February(!) 2016 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
This leap year, giving us a February not long enough to accommodate our very active calendars, we will be honoring our February meeting with a January date: this Wednesday, January 27. Please come enjoy lunch at my house at 12:30 to discuss "Orhan's Inheritance".

This news photograph from 1915 shows Armenian orphans deported from Turkey.

APIC/Getty Images

 This incredible revelation of a family story, a work of historic fiction, brings to light the Armenian Genocide, in a very readable debut novel by Aline Ohanesian.

For a bit more about the story:


http://www.npr.org/2015/04/18/400424865/orhans-inheritance-is-the-weight-of-history


 See you soon!
LK

January 2016 Recap

Dear Bookclub,
It was a dark and stormy afternoon; flood warnings, tornado watch and a parking lot with available spaces provided a perfect setting for our meeting of the minds. Lunch at Cork & Craft was a delicious backdrop to the memory-drop of "Among the Ten Thousand Things". Agreement that the book was a wasteland that should not capture any of our precious brain cells for future reference, we realized the power of a Random House marketing department. We'll probably remember it forever. Put best in his last two paragraphs, check out this Goodreads reviewer:

May 29, 2015 Cian O hAnnrachainn rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: New York City whingers

Julia Pierpont is a graduate of the NYU Creative Writing Program.

That is all you need to know. It explains a great deal.

She was a Rona Jaffee Foundation Graduate Fellow. She was a Stein Fellow. She has won awards for her writing. So she must be a brilliant writer, yes? Literary agents went looking for her.

AMONG THE TEN THOUSAND THINGS is her work of debut fiction. The prose is, indeed, very pretty. The sentences are well crafted. The paragraphs sing with the rhythm of syllables and pauses.

Agent Elyse Cheney sold the book to Random House (which provided the review copy in use here) for six figures. Clearly the publishing industry expects big things from Julia Pierpont.

What is the novel about?

The blurbs will tell you it is the story of a marriage falling apart. As a reader, I will tell you it is a narrative of New York City whingers. Ah Christ, the angst and the mental suffering. Everyone in the novel is so in tune to themselves that a reader cannot like them. Unless you are part of the New York City whinging crowd, in which case you'll find their portrayals brilliant.

Did I mention that the prose is lovely? It's a beautifully written novel.

The problem comes in the entertainment factor. There isn't much storytelling to speak of.

So we have Deb and Jack and their two teenage cartoon children. He's a serial adulterer and she's a failed ballerina who found herself up the stick and Jack did the right thing. The children do and say what stereotypical teens do and say. They're as self-centered as their parents, and equally dull.

Jack's latest piece on the side sends Deb a litany of sexting and assorted emails and the daughter reads it and then the son and then Deb and then Jack's art installation goes bad and the marriage is just falling apart. Then we get to the middle of the novel and the author shifts to "too cute by half" mode with a series of staccato sentences that reveal the fates of the characters.

Well, so, no need to read the rest when you know what's going to happen and when the daughter runs away from home you know she'll be found because the author told us earlier so you flip through to see if anything important happens but it doesn't. The whinging carries on to the end.

You read a book and wonder how such shite gets published. The publishers are pursuing students of creative writing who write about people like those in the publishing industry, characters that the publishing industry can relate to. The rest of us, the common readers, are supposed to see the brilliance, or be considered Philistines who don't know good literature when it smacks them in the face.

So I must be a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal because I found nothing to like about this novel. The writing is there. But it isn't enough to make a full-length novel. Tell me a story.  

We missed TG but honored her input as she shared a favorite quote from the book that all had remembered and very much appreciated:

“You said, ‘What do you want a child for? You will never again know when it is safe to feel happy.’ ” “Sure,” Ruth nodded her small blond head. “Like having your heart walk around outside your body the rest of your life.” She stood and walked back to the kitchen. “Am I wrong?” “No.”

 

A collective sigh went around the table. Pierpont's book was then laid to rest. (Mine is in the Salvation Army box).


With a renewed sense of responsibility for choosing a good book, we all became extremely alert as Wanda suggested three titles to carefully VQ-consider:

"The Door"  Magda Szabo *chosen

"The Orchardist" Amanda Coplin

"H is for Hawk" Helen Macdonald 

Looking for an amazing book to read? I had partially mentioned, (term for not remembering full title), a book I'd just started for last Friday's La Jolla Literary Society meeting. It seemed to be a gem and I wasn't sure if it was just a contrast of anything to Pierpont's book or I was truly smitten. Validation to the later... it is really indescribable .... a reviewer in Goodreads writes her piece as a letter to the author asking him to please write the review because she could never write 'masterful, magical, mesmerizing' the way he does in order to merely describe his book. "The Tsar of Love and Techo" by Anthony Marra. Please just read it. I don't want you to have an idea of what you are getting into (I didn't and I love that). I just read NYTimes book review and truthfully, the book would not have appealed to me if I had read that piece before reading the book. It is written with such artful technique and it is story after story!! It's about something!! It's about many things!! Finally, let me share another bit about this book. As many of you know at LJLS meetings, a member named Mary Taylor introduces the authors with much anticipated wit and panache. Every once in a while she is unable to attend; a disappointing groan goes through the luncheon tables when this is announced and indeed that happened Friday. However, in her place, yesterday, was Ann Patchett!!!! We were thrilled and rapt as she introduced Tony Marra as being one of the best novelists ever- she was ecstatic about his talent. Wow. She stared at him throughout his talk (he was brilliant and so funny) like she was a teen at a Beatles concert.

Happy Reading!
LK

 

January 2016 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,

Our first meeting of 2016 is rapidly approaching! Blissfully consumed still with Christmas, I am relishing my favorite part of the season, seated in the midst of all the decor, properly at its peak, before poinsettias wither and cookies stale, ornaments droop and toy-strewn rooms no longer feel charming, writing my cards, while sipping tea and nibbling chocolate. January looms like a monster peaking around the corner. But my nighttime reading jolts me out of the sugarplum fantasy as Julia Pierpont's "Among the Ten Thousand Things" reveals a vulgar family drama with depressing wit. Happy New Year!

 Looking forward to getting together to chat it up. Wanda has chosen 12:30 at Cork & Craft for our gathering. See you then...




Happy reading,
LK

 

December 2015 Bookclub News

                                     December 2, 2015

Dear Bookclub,

I was surprised to find sand in my toes when I removed my socks last night, after hours of putting away Thanksgiving decorations, resetting the house, sorting mail, paying bills, cleaning out the fridge, laundry, collecting pumpkins, and unpacking my car. Oh yes! The beach. Hardly seemed like 45 minutes away and 12 hours previous. Also, a measly can of sardines and a bunch of chard shrank on my plate when visions of the delicious chain of meals with the best of friends crept into my mind. Reality hit hard. But it was so worth every moment.

December 7, 2015

Reality keeps on giving. The holiday train has left the station complete with the garage bay full of boxes of decorations, an 8 day blast of Hanukah (Suzanne arrived on Sunday!), and Nate in bed with the flu. I am so OK though as I reminisce about "a week ago today......." This la-la land will collapse though - I know it will. Until then, there is a Santa reading to a band of teddy bears in the Coronado Library, a tree glowing in the 1906 for a lucky variety of visitors, 

 and a group of lovely women facing the holidays with a renewed bond of friendship through our literary passion:

 Anne Tyler's "A Spool of Blue Thread" was well-received as we pieced together the meanings and 'weight' of the characters, easily relating the cast to familiar family dynamics. Tyler's craft was very much appreciated despite the obvious tie-in with the spool of blue thread; the writing warming with the wealth of relationships.

Trudy recommended four great titles to consider for our April read:
"The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah
"Fates and Furies" by Lauren Groff
"Circling the Sun" by Paula McClain  *chosen
"The Secret Chord" by Geraldine Brooks

Happy Holiday Reading!
XO,
LK

November 2015 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,

Lunch at Terrie's was a beautiful harvest feast and a stark contrast to the content at hand: discussion of "The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace". A book I will long remember along with the unresolved discomfort of the race/class issues, it seems there was an understanding that Rob had made some very bad choices in light of all the opportunities to make better ones. Still feeling heavy-hearted about the outcome, I can't help but have a terrifying empathy for Rob and his community.

On a lighter note, we had a very light guest at Terrie's:

Chase Paul

His input to the discussion went something like this, "coo-coo-coo-coo". Very verbal.

Considered for our upcoming March selection:
"The Lost Landscape" by Joyce Carol Oates
"Last Bus to Wisdom: A Novel" by Ivan Doig
"Ordinary Grace" by William Kent Krueger *chosen


Up next, our beloved trip to Coronado! Here we come 1906...

I have reserved dinner at Primavera for Monday 11/30 at 7, Chez Loma for Tuesday 12/1 at 7 and finally lunch for our discussion at Tartine for Wednesday 12/2 at 12:30.

I am really looking forward to our discussion of Anne Tyler's "A Spool of Blue Thread".

Anne Tyler

Happy Reading,
LK

October 2015 Recap

Dear Bookclub,

{re-enactment sans umbrellas and chatty patrons}

Circling our salads on the Veranda, we merrily gathered our sextet to decipher and relish our platters and Lily King's "Euphoria". Well-liked, Nell was imagined by our readers as a remarkable tribute to Margaret Mead's feminist and scientific contributions. Boo-hoo the love triangle and the dastardly Fen but that's what made the pages turn!

Val thoughtfully and efficiently distributed sheets of book descriptions for our February 2016 selection:

"Orhan's Inheritance" by Aline Ohanesian *chosen
"The Japanese Lover" by Isabel Allende
"The Marriage of Opposites" by Alice Hoffman
"Henna House" by Nomi Eve

As is often the case, not an easy decision- lots of good reads.


Next up is "The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace" by Jeff Hobbs on November 4 at Terrie G's.

A teeny spoiler alert on this great L.A. Times review by Hector Tobar (my "Deep Down Dark" heart-throb author) ....not any big reveal but does explore why not so tragic and gives a synopsis:

http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-jeff-hobbs-20140928-story.html




 Happy Reading!
LK

October 2015 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
Our December getaway to the 1906 Lodge on Coronado is on! Please make your reservation, if you haven't already, for Monday, November 30 - Wednesday, December 2. After the recent inquiry, plans for our group to go to the Huntington Gardens and Library will be better for spring.

October's selection, "Euphoria" by Lily King, has been a wildly popular, well-read, discussed and reviewed novel, noted for its recognition for being the winner of the 2014 Kirkus Prize, the winner of the 2014 New England Book Award for Fiction, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and a "Best Book of the Year for:  New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Newsday, Vogue, New York Magazine, Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, The Guardian, Kirkus Reviews, Amazon, Publishers Weekly, Our Man in Boston, Oprah.com, Salon. In a nutshell, you will enjoy this! (It really is good.)

Please check out the King interview from Vogue re: Margaret Mead....
http://www.vogue.com/872367/lily-king-margaret-mead-novel-euphoria/

Also, for further referencing about the nature of the anthropologists viewpoints, the Margaret Mead- Derek Freeman controversy cenetered around "Coming of Age in Somoa" is neatly described in the following excerpt from a Carnegie Mellon document that my googling produced:
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/sc24/History/EnCultAntMead.pdf

Val has chosen a cheerful lunch on the Veranda, 12:30, October 7.

Happy reading!
LK