September 2024 Bookclub News

 

Dear Bookclub,

Anna Quindlen's "After Annie": if the Hallmark channel had a baby with a YA novel, this would be the result.  Quindlen's apt descriptions of family life, well represented in her columnist career, earned her a Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. That gift carried this novel. We relished her characterizations of friendship, sibling depictions, childhood views and spousal relations steeped in the trying circumstance of death and loss. 

By the end, the novel became bogged with a lot of activity that checked boxes. That shading felt designed for a younger audience with less life experience than our more mature group. Feeling irritable about this book, I decided I was tired of reading predictable. Predictable can be soothing and I do enjoy my 'junk' reads, just not for bookclub. Seeking validation from reviewers, I was surprised to find positivity. Books that are terrible are not usually reviewed. More and more, I feel that a kindness prevails when a book is reviewed. Here is one example:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/anna-quindlen/after-annie/

In wanting to credit the author of this review, I couldn't find one. Realizing I skim Kirkus Reveiws without knowing its purpose, I did a little 'research':

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkus_Reviews 

Virginia Kirkus http://shareclips.net/index-168.html

And I did find an author of a terrific piece on reviewing, Gregory McNamee. Please check out his thoughts on "What I've Learned Reviewing 7,500 books for Kirkus":

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/what-ive-learned-reviewing-7500-books-for-kirkus/

 

https://www.gregorymcnamee.com/

McNamee's books, listed in his website, boast a wide variety of subjects, mostly regarding the Southwest. In scrolling through his work, I half expected to see one of my favorites, "Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon". Alas, it is not his but in the spirit of going off the rails, I must include it in this blog:

https://www.grandcanyon.org/products/over-the-edge-death-in-gc-1-20-20739

My suggestions for an upcoming read:

"The Feather Thief"  Kirk Wallace Johnson *chosen

"The Friday Afternoon Club" Griggin Dunne

"The Light Eaters" Zoë Schlanger

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK

 

August 2024 Bookclub News

 

 

Naï Zakharia

 

Dear Bookclub,

David Grann's "The Wager" rocked and shocked with the details of an unimaginable journey exposing the extremes of human will and deadly forces, both natural and man-made.  While Grann's research clearly went deep, the telling was at times "a slog", as some of our crew described the read. Yet, the survival struggle is one we love (diminishes our daily annoyances) and we meekly dismissed the point of sacrifice for the empire.

 

Dion Graham

The audible, narrated by Dion Graham(clearly not Grann's son as I'd erroneously piped up ... (Grann sounds like Graham?) was d-r-a-m-a-t-i-c.  TG appreciated it greatly while TVD and myself found it annoying. TG, you have the last word with this one! From Wikipedia:

"Dion Graham is an American actor and narrator. As an actor, he has worked both on and off-Broadway, as well as in TV series and film. As of April 2024, he has narrated at least 280 audiobooks.^[1] He has earned a place on AudioFile magazine's list of Golden Voice Narrators, as well as Audible's Narrator Hall of Fame. Further, he has won 11 Audie Awards, 71 Earphone Awards, 3 Listen-Up Awards, and 1 Odyssey Award.

Book Riot called Graham "the best of the best" in audiobook narration, saying, "His voice is rich and emotive, making even the driest bits of a long biography or history come alive. His ability to inhabit characters seems limitless; his myriad character accents are always flawless."^{[2] "}

 ^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dion_Graham#cite_note-1} 

my nerve center

 

Grann in his Westchester County home office

^{Definitely a rung below me on the Martha Stewart's best ideas for a working office, Grann left his to research Wager Island. The quote, from a Wall Street Journal article shared below, is Grann's description of the journey that took him out of his comfort zone exploring archives and into the sea:}

The boat was maybe 50 feet, heated by a wood stove. When we set out into the open ocean, it gave me my first taste of these terrifying seas. In front of us was a mountain of water, behind us was a mountain of water. And all you could do was sit on the floor, because if you stood you could get chucked and could break a limb. I sat for eight to 10 hours on the floor. I put on a book tape of Moby-Dick, which in retrospect was not the most soothing thing to do.

 Please enjoy the full article:

 ^{https://www.wsj.com/articles/david-grann-author-lost-city-sherlock-holmes-c00f75d3?st=ji0y69sgr9282q9&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink}

^{Ginger's suggestions for an upcoming read:}

^{"The Mercies" Kiran Millwood Hargrave *chosen}

^{"Sandwich" Catherine Newman}

^{"Lake of the Woods" Tim O'Brian}

^{Up next:}

 

^{Happy reading,}

 ^LK

  

July 26, 2024 Gathering with Kathleen Severson

 

most of us!

 

Dear Bookclubs,

An afternoon with Kathleen Severson, sharing her experiences as an Army nurse in Vietnam, brought an unimagined depth to our understanding of what it was like to be in that war, serving in a profound and compassionate way. Kathleen's uniform, awards and photographs were especially meaningful. Pictured was a beautiful, young lady who now sat before us as a remarkable, cool and very accomplished woman.

 

Merci! Kathleen

Having both of my bookclubs represented was a real treat for me and I know much enjoyed by those in attendance. I hope that we can someday hear about Kathleen's experience with Honor Flight San Diego.

https://www.honorflightsandiego.org/

Happy reading,

LK

July 2024 Bookclub News

 

Dear Bookclub,

Meeting on a tranquil day with a Veranda lunch greatly diverged from any possible setting that would characterize Kristin Hannah's "The Women". Thank goodness. The horrors of the Vietnam War and the journey of Hannah's Frankie widened our eyes to details previously unknown and opened our memories to that time period of our lives. Our individual histories varied, from exposure to the nightly news at the childhood dinner table, to having family members or peers who fought, and some who died. Terry lived on base in the Philippines from 1965-1968 while her father was a rescue helicopter pilot nearby in Vietnam. 

Hannah's novel, we agreed, can bring an new awareness about the Vietnam War to newer generations.

Captain Diane Carlson Evans

First in the book's Acknowledgments, is a tribute to Captain Diane Carlson Evans. Hannah gratefully relied on Evans' help in writing the novel. Featured in these two short videos from PBS, Evans explains her impassioned journey to create the Vietnam Women's War Memorial emphasizing the startling animosity she encountered many years after the war:

https://www.pbs.org/video/vietnam-womens-memorial-8c1ndo/

 

https://www.pbs.org/video/war-nurses-zgatjz/ 

 

Please do your own 'dive' into the memorial and notice the intensity of the sculpture itself. Not easily photographed, being circular, the representation is powerful. Lots of individuals have posted amateur looking videos that reveal different objects left at the memorial and a feel for the location.

More stories and videos about Evans and others can be found on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial website:

https://www.vvmf.org/stories/Diane-Carlson-Evans/

Finally, is it Vietnam or Viet Nam? Confused by what I thought I knew and what I was encountering, is just another day in the life of me-aging-brain; there is no end to these confoundments (did I just make up a word?) Vietnam was once spelled Viet Nam, coming from the Vietnamese for "southern Viet people". And long ago, it was Nam Viet. Nam is a Chinese word meaning 'south' and Viet meaning 'beyond'. Early Chinese histories refer to a kingdom called Nam Viet, the southernmost of Viets; there were also eastern Viets and several other Viets. I will forget most of this by tomorrow.

 Terry's suggestions for an upcoming read:

 "Table for Two" Amor Towles

"The North Woods" Daniel Mason *chosen

"The Vaster Wilds" Lauren Groff

Up next:

 

 

 

Happy reading,

LK

 

 

June 2024 Bookclub News

Hillwood Estate archives

 

Dear Bookclub,

Enjoying a healthy Mendocino Farms lunch under a gorgeous San Diego sky, we sat around a picnic table marveling at Allison Pataki's "The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post".  Beautiful! Rich! Innovative entrepreneur! And true!

Eagle and Pearl blog

 

We all found the historic novel appealing. The General Foods genesis sparked nostalgia for products developed. Trudy's search for individual cereal boxes was unsuccessful but nonetheless endearing. 

 

 

I was motivated to find Postum, a staple in my childhood kitchen. While reading the book, I craved the hot beverage Marjorie so often drank. Finding a similar product at Jimbo's(see below), I merrily sip away (yet never attract a fortune or dashing husbands.) The original does still exist through online order from a small company, Eliza's Quest Foods, that got the recipe and trademark from Kraft. ( https://postum.com/pages/our-roots )

 

This advertisment is too good to pass up. The health beliefs of the time present a wonder for how the current habits and beliefs will be viewed decades from now. For ease of reading, reproduced here:

 "Children brought up on Postum are free from the evil effects of caffeine - the habit forming drug - in coffee and tea. 

    Postum is made of clean, hard wheat, skillfully roasted, including the bran-coat which contains the Phosphate of Potash (grown in the grain) for building healthy brain and nerve tissue.

    Begin early to insure a healthy nervous system for the little ones.

"There's a Reason"

Iced Postum  - served with sugar and lemon is a delicious, cooling Summer food-drink

___________

Postum Cereal Co., Ltd., Battle Creek, Mich., U. S. A. "

Roma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://kaffreeroma.com/products/kaffree-roma/

Stunned by the Russian treasures, Marjorie's jewels, properties, staff, etc. it is hard to imagine the management needed. Considering our education at the GIA, the jewels alone could have had staff. 

Entry hall Mar-a Lago

 The Library of Congress "Library" website has over 100 historic photos for gazing:

https://www.loc.gov/item/fl0181/

Delving into the history and legacy of Marjorie Merriweather Post goes on and on, echoing with the depth of her life. Enjoyable, I recommend doing so yet be forewarned that screen time will sky-rocket.

Trudy's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"The Measure" Nicki Erlick

"How the Light Gets In" Joyce Maynard

"The Frozen River" Ariel Lawhon *chosen

Up next:

 

Thoughtful reading,

LK

May 2024 Bookclub News

 

Wren, BirdWatch Ireland

Dear Bookclub,

 "The Wren, The Wren", Anne Enright's novel of an Irish family's betrayal by its famous lousy poet - poetry, not so bad,..... morals, lousy,  -  did not impress our group. Uninformed about Enright, I assumed a millennial writer.  Sexual dysfunction and angst, blaringly bad relationships, and hopeless emotions brought us down. But Enright, a baby boomer, transcended the generational categories with superior ease. The magical writing would unexpectedly trip me with an astounding phrase. And the meant-to-be-annoying,  "She got sick ... Unfortunately, and the marriage did not survive.", was very effective. Curiosity about Enright's style has me appreciating the power of bookclub and exposure to otherwise overseen writing. So I went diving.

 

Melbourne, Australia March 2024

 

This is a very enlightening interview with Anne which is not only entertaining in that her conversation is delightful, but insightful in the revelation of her intention with developing the digressive feminism that made us so uncomfortable. I promise the re-framing will sit well. Enjoy: 

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=anne+enright#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:31545c32,vid:bGhpe2_iS8A,st:0

Wanda's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Master, Slave, Husband, Wife" Ilyon Woo 

"The Women" Kristen Hannah *chosen

"Swan's Nest" Laura McNeal

Up next:

 

Happy reading,

LK

 

 

April 2024 Bookclub News

 

Dear Bookclub,

The here-we-go's started, as I believed a predictable book-clubby tale was to be endured with Alice McDermott's "Absolution". I really didn't want to like it. Drawn in by McDermott's Charlene, the bad girl put me in the fast lane, emotionally invested. I really liked it. The later part of the book lost some impact with the reuniting coincidences yet McDermott set herself up with a hard act to follow once Charlene left the pages. Of course the Barbie vehicle has imprinted this book in my memory more than the concept of absolution. 

"A Plea for Absolution" Frederic Henri Schopin

Missing being together to chat about all the nooks and crannies McDermott offered, I hope we will revisit some discussion at our next meeting. Terrie kindly provided a synopsis of the gathering:

Book Club at the Brigantine was lots of fun, although we were down to 4 attendees.    Everyone really enjoyed the book.  Terry related to it as she and her family were stationed in Thailand (?) in the 60’s and had many “servants” to do the housework, cooking, etc.  We discussed the changing attitudes of and about women during this volatile period.  Mixed feelings about Charlene, should she be lauded for her strength in navigating and succeeding in a man’s world?  She certainly was enterprising and brave!  Going to a Leper colony to bring comfort to the stricken was to be commended!  The Barbie clothes business was interesting. Terry said one of their housemaids made Barbie outfits for her dolls.   Other issues such as the uppers and downers use was mentioned.  All of this was a prequel to America’s military involvement in Viet Nam.

Meanwhile, the dive I took into Saigon Barbie must be shared:

random "The Birds" Barbie

"Vietnamese" Barbie?

Alas, sold long ago on Etsy, the listing still provided an interesting glimpse into OOAK (a new term for me... 'one of a kind') "Miss Saigon Barbie Custom Made in Box Doll Mattel" :

  

This was translated by the seller in description: 

Vintage Custom Made Miss Saigon Barbie

I got this Barbie in a huge lot I bought. It looks like someone made this doll for a woman named Ellen. On the back it says in Dutch: Saigon Barbie Ellen. She is a lovely singer, she makes jokes, she burps, farts, shaves her legs. In other words: just like the real deal. Saigon Barbie Ellen and Ken, collect them all!. Please check pictures for the state, these are part of the listing. 

Back to our news, Terrie's selections for an upcoming read:

"Honor" Thirty Umrigar

"The Demon of Unrest" Erik Larson

"James" Percival Everett *chosen

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK