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

November/December 2018 Recap

Dear Bookclub,
Our ambitious read month was perfectly balanced with a grand gathering at Palm Springs' Avalon. Now, seemingly so long ago, our post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas jaunt elevated our holiday spirits and fortified our bond. Plied with great food and drink, we reconnected, rested, and discussed.

 A bit disappointed in Jenny D. Williams' "The Atlas of Forgotten Places", most in the group felt it dragged and was at times, not an easy read. However the setting and overall attention to Uganda and the Congo were welcomed. Kristin Hannah's "The Great Alone" was well-received and discussion centered on the different characters and how, despite being such obvious caricatures, the harsh Alaskan life delivers those kinds of people exactly. I personally had a hard time not eye-rolling as the ending unfolded yet the tears dropped down my cheeks. How does that kind of emotional hijacking occur even when you know it is coming?! Maddening!

Upcoming suggestions from Val:
"The Library" Susan Orlean *chosen
"On Sunset: A Memoir" Kathryn Harrison
"An American Marriage" Tayari Jones


Upcoming suggestions from Terrie:
"Virgil Wander" Leif Enger
"Where the Crawdads Sing" Delia Owens
"Being Mortal" Atul Gawande *chosen

Up next: Tara Westover's "Educated: A Memoir"

A distortion of reality is how Tara Westover describes her upbringing. She journeys through the pain and the truth that much of her childhood was beautiful despite the grossly abusive scenario.

"How an abused Mormon child read her way into a top university."* Westover's book begins with a statement declaring that it is not necessarily Mormonism that created her situation but that of an extremist:in this case, a fundamentalist Mormon.

*https://www.noted.co.nz/currently/profiles/how-an-abused-mormon-child-read-her-way-into-a-top-university/

And a deeply ingrained upbringing:

Tara sings a Mormon hymn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlO_QkqQ9cE

Looking forward to our discussion.

Happy New Year reading,
LK

November/December 2018 Bookclub News

Coat of arms for Uganda

Dear Bookclub,

Ambitiously taking on discussion of both the November and December book selections in one fell swoop while on our 'girls' trip*, I decided I'd better sit up and take notice of the task at hand. "The Atlas of Forgotten Places" is described as "A moving, fictionalized account of real-life horrors in Africa" :

 xhttp://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/the-atlas-of-forgotten-places-a-novel

My shallow googling quickly took me to Wikipedia's rundown on Uganda. And Idi Amin. Here is one of his quote's which surprisingly sounds like something that our current leader should say:

Sometimes people mistake the way I talk for what I am thinking.



I am leading us astray from Jenny  D. Williams' work and my task at hand. With Thanksgiving reality looming, I decided to load an audible of "The Atlas of Forgotten Places" only to be stopped short - it doesn't exist. I noticed upon further inspection that reviews of the book were few and a bit obscure. One really caught my attention - that of the Del Mar Times:

https://www.delmartimes.net/art/books/sd-cm-nc-globe-novel-20170622-htmlstory.html

I will read Williams' Atlas and listen to Kristen Hannah's "The Great Alone".

Hannah and her family moving to the Pacific Northwest

Please enjoy Kristin Hannah's February 2018 Newsletter Blog when her book was released:

https://kristinhannah.com/newsletter/february-2018/


Suggestions for upcoming reads:

from Val,
"The Library Book" Susan Orlean
"An American Marriage" Tayari Jones
"On Sunset"  Katheryn Harrison

from  TG.
"Virgil Wander" Leif Enger
"Where the Crawdads Sing" Delia Owens
"being Mortal" Atul Gawande


So looking forward to our upcoming trip!

Happy reading,
LK


*This somehow implies we will just be lounging around eating, drinking, talking, spa-ing, shopping, hiking, talking and talking some more. Oh yes, that's correct.

October 2018 Bookclub News

Alla Dreyvitser/The Washington Post

Dear Bookclub,
Enjoying our lunch at Piacere Mio, we happily caught up with each other and ordered yummy Italian fare before settling down to our book discussion. Jesmyn Ward's "Sing, Unburied, Sing" shook us up with the sad story of one African American family that is unfortunately, very timely and a true characterization of the complicated and ruinous environment that has evolved in Ward's deep South and beyond. Remembering Ginger's comment that she didn't care for this book, I delved into our read, curious about why she felt this way as her likes and dislikes nearly always mirror our taste. Within a few chapters, I understood: this was going nowhere good. That it was not an escape, feel-good work of entertainment was apparent within a few chapters. Necessary to Ward's art is the creation of a piece of literature that responsibly portrays the world she grew up in and still experiences today.

The above illustration for the quote below is from a Washington Post review:

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/a-powerful-new-entry-in-the-literature-of-race-in-america/2017/08/29/45cb2008-8b89-11e7-91d5-ab4e4bb76a3a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.934db592e0a2  

'Looking out to the yard, Jojo thinks, “The branches are full. They are full with ghosts, two or three, all the way up to the top, to the feathered leaves.” '

Jesmyn Ward is interviewed by Jeffrey Brown in the PBS News Hour as her book was chosen as the first "Now Read This" selection. Only a few minutes long, she answers readers' question - all very thoughtfully crafted. I highly recommend watching this as it will enhance your appreciation for both Ward and her book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEpKy0g9saM

Following this video, is another interview that took place in her home and town - excellent!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5E01GVW6gQ

Hoping this smattering of information will stay with you and give a deeper understanding of Jesmyn Ward, her work  and the plight she chooses to illuminate.

Trudy proposed three suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Imagine Me Gone" Adam Haslett
"An American Marriage" Tayari Jones
"Unsheltered" Barbara Kingsolver *chosen

Up next: 

Happy reading!
LK

September 2018 Bookclub News

Minnie, Anna and Mollie Burkhart

Dear Bookclub,

Our September meeting, so efficiently held at the end of August at the Barrel Room(well truly the Barrel Patio), had us delving into the sad story of the Osage Indians. Agreeing that the story is of great import, appreciating the atrocities and understanding the investigation, we also felt a bit bogged down and occasionally confused by Grann's telling. We are not alone, as Dwight Garner of the New York Times stated in his book review:

"If you taught the artificial brains of supercomputers at IBM Research to write nonfiction prose, and if they got very good at it, they might compose a book like David Grann’s “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.”"    He later mentions that this book, "never set its hooks in me" as the previous Grann work,  “The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon” (2009) did.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/books/review-killers-of-flower-moon-david-grann.html

A clean short telling in the following PBS link also includes the photos, not seen by me, as I'd listened to the audible version:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/the-forgotten-murders-of-the-osage-people-for-the-oil-beneath-their-land


 I hastily grabbed three enticing books from my groaning shelves to present for an upcoming selection:

"The Glass of Time" Michael Cox
"Peggy Guggenheim" Francine Prose
"Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis"
Timothy Egan. *chosen


As an aside, photographs by Edward Curtis and many others are on exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography:

https://www.annenbergphotospace.org/exhibits/not-an-ostrich/

I am so disappointed that I just discovered this because the exhibit closes September 9, 2018. But the museum looks intriguing. Please do watch the short video of the exhibit - just a marvelous collection of photographs from the Library of Congress.

Michael A. "Tony" Vaccaro. Architectural Hats, 1960

Unknown Brünnhilde. 1936

Up next: "Sing Unburied, Sing" Jesmyn Ward

Happy reading,
LK

August 2018 recap

Bernardo Winery - founded 1889

Dear Bookclub,
An old friend updated, the Bernardo Winery's latest restaurant, The Kitchen, was a welcome retreat for our August meeting. Our hostess could not have been anymore inviting; she recognized 'the power' of our bookclub camaraderie as she shared her enthusiasm for San Diego's One Book program. And speaking of "The Power", what an affecting read. Running the gamut from gushes of loving it to wanting it to be over, we all agreed that it was a unique and important work.


Wanda's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"My Way Home" Michael Gaulden
"Educated: A Memoir" Tara Westover*
"The Electric Woman" Tessa Fontaine


 *chosen

 Curious about One Book, One San Diego? Below are the titles being considered for the next city-selection.  This is more about the process and also has the archives : https://www.kpbs.org/one-book/

Up next: David Grann's "Killers of the Flower Moon", as pictured above, top right. We are so relevant.

Happy reading,
LK