July 2023 Bookclub News

 

Hello Terry

Dear Bookclub,

Discussion of Ann Napolitano's "Hello Beautiful" was surpassed by beloved 'catching-up' conversation. Seated outside at Madeiras, sinking into our personal tales of summer, we eschewed Napolitano's tale after declaring too much as unrealistic and characters unlikable. The first part of the book engaged, the next part went on and on and on and on and on, being sure to check all boxes for writing style and inclusion of current controversial topics. Ensnaring the reader in a net far too vast, deprived any true captivation.

 Did Oprah read this? Did it filter through some Oprah AI to become a 'pick'?

Greta Gerwig's 2019 film, "Little Women"

Did she read "Little Women"? Oprah's recommendations feel a bit like the Good Housekeeping Seal. Not bad, but not silk or satin.

Ann Napolitano claims that the nod to "Little Women" developed while she was writing and the framing was not part of her plan:

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/18/1164523144/ann-napolitano-on-her-new-novel-hello-beautiful

Terry's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take it Back" Elisabeth Rosenthal

"Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" Gabrielle Zevin *chosen

"Count the Ways" Joyce Maynard

Up next:

Happy reading!

LK

June 2023 Bookclub Newsletter

 

Dear Bookclub,

Unable to attend our June meeting to discuss Ian McEwan's "Lessons", Trudy provided a brief synopsis of the gathering:

"Finding the book depressing and hard to read, most stopped reading it, except for Terrie, who liked it, especially the historical content. 

Our book choice was Ann Patchett’s newest novel because many had already read Covenant of Water and Jeannette Walls, Hang the Moon."

How I wish I could have been there! Consider: McEwan's ability to put the notion of a woman abandoning the role of mother to feed her own need, battling the very nature of human existence and the mess that accompanies those philosophies. Add the layer of Miss Miriam Cornell and yuck:

 "McEwan can make a reader feel as though she has bent forward to sniff a rose and received instead the odor of old sewage."

 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/13/books/review/ian-mcewan-lessons.html

Packing in historic consequences and, once again, the seemingly endless effects of WWII, McEwan stimulates contemplation of the tinting world events cast upon individual lives. Mirroring sixty years of the author's life, influences abound.

love his decorating style

Great interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGPWYWOAYlg

Hard to pick up a book after putting it aside, but if you do, I will happily discuss it with you anytime! Stuck in my head, this, like other McEwan reads, I won't quickly forget (despite being on some trajectory to forget everything - enter reference to Nora Ephron's 2010 "I Remember Nothing".. audible excellent).

Nora Ephron

 

 Trudy's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"The Covenant of Water"  Abraham Verghese

"Hang the Moon" Jeannette Walls

"Tom Lake" Ann Patchett *chosen

 

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK