December 8, 2010 Meeting

Tonight we met to discuss Pat's choice for the month, Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verchese. This was a beautifully written novel with a very compelling story line and some fascinating characters. It seems that most of the members of the group enjoyed the book to a degree. A couple of us truly enjoyed it and savoured the way the story unfolded. One of the criticism's from a couple of the women was that it "dragged" a bit at times. This, I'm afraid is a criticism that is often leveled at our books. Admittedly some times it is deserved, but often the book deserves the time to unfold in its own way. This is of course one of the challenges of a Book Club. It is difficult to find stories that will appeal to everyone. We all have very different tastes and expectations from our books. However this is also what keeps the discussions lively.

December 8, 2010

As mentioned last month we would be returning to the Deep South with this months selection, suggested by Bev, of The Help by Kathryn Stockett. This book has been on the best sellers list for some time and we could all see why. It was a book that was easy to read, had lots of well developed characters and a good plot. We all agreed that is was an interesting take on the subject of racism in the South to see it all through the eyes of the Black Women who work as servants in the homes of their White employers. I should mention that this book was set in modern times which again made it a little different from some of the novels on this subject we have read before such as The Book of Negroes. One of the things we all agreed on was that we appreciated that her characters were involved. The "good" people had flaws and the "bad" ones had redeeming features. Perhaps this book will never become a classic but it certainly was and entertaining and thought provoking book.

November 17, 2010 Meeting

Tonight we met at Fran's home to discuss her choice for the month, South of Broad by Pat Conroy. For some of us, who were very familiar with this author it was a pleasure to read another of his books. For others this was an introduction to Mr. Conroy. Everyone seemed to enjoy the book to at least some degree. Those of us that were familiar with the authors other books agreed that it was not his best work but still well worth the time to read it. It was interesting to be taken back to sixties and remember the social morals of the time. We thought that some of the characters were a touch too one dimensional but on the whole the characters were well developed. Some of us thought the novel would have profited by being shorted somewhat while others liked his style and were happy to drift along with him. It is always interesting to visit the South through these novels and discuss the the attitudes of the people. We will be going back to the South next month but the area will be seen through very different eyes. Till then.....

October 20, 2010 Meeting

Tonight we met at the home of one of our new members, Vicki. The book we discussed was The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow. This was an interesting choice and somewhat different from anything we have read to date. The book was written by a Journalist rather than an Author and the style reflected that. It followed the lives of 11 women who had maintained a friendship for over 40 years. I would have to say that the majority of us were not overly taken with the book. Some found it repetitive and others just boring. However, it did bring on lots of interesting discussion. We talked about our own experiences in High School. Seems most of us did not belong to the "In Crowd" and so could not enjoy the story of "the shit sisters" as was intended. They reminded us of people we hadn't liked. It's amazing how many scars can be left from our youth. We did acknowledge that this lasting friendship was very unique. We also talked about how the strength of our women friends can really sustain us at bad times. So, as often is the case, a book that wasn't a favorite enlisted more discussion than some of the more popular choices. That's the beauty of a Book Club. We are introduced to books we may not select on our own but it is always a learning experience. Till next month.......

September 22nd. 2010, Meeting

Tonight we met at Janet's home to discuss her choice of Books Princess. Happily all seven of our members, including our two newest members Vicki and Bev were in attendance. This book is allegedly a Biography of the life of a Saudi Princess as told anonymously to a friend from the West. We have visited this area of the world several times in our books although this was the first time in Saudi Arabia. The story was shocking of course when seen through our Western eyes. If we have learned nothing else through these books we have learned how lucky we are to be born in a country that affords us such freedom.
As I said it is allegedly a true story. Several of us noticed a few discrepancies that made us doubt the books validity although all were sure it reflected the truth. We tried to separate what is truly abuse and what is just culturally different from our way of life. We noted that although we would never want the kind of repression seen in so many Islamic countries we admit that in some instances our "freedom" has caused a real lessening of our moral fabric. These are very interesting but tough questions. All in all a good meeting.
Our next book, The Girls of Ames should be a perfect fit for a woman's Book Club. I look forward to reading it. Till next month.....

August 25th. Meeting

Tonight was a special night for our club. We have undergone some changes in the past few months. Tonight we welcomed two new members Vicki and Bev. It is great to have them join us.
The book for this month was The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. The consensus was that this was a very enjoyable book. It was well written and had a very compelling story line. The story line crosses back and forth over three generations of women. Some of our members reported that they usually don't enjoy that style of writing but in this case did. We were able to talk about what it would be like to be a woman in Victorian times and how restricted the morals were. Some of the discussion centered on choices people make and how they impact their own lives and the lives of others, sometimes for generations. We discussed how it isn't always easy to judge the decisions people make. Sometimes they do the wrong thing for the right reason. Life is complicated. We also enjoyed the many layers to this book. It was in part, a story worthy of Dickens, a Fairy Tale and a love story. We enjoyed the fact that the characters were well developed, multi faceted and interesting. In all a good read for everyone.
Next month we take a completely different path when we read Janet's choice of Princess. Till then......

July 21st Meeting and so much more!

This is the first posting to the Blog I have made in sometime so I will try to catch up. We have had an eventful few months. In May we had our usual meeting, at Fran's home where we discussed the current book choice An American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. Again the book received mixed reviews. Some liked it quite a lot while some not as much, although no one thoroughly dismissed it. There was one interesting criticism of the book that a couple of the members had. This book was obviously inspired by George Bush's family. It was not very complimentary in many ways and fairly sexually graphic. We felt that the author was cowardly to make it so obvious without having the integrity to say up front that he was using them as his template. Perhaps he feared a lawsuit? Again, a good discussion. Unfortunately a couple of weeks after that meeting one of our original members Catherine, decided to quit. We are not entirely sure of her reasons although she was very candid that she was not a "big reader" and hoped the club would inspire her. She often had trouble with our selections and possibly felt that it wasn't something she enjoyed after all. We were all sad to lose her but respected her decision.
In June we were to meet at Linda's cottage to discuss the Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. That month we lost a very dear friend of all of us. He died just before our scheduled get away. Needless to say the trip was cancelled. We were all extremely upset and we did not have a meeting that month.
This past month we rescheduled our meeting at the cottage. All plans were made and we all looked forward to our trip up north. The night before we were to leave another Member, Verna, e-mailed us to say she was not well and would not be joining us. She has been going through some difficult times and we suspected this was the cause. We carried on with our plans and had a wonderful time in spite of her absence. I am afraid what with all the other discussions about some community issues and our concerns over Verna we did not spend too much time on the book. I can only speak for myself when I say that it was a book I would recommend. When we returned we found that Verna had decided to quit the club altogether. This was a blow to all of us. As mentioned we know she is having some personal issues and it is effecting alot of her choices. We can do nothing but respect her decision.
On a much happier note we have a new member to our club, Bev. She had expressed an interest in joining previously, and with the loss of two members, it seemed the perfect time for a fresh face with new ideas. She will be joining us for our next meeting on Aug. 25th to discuss The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I believe she will be a wonderful addition and hope she enjoys the club. We would love to get back to our simple love of books with no drama for awhile. Till next month.....