August 2019 Bookclub Newsletter

Hello...

kitchen time

..and....

more kitchen time

Dear Bookclub,
A leisurely afternoon lunch at my home resulted in stunned realizations that it was magically 4 pm. No magic, just a very delayed starting time for actual eating, as we enjoyed catching up during my optimistically timed preparation.

getting down to business

Discussion of Imbolo Mbue's "Behold the Dreamers" was excellent as we analyzed the complexities and contrasts between the Cameroonian immigrant family and the wealthy Manhattan family employing Jende. Current events focus Mbue's portrait and story in our hearts and minds, as we process the plights and politics in our own backyard. The antics of the immigration lawyer encouraging an outrageous tale for Jende's asylum-seeking, showcased Mbue's talent in knocking the reader off course with shadings, keeping it 'real'. And spoiler alert, Neni's blackmailing Cindy achieved the same.

My suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Olive Again" Elizabeth Strout
"The Dutch House" Ann Patchett
"Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" Yuval Noah Harari
"Mr. Dickens and His Carol: A Novel" Samantha Silva *chosen (December selection)



Up next:

Happy reading!
LK

June & July 2019 Bookclub Recaps

 Dear Bookclub,
A post-wedding dip in my immune system sadly kept me from our June meeting as I nursed a miserable cold.  I learned that discussion of "A Place for Us" was swift; guessing other family sagas trumped Fatima Farheen Mirzra's family saga. Personally, I loved the novel's saga with the beautiful writing and an enlightening wash of the American Muslim experience.

Meeting again at The Kitchen at the Bernardo Winery, our July meeting to discuss "The Immortalists" was magical in that the patio and lunch made us grateful for the fine living we have in San Diego. Not as magical was the book, whose promise with the premise of learning one's death date, left the mystical behind in the dust of an overwritten attempt to include every decade's cliches from the sixties to the present. Still, it was a page turner, trying to learn the siblings' fates.

Val's suggestions at the June meeting for an upcoming read:

"Thomas and Beal in the Midi" Christopher Tilghman *chosen
"The Family Tabor" Cherise Wolas
"Everyone Know You Go Home" Natalia Sylvester
"El Norte" Carrie Gibson


Terry's suggestions at the July meeting for an upcoming read:

"Gentleman in Moscow" Amor Towles
"Virgil Wander" Leif Enger
"Underground Railroad" Colson Whitehead
"Lincoln in the Bardo" George Saunders *chosen

 

And finally, up next is internationally renowned, Imbolo Mbue's "Behold the Dreamers". Her novel has been translated into 12 languages, adapted into an opera in Poland as well as a stage play in Seattle, WA, and was recently optioned for a movie. Wow!

Please enjoy this Vogue interview with Imbolo Mbue on the importance of empathy in life and literature from July 2017:

https://www.vogue.com/article/imbolo-mbue-behold-the-dreamers-oprah-book-club

 

Empathetic reading,

LK

June 2019 Bookclub News/ May 2019 recap

There we are! Just to the right of the fire extinguisher.

Dear Bookclub,
An absolutely beautiful day in our own little Bernardo Winery, blessed with the presence of Ginger and saddened by the absence of Terry, we gathered to discuss mortality. Ironically, mired with caring for her mother's recent fall and subsequent surgery, Terry expressed her wish that Gawande could be the physician in charge of her mother: "doctors think of the body as a machine to be fixed versus a person"...and stating that "doctors need to be trained more on the end of life care".

Who can't wait to talk about death? Atul Gawande explores the reality of mortality, the failure of the body with old age... but he cuts to the chase... what to sacrifice for a future. The goal of hospice is to have the best possible that you can. One good day? Fight or give up? Appreciating his illumination of truth and expectation, while realizing what we have personally experienced so far, the path to mortality is indefinable in any general sense. The end result is indisputable as our drive to live over-shadows the inevitable and leaves us stranded with difficult decisions.

Here is a nice lecture by Gawande based on his book:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mviU9OeufA0

Up next, Fatima Farheen Mirza's "A Place for Us".

 Having recently introduced Everett and Olivia to the music of 'Westside Story', thanks to the magic of Alexa, I gave them a brief young person's guide to the plot. (The dancing around my kitchen island runs the gamut with The Beatles, 'The Nutcracker', etc., and of course "Who let the dogs out" etc.) Before even starting Mizra's book, I had the beautiful song, "There's a Place for Us" in my mind. And there it is the Romeo and Juliet framing of a story once again.

Fatima Farheen Mizra

Sarah Jessica Parker - as the librarian

TG and I have lamented and scratched our heads about Reece's approval stamp and here is one I'd never noticed until researching our current read. None other than Sarah Jessica Parker has thrown her tiara? cowboy hat? into the ring of imprints. Check this out:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/books/sarah-jessica-parker-first-book-acquisition-ala-book-club-pick.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer

Happy reading!
LK

April 2019 Recap

George Peabody Library, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore

Dear Bookclub,

Susan Orleans' "The Library Book" opened up our luncheon 'table of contents' and gave us a glimpse of much more than the tale told:

*Val upped her cool-factor (which is mind-boggling when you consider her off the charts cool-factor we already know and exalt), revealing the experiences she has had working in libraries: the USD Men’s college library and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library. 

Geisel Library, one of UCSD's four libraries

*Terry shared with us that she stops at the RB library regularly after visiting her mother and gets a variety of books that she enjoys but doesn't want to own. She definitely doesn't want to own. Any books. This is in her cool-factor.

Rancho Bernardo Library

*Retention of a book's content appears to be stronger when reading hard copy although 'books' might not ever get 'read' without the audible option. And the 1.25-2.0 reading speed.

Discussion ricocheted  from topic to topic, much like the book, touching upon history of libraries, the history of the L.A. Library, arson investigation, librarians, the homeless, book restoration, AIDS, our personal library experiences, Hemet, library logistics, what was happening in 1986, etc., ....

Library of Congress

Inspired by the thought of stacks of books, I presented my suggestions for an upcoming read:

"The Lost Landscape:A Writer's Coming of Age"  Joyce Carol Oates
"Golden Hill" Francis Spufford
"Exit West" Moshin Hamid
"Peggy Guggenheim" Francine Prose *chosen
"Coming to my Senses" Alice Waters
"Mom & Me & Mom" Maya Angelou
"The Character of Rain" Amélie Nothomb
"The Wine Lover's Daughter" Anne Fadiman
"The Silent Patient" Alex Michaelides (a reconsideration)

Am proposing a trip to LA to take in the sites including The Huntington Library and maybe even the Los Angeles Central Library:

The Central Library Fire...

... April 29, 1986

The Los Angele Central Library

Up next:

Happy reading,
LK

PS It's National Library Week  :)

March 2019 Bookclub News

“There but for the grace of serotonin go the rest of us.”
― Barbara Kingsolver,  "Unsheltered"

Dear Bookclub,

Finally finishing Kingsolver's epic tale, I was glad that I did, enjoying it up until the end and feeling accomplished that I got through it. Dragging crept in over and over, as the scope of the book kept widening. Our discussion centered on the giant bite Kingsolver had taken of current problems: battered eco-system, inequality of resources and funds, healthcare costs, the crunched pressure of the sandwich generation, dementia, suicide, overpopulation, underpaid educators, nutrition, infidelity, architecture, murder... what am I forgetting*? The concept of a fiercely edited tiny topic, seemed unimaginable to the author.

*this

This Barbara Kingsolver interview is a peak into her intent:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/one-true-thing/201811/interview-barbara-kingsolver-unsheltered

Terrie suggested for an upcoming read:

"The Silent Patient" Alex Michaelides

"The Island of Sea Women" Lisa See

"Behold The Dreamers" Imbolo Mbue *chosen

 Up next:
Susan Orlean's "The Library Book"

Happy reading,
LK

February 2019 Bookclub Recap

Edward S. Curtis' Canon de Chelly—Navajo (1904). (Library of Congress)

Dear Bookclub,

Timothy Egan's "Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher" has it all. A compelling story of a fascinating man while spanning an era of exciting exploration, industrial progress and the dark history of the demise of the North American Indian. Edward Curtis stole our hearts and imagination with his passion for preserving the culture of the Native Americans as it was rapidly disappearing, sparing no expense to his personal wealth, health or dignity. Did I mention family drama? Being friends with President Roosevelt?  Egan bundled it all with  J.P. Morgan, the advancement of photography, the history of Seattle, the exploration of Alaska, etc....  keeping us rapt while being entertained and educated. A perfect bookclub read!

North American Indian by Curtis, Volume 8, $22,000

Here is what a single volume of the original set looks like and can be yours for a little fortune:

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/more-furniture-collectibles/collectibles-curiosities/books/north-american-indian-curtis-volume-8/id-f_12183643/











While researching where a set of the books may be found now, I discovered this  very interesting list of Curtis papers on the Online Archive of California:

https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8v69nrg/entire_text/

self-portrait, E. Curtis

Also, please enjoy this article from the Smithsonian and especially the four minute film embedded:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/edward-curtis-epic-project-to-photograph-native-americans-162523282/

Painting by Ojibwe artist Jim Denomie characterizes Edward Curtis as a paparazzi figure.

Finally, here is a great article, "A Critical Understanding of Edward Curtis's Photos of Native American Culture", inspired by the massive 2017 installation at the Muskegon Museum of Art displaying Edward Curtis’s entire ethnographic survey of surviving Native American culture at the turn of the 20th century. Again, an interesting take on the work and great pictures, of course, including the one above.

https://hyperallergic.com/383706/a-critical-understanding-of-edward-curtiss-photos-of-native-american-culture/


We missed Trudy very much and despite being down and out with the flu, she managed to send us suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Becoming" by Michelle Obama

"Theses Truths: A History of the U.S."  by Jill LePore

"The Immortalists" by Chloe Benjamin *chosen

Up next: Barbara Kingsolver's "Unsheltered"

Happy reading!
LK

January 2019 Bookclub Newsletter

Close, but not us. Yet.

A young Tara Westover

Dear Bookclub,

Arranged around a corner table at The Barrel Room, our discussion of Tara Westover's "Educated" was an agreeable matching of sentiment and comprehension; well-liked with a good dose of being appalled, having admiration for the successes despite the circumstances, and a dash of skepticism.

  Promising to share the links I'd found regarding the oil business 

and the family's reaction to Tara's book, please enjoy:

https://butterflyexpress.shop/

https://butterflyexpressions.net/2017/07/14/getting-know-essential-oils-constituents/ 

Logan Utah's Herald Journal News, February 23, 2018

'Educated' should be read with grain of salt, says family's attorney:

https://www.hjnews.com/allaccess/educated-should-be-read-with-grain-of-salt-says-family/article_0583f217-6fd2-51de-a891-9ca32adb589c.html

Suggested by Terry for an upcoming read:

 

"A Place for Us"   Fatima Farheen Mirza  *chosen

"Female Persuasion"  Meg Wolitzer

"Whiskey When We're Dry" John Larison

Up next:

Timothy Egan's "Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher" 

Happy reading,

LK