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

August 2018 Bookclub News

***

Dear Bookclub,
Fantasizing about spending 5 days in Aspen, doing nothing but read, actually came to fruition as I felt way less than my 110%, handicapped by altitude sensitivity and a cold.  Truly drained and drugged, 'lounging', i.e., trying to get through the days, I began and finished "The Power" in two dreadful days. I had planned to participate in far more: a bike ride designed for conference spouses, historic tour and fly fishing for the same, shopping in a mecca designed for Lynn Kaufman. Instead, cocooned in a vast suite in Snowmass, I entered Naomi Alderman's fiercely imagined world of power. Devouring the first half or so of Alderman's "The Power", I transitioned to a 'get-this-over-with' mode as discomfort from the pages overpowered, pun intended, any other distress. The parallels to a reversed society are eerie and clever. Looking forward to talking this one inside out and backwards.

'... in my world, nothing happens to a man that is not happening to a woman in the world we live in today. So if we find my world to be a dystopia, then we are already living in a dystopia.'

Naomi Alderman on "The Power"

...from little NPR blurb:
https://www.npr.org/2017/12/26/573507226/in-the-power-women-develop-a-weapon-that-changes-everything

The girls: Margaret Atwood and Naomi Alderman

***(Hiking around Maroon Bells, above, once I had acclimated, was cleansing - it smelled sooooo good!)



Wanda's suggestions for an upcoming read:

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

See you tomorrow!
LK

June 2018 Bookclub News

Al fresco* at TG's

Dear Bookclub,
A perfect afternoon on Terrie's patio for our discussion of "The Baker's Daughter", with an amazing lunch complete with German, well... Edelweiss, rolls and butter. The book was enjoyed by all although conversation was heavy into catching up - so much news every month! I do believe the lasting impression from our June 2018 meeting will be Michael and Kelsey's engagement. Our excitement for TF bubbled over like the champagne!

Back to the book... the alternating narrative allowed much character development and an ease with the alternating time frames. Despite this technique not so unique anymore, as yet another book on WWII, both the format and content were again appreciated. Thinking about Elsie's hidden Jewish boy, exploited for his musical talent, made me wonder if Tobias was based on a real character or more likely, an imagined composite. Some sleuthing did not produce a solid answer but I did find this:

https://www.ushmm.org/exhibition/hidden-children/insideX/

Please read through this website and explore the many links... it is heart-breaking.

Suggestions for an upcoming read:
"The Great Alone" Kristen Hannah **chosen
 "Educated" Tara Westover
"Alternate Side" Anna Quindlen

Up next:

Finally, I want to mention that the many tragedies of Anthony Bourdain's passing include the very sad occurrence of Eric Ripert being the one to discover his dear, best friend unresponsive in a French hotel room. Ripert's memoir was something we much enjoyed as our June 2017 selection, "32 Yolks". So sad.

Bourdain and Ripert

Thoughtful reading,
LK


*check it out - from that know-it-all, Wikipedia:

 'The phrase al fresco is borrowed from Italian for "in the cool [air]", although it is not in current use in that language to refer to dining outside. Instead, Italians use the phrases fuori or all'aperto. In Italian, the expression al fresco usually refers to spending time in jail.' 

Whoa. Hardly. Thanks again, Terrie, for a beautiful meal outside in your beautiful garden.

May 2018 Recap

Dear Bookclub,

May gray days on end set the tone for our 1918 Spanish flu pandemic affair. Gathering at Lori's for our evening with author, Sue Meissner, to discuss her latest work, "As Bright As Heaven", our fabulous groups united with sweet anticipation. And sweetly welcomed, we were. Lori had created supper of nurturing soup jars, yummy meatballs, delicious salad and dainty pralines.

Susan Meissner and Lori

Fortified with flu shots(ginger beer, vodka & rosemary sprigs), we settled in to share our appreciation for Meissner's work. Sue enlightened with us her development of the book, passing around pictures depicting some scenes from the pandemic. Her revelation of plotting the novel with the deaths of certain individuals (no spoiling in this paragraph), in order to allow other character development was especially interesting, as was her admiration of the structure of Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible".

We neglected to chose a new selection for an upcoming read, but we are months and months out there so not adding to our calendar this month may actually be helpful.

Up next: Sarah McCoy's "The Baker's Daughter".

Terrie's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"The Great Alone" Kristen Hannah
 "Educated" Tara Westover
"Alternate Side" Anna Quindlen

This will be a tough decision!

Happy Reading!
LK

May 2019 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
Our evening with Sue Meissner to discuss her latest book, "As Bright as Heaven", an historical novel imagining one family's journey through the most catastrophic pandemics ever, is just a few days away. A few days in 1918 could determine fate beyond our imagination as the Great Influenza Pandemic devastated populations worldwide.

To learn more about what made this flu so deadly, please read this short piece from Time about the Spanish Flu:
http://time.com/3731745/spanish-flu-history/

To prepare for our evening, please check out the Book Club Kit from Sue's website:
http://susanlmeissner.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/AsBrightAsHeaven_BookClubKit.pdf

Our combined meeting with A Novel Group at Lori's, will include the opportunity to vote on one of her recommendations for that group's upcoming selection, to also be an upcoming selection for our group. Just a thought - it would be fun to share another month through a shared read. So if you like, here are her titles to ponder....

Lori has recommended the following books for choosing an upcoming selection:
"An American Marriage" Tayari Jones
"The Wife Between Us" Sarah Pekkanen
"Circe" Madeline Miller
"My Antonia" Will Cather

Healthy reading,
LK