Book for July 31 - Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

Thanks to everyone who joined in a spirited discussion of presidential assassinations last month.

This month's book, Peace Like a River shifts gears to a winding narrative:

From Booklist

What readers will appreciate first in Enger's marvelous novel is the language. His limpid sentences are composed with the clarity and richness for which poets strive. It takes longer to get caught up in the story, but gradually, as the complex narrative unwinds, readers will find themselves immersed in an exceptionally heartfelt and moving tale about the resilience of family relationships, told in retrospect through the prism of memory. "We all hold history differently inside us," says narrator Reuben, who was an adolescent in Minnesota in the 1960s, when his brother, Davy, shot and killed two young men who were harassing the family. Rueben's father--in Rueben's estimation fully capable of performing miracles even though the outside world believed him to be lost in the clouds--packs Reuben and his sister up and follows the trail Davy has left in his flight from the law. Their journey comprises the action in the novel, but this is not really a book about adventures on the road. Rather, it is a story of relationships in which the exploration of character takes precedence over incident. Enger's profound understanding of human nature stands behind his compelling prose.

- Brad Hooper Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition

* Also Promised: The book that we will be reading is August is The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. More about this later.

For now, enjoy Peace like a River. Happy Reading! - Jen

We Meet Next Tuesday at 7:30

Okay - after talking to Erica, it seems as though I am the only one who has been thoroughly confused about what we are reading when. I am glad blogging has gotten me back on track. After a very long wait for some of you, we will finally be discussing Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell on Tuesday June 26 at 7:30. As always, we will be meeting at church. I hope you all have enjoyed/ are enjoying this book as much as I am.

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to participate in the Hunger Walk. Though the number of walkers for LMC was very low, we raised enough money to feed a family of three breakfast, lunch, and dinner for an entire year. Everytime I figure out my budget and go to the grocery store, I keep thinking about the book Nickle and Dimed. With rising food and energy costs for everyone I was happy to get up very early (for me) on a Saturday morning and walk a few miles to raise some money and help others out. Who knows, it might be the clerk at the grocery store I am helping to feed.

Here is a little video (my new toy) I shot at the Hunger Walk. I thought it would be fun to share with you all.



I'll see you all on Tuesday - Jen

Hey, Look, Jen Can Blog Again

After a very long absence, and some mix-ups, I am back blogging again. My wrist is back in shape and book club is back in line - and we are reading Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell for June 26.

If you haven't picked it up yet, it is a fun, quirky little read - perfect for summer.

Have you ever played that game - if you could invite 3 people, living or dead to a dinner party, who would you invite? I was always able to come up with my first 2 very easily: Eleanor Roosevelt (my personal hero), Terry Gross (the host of NPR Fresh Air). And then I would stall. I couldn't think of a 3rd who I would really wan't to have a conversation with. I think that has now all changed. I think Sarah Vowell would be the dinner party 4th. I think I would enjoy talking about obscur historical events and possible parallel current events with her.

Happy reading, and I can't wait to talk about Assassination Vacation with all of you.

No Book Club in December and Reading List for Jan, Feb, March 2007

Thanks to everyone who attended book club last Tuesday night. I know with all that was going on, reading Nickel and Dimed was just one more thing. But we did have great, spirited discussion about the ever-growing and very complex issue of the working poor.

I happened to catch a bit of 20/20 last night and they were discussing who gives the most proportionately in the US. Church goers give more to all charities than those who don’t go to church; and the rich give more than the middle class. But the group who gave most to others was the working poor (the middle class gave the least proportionately). I just thought it was an interesting fact for a group of people who, as we read, struggle so hard.

There was another person on the show who did studies that showed giving makes people feel good – physiologically. That made me think. I once heard a pastor’s stewardship sermon (yes, I listened) where part of the message was that we think we should give until it hurts. He said we should give beyond that until we give until it feels good. No point in that antidote, just an interesting correlation that I remembered. But I digress.

As we decided, we will NOT be meeting in December. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you.

Here are the books for January, February, and March of 2007.

January: The Memory’s Keeper’s Daughter – Kim Edwards

From Publishers Weekly Edwards's assured but schematic debut novel (after her collection, The Secrets of a Fire King) hinges on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome, resulting in the father's disavowal of his newborn daughter. A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter's handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul's twin died at birth. Instead of institutionalizing Phoebe, Caroline absconds with her to Pittsburgh. David's deception becomes the defining moment of the main characters' lives, and Phoebe's absence corrodes her birth family's core over the course of the next 25 years. David's undetected lie warps his marriage; he grapples with guilt; Norah mourns her lost child; and Paul not only deals with his parents' icy relationship but with his own yearnings for his sister as well. Though the impact of Phoebe's loss makes sense, Edwards's redundant handling of the trope robs it of credibility. This neatly structured story is a little too moist with compassion. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

February: The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery – Wendy Moore

Book Description In an era when bloodletting was considered a cure for everything from colds to smallpox, surgeon John Hunter was a medical innovator, an eccentric, and the person to whom anyone who has ever had surgery probably owes his or her life. In this sensational and macabre story, we meet the surgeon who counted not only luminaries Benjamin Franklin, Lord Byron, Adam Smith, and Thomas Gainsborough among his patients but also “resurrection men” among his close acquaintances. A captivating portrait of his ruthless devotion to uncovering the secrets of the human body, and the extraordinary lengths to which he went to do so—including body snatching, performing pioneering medical experiments, and infecting himself with venereal disease—this rich historical narrative at last acknowledges this fascinating man and the debt we owe him today. (Amazon.com)


March: The Widow of the South – Robert Hicks

From Publishers Weekly Hicks's big historical first novel, based on true events in his hometown, follows the saga of Carrie McGavock, a lonely Confederate wife who finds purpose transforming her Tennessee plantation into a hospital and cemetery during the Civil War. Carrie is mourning the death of several of her children, and, in the absence of her husband, has left the care of her house to her capable Creole slave Mariah. Before the 1864 battle of Franklin, Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest commandeers her house as a field hospital. In alternating points of view, the battle is recounted by different witnesses, including Union Lt. Nathan Stiles, who watches waves of rebels shot dead, and Confederate Sgt. Zachariah Cashwell, who loses a leg. By the end of the battle, 9,000 soldiers have perished, and thousands of Confederates are buried in a field near the McGavock plantation. Zachariah ends up in Carrie's care at the makeshift hospital, and their rather chaste love forms the emotional pulse of the novel, while Carrie fights to relocate the buried soldiers when her wealthy neighbor threatens to plow up the field after the war. Valiantly, Hicks returns to small, human stories in the midst of an epic catastrophe. Though occasionally overwrought, this impressively researched novel will fascinate aficionados. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Relating back to our discussion from Tuesday again, I was reading Fortune on-line and came across these articles that show Wal-Mart is a complicated issue (as discussed). Thought you might be interested.

Attack of the Wal- Martyrs

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_
archive/2006/12/11/8395445/index.htm?postversion=2006112813

Wal – Mart Becomes Gay Friendly

http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/28/news/companies/
pluggedin_gunther_gayWalMart.fortune/index.htm

Wal – Mart’s New “Green” Image – The Green Machine

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_
archive/2006/08/07/8382593/index.htm


Wal-Mart extends $4 generic drug program

http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/26/news/
companies/walmart_drugs/index.htm?postversion=2006102609

I will see all of you around. Happy reading.

Jen

Book Club is Tomorrow Night

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Erica and I only had to travel 10 minutes this year - seems much more reasonable than 6 hours for a meal.

Tomorrow night is the magic night when we meet to discuss Nickle and Dimed. I still haven't finished it - come even if you haven't - it's a book about society and I am sure everyone will have something to say about the topics even if you haven't read, or finished the book.

We aren't meeting in December because of the holiday week, but we will be back in January. We have picked the next books, but I can't recall them right now. Another great reason to show up tomorrow night - find out what to books to get a jump on for new year's reading.

See you all Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 7:30 at church.

Jen

Novemember's book is Nickle and Dimed

I know Novemeber is a busy month, but let's all try to find the time to read this book (Nickle and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich) that Laura suggested. It's only 240 pages!

Laura has also been a great advocate for indepent and local book stores; so I thought I would put a link to some that she has mentioned in book club.

http://www.centerstagechicago.com/literature/bookstores/styles/indylocal.html

This has a write up and directions to some she has mentioned including Barbara's Bookstore, Book Cellar, Inc., and Women and Children First. Even if you have already have your copy of this month's book, holiday giving is just around the corner.

Jen

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