December 2024 Bookclub News

 

Hollywood!

Dear Bookclub,

Our LBC getaway to Griffith Park kicked off the holiday season while entertaining us with camaraderie, escapism and exposure to L.A. funk, literally and figuratively. Air quality alerts, 4 minute Uber rides, rubbing elbows with hip Gen X/Y'ers at the Everly and Tao, a smattering of cultural diversity - all intangible delights.

Discussion of Daniel Mason's "The North Woods" drew our readers' passion with the appreciation of the clever genius his writing evoked. Hollywood, North Wood(s) .... the wood analogy stops there. The patch of Massachusetts land, with its imagined histories, holds no relation to the California craggy terrain. Toyon, is the holly-like bush that gave Hollywood its name; please read more about the 1886 entrepreneurial couple behind that, Harvey and Daeida Wilcox:

 https://treepeople.org/2012/12/31/hollywood-name/

 

Meanwhile, Mason's north wood was the site of captivating tale after tale and could have been named Applewood. In doing research about old apple trees in Massachusetts, I found a fascinating interview with Mark Richardson, New England Botanic Garden’s Director of Horticulture. 

fireblight

He is overseeing an apple orchard restoration project and this interview discusses the historic collection being salvaged - some trees from the 1600's. Climate change is impacting disease like fireblight and the efforts to reproduce trees with scionwood is nothing short of miraculous. So much to take away from this interview:

https://awaytogarden.com/historic-apples-get-a-new-start-with-mark-richardson/ 

I recognize the New England Botanic Garden as a place we visited with my parents a few short years ago:

my mum

https://nebg.org/orchard/

Back to the darker side of the novel,  the covergirl is explained as "the ghostly catamount watching over the house" in a charming interview with Daniel in the June 2024 issue of the also charming publication, "The Northern Woodlands".

https://northernwoodlands.org/blog/article/north-woods-daniel-mason

Why you wonder, has it taken me so long to write this? I keep stumbling down rabbit holes and have mercifully edited out a dozen of them but will share just a few more.

Mountain lions in Massachusetts - Fact or Fiction????? Tracking, DNA, preservation of tracks for further study, natural history and great photos....enjoy:

https://www.mass.gov/doc/mountain-lions-in-massachusetts-distinguishing-fiction-from-the-facts/download 

Sadly, while writing this, the Los Angeles fires are burning and our elusive Hollywood sign (hidden behind the veil of darkness or smog) is now shrouded in smoke:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/us/hollywood-hills-landmarks-california-fire.html

Missing Wanda and Ginger, our subset managed to talk, walk, eat and drink away 48 hours with exuberance, refueled for part 2 of the holidays. Hopefully we will reunite en masse again soon.

Wanda's suggestions for an upcoming read:

 "There are Rivers in the Sky" Elif Shafak *chosen

"Daughters of Shandong" Eve J. Chung

"The Elements of Madame Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science" Dava Sobel

Up next:

Happy reading,

LK

November 2024 Bookclub News

 

 

Tempest's great, great, great, great.....

Dear Bookclub,

Seven ingenious minds gleefully gathered round a table at Poway's Brigantine restaurant to discuss Ariel Lawhon's "The Frozen River" and not a one thought to have the moment immortalized  with a cellphone image. The silver fox will have to do. 

And it more than did for Margaret Ballard, symbolizing feminine strength and individuality, according to Lawhon, who characterized Margaret's fox as Tempest. Powerfully portraying a source of inspiration and awe, midwife Ballard's Tempest drew me into the mystique of the main character's life and energy. We all enjoyed the book, well-written and teeming with discussion points. Noting the justice system, the treatment of women, the state of medicine, and real-life Margaret Ballard, we appreciated the author's notes at the end of the book for further enlightenment about the story behind the story. "A Midwife's Tale" by Laura Thatcher Ulrich, took the 1991 Pulitzer Prize in History, with the story of Margaret Ballard based on her diaries. The diaries themselves were difficult to decipher, according to Lawhon, but fascinating:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/midwife-gallery-diary/

Please check out Hallowell, ME - historic and now:

https://hallowell.govoffice.com/

Hallowell, ME circa 1905

Terrie's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"A Wilder Shore" Camille Peri *chosen

"Creation Lake" Rachel Kushner

"Tell Me Everything" Elizabeth Strout

Up next:

Happy reading!

LK

October 2024 Bookclub News

 

Dear Bookclub,

The layered genius of Percival Everett was evident in his portrayal of Mark Twain's Jim. We were entertained by the clever perspective presented through the power of language, history of attitude towards slaves, and survival instincts. We were also horrified with the clever depiction of the reality of the power of language, the history of slavery and survival. Everett is as fascinating as his work.

Hoping you can access this article from The New Yorker  entitled "Percival Everett Can't Say What His Novels Mean":

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/18/percival-everett-profile?_sp=7ae194c5-910d-4839-b502-570c83f8e414.1728842427090

And here is the great link from Terrie to the PBS News Hour interview:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/percival-everett-on-his-novel-retelling-huckleberry-finn-from-jims-point-of-view

 Researching Everett on the ever-entertaining Wikipedia here are some insightful nuggets:

* named after his father, Percival Everett was an Army sergeant and later a dentist

*his great-great grandmother was once enslaved

*born in Georgia, raised in South Carolina, moved to the "American West", schooled in FL and RI (University of Miami and Brown), settled in Los Angeles

*wrote Seattle, Wyoming (Viertnam Vet), contemporary American West, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, D.C., Mississippi, etc., etc. - the man is a rich tapestry

*brilliantly matched with Danzy Senna, his wife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danzy_Senna

 I am so appreciative of learning about Everett and reading more of his work.

US!

 

 

Val's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Kingmaker" Sonia Purnell *chosen

"Playground" Richard Powers

"The Border Between Us" Rudy Ruiz

 Up next:

 

Happy reading,

LK

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