February 2025 Bookclub News

 

 

King Bird-of-paradise feathers. Photo: Blickwinkel/Alamy

Dear Bookclub,

Mama Cella's welcomed us for our chatty lunch to discuss Kirk Wallace Johnson's "The Feather Thief". Well-liked, we pondered the similarities to "The Art Thief" and wondered about the plausibility of Edwin Rist lugging his loot single-handedly. Not only does the story seem incomplete, the damage of the theft will never be fully understood. 

Walter

 

Intrigued by Walter Rothschild's natural-specimen collecting obsession, which ultimately became the Museum at Tring, I found a bit of fascinating history... be sure to check out the man working in the shed:

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/walter-rothschild-a-curious-life.html 

 

Minna B. Hall

Harriet Hemenway

 

Marveling at the history of the "feather-fever" in fashion, which resulted in the slaughtering of birds world-wide, we learned that Audubon Society was founded by two very long-lived cousins, in response with preservation and protection in mind:

https://www.massaudubon.org/about/history

The King Bird-of-paradise feather above is also from the Audubon website, illustrating an article about Johnson's book complete with excerpt:

https://www.audubon.org/news/on-hunt-hundreds-rare-birds-stolen-museum 

The path forward is strange as any feathers recovered would be scientifically useless and Rist, now Reinhard lives on as a professional flutist. Edwin Reinhard. The researching of Rist/Reinhard is not very rewarding. I am lame with Facebook but this fun info popped up while googling. Be sure to read the comments on the sidebar:

https://www.facebook.com/MontserratArtsCouncil/photos/edwin-rist-fluteedwin-rist-was-born-in-new-york-city-and-completed-his-bachelor-/1649151885126470/?_rdr 

Thief

And hear is a video of his playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO80dgra5C0 

 

Terry's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Memorial Days" Geraldine Brooks *chosen

"Playground" Richard Powers

"Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love" David Talbot

 

Up next:

 

 Happy reading,

LK

January 2025 Bookclub News

 

 

Dear Bookclub,

Dining by the floor to ceiling windows at Vintana, we were treated to an osprey's circular soar and contemplated the possible lure. Awestruck by nature's display, we were mesmerized but unable to explain the Lexus dealership attraction. Inconclusive, we quickly moved onto matters at hand: lunch and discussion of Kiran Millwood Hargrave's novel, "The Mercies".

Nature's humbling power to disarm the delicate balance of life in early 17th century Vardø set the stage for this beautifully written work. We appreciated Hargrave's poetic prose which delivered the ugliness of human fallibility amidst harsh obstacles. Realizing the story is a re-imagining of true events, and that witch trials were not uncommon during this time in history, we could only wonder how today's 'witch trials' present.

 

Steilineset in Vardø, Finnmark, Norway, commemorating the trial and execution in 1621 of 91 people for witchcraft. Installation by Louise Bourgeois.

 

Please read more about the Vardø witch trails:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vard%C3%B8_witch_trials_(1621)

Are you yearning for just a little more info on '10 Little Known Witch Trials From History"? It's your lucky day:

https://historycollection.com/10-little-known-witch-trials-from-history/ 

 

Trudy's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"All The Colors of the Dark" Chris Whitaker *chosen

"An American Beauty: A Novel of the Gilded Age inspired by Arianna Huntington" Shana Abe

"I Cheerfully Refuse" Leif Enger

 

Up next:

 

Happy reading,

LK

 

 

December 2024 Bookclub News

 

Hollywood!

Dear Bookclub,

Our LBC getaway to Griffith Park kicked off the holiday season while entertaining us with camaraderie, escapism and exposure to L.A. funk, literally and figuratively. Air quality alerts, 4 minute Uber rides, rubbing elbows with hip Gen X/Y'ers at the Everly and Tao, a smattering of cultural diversity - all intangible delights.

Discussion of Daniel Mason's "The North Woods" drew our readers' passion with the appreciation of the clever genius his writing evoked. Hollywood, North Wood(s) .... the wood analogy stops there. The patch of Massachusetts land, with its imagined histories, holds no relation to the California craggy terrain. Toyon, is the holly-like bush that gave Hollywood its name; please read more about the 1886 entrepreneurial couple behind that, Harvey and Daeida Wilcox:

 https://treepeople.org/2012/12/31/hollywood-name/

 

Meanwhile, Mason's north wood was the site of captivating tale after tale and could have been named Applewood. In doing research about old apple trees in Massachusetts, I found a fascinating interview with Mark Richardson, New England Botanic Garden’s Director of Horticulture. 

fireblight

He is overseeing an apple orchard restoration project and this interview discusses the historic collection being salvaged - some trees from the 1600's. Climate change is impacting disease like fireblight and the efforts to reproduce trees with scionwood is nothing short of miraculous. The interview:

https://awaytogarden.com/historic-apples-get-a-new-start-with-mark-richardson/ 

I recognize the New England Botanic Garden as a place we visited with my parents a few short years ago:

my mum

https://nebg.org/orchard/

Back to the darker side of the novel,  the cover girl is explained as "the ghostly catamount watching over the house" in a charming interview with Daniel in the June 2024 issue of the also charming publication, "The Northern Woodlands".

https://northernwoodlands.org/blog/article/north-woods-daniel-mason

Why you wonder, has it taken me so long to write this? I keep stumbling down rabbit holes and have mercifully edited out a dozen of them but will share just a few more.

Mountain lions in Massachusetts - Fact or Fiction??? Tracking, DNA, preservation of tracks for further study, natural history and great photos....enjoy:

https://www.mass.gov/doc/mountain-lions-in-massachusetts-distinguishing-fiction-from-the-facts/download 

Sadly, while writing this, the Los Angeles fires are burning and our elusive Hollywood sign (hidden behind the veil of darkness or smog) is now shrouded in smoke:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/us/hollywood-hills-landmarks-california-fire.html

Missing Wanda and Ginger, our subset managed to talk, walk, eat and drink away 48 hours with exuberance, refueled for part 2 of the holidays. Hopefully we will reunite en masse again soon.

Wanda's suggestions for an upcoming read:

 "There are Rivers in the Sky" Elif Shafak *chosen

"Daughters of Shandong" Eve J. Chung

"The Elements of Madame Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science" Dava Sobel

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK