A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - another great discussion

Maybe it was the serene, sleek and elegant setting, maybe it was the yummy food, maybe it was just the book but we had another long, deep and fascinating discussion. Thanks to our hostess Lynn, whose house is just as beautiful and stylish as it is comfortable and welcoming. She also made a killer app, as in appetizer, with asparagus on puff pastry. They were stylish too, of course. Thanks to everyone who brought wonderful food and even better insights and observations.

So what did we say? First of all, this is a beloved book and we all enjoyed it. Some of us had read it many, many years ago and it resonated in a personal way through all that time. I read it for the first time last year, when I was lucky enough to end up with it in our Christmas Book Swap (thanks Carol!) and also loved it.

Something about the relatively straight-forward writing style and the endurance of the characters kept it from being a depressing tome of overcoming hardship, at least sort of. The story is a testament to Francie's and in fact her mother Katie's determination to improve their lives, and if that is not possible, at least improve their children's lives.

Most of our discussion revolved around the relationships and how they reflect patterns in many stories, including our own. Katie's obvious preference for her son, Neelie, kicked off most of the discussion. Why are sons so often favored by their mothers? Why are fathers given a bye when mothers are held up to scrutiny and judgement by their children and the wider world.

We had no answers of course. Dawn made an interesting point, supported by her observations at work, watching mothers and children in the horse world. She felt that perhaps it was that Francie was capable and motivated and Katie knew it, so Katie made it easier for Neelie because he needed help. This was shown directly when Katie chose to send Neelie to school rather than Francie because she felt Neelie had to be forced to get an education while Francie would find a way on her own because Francie wanted it so much.

It is one thing to favor with resources and another with an emotional connection and in this too, Katie obviously favored Neelie. We talked at some length about the relationships with mothers and sons, sharing personal stories, very interesting. The upshot was yes, boys and men get more love and support. And yes, they need it because they are not able to make things work the way girls and women have to. Like Katie, they have no choice except to make it work however they can, while so often men can just wander off and do what is easy for them, like Johnnie getting drunk rather than earning money to support his family. He couldn't cope with the burden of supporting his family so Katie had to find a way.

That led to another discussion, another theme in the book and in life. Why do women stay with these men and why don't they stop loving them? Somehow, these talented, hapless and destructive men earn and keep the adoration of their daughters and wives, like Francie and Katie, and yet make all their lives miserable. Of course, at the time, in the early 1900's, divorce was not much of an option, and in fact that was true way into the century, into our lifetimes. And so, Dawn felt,  women were disappointed in their husbands and fathers, but did not stop loving them.

Another thing that came out of the book was the progress across the generations. Katie's mother saved money on the sly in order to have something to handle emergencies and opportunities, giving Katie a slightly better life and a model to follow. Katie then slaved to exhaustion and gave Francie and Neelie a chance. While any one life can make great leaps in circumstance, it is more often the starting point that allows progress over the generations.

Thanks all for a fun and engaging evening, in an idyllic setting. Lynn, can I move in?

Our next book is The Tenth of December by George Saunders. This is a really great set of short stories, I can't wait to hear the discussion! We are meeting on July 14, at 6:30pm. I have in my notes that we are at Julie's, is that the case? If not, we can come to my house, I will confirm and let you know.

See you all then!

Tale of Two Cities did not disappoint

Thanks so much to Wendy for hosting for our discussion of Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, it was a lovely evening. We suffered a bit for the lack of Val as none of us stepped up with any intriguing questions, and because we all liked the book, our views were all consistent.

That being said, we had a lovely discussion about the book. One thing that came up immediately was the way the book was organized into scenes more than chapters. Perhaps this is a result of the way the book was published, chapter by chapter in a magazine published by Dickens, called All Year Round. This was the usual way of publishing at the time, 1859,  a method that continued on for many years after.

For whatever reason, each chapter really was a set piece, and although the narrative carried through, it was possible to envision each chapter as a scene in a play.

That did not diminish the strength of each character, so well drawn, so vividly described, so believable.
Although one could certainly see Lucie Manette as an idealized female figure, somehow she worked as a character, devoted to her heroic husband and father, perfect in her ability to create a charming, thrifty home. Her father again was a perfect character and still somehow so believable and charming.

The plot also was wonderful, fast paced, easy to follow, and again, so well organized into chapters that kept all moving forward. Of course the language was florid and representative of its time. Despite that, it was easy to follow, moved the action forward and formed the characters.

So a great pick! Thanks to Maggie for suggesting it. Our next meeting is June 9, 6:30 pm at Lynn's. (Thank you Lynn!) Lucky us! The book is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. This was a hot book at the past two Christmas book swaps so it will be fun to discuss it.

Great to see you all!

The Goldfinch really kept our attention

Thanks everyone for a great discussion. It is not every book that can keep us talking about it for almost the whole evening when we have oh so much to discuss about everything else in the world. For a book of this length, it was very easy to read. Our consensus was that the story, as implausible as some found it, really held our attention and kept moving.

So what kept it moving along? The characters were really well drawn and compelling. Each of us had one that particularly stood out but in general each person in the book was a complete personality. Wendy particularly liked Boris, others mentioned Hobie. The characters were good enough so we spent time talking about their characteristics and nuances. Was Theo really evil? Was Boris? What about the family Theo lived with - were they cold and unfeeling or caring in their own way?

How Theo ended up with the title painting and why he kept it was at best a jump-ball to get the story going. Mary wondered if the bomb blast in the museum was glossed over because we have become inured to public violent acts. Others thought it was just not the point of the story and so the aftermath was not central. And, given this book was already 770 pages meant there wasn't a lot of extra space!

One thing that we noted was just how much there was to know about in order to write this book - no wonder it took ten years. The art, the artists, and the stolen art world were enough of a challenge. Add to that the antiques trade (buyer beware indeed!), the sad world of teenage dissolution and parental self-destruction, criminal activity and up to date Amsterdam scene and her research load must have been unbelievable. The great accomplishment here is that it all rang true even when the story itself did not.

All in all, we liked this book! Thanks to Maggie for her wonderful hospitality in her lovely home! Thanks to everyone who brought yummy food and fab wine, particular kudos to Val for the wonderful cupcake lasagna. And congrats to Fiona for being included in this year's collection of best Math papers. Yes, you read that right, Fiona is a published math scholar, not that is a surprise to those of us who know her!

Our next book is Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, on May 12 at Wendy's. If the weather is good, we may go to the Deep Run Hunt Club for a picnic by the pool. Can you believe it is almost May??? I know we agreed on the June book, can someone remind me what it was? Thanks, see you on the 12th.

P.S. Still no baby. Foal watch at 3am at 30 degrees is definitely over-rated.

Jordan Curves, and much more...

It was great seeing you all at Maggie's beautiful home tonight! Several of you kindly asked for information about the book that includes the article that Bill and I co-wrote and illustrated.

The book is titled The Best Writing on Mathematics 2013, edited by Mircea Pitici. New and used copies are available on Amazon- just click on the title and it'll take you to the book page.

And here's some information about Paul Erdös (pronounced something like  "er dish", and the "o" should have 2 accents, not dots, but that's as close as I can get with this non-Hungarian keyboard!). He was a very interesting man.
Wikipedia
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers (NYT review of his biography, has good anecdotes.)
The Erdös Number Project (Maybe you have one too!)

Illustration by LeUyen Pham, from The Boy Who Loved Math, by Deborah Heiligman

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - we like it!

Hi all and special thanks  to Kathy Baker for hosting. We had a lovely beef bourguignon and party favors! It doesn't get much better than that, especially since all the other goodies were wonderful that everone brought along.

As vor the book, we had a really interesting discussion as most of us liked it. Mostly, it fell along the lines of people who liked this type of sci/fi fantasy work and those who did not. Those who did really liked how well the characters were drawn, particularly the youngest Hemstock, Letti. She seemed to some to have been created her age and size in order to be of help to the young narrator (never-named) in a form that would not have been scary or offputting like the older Hemstocks. Each of the characters was well done and their worries and dreams plausible enought to make the story hold together.

The character Ursula was quite interesting as she worked to give everyone what they wanted and in the process gained total control of all around her. The way the author moved so seamlessly from the fanatasy to the real world was really well executed. So many times I had to go back to find where the story began to diverge  - suddenly I just found myself somewhere else!

Those who did not like the book felt it was a bit contrived. Mary mentioned that she is not a fan of this type of fiction as it just makes up its own rules. In that way the writer can manipulate the story however he or she wants. Perhaps to some that is the very reason to read fantasy, to get away from the  limitations of gravity and societal norms among other things.

All in all, it was a good read for most and mercifully short for some. Our next book is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. We will be at Maggie's on April 7. Does that work for everyone?

Our May book is Tale of Two Cities at Wendy's, at least that is what is in my motes, let me know if I got that wrong.

Thanks everyone!

We couldn't have laughed harder, and the book was good too.

Ok, let's start with the basics - Life After Life was great, the writing excellent, a few odd plot points but overall a compelling story and interesting read. We liked it very much and Kate Atkinson is certainly someone many of us will seek out for our next reads. In this case, enough said, not because the book wasn't worth more discussion, because it certainly was. While we definitely missed Val and her book club questions, we just had too much else to talk about this particular evening. 

It turns out, talking about the book was just the warmup act. Or, the second warmup act as our incredible hostess Lynn has such wonderful art all over the house that many of us were wandering around looking at it. Absolutely stunning and Lynn if you are thinking of shaking up your decor, ask Lynn for help, she has got the touch!

Somehow, we ended up talking about many, many other things that made us laugh like crazy. While the topics were relatively wide ranging, they seemed to center on hair removal. There were some personal stories of attempts gone wrong (I am not revealing from who) which were hilarious. Note to self, do not request a bikini wax in a country where you don't speak the language, it doesn't end well.  

There was also some discussion of trends for men that still make me blush. Ashley and Fiona know a lot more about this than I would have ever thought, you will have to ask them how they get all their information because it was complete news to me! 

What a fun, funny night, thanks again to Lynn for hosting and showing us all her amazing art! Thanks to everyone who brought great food and wine, it was a wonderful evening. 

Our next meeting is March 10 at Kathy Baker's and our book is The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. This is a short book and a relative quick read, let me know if you want to borrow my copy. For those of you planning ahead, our April book is The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, her first book in a very long time, and we will be at Maggie's new house! 

See you all in March! 

Fannie Flagg was a really fun read!

Beryl called me yesterday, wondering where the blog was - had she missed it? No, for whatever reason, I have been very slow in getting it up! Maybe it was because most of us enjoyed reading the book, but there really wasn't that much to discuss, fun as it was.  There were some who saw themselves (and their mothers) in the characters, I am still not sure whether that was a good thing.

Kathy Baker reviewed this book and ended up in Real Simple magazine - she brought along her review, what fun to see it. You go, Kathy!

We still had a fabulous time at Fiona's, who is always such a generous and gracious hostess. The highlight was a tour of her recent art work, always interesting and oh so impressive. Fiona is working toward a joint show in the fall with our friend Rob Walz, let's start planning now for what I know will be a highlight show.

So, on to next month, which will be at Lynn's house on Feb. 10 at 6:30 pm. The book is Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson. This is a bit of a change from choices we had discussed earlier, but this one has far more discussion possibilities than some others we had selected.

Other we talked about that came off the list included Roar of the Heavens, which is about Hurricane Camille and The Funeral Dress, by Susan Gregg Gilmore. I had dinner with her and Ellen Brown (of The Making of Gone With The Wind) when Susan was in town for a reading at the Fountain, she was lovely!

As usual, great to see you all, I am looking forward to our next great read.

Happy Holidays to all, what a fun book swap we had!

As usual, our get-together was filled with fun and laughs, with a great group of well-read people who brought a favorite to put under the tree. Unlike last year when books were swapping all over the place, this year everyone seemed to love the one they got first, with a couple exceptions that moved around.

Here are a few of the books that were brought and swapped:

- Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson. Val brought this because she said she laughed so hard reading it that someone rows down on her plane walked up to ask what she was reading!
- Master and Margarita - Mikail Bulgakov. I brought this one, it is the one book every Russian has read and it is amazing.
- Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Lynn brought this, she loved the way the writer connected with nature among other things.
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Julie brought this one, not realizing that last year we were all fighting over a copy that Carole had brought. Luckily, there was a second chance this year.
- Getting in Touch With Your Inner Bitch by Elizabeth Hilts - Mary brought this one, and Fiona says she is having a great time practicing saying "I don't think so…" for all occasions.
- House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Carole brought this one, ask her for the back story on why.
- The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg. This one is the winner for most swapped, so it is our January book. Kathy brought the book and also wrote a review of it for Real Simple magazine!
- The World Is Round by Gertrude Stein. Maggie said this book, written for children, is a great way to get an introduction to Gertrude Stein, so much easier than her books for grownups.
- Questions About Angels poetry by Billy Collins. Fiona said she loves his work (so do I), this changed hands at least once.
- Things Fall Apart by Chiana Achebe. Catherine brought this one, a story about a clash of cultures and a clash of the individual and a society. Sounds great!
- Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Jean brought this book and it had a ton of positive response from everyone who had already read it, which was just about everyone but me.  I ended up with it, yeah!
- Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. Ashley brought this one, a story of British rural life in the 30's.
- Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut. Sally recovered the boards with a beautiful dark rose silk moire, it was really a lovely edition!

Next meeting is Jan. 13 at 6:30 at Fiona's. Our book is the Fannie Flagg book, The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion. And that is it! Here are some pictures, courtesy of Fiona.

Thank you Clint McCown, Dawn and Ashley

Ashley's beautiful (and central) home could not have been a better spot for us to meet with the author of our most recent book, Clint McCown, otherwise known as Dawn's husband. As usual, the food, wine and company was great, and Ashley's dogs were a fun addition!

Our star of the evening however, was our author who was gracious enough to spend the evening with us talking about the book and his literary process. Thank you so much Clint! This novel, with its separate stories of tightly interconnected characters really seemed to catch and hold our attention.

Clint's discussion of his process and how he evolved from being a "gusher" as a writer into one that carefully crafts each sentence as he goes along was really interesting. His work started by just writing and writing, putting down whatever he wanted and creating pages and pages of work a day. He credits a conversation with Reynolds Price for his current approach as he realized that his old method meant he had to throw out a lot of work, and it was a lot of work to figure out which part to toss.

So after hearing Reynolds Price say that on a good day he could do a couple hundred words, Clint changed his approach and began carefully writing against whatever framework he determined for the work at hand. With Haints,  his framework was the idea that your past never really leaves you and still is a ghost in your relationships and your life today.

He also said, which surprised me, that he had no idea where the story was going as he was writing - that he just began with the idea he wanted to convey and let the story go where it may. As a result, the character he thought would dominate the book came to be just the beginning and the end of the view of this gothic little town going through a difficult situation.

Instead, he gave each related character its own turn to tell his or her story and in doing so, woke the reader up to their shared history and circumstances. The town and the people themselves were really vibrant and well crafted - it was pretty easy to imagine you had these people somewhere in your own life.

While poignant and more than a little sad, this book was also quite funny. The idea of having the funeral parlor shift over to the hardware store was quite an image. While some who grew up in little towns thought that was completely normal, it did make me laugh to think of the body in the window. (No disrespect meant to the man who died.)

Also funny were some of the situations - the convict who escaped prison while another convict was supposed to be watching him, the burial of the wooden leg and the (short-term) relief it gave Herb's old girlfriend, the doctor's wife, Herb's response to the boy who tells he is supposed to be dead. These funny things just snuck up on me in the story and kept the overall tone from becoming maudlin.

All in all, a very educational and fun evening, thanks again Dawn for organizing and Clint for coming!

Our next meeting is at my house on Dec. 9. It is our second annual book swap, so no reading required for this meeting. The plan is to bring a gift-wrapped book that you think people should read, along with a note explaining why you selected the book. Don't sign your name! We will have a Yankee Swap and the most swapped book will be our reading choice for Jan or Feb, depending on what we decide.

See you all there, let me know what you may be able to bring along!

The Wife - two people who needed each other

Thanks so much to Carole for hosting in her beautiful home! Thanks as well to everyone who brought things along, I think the all appetizer all the time is working well for us. Weigh in if you don't think so!

Well, once again we have found characters that no one really could like, and in the case of Joe Castleman, pretty easy to dislike. At the same time, these characters, and this particular situation was pretty easy to understand and so Joan, the wife, got some considerable empathy despite some of us wanting to slap her into taking responsibility for herself.

The tension of The Wife is one of an extremely talented woman with little ambition and confidence married to a charismatic, highly ambitious man with no talent. Of course they are two sides of one coin, a perfect partnership to produce literary success, at long as no one regrets their role.

Did we discuss the Joan/Joe selection of names? Could this be any more transparent? At least some of us caught on fairly quickly to this sad story of a man of limited talents using his highly talented wife to create and sustain his life, with her full cooperation. Of course, at some point, after years of standing on the sidelines despite deserving the attention, the wife decides to bail. Not to mention the bad behavior of a husband who is both appreciative and entitled. Yuck.

Many of us felt this story resonated with the stories of their mothers, or others who had chosen to be the support of the man in her life rather than compete on her own. And of course there are a lot of women who wanted to have their own life and accomplishments and never were able to find a way. For all of those women, this story rang true and the mix of bitterness and complacency of the main character was the flavor of their lives.

Our general consensus was that Meg Worlitzer is really readable and we liked the book overall. Yes, it was predictable, yes there was no compelling character, but at the same time it was very well written and certainly kept our attention and interest. And it was short enough for the story it had to tell, unlike some other novels that just go on way too long.

Of course, we had our usual round of fun and chatter complete with lots of laughs. What a fun group we have and how lucky we are to have been born when we were, able to have the lives we want, the careers we want and at least in my case, a husband who does not expect to be the headline. I for one, am a very lucky girl.

Our next book is Haints, by Clint McCown. Dawn says Clint is coming to our meeting, so read up! The date is Nov. 18 and we will be at Ashley's. Please let her know if you will be coming and what you can bring.

Our December meeting will be at my house on Dec. 9. This will be our Yankee Book Swap and Christmas party, so start thinking about what book you want others to read and why. The rules are"
1) Bring a book you think others should read, gift wrapped.
2) Include a note on why you selected this book - do not give your name!
3) We will conduct a usual "Yankee Swap" format - choose numbers, pick gifts in order, swap out as you want when your number comes up, # 1 goes again at the end.
4) The most swapped book will be nominated for our read in February
5) After the swap is concluded, we can reveal who brought what!
6) We eat and drink and have much fun along the way.

Does this not sound like the best possible way to spend a Monday?

See you on Nov. 18!