the choices we make, the commitments we recognize, but in a much different application. An amazing novel of the truths we admit among the excuses we make, it is beautifully written in a way that makes the message persist. I cannot imagine living in South Africa during its most difficult years but this novel helps image the issues. 

And so, on we go. Our book for May is Palace of the Drowned, by Christine Mangan, a recommendation from Jean. And strap on your reading discipline, our June book is Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. Start now, it is long! 

May's meeting is the 16th, at 6:30, place TBD. June is the 20th, again place TBD. Can't wait to see you all! 

The Lincoln Highway - mixed reviews but great characters

 Thanks to Mary for hosting a lovely, in person and oh so fun evening discussing the Lincoln Highway. Our old friend Amor Towles certainly knows how to write a book that captures the reader, particularly in his characters, which in this case propelled the narrative across the country and across many, many pages. How many pages should a good book be? Maybe not 6oo, no matter how much fun the characters are. (Of course, I am excepting War and Peace!)

Needless to say, there were plenty of twists and turns along what is one of America's most historic highways, which is inevitable with four young men searching both a different future and past. That they have flexible morals and motives also helps the action along. 

Our general consensus was that we liked the book, and would recommend it, although not as heartily as some others, particularly A Gentleman in Moscow if you are offering a Towles novel. Still a good read and fun to discuss. 

We have a very busy April, thanks so much to Jean who has organized a Zoom meeting with the author of The Henna Artist, Alka Joshi. That will be on April 18, time is TBD once we get a bit closer. Our regular meeting will be on April 19, which is a Tuesday, at 6:30 at Wendy's house. Our next book, Small Thing Like These by Claire Keegan is the polar opposite of our last one, very spare, very few characters, astonishing writing. 

See you all there at both events, I hope!

Midnight Library - Charming

 Hi all, what a good meeting we had, albeit by Zoom to discuss The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. This book is a rift on the time travel/relive your life theme that we had in Replay and The Time Traveler's Wife and in some ways The Wizard of Oz and "It's aWonderful Life".. More successful than some of the genre, it was a charming take although not the most insightful of the lot. 

The clever idea of a library filled with all the books that describe a version of one's life kept the plot moving along as Nora Seed selects one volume after another, tries out the life and one by one goes back to the library for another shot. While I personally would have stuck with the rock star version, Nora finds her way back to her original life and finds that her place it in meant a lot to those around her. There's no place like home. 

While we found fodder to nitpick with the way things worked out (why didn't she know anything about the life she just dropped into? Wasn't she supposed to be living it?) overall, it was easy to overlook the flaws and enjoy the feel-good outcome. A good read! 

And on we go - our next meeting is February 21, if that works for all. We had hoped to read The Henna Artist and have a Zoom with the author. Jean is working with Alka Joshi on possible dates for March as she is booked for February. Our backup book is The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. I wonder if we should go ahead and read The Henna Artist and perhaps schedule a special session with the author. The Towles book is quite long and time is relatively short. Let me know what you all think, I can do whatever the group wants. 

Our March date, author meeting aside, is March 21 unless we come up with a good date with Alka Joshi. 

See you all soon, weigh in on what you prefer!