Many thanks to Mary who was just a stellar host on Monday, what a lovely time! We had a set table, lots of yummy food, thanks to everyone's contributions and to Mary's lamb kabobs! It is always so fun to get together with this fun group and chat about whatever we want including sometimes the book at hand. Thank you, thank you.
As for the book, the reaction was fairly consistent among all of us. The selection and descriptions of the artworks were very good, interesting enough to keep us turning the pages and for most of us to finish the book. The analysis maybe a bit overdone but still interesting.
What was not so well done was the story holding it all together. Mona, only 9 years old, had a sudden, short blindness. That caused enough concern for her to need a phycologist once a week for a year. Her grandfather intervenes and secretly takes her to the museum to see and learn about a piece of art. All the issues of Mona's family life and the clever ways Mona acts to patch it all up were just a bit too much, and frankly a bit overwritten.
But all is well that ends well, Mona can actually see better than most, she won't go blind, the parents are not upset that the grandfather lied to them for a year, and the family resolved its issues.
And so we go on too. Our next book is Daughter of Time by Josephine They. This has been named as one of the best mysteries of all time by the New York Times so I am all in. And for those of you who are not mystery fans, it is short.
We are meeting on May 18 at 6:30pm but who volunteered to host? I know someone did.
Because we had a difficult time making a decision on the book for May, we added the other option in for June. That book is The Vigil by George Saunders. Get on the library waiting list now, it is popular! The date is June 15.
See you all on May 20!
