October Book Club Meeting Notes

Betty, Janet, Alice, Mary Ann, Carole, Robin, and Dianne met for October's discussion of Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, which Kathleen hosted. Everyone liked this book, so we started with a round-the-table sharing of reasons why. Betty liked the feel-good fairytale aspect of the story, and how it was a coming-of-age story not just for Molly, but for Vivian. Mary Ann particularly liked Molly's part of the story. Robin was struck by the theme of how what we go through makes us who we are, and the emphasis Kline placed on happiness as a choice. Janet enjoyed the differing points-of-view and how the stories intertwined, as well as the sense of place (the Maine setting); she also liked learning about the historical background of the orphan trains. Alice mentioned meeting a man once who said he was an orphan, but what he meant was that his family couldn't afford to raise him, and placed him in an orphanage. Carole wondered why all these orphans were being shipped west when at the same time, whole families affected by the Dust Bowl were managing to stay together to migrate further west. Everyone was rather taken aback by how so many of the children were just sent off to new families without anyone following up very closely, and Janet pointed out that even the best intentions can wind up very twisted. Dianne reminded us that the state of Maine had an unfortunate history of doing something very similar with Native American children, who until very recently were often taken away from their families and placed with white foster families on flimsy pretexts.

Kathleen posed the question of whether the book would have been stronger if Kline had just told Vivian's story, without moving back and forth through time. Robin felt that Molly was needed as the catalyst to help Vivian confront her past and bring her back to the land of the living, and Janet said that by including the present-day story, we are reminded that as a society we have not solved all of our problems. Then we had a bit of a discussion about the big secrets that Vivian keeps; why didn't she share them earlier in her life? Everyone felt it was a part of the time period (some things just weren't talked about), as well as an indication of Vivian's problems with trust. Janet wondered if perhaps we don't keep enough secrets now, and there was strong feeling that maybe we don't!

Reasons I Love My Job #1

A Conversation at Storytime

(Me) Emma, do you have any brothers or sisters?

(Emma) Yes.

(Me) What are their names?

(Emma) something something and Sarah.

(Me) Sarah. Is she your big sister?

(Emma) Yes.

(Me) How old is she?

(Emma) Three.

(Me) But you're three!

(Emma) She's three too.

(Emma's Grandmother) Emma, Sarah is seven. You are three.

(Me) Do you have any other brothers and sisters?

(Emma) Yes. Solobono.

(Me) Solobono? (Look questioningly at grandmother.) Is he three, too?

(Emma, laughing) No! He's  my baby brother!

(Grandmother) Is he imaginary?

(Emma) Yes.

One-Paragraph Reviews (July/August)

The Outsmarting of Criminals by Steven Rigolosi

A delightful, "cozy" mystery that also pokes gentle fun at...well... delightful, "cozy" mysteries! After being mugged in her lifelong hometown, New York City, Miss Felicity Prim decides the time has come for a career change and new home. After taking a course on criminology, she settles on the career (you guessed it, outsmarting criminals), and chooses to relocate to a rose-strewn Tudor in a quaint little village, not too far from Manhattan. A dead body, quirky characters, and new love interest follow in short order.

The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

Since graduating from her MFA program, Claire Roth’s promising art career has been brought to a standstill due to her association with a scandal, and she has had to support herself by painting copies of masterpieces for “reproductions.com”. When powerful gallery owner Aiden Markel approaches Claire with the opportunity for a one-woman show at his gallery in exchange for some work that is not quite on the up-and-up, she suppresses her misgivings and jumps at the chance. Loosely based on the real-life 1990 heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum, this is a sure bet for anyone interested in the processes of creating art.

Counting by Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan (Young Adult)

After tragedy strikes, Willow, an adopted girl with an amazingly high IQ, an intense interest in science, and difficulty relating to her peers, withdraws even further into her shell. A family with problems of their own assume responsibility for her, and discover a way to make a better life for themselves in the process. You will cheer at the end!

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (Young Adult)

A privileged family retreats each summer to a private island off the coast of Cape Cod, where the patriarch built 3 homes for each of his daughters and their families. The story, narrated by granddaughter Cadence, involves a catastrophic event whose memory she has suppressed, but which gradually surfaces over the course of the following summer.  Elements of King Lear and fairy tales are woven through this compelling and heartbreaking book.

Still Life With Breadcrumbs by Anna Quindlen

A world-famous photographer comes to terms with her dysfunctional past and finds new inspiration for her work when forced by economic necessity to sublet her tony Manhattan apartment and rent a cottage in the country. Top-notch women's fiction.

The Headmaster's Wife by Thomas Christopher Greene

The headmaster of a prestigious prep school is found wandering naked and disoriented through New York's Central Park, claiming he harmed a student. The story is told from several points of view, and the reader must decide which is the most reliable narrator.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A blind French girl is trapped in a house with a German soldier who believes her to be in possession of a priceless diamond during WWII's siege of Saint-Malo. The narration goes back and forth to give us the backstory of all the characters, which takes a little getting used to; once you have adjusted, however, you will fly through this beautiful tale that--despite all the bad things that happen (it is WWII, after all)--is full of joy.

The Accident by Chris Pavone
This fast-paced thriller will have you on the edge of your seat, trying to follow--or even stay one step ahead of-- the twisting plot. An anonymous biographer has gone into hiding in order to reveal an event in a media king's past so shocking that he is willing to kill to keep it a secret.

The Vacationers by Emma Straub
The Post family takes stock of their lives during a Mallorcan vacation with close friends. Entertaining and witty, with lots of atmosphere.

One-Paragraph Reviews (March/April)

North of Boston by Elisabeth Elo
In this unlikely thriller, Pirio Kasparov, perfume heiress, accompanies a friend--the ex-husband of her best friend--on his lobster boat, which is rammed by a freighter under cover of fog. Why? Best not to ask too many questions! An enjoyable read, especially for beach season, when you don't feel like asking those difficult questions...

*The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna
Duro Kolak has resided in the sleepy little Croatian town of Gost all his life. One day, he sees something unexpected--a strange car at a house that carries a lot of memories for Duro and the rest of the town. Duro befriends the new residents, an English family hoping to make the house their vacation home, but others in the town are not as welcoming, and indeed may be harboring some dark secrets.

*The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
Bean and Liz are used to having to fend for themselves--their singer/songwriter mother doesn't do motherhood very well. When she decides she needs to take some time on her own to "find herself", the girls take it in stride until the day they discover someone has "ratted them out" and called the police; to avoid being taken into protective custody, the girls travel on their own to their mother's estranged family in Virginia. Bad things happen, but also much that is good in this sweet coming-of-age novel.

*The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
In Jewish tradition, a golem is a clay figure that may be brought to life to do the bidding of a master; a jinni (genie) is a similar mythological figure in Eastern tradition. The two come to life in the Mideast, and then come together in nineteenth-century New York in this magical, compelling, very different first novel.

*Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
Krueger is best known as a mystery writer, and there is certainly an element of that in this beautifully told story of a minister's son and his family. Tragedy befalls them one hot Midwestern summer, widening the cracks in the family's foundation; the central question of whether their faith will carry them through will compel you to keep turning the pages.

*Benediction by Kent Haruf
The tender portrait of the last days of a dying hardware store owner in a small Colorado town, and a wonderfully crafted tale of the inter-dependent relationships forged by small-town living and the last reckonings brought on by a terminal illness.

*The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley
Another very different first novel, this time set in the hills of Appalachia at the end of WWII. Young Evelyn Roe is asked to work the farm owned by her recently deceased aunt until one of her male relatives can return from the war to take it over. One night during a violent storm, Evelyn discovers a naked, badly burned man half-buried in mud; Evelyn assumes he is a war veteran and takes him in to nurse him back to health, but discovers he is not what he at first appeared to be.

*Maine Readers' Choice Award Short List Title

One-Paragraph Reviews (May/June)

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
Moriarty deftly mixes thriller with women's fiction in this page-turner set Down Under. One wife returns to her childhood home after learning of an affair between her husband and her cousin; another grapples with the secrets learned after she opens a letter from her husband, ignoring the instruction that it is only to be read after his death; a third comes to terms with the terrible loss she has lived with for many years.

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo; illustrated by K.G. Campbell (Youth)
DiCamillo received the Newbery Award for this book, and rightly so. This winsome fantasy about friendship, love, and a superhero squirrel will please children and parents alike, and would also make a good family read-aloud.

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Best known for her role as CEO of Facebook, Sandberg has had a stellar career; like all working women, she has also had to fight for leadership positions and struggle to balance her family life with work. In this provocative manifesto, Sandberg urges women to examine the habits that keep them from achieving their full potential.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown (audiobook)
Brown interweaves the story of the Olympic nine-man crew with that of the efforts of Hitler and his cronies to use the Olympic stage as a showcase for the glories of the Third Reich. This is so good, I sat in my driveway listening to the narration of the gold-medal race, even though I knew how it ended!

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
Love, ambition, botany, art and evolution all come together in this sprawling historical novel, quite different from Gilbert's popular memoir, Eat, Pray, Love. Alma Whitaker has the fortune/misfortune to be born plain and intellectually gifted to a wealthy family in 1800 Philadelphia; a traditional life appears to elude her grasp, but she might find an even better substitute in her travels from America to Tahiti to Amsterdam.

Fin and Lady by Cathleen
Young Fin has seen a lot of tragedy in his young life: after losing his parents and grandparents in quick succession, he is left with no one except for his glamorous half-sister, Lady, who is barely known to Fin.  Lady takes him in and does her best to serve as a parental substitute, but has a lot of growing up to do herself; Fin's upbringing, therefore, is a rather unusual one. A sweet, nostalgic book that takes us from Greenwich Village to Capri, from the 1960s through the Vietnam War and the '70s.

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire by Polly Horvath; illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Youth)
Funny, funny, funny! Bunny towns exist right under the noses of humans in this delightful fantasy, although the bunnies try very hard not to have much to do with us. But when evil foxes kidnap Madeline's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny (who have, conveniently, recently taken up detecting) decide to ignore the taboos to help the human girl. Translated from the Rabbit. ;)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (Youth)
Lowry's classic dystopian tale is the grandmother of the breed currently in favor amongst teen readers, and one of the best. At first glance, Jonas and the rest of his society appear to inhabit a world very much like our own, although greatly improved--everyone has fulfilling work, there is no hunger, there is no conflict. As the story unfolds, however, and Jonas receives his Life Assignment, we learn along with him that all is not as it seems. Read it before the movie comes out in August!

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (Youth)
Imagine if you were knew the answers to all the questions in school, but had no means of communicating your knowledge. This is the plight of 11-year old Melody, whose cerebral palsy makes everyone assume that because she can't control her body, she is also intellectually disabled. Luckily, her family and caregivers refuse to believe this, and the reader has the great fortune of following Melody through a school year full of both adversity and triumph. If you liked R. J. Palacio's Wonder, you'll love this too.

Euphoria by Lily King
Set in the 1930s, when anthropology was just becoming accepted as a science, and loosely based on the life of Margaret Mead, this captivating story tells of 2 married anthropologists in the South Pacific who join forces with a lonely legend in the field. Their uneasy alliance is threatened by the ambition and greed of one member of the triangle, which also has disastrous effects on their subjects.

The White Elephant by Lauren St. John (Youth)
After losing her parents in a fire, Martine goes to live with her unknown grandmother in South Africa. Lost and bereft, Martine struggles to make a life for herself in a strange new environment with a family member who doesn't seem to want her. She begins to rethink her place in her new community, though, after a number of mystical events begin to occur and an unforeseen power begins to manifest itself.

A Mild Rant

To all human resources managers, veterans' benefits administrators, unemployment benefit specialists, etc., etc.: please stop telling people that they "just" need to fill out an online form to apply for a job or register for benefits. That "just" implies that this is a simple procedure, and for someone who is not computer literate, it is anything but.

Obstacle one: they do not have a home computer, and have to find a public access computer. Thank you for telling them to come and use the computers at the library, but please remember that not all libraries are open all day every day. If someone has to make repeated trips just to get themselves in front of the machine, their anxiety level rises.

Obstacle two: if they do not have a home computer, then they will probably not be comfortable using a computer. If they sit in front of the machine and have to ask for help just to reach your website, the anxiety goes up again.

Obstacle three: they probably do not have an email. Now they have to leave your website and go to another one and fill out THAT form to create an email account before they can complete YOUR form. Do you see where this is going?

Obstacle four: a resume? Really? Today I helped someone fill out an application that asked all the questions that would be covered in a resume--education, work history, references. Unfortunately, he could not submit the application without also uploading a resume. For a manual labor job.

I wish you would understand that there are a great many people out there--many of whom are seeking your help--who feel the bar has been placed at an insurmountable height. Please, the next time you direct someone to an online form, refrain from using the word "just".

May Book Club Meeting Notes

Betty hosted May's meeting to discuss Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette. This light-hearted spoof of Seattle's keeping-up-with-the-Gateses-mentality was entertaining and fun, but fair warning: not a whole lot of dynamic discussion was fostered by this book!

Brilliant, reclusive Bernadette Fox was an award-winning architect before moving to Seattle and becoming a stay-at-home mom. Through a series of emails, memos, letters, etc., we witness Bernadette's increasingly erratic behavior before her disappearance--right after discovering her husband's affair with his assistant at Microsoft, and right before a family vacation to Antarctica. We had some discussion about the format of the book, which everyone thought contributed greatly to the zany, tongue-in-cheek nature of the novel. Even though we are reading things like Bernadette's email to her assistant in India (don't ask), we don't really feel we are hearing her voice through much of the book, and this in turn contributes to the sense of mystery surrounding her.

Seattle itself plays an important role in the book. Semple skewers the Microsoft culture and paints a picture of a society engaged in constant one-upmanship; somehow, this works to make the complicated, high-strung Bernadette seem not only plausible but actually normal and likable--after all, wouldn't we react this way to the excesses we are reading about?

The book wasn't all satire; the mother/daughter relationship between Bernadette and her daughter Bee tenderly showed them both to be loving, understanding, and protective of one another. This further serves Semple's aim of making Bernadette sympathetic: how could anyone stay sane in such an environment? As Carole commented, "Would I ever live in Seattle after reading it? No!"

Book Club will be taking a break for a few months, and we'll be back in the fall!