March Book Club Options!

Hi Ladies!

Here are the book options for March! I'm excited that it's my turn to choose!

(summaries taken from Amazon)

1.

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table By Molly Wizenberg

When Molly Wizenberg's father died of cancer, everyone told her to go easy on herself, to hold off on making any major decisions for a while. But when she tried going back to her apartment in Seattle and returning to graduate school, she knew it wasn't possible to resume life as though nothing had happened. So she went to Paris, a city that held vivid memories of a childhood trip with her father, of early morning walks on the cobbled streets of the Latin Quarter and the taste of her first pain au chocolat. She was supposed to be doing research for her dissertation, but more often, she found herself peering through the windows of chocolate shops, trekking across town to try a new pâtisserie, or tasting cheeses at outdoor markets, until one evening when she sat in the Luxembourg Gardens reading cookbooks until it was too dark to see, she realized that her heart was not in her studies but in the kitchen.

At first, it wasn't clear where this epiphany might lead. Like her long letters home describing the details of every meal and market, Molly's blog Orangette started out merely as a pleasant pastime. But it wasn't long before her writing and recipes developed an international following. Every week, devoted readers logged on to find out what Molly was cooking, eating, reading, and thinking, and it seemed she had finally found her passion. But the story wasn't over: one reader in particular, a curly-haired, food-loving composer from New York, found himself enchanted by the redhead in Seattle, and their email correspondence blossomed into a long-distance romance.

In A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table, Molly Wizenberg recounts a life with the kitchen at its center. From her mother's pound cake, a staple of summer picnics during her childhood in Oklahoma, to the eggs she cooked for her father during the weeks before his death, food and memories are intimately entwined. You won't be able to decide whether to curl up and sink into the story or to head straight to the market to fill your basket with ingredients for Cider-Glazed Salmon and Pistachio Cake with Honeyed Apricots.

2.

Midwives By Chris Bohjalian

With a suspense, lyricism, and moral complexity that recall To Kill a Mockingbird and Presumed Innocent, this compulsively readable novel explores what happens when a woman who has devoted herself to ushering life into the world finds herself charged with responsibility in a patient's tragic death.

The time is 1981, and Sibyl Danforth has been a dedicated midwife in the rural community of Reddington, Verm

ont, for fifteen years. But one treacherous winter night, in a house isolated by icy roads and failed telephone lines, Sibyl takes desperate measures to save a baby's life. She performs an emergency Caesarean section on its mother, who appears to have died in labor. But what if--as Sibyl's assistant later charges--the patient wasn't already dead, and it was Sibyl who inadvertently killed her?

As recounted by Sibyl's precocious fourteen-year-old daughter, Connie, the ensuing trial bears the earmarks of a witch hunt except for the fact that all its participants are acting from the highest motives--and the defendant increasingly appears to be guilty. As Sibyl Danforth faces the antagonism of the law, the hostility of traditional doctors, and the accusations of her own conscience, Midwives engages, moves, and transfixes us as only the very best novels ever do.

3.

The Bean Trees By Barbara Kingsolver

Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places.

How does Monday, April 16th sound for everyone? I'm flexible on dates so if it needs to change thats fine!

Let the voting begin!

Lindsey

February book options NOW AVAILABLE!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

February book options - now available! 

Option #1 Jayber Parker, by Wendell Berry

Book Description:

For thirty-nine years Wendell Berry has brought us stories from the fictional town of Port William, Kentucky. The latest, Jayber Crow, is the story of a man's love for his community and his abiding and unrequited love for Mattie Chatham, a good woman who had too early made one bad mistake. Sent to an orphanage at the age of ten, Jayber grows up knowing of loneliness and want, and learns how to be a watchful observer of human goodness and frailty. With the flood of 1937 he returns to his native Port William to become the town's barber. Slowly, patiently, the observer becomes participant.This is a book about Heaven, writes Jayber, but I must say too that it has been a close call. For I have wondered sometimes if it would not finally turn out to be a book about Hell-where we fail to love one another, where we hate and destroy one another for reasons abundantly provided or for righteousness' sake or for pleasure, where we destroy the things we need the most, where we see no hope and have no faith...where we must lose everything to know what we have had.Sounding themes of love and loss, despair and deepest joy, Berry's clear-sighted artistry in depicting the Port William membership will not soon be forgotten.

Option #2: A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway

Book Description:

Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway’s most enduring works. Since Hemingway’s personal papers were released in 1979, scholars have examined the changes made to the text before publication. Now, this special restored edition presents the original manuscript as the author prepared it to be published.

Featuring a personal Foreword by Patrick Hemingway, Ernest’s sole surviving son, and an Introduction by grandson of the author, SeÁn Hemingway, editor of this edition, the book also includes a number of unfinished, never-before-published Paris sketches revealing experiences that Hemingway had with his son, Jack, and his first wife Hadley. Also included are irreverent portraits of literary luminaries, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ford Maddox Ford, and insightful recollections of Hemingway’s own early experiments with his craft.

Widely celebrated and debated by critics and readers everywhere, the restored edition of A Moveable Feast brilliantly evokes the exuberant mood of Paris after ?World War I and the unbridled creativity and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized.

Option #3: Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger

Book Description:

Hailed as one of the year's top five novels by Time, and selected as one of the best books of the year by nearly all major newspapers, national bestseller Peace Like a River captured the hearts of a nation in need of comfort. "A rich mixture of adventure, tragedy, and healing, " Peace Like a River is "a collage of legends from sources sacred and profane -- from the Old Testament to the Old West, from the Gospels to police dramas" (Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor). In "lyrical, openhearted prose" (Michael Glitz, The New York Post), Enger tells the story of eleven-year-old Reuben Land, an asthmatic boy who has reason to believe in miracles. Along with his sister and father, Reuben finds himself on a cross-country search for his outlaw older brother who has been controversially charged with murder. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers, and its remarkable conclusion shows how family, love, and faith can stand up to the most terrifying of enemies, the most tragic of fates. Leif Enger's "miraculous" (Valerie Ryan, The Seattle Times) novel is a "perfect book for an anxious time ... of great literary merit that nonetheless restores readers' faith in the kindness of stories" (Marta Salij, Detroit Free Press).

*The book descriptions are from Amazon.

There are the options - get to voting and let me know if Monday, February 27th works for everyone!

Book Swap Tonight at Urban Standard!

Sorry for the late post. I've been out of town. So lets have our book swap at Urban Standard tonight at 7:30. Bring a wrapped book to swap in a Dirty Santa game. Can't wait to hang out with y'all and share some new books!

December-January Books and A Book Club Christmas Party

Hey girls. Sorry it has taken me a minute to get these up. I'm excited about them though. Let's talk about doing our book swap in December and meeting to discuss this book in January. I'd be happy to host both, but if anyone wants to host the book swap, go for it! Just let us know. How does December 12th sound for the swap?

And without further ado, the books:

Book Summary

A researcher at a pharmaceutical company, Marina Singh must step out of her comfort zone when she is sent into the heart of the Amazonian delta to check on a field team that has been silent for two years — a dangerous assignment that forces Marina to confront the ghosts of her past.

Review Excerpt:

It's not often that a novel leaves me (temporarily) speechless. But Ann Patchett's new novel isn't called State of Wonder for nothing, because that's exactly the state I've been in ever since I first opened it. The numbness has worn off by now, but for days, all I could say to friends who asked me about it was the one-word review "Wow."

NPR Summary

Tea Obreht's debut novel takes place in an unnamed Balkan country similar to the former Yugoslavia. Natalia, a young medical student, is on her way to an orphanage in enemy territory when she learns that her beloved grandfather has died. As his confidante, Natalia was not only aware of his cancer; she was also privy to his many incredible adventures, the two most fantastic being his stories of the Deathless Man and the Tiger's Wife.

Review Excerpt:

In The White Album, Joan Didion writes that "we tell ourselves stories in order to live." Though many of today's stories may be limited to 140 character tweets, Tea Obreht, in her novel, The Tiger's Wife, shows how shared mythology (where history meets speculation) is essential, particularly in times of war and loss.

Review/Summary: This year's National Book Critic's Circle Fiction award winner, A Visit from the Goon Squad, doesn't fit neatly into any genre. Jennifer Egan is playing with the idea of the novel; the result is a swirling time trip that is both fun and emotionally satisfying. The two characters who appear and disappear with the greatest frequency are Sasha, a young woman who has a compulsive urge to steal, and her boss, Bennie, a record company executive who was once a member of a punk rock band in San Francisco. The book travels back and forth in time with these characters and many of the people who have touched their lives. One of the most effective and affecting stories comes in the form of a PowerPoint presentation narrated by a 12-year-old girl. That feat in itself is a testament to Egan's powers as a writer. Each of the stories stands alone, with a distinct style and narrative voice — until the jumble of pieces comes together to create a vivid picture of a fully realized world.

Meeting Tomorrow! 11/3/11

Come to my house tomorrow (Thursday) night around 7pm. We'll have some goodies and fun conversation. Can't wait!

2815 10th Avenue South

Apartment 6

B'ham 35205

Call if you get lost! (615)812-0131

Greatest Generation!

So happy this book won! I don't see Elaine's post, but she told me that was her vote as well. So no one responded to my last post, but are we meeting twice over 6 weeks to talk about the book? If this is correct how about meeting on Monday October 17? We can meet at my aptartment at around 7:30? Yay!

Here Comes Fall!

Hey all. I would like to recommit myself to our little (but growing!) book club. Since there has been a bit of silence, I decided to go ahead and post a few books to choose from for the month of October. Hope that's alright...Eades gave me the go ahead. Also, I missed out on the latest update to group meetings. Am I correct in that we now meet twice per book over the course of 6 weeks?

You should be warned that my recent honeymoon to Austria has me further interested in the period of world history spanning from 1938-1945...thus you'll notice that the influence of WWII has slightly manifested itself in my book choices. Enjoy. :)

Home

by Marilynne Robinson

Hundreds of thousands were enthralled by the luminous voice of John Ames in Gilead, Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel.Home is an entirely independent, deeply affecting novel that takes place concurrently in the same locale, this time in the household of Reverend Robert Boughton, Ames’s closest friend. Glory Boughton, aged thirty-eight, has returned to Gilead to care for her dying father. Soon her brother, Jack—the prodigal son of the family, gone for twenty years—comes home too, looking for refuge and trying to make peace with a past littered with tormenting trouble and pain. Jack is one of the great characters in recent literature. A bad boy from childhood, an alcoholic who cannot hold a job, he is perpetually at odds with his surroundings and with his traditionalist father, though he remains Boughton’s most beloved child. Brilliant, lovable, and wayward, Jack forges an intense bond with Glory and engages painfully with Ames, his godfather and namesake. Home is a moving and healing book about families, family secrets, and the passing of the generations, about love and death and faith. It is Robinson’s greatest work, an unforgettable embodiment of the deepest and most universal emotions.

The Greatest Generation

by Tom Brokaw

One of NBC's most famous anchormen celebrates the greatest generation in history. — Americans born in the 1920s who came of age during the Great Depression, fought in World War II, and went on to build America.

Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters

by Dick Winters, Cole C. Kingseed

They were called Easy Company-but their mission was never easy. Immortalized as the Band of Brothers, they suffered 150% casualties while liberating Europe-an unparalleled record of bravery under fire. Dick Winters was their commander-"the best combat leader in World War II" to his men. This is his story-told in his own words for the first time.

On D-Day, Dick Winters parachuted into France and assumed leadership of the Band of Brothers when their commander was killed. He led them through the Battle of the Bulge and into Germany, by which time each member had been wounded. They liberated an S.S. death camp from the horrors of the Holocaust and captured Berchtesgaden, Hitler's alpine retreat. After briefly serving during the Korean War, Winters was a highly successful businessman. Made famous by Stephen Ambrose's book Band of Brothers--and the subsequent award-winning HBO miniseries--he is the object of worldwide adulation.

Beyond Band of Brothers is Winters's memoir-based on his wartime diary-but it also includes his comrades' untold stories. Virtually all this material is being released for the first time. Only Winters was present from the activation of Easy Company until the war's end. Winner of the Distinguished Service Cross, only he could pen this moving tribute to the human spirit.