Don't Forget - We Meet OCT 31 to discuss THE RED TENT

If you are like me, you are on about page 43 of The Red Tent think, Oh, I've read this before, it should be no problem. If you are like Erica, you have finished the book and keep thinking that we are meeting before we actually are.

Zebedee reminds us that we are meeting on Tuesday, the 31st and he says it should be a howling good time (though he doesn't really bark much).

Some updates: Authors we have read in the past have been busy.

There is a new book out by Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler's Wife). The Adventuress follows the dreamlike journey of an alchemist’s daughter. After she is kidnapped by a lascivious baron, she turns herself into a moth and flees to the garden of a charming butterfly collector named Napoleon Bonaparte. The story of how the two become lovers, and how their affair ends in tragedy and transcendence, is told through Niffenegger’s spare prose and haunting aquatint etchings. With a stunning and distinctive visual style reminiscent of the work of Edward Gorey, this gothic romance packs the emotional heft of the world’s great fairy tales. (Amazon.com)

Fastfood Nation is being made into a movie of all things: Eric Schlosser's bestselling exposé of the dark side of the American passion for fast food comes to the screen as a fictional film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Greg Kinnear, Ethan Hawke, and Patricia Arquette. (Barnes and Noble.com)


Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner," will have a new book, "A Thousand Splendid Suns," out next spring. The publisher describes Hosseini's new book as a "heart-wrenching chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith and the salvation to be found in love." (YahooNews.com)

Sarah Waters latest book, The Night Watch, came out in paper back. Erica has been reading it. She says it is compelling but she is tempted to read it backwards (the book moves back in time). That's all she has really told me about the book - guess I'll have to read it myself.

See you on the 31st ready to discuss The Red Tent -
Jen

I know this is getting ahead of myself but . . .

I know this is getting ahead of myself but I was thinking about the book we are reading for November: Nickle and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenriech. I was thinking that perhaps it was very appropriate that we are reading a book about the working poor right around Thanksgiving. I don't want to make this a guilt trip book, but thought maybe we could make this an opportunity to reach beyond our book group with this selection.

I didn't have anything specific in mind, just some brainstormed ideas like engaging and inviting the entire congregation to join us for this discussion along with Social Ministry; or going beyond just discussion into some sort of action step with this group. I don't know if we have to do anything besides discuss it. I just see it as an opportuntity. Maybe it is just a personal challenge for myself - I don't know. I was just thinking, and there I go again with that thinking stuff.

If you have any comments on this - or ideas - let me, and the group know, using the comments button. Or you can email me at jenhaertling@sbcglobal.net. I know we are all busy. Maybe this is just supposed to be simple awareness. Who knows. I've included a link about the book that contains an interview with Ehrenreich and a sample of the first chapter of the book. Thought you might be interested.

http://www.nytimes.com/books/01/05/13/reviews/010513.13gallagt.html

In the meanwhile, happy reading of The Red Tent. - Jen