An Impromptu August 2016 Meeting

The Future of Reading 1935 *

Dear Bookclub,
Our social need to gather had us flocking to The Barrel Room; the siren call of bookclub squeezing commitments, schedules and tempting some of us to drink a bottle of wine. Sorry that Wanda was not able to jump into the last minute meeting and welcoming TG back into the fold, we did relish our chat: books and otherwise. *Little did futurists realize that the future of reading would be women 'reading' on phones, e-devices, having books read to them via the same and then having to band together to share the experience and plan more!

Terry sweetly complied with my very last minute request to provide suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Go Set a Watchman" Harper Lee
"The Juggler's Children" Carolyn Abraham
"When the Killing's Done" T.C. Boyle *chosen

September's selection, Annie Prouix's "Barkskins", 'an epic, dazzling, violent, magnificently dramatic novel about the taking down of the world’s forests', as characterized by the New York Times is to be discussed on the 7th, approximately 80pp/day away for those of us who have not started it. Yikes!

We are working on December plans. Please ponder suggestions for a December read and share your ideas.

Happy reading,
LK

Birthday Blog

Dearest Friends,
What an amazing surprise yesterday's 'bookclub' meeting turned out to be! Between the bookends entitled 'bookclub1' and 'bookclub2' reside volumes of the most dear friends ever. My heart and soul are still beaming - thank you Terry for masterminding and hosting the beautiful luncheon and thanks to all for coming and celebrating a very memorable 60th birthday party!

 

 "Dressing it up"......

Terrie G., Lori, and Ginger, we missed you!!

Many thanks for the darling, new addition to my secret garden..... Happy reading!
Still astounded and much love,
LK

 Nestled in the secret shade

impervious to fears of night

the garden girl reads endlessly

imagined scenes take flight.

August 2016 Bookclub

candy cigarette

Dear Bookclub,
Sally Mann's "Hold Still" has much to share but I have yet to find any stillness. Riddled with memories and philosophies that both disquiet and harmonize any attempt to relate, Mann's memoir will resonate. I adore it at 45 pages deep. Her description of the effects of photographs on memory struck like lightning as I recalled her 2015 interview with Terry Gross:

http://www.npr.org/2015/05/12/405937803/making-art-out-of-bodies-sally-mann-reflects-on-life-and-photography

scarred tree

 
    

Next Wednesday: Terry's 12:30.....

“I like to make people a little uncomfortable. It encourages them to examine who they are and why they think the way they do.” – Sally Mann


View, read and think,
LK

Larry Mann; "Proud Flesh"

July 2016 Recap

Dear Bookclub,
Facing the summer challenge head-on, we convened hours after two of us passed through Lindbergh Field, one of us was still sequestered in Deer Valley, (we missed you TG!), Ginger's schedule a smidge off course, (one day :( ),  and the rest were prepping for other seasonal delights. Cork and Craft, coddling our two hour 'lunch', was a fine backdrop for an enthusiastic exchange on Oliver Sacks.

Lunch a la Oliver*

*(That is a scandium hamburger - {gluten-free}. Actually this is lifted from a very entertaining description of a chemistry party, "A Visit from Oliver Sacks".... really you have to peruse this:
http://www.theodoregray.com/Periodictable/Stories/SacksVisit/index.html
How dull our gatherings are in comparison!)

Also, I wanted to share this lovely article from February 2015 that is Oliver Sacks, in his own words, on his getting cancer. It makes me cry every time I read it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/opinion/oliver-sacks-on-learning-he-has-terminal-cancer.html?_r=0


Wanda presented three titles for our November selection:

"Mademoiselle Chanel" C.W. Gortner        *chosen

"Eve of a Hundred Midnights: The Star-Crossed Love Story of Two WWI Correspondents and Their Epic Escape Across the Pacific" Bill Lascher

"Missing, Presumed" Susie Steiner


Discussion about December's get-away was broadened (a bit!) to entertaining the idea of venturing to La Jolla. I'd also like to throw out the idea of going to The Huntington or the Mission Inn in Riverside. Any other ideas? Shall we vote?

http://www.missioninn.com/festival-en.html
http://www.huntington.org/

Happy Reading!
LK

July 2016 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
On the move; I am in Boston, Wanda in Pennsylvania, TG in Utah, TF, Val, and Trudy: where are you? Hope wherever this finds you, you are able to enjoy a good read.... Either "On the Move" or if you have moved on from the Oliver  Sacks' autobiography, some other compelling and entertaining read.

Please enjoy this last interview of Dr. Sacks from Radiolab:
https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/453321


We'll be meeting, per Wanda's choice, at Cork & Craft this Wednesday, 12:30- see you then...


Happy Reading,
LK

On the Move

Related Poem Content Details

BY THOM GUNN

The blue jay scuffling in the bushes follows

Some hidden purpose, and the gust of birds

That spurts across the field, the wheeling swallows,

Has nested in the trees and undergrowth.

Seeking their instinct, or their poise, or both,

One moves with an uncertain violence

Under the dust thrown by a baffled sense

Or the dull thunder of approximate words.

On motorcycles, up the road, they come:

Small, black, as flies hanging in heat, the Boys,

Until the distance throws them forth, their hum

Bulges to thunder held by calf and thigh.

In goggles, donned impersonality,

In gleaming jackets trophied with the dust,

They strap in doubt – by hiding it, robust –

And almost hear a meaning in their noise.

Exact conclusion of their hardiness

Has no shape yet, but from known whereabouts

They ride, direction where the tyres press.

They scare a flight of birds across the field:

Much that is natural, to the will must yield.

Men manufacture both machine and soul,

And use what they imperfectly control

To dare a future from the taken routes.

It is a part solution, after all.

One is not necessarily discord

On earth; or damned because, half animal,

One lacks direct instinct, because one wakes

Afloat on movement that divides and breaks.

One joins the movement in a valueless world,

Choosing it, till, both hurler and the hurled,

One moves as well, always toward, toward.

A minute holds them, who have come to go:

The self-defined, astride the created will

They burst away; the towns they travel through

Are home for neither bird nor holiness,

For birds and saints complete their purposes.

At worst, one is in motion; and at best,

Reaching no absolute, in which to rest,

One is always nearer by not keeping still.

June 2016 Recap

Dear Bookclub,
Our June rendezvous at the Bernardo Winery's Cafe Merlot, had us occupying a tucked away table on a sunny afternoon and holding court on Anthony Marra's "Constellation" among other topics. Tiptoeing around key aspects of the richly told tale, Terry and I tried not reveal any uncovered developments to Trudy and Val, who had not yet finished. Our Chechnya-knowledge increased thousands of percent and the awe over Marra's talent was undeniable.



Hopefully, when all are done with the read, discussion to be continued.....

Trudy presented three choices, (actually four, I groaned away"A Man Called Ove" - sorry!!!) for October's read:

"When Breath Becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi

"Heat and Light" by Jennifer Haigh *chosen

"The Gene:An Intimate History" by Siddhartha Mukherjee


Discussion turned towards great books, podcasts, interviews, etc:

"The Sympathizer"- interview with the author Viet Thanh Nguyen:
http://www.npr.org/2015/04/11/398728517/a-dark-funny-and-vietnamese-look-at-the-vietnam-war

Encouragement to listen to "Born with Teeth:A Memoir" by Kate Mulgrew.

"The Hedge" - help! My list just says "The Hedge" and googling is not ringing any memory bells for me. Does anyone remember what this was please?

"Zoo" TV Series on Netflix

"The Life We Bury" by Allen Eskins

Please note that our July meeting will be June 29. Wanda to announce location.

Visiting with Ginger last Wednesday was wonderful! Wish we had taken a picture... we must when she returns in a few short weeks. In the meanwhile, here is Wednesday, who we visited last Wednesday. So many of our Wednesdays are so special!

And my little cousin of Wednesday, nestled into the dining room hutch:

Happy Reading,
LK

June 2016 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
In the spirit of my journey to refreshment at Canyon Ranch, I will be brief about the upcoming June meeting:

Cafe Merlot - Wednesday June 1st at 12:30 -

 discussing Anthony Marra's 

"A Constellation of Vital Phenomena"

Namaste and peaceful reading,
LK

My to-pack  reading pile for the world of unplugged.