May 2022 Bookclub News

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Dear Bookclub,

Amor Towles' "The Lincoln Highway" was adored by all. 'Our' table at Cafe Luna, near the terminus of the Ted Williams Parkway, welcomed the companionship and discussion. Endeared to Towles' writing style, amazed by his range of themes among his books, and entertained by the tale of "The Lincoln Highway", we reminisced about portions of the book, debated a bit, and moved on to lunch.

The Lincoln Highway:

 

 

* First road across the U.S. for automobiles, conceived in 1912 and dedicated in 1913.

* Runs coast to coast from Times Square in NYC to Lincoln Park in San Fransisco.

* Originally running through 13 states, a removal ("Colorado Loop") in 1915 and a realignment in 1928 through the northern tip of West Virginia, brought the highway through a total of 14 states, with an official length of 3,389 miles.

 

 To learn more, please visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Highway

 

you know him as Abe

 

 Ted Williams Parkway:

* Travels East-West as a connector of I-15 and I-5, 9.210 miles in length.

* SR 56 was added to the state highway system in 1959 as Legislative Route 278, and renumbered SR 56 in 1964.

* Completed in 2004 after numerous lawsuits from environmentalists over concerns of the destruction of farmland, marshland and willow scrubland, the habitat of the endangered least Bell's vireo.  

* Officially named after Ted Williams in 1993 by the California Legislature.

least Bell's vireo

 

Ted

 https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports/all-star-game/sdut-ted-williams-san-diego-roots-2016jul08-htmlstory.html 

 

Holding up to the test of a second read in a few months, I greatly enjoyed the repeat performance. Still fascinated by the  <- spoiler alert!!! - > demise of Duchess, the ambiguity about malintent from Emmet, remained. Towles is crafty.

 

A charming 8-minute listen with Amor Towles discussing the pleasures of character development and reading a small excerpt is a worthwhile listen:

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/13/1045800389/amor-towles-the-lincoln-highway-interview 

If you would like to hear more, much more, here is a fabulous interview with Kerri Miller of Minnesota Public Radio, where she delves into his mother issues(!) and characters without parents so Towles can keep that foxhole clear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-WrAszGhsg

Wanda's suggestions for an upcoming read:

 "A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth" Daniel Mason *chosen

"The Promise" Damon Galgut

"French Braid" Anne Tyler

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK

April 2022 Bookclub News

 

 Dear Bookclub,

An absolute springtime refresh, luncheon at Terrie's was the backdrop for our discussion of Nguyen Phan Qué Mai's poetic "The Mountains Sing".

 

Enjoyed by all, it was hard not to contrast it with another recent memoir read, Qian Julie Wang's "Beautiful Country", which was clunkier, more difficult. "The Mountains Sing", a novel, was deftly crafted to encompass the last century of Vietnamese history, illuminating events that seemed both familiar and newly understood. The chapter titles alone formed a lyrical line from "The Tallest Mountains", "Red on the White Grains", "The Fortune Teller", to "The Great Hunger", "My Father's Gift", and "My Grandmother's Songs". Here are a few of the proverbs tucked into the narrative, which I loved:

* "Good luck hides inside bad luck"

* "Soft and persistent rain penetrates the earth better then a storm"

* "Difficulty gives light to wisdom"

'The Mountains Sing'

Make a cup of tea and please, please listen to this interesting event with Ngyuen Phan Que Mai reading her poetry (and more):

 https://podcast.lannan.org/2015/03/05/nguyen-phan-que-mai-with-bruce-weigl-1-march-2015-video/

 

Terrie's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"The Happiest Girl in the World" Alena Dillon *chosen

"Very Cold People" Sarah Manguso

"The Sentence" Louise Erdrich

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK

March 2022 Bookclub News

 

A lithograph by artist G.W. Fasel depicts the scene when pioneer Daniel Boone rescued his daughter, Jemima, and Betsey and Frances Callaway from the Shawnee Indians after they had been abducted. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

Dear Bookclub,

The taking of Jemima Boone - er - kidnapping - blazed as a sensational, stunning act in our nation's history of pioneers and westward expansion into Native American land. As depicted in these various works of art, the lore surrounding the event was deeply familiar in the 19th century. Our understanding of the history was weak, we learned as Matthew Pearl's reconstruction of the times wowed us beyond our initial attraction to the drama. I would welcome a Netflix/Amazon/HBO series.

Not able to join in the outdoor luncheon meeting to discuss Matthew Pearl's "The Taking of Jemima Boone", impressions of the book's reception were recounted and hopefully, faithfully reported here:

*Book was well-liked although there was difficulty keeping track of all the characters.

*Surprising that Daniel Boone did not mind that Jemima was probably not his biological daughter.

*Agreed that Pearl gave a fair presentation of the Indians and showed how important family was to the tribes.

*Boone seemed like a good man in all his dealings. 

*Notable that this was going on during the Revolutionary War (the abduction taking place 10 days after the Declaration of Independence was signed).

 

 

 

The kidnapping of Jemima Boone, depicted by the Swiss painter Karl Bodmer, circa 1852

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/books/review/the-taking-of-jemima-boone-matthew-pearl.html

 

Engraving (1852) depicting Daniel Boone’s rescue of his kidnapped daughter and two of her friends in 1776.

Photo: Bridgeman Images

Our cast of characters

 

 

 

 

 Val's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Already Enough; A Path to Self-Acceptance" Lisa Olivera

"French Braid" Anne Tyler

"On a Night of a Thousand Stars" Andrea Yaryura Clark *chosen

 

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK

February 2022 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,

Luncheon on the patio, Omicron not invited, made us smile and appreciate the power of in-person chat. Discussion of Qian Julie Wang's "Beautiful Country", on the agenda, quickly dissolved as everything under the 85 degree sun pressed upon us. Wang's account of her challenging childhood in Mei Guo revealed a world of sweat shops and under-the-radar life of the undocumented. Wondering how the leap from hours in the toilet transformed into a Yale educated civil rights lawyer, we sense a sequel. Not a favorite read as Wang's detailed descriptions fell outside the reality of a young child's ability to accurately recollect, we wondered about the disconnect. The story is powerful but oh, how I would have loved to edit and craft it into a more fluid telling, perhaps a novel based on Wang's life.

edition from the U.K.

https://www.offtherecorduk.com/review-beautiful-country-qian-julie-wang/

Please enjoy the above review from the U.K.'s "Off the Record" Imogen Marshall, who offers a different take on our distaste:

"She offers a mature adult perspective, whilst still living within her childhood perspective and innocence in some respects."

Marshall's review reminded me to put aside the irritant of the perspective-voice and appreciate the tenacity Wang displayed, teaching herself English while living in poverty, riddled with fear of being discovered as undocumented.

美国

Mei Guo, the Chinese reference to the United States,  translates into "beautiful country". Evidently, the official name seems more bewildering:  美利坚合众国 (meilijian hezhongguo), or “The United States of Beauty, Advantage and Endurance.” That's also our secret Olympic motto. Here is more than you can imagine on that history:

https://medium.com/@ttfcui/why-do-chinese-translate-america-as-the-beautiful-country-2cbabf2fef1a

 

Qian Julie Wang & Marc Gottlieb

 

An impressive August 31, 2019 New York Times article describes the then-upcoming marriage of Wang to Gottlieb and includes blurbs about her parents.... very interesting:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/31/fashion/weddings/she-said-yes-every-time-he-asked.html
 

Together, their law firm, Gottlieb and Wang LLP, advocates for education and disability rights:

https://www.gottliebfirm.com/about-1

Again, impressive and a testament to Qian Julie's convictions to help others who have suffered as she understands.

 

My suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Better to Have Gone ....Love, Death The Quest for Utopia in Auroville" Akash Apur *chosen

"Say Nothing" Patrick Radden Keefe

"The Habit of Hidden Genius" Craig Wright

 Up next:

Happy reading,

LK

January 2022 Bookclub News

 

 

We Flattened the Curve!!

 

Dear Bookclub,

The latest Covid case count, courtesy of the New York Times, January 15, 2022, explains the decision to meet, once again, à la Zoom. Discussion of Janice Nimura's "The  Doctors Blackwell" began Greek chorus-like, as we recited stories of our family's experiences with Covid and other illness in recent weeks. Deja vu: this too shall pass.

 

An illustration shows medical student Elizabeth Blackwell at Geneva Medical College (later Hobart College) in upstate NewYork,

Bettmann/Getty Images

 

 

 

 

Nimura's account gave an eye-opening understanding of the evolution of medicine evoking appreciation  for advances technically, socially and scientifically and planting hope for a continued trajectory in all aspects as we realize how much more can be achieved. As the previous sentence demonstrates: dry. Spoiled by zestier nonfiction books in our past year of reading, ("Empire of Pain", "Hidden Valley Road"), this nonfiction work didn't work for us. The content important and gratefully consumed, yet an absorbing, enthralling hook (or scalpel) should have been ordered.

Sisters, Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, rejecting feminism, surprised, driven to forge their way into medicine in a male-only era. Finding this concept counter intuitive, Dave Davies of NPR's 'Fresh Air' interviews Janice Nimura and illuminates:

Today, both women are regarded as feminist trailblazers, but Nimura notes that they were also "complicated, prickly, sometimes self-contradictory people." Elizabeth, for instance, regarded the women of her day as trifling gossips and took a dim view of the women's suffrage movement.

"To me, that taught me that it's really important in this moment to kind of relearn how to admire women," Nimura says. "To understand that a heroine doesn't always have to be a Disney princess, but can be a woman with all sorts of rough edges and complications and that we can admire them profoundly anyway."

Please enjoy this 35 minute listen:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/01/19/958319302/doctors-blackwell-tells-the-story-of-2-pioneering-sisters-who-changed-medicine

Here's a zesty suggestion to heighten understanding of medicine's journey in the last century or so:

 

dated promo poster - please check your favorite platforms for viewing info

 

Trudy's suggestions for an upcoming selection:

"The Promise" Damon Galgut

"The Night Watchman" Louise Erdrich *chosen

"Apples Never Fall" Lianne Moriarty

 

 

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK

December 2021 Bookclub News

 

 

 

 

Dear Bookclub,

The Mission Inn's Festival of Lights may have burned out before we were ready for the darkened state, but the experience left the glow of friendship and the season. Riverside's power outage booted us home yet we'd explored, indulged and appreciated.

Duane's

 

An outdoor round table breakfast Wednesday morning hosted the Maggie Shipstead's "Great Circle" discussion. An uninspired editor led us to circle about the fabulous story Shipstead craftily created. Bogged down by the length, buoyed by the poetic writing, impressed by the intricate plot, eye-rolled for the all-inclusion, we gratefully received the experience and are eager to move on. As the writer Lynn Steger Strong aptly observed:

Aless MC

"In grad school, I had a professor who used to warn against “starting too high.” She’d hold her arm up in the air and tell us: “If you start here, you have to know that’s where you have to stay.” The start of Shipstead’s book — her third, after “Seating Arrangements” in 2012 and “Astonish Me” in 2014 — is thrilling and complicated, with many different threads laid out and back stories carefully and richly wrought; for the next 500-odd pages, I felt the fear I feel when a student’s work starts strong, when other novels open high — knowing that, more often than not, lofty heights can’t be sustained. But “Great Circle” starts high and maintains altitude. One might say it soars."

from her review in the New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/02/books/review/the-great-circle-maggie-shipstead.html

An ambitious novel indeed that our ambitious group enjoyed.

Our Mission Inn engagement became enhanced with the tour, filling our minds and imaginations with details about the surroundings and history. Saturated, we still found room for cupcakes. And shopping.

Terry's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"The Lincoln Highway" Amor Towles *chosen

"Small Things Like These" Claire Keegan

"The Guncle" Steven Rowley

Wednesday evening

Up next:

 Happy reading,

LK

November 2021 Bookclub News

 

Dear Booklcub,

 A delayed November meeting found us gathered mid-month to discuss Patrick Rodden Keefe's "Empire of Pain" at Yanni's. Missing Val and blessed with Ginger and beautiful weather, we sat outside around a large table and shared away.

Horrified by the continued actions and effects of the Sackler family's Purdue Pharma, medical marketing, legal evasion, dubious and deadly claims about opioids, our minds reeled anew with our discussion.

 

Patrick Radden Keefe

 Please check out this excellent interview by Charles Lydon with the    author on Radio Open Source:

https://lithub.com/how-arthur-sackler-got-america-hooked-on-opioids/ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

enlarged bits of William Powhida's The Sacklers (Family Tree) (2019)

Intrigued by the philanthropy, I was fascinated by the activism against the Sacklers at universities and art institutions that had benefited from the giving. Nan Goldin's story and actions were of particular interest to me. Please read about her art, her story and the activism in the links below:

Nan Goldin

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/goldin-nan/

“Self-Portrait 1st Time on Oxy, Berlin, 2014.”

 

ttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/arts/design/nan-goldin-oxycontin-addiction-opioid.html 

 

Be sure to play the video of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 'bottle throw' (this is a grainy screen shot taken from my viewing), which appears halfway through this article:
 

https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/sackler-family-art-museums

 

Wanda's suggestions for an upcoming read:

 "The Mountains Sing" Nguyen Phan Que Mai *chosen

"The Lincoln Highway"  Amor Towles

"The Fortune Men" Nadifa Mohamed

 

Up next:

Happy reading!

LK