Please vote!
The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four
daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his
family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them
everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all
of it—from garden seeds to Scripture—is calamitously transformed on
African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic
undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades
in postcolonial Africa.
The Pillars of the Earth is a historical novel by Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. It is set in the middle of the 12th century, primarily during the Anarchy, between the time of the sinking of the White Ship and the murder of Thomas Becket. The book traces the development of Gothic architecture out of the preceding Romanesque architecture, and the fortunes of the Kingsbridge priory and village against the backdrop of historical events of the time. The novel explores themes of intrigue and conspiracy against historical
events. It explores the development of medieval architecture, the civil
war, secular/religious conflicts, and shifting political loyalties.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
October Pick: Middlesex
"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a
remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a
teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of
l974. . . My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen
Stephanides. My most recent driver’s license...records my first name
simply as Cal."
So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of l967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Pointe, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.
Middlesex is the winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974." And so begins Middlesex, the mesmerizing saga of a near-mythic Greek American family and the "roller-coaster ride of a single gene through time." The odd but utterly believable story of Cal Stephanides, and how this 41-year-old hermaphrodite was raised as Calliope, is at the tender heart of this long-awaited second novel from Jeffrey Eugenides, whose elegant and haunting 1993 debut, The Virgin Suicides, remains one of the finest first novels of recent memory.
Eugenides weaves together a kaleidoscopic narrative spanning 80 years of a stained family history, from a fateful incestuous union in a small town in early 1920s Asia Minor to Prohibition-era Detroit; from the early days of Ford Motors to the heated 1967 race riots; from the tony suburbs of Grosse Pointe and a confusing, aching adolescent love story to modern-day Berlin. Eugenides's command of the narrative is astonishing. He balances Cal/Callie's shifting voices convincingly, spinning this strange and often unsettling story with intelligence, insight, and generous amounts of humor:
http://www.amazon.com/Middlesex-Novel-Oprahs-Book-Club/dp/0312427735
Friday, May 25, 2012
Sept. Book Pick: The Leftovers
The Leftovers by Tom Perotta
Kevin Garvey, Mapleton’s new mayor, wants to speed up the healing process, to bring a sense of renewed hope and purpose to his traumatized community. Kevin’s own family has fallen apart in the wake of the disaster: his wife, Laurie, has left to join the Guilty Remnant, a homegrown cult whose members take a vow of silence;
his son, Tom, is gone, too, dropping out of college to follow a sketchy prophet named Holy Wayne. Only Kevin’s teenaged daughter, Jill, remains, and she’s definitely not the sweet “A” student she used to be.
Kevin wants to help her, but he’s distracted by his growing
relationship with Nora Durst, a woman who lost her entire family on
October 14th and is still reeling from the tragedy, even as she
struggles to move beyond it and make a new start.
With heart, intelligence and a rare ability to illuminate the struggles inherent in ordinary lives, Tom Perrotta has written a startling, thought-provoking novel about love, connection and loss.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Leftovers-Tom-Perrotta/dp/0312358342
Book Description
A New York Times Notable Book for 2011
A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book for 2011
A USA Today 10 Books We Loved Reading in 2011 Title
One of NPR’s 10 Best Novels of 2011
What
if—whoosh, right now, with no explanation—a number of us simply
vanished? Would some of us collapse? Would others of us go on, one foot
in front of the other, as we did before the world turned upside down?
That’s
what the bewildered citizens of Mapleton, who lost many of their
neighbors, friends and lovers in the event known as the Sudden
Departure, have to figure out. Because nothing has been the same since
it happened—not marriages, not friendships, not even the relationships
between parents and children. Kevin Garvey, Mapleton’s new mayor, wants to speed up the healing process, to bring a sense of renewed hope and purpose to his traumatized community. Kevin’s own family has fallen apart in the wake of the disaster: his wife, Laurie, has left to join the Guilty Remnant, a homegrown cult whose members take a vow of silence;
his son, Tom, is gone, too, dropping out of college to follow a sketchy prophet named Holy Wayne. Only Kevin’s teenaged daughter, Jill, remains, and she’s definitely not the sweet “A” student she used to be.
With heart, intelligence and a rare ability to illuminate the struggles inherent in ordinary lives, Tom Perrotta has written a startling, thought-provoking novel about love, connection and loss.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Leftovers-Tom-Perrotta/dp/0312358342
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Book Picks: May, June, July, August
MAY:
BEYOND THE SLING by Mayim Bialik
(We kicked off this book club in May 2011 with a parenting book, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother", so it'll be fun to debate this one!)
Drawing on both her experience as a mother and her scientific background, Mayim presents the major tenets of attachment parenting.
JUNE:
THE PARIS WIFE by Paula McLain
A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.
JULY:
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, by E. L. James.
An inexperienced college student falls in love with a tortured man who has particular sexual tastes; the first book in a trilogy.
AUGUST:
WILD, by Cheryl Strayed
A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.
Get on the wait list now--- it is a looong list!
~~
BEYOND THE SLING by Mayim Bialik
(We kicked off this book club in May 2011 with a parenting book, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother", so it'll be fun to debate this one!)
Drawing on both her experience as a mother and her scientific background, Mayim presents the major tenets of attachment parenting.
JUNE:
THE PARIS WIFE by Paula McLain
A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.
JULY:
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, by E. L. James.
An inexperienced college student falls in love with a tortured man who has particular sexual tastes; the first book in a trilogy.
AUGUST:
WILD, by Cheryl Strayed
A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.
Get on the wait list now--- it is a looong list!
~~
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
April Pick: Lift AND The Hunger Games (surprise!)
Yep--that's right-- TWO BOOKS!
"But, why?", you ask.
Well, I really like the sound of "Lift" for us--but we haven't done a non-fiction book in almost a year (in May 2011 we did "Cinderella Ate My Daughter"), and I know many of you have said you prefer fiction-- plus it's WAY short.
I have also heard the buzzing around The Hunger Games-- in fact, one of our DBC members, Lesly, suggested a fieldtrip to the movie. (Comes out in March 2012)
So we'll have one fiction and one non-fiction.
"But, why not save one for May?" you ask.
Because one is 96 pages and one is a young adult book! Combined, still the average length of our books.
Read more about them below.
Here is how we'll work it... we'll start Book Club at 8:30 that month and do 45 mins of each book. :)
"But, why?", you ask.
Well, I really like the sound of "Lift" for us--but we haven't done a non-fiction book in almost a year (in May 2011 we did "Cinderella Ate My Daughter"), and I know many of you have said you prefer fiction-- plus it's WAY short.
I have also heard the buzzing around The Hunger Games-- in fact, one of our DBC members, Lesly, suggested a fieldtrip to the movie. (Comes out in March 2012)
So we'll have one fiction and one non-fiction.
"But, why not save one for May?" you ask.
Because one is 96 pages and one is a young adult book! Combined, still the average length of our books.
Read more about them below.
Here is how we'll work it... we'll start Book Club at 8:30 that month and do 45 mins of each book. :)
 |
| Written as a letter to her children, Kelly Corrigan's Lift is a tender, intimate, and robust portrait of risk and love; a touchstone for anyone who wants to live more fully. In Lift, Corrigan weaves together three true and unforgettable stories of adults willing to experience emotional hazards in exchange for the gratifications of raising children. Lift takes its name from hang gliding, a pursuit that requires flying directly into rough air, because turbulence saves a glider from "sinking out." For Corrigan, this wisdom--that to fly requires chaotic, sometimes even violent passages--becomes a metaphor for all of life's most meaningful endeavors, particularly the great flight that is parenting. Corrigan serves it up straight--how mundanely and fiercely her children have been loved, how close most lives occasionally come to disaster, and how often we fall short as mothers and fathers. Lift is for everyone who has been caught off guard by the pace and vulnerability of raising children, to remind us that our work is important and our time limited. |
 |
| "Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When her sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place." |
Sunday, December 18, 2011
The first 3 books of 2012:
Book Chats are always the 1st Thursday of the month!
DecemberState of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Book Chat: Jan. 5
January
Sing You Home by Jodi PicoultBook Chat: Feb. 2
February
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey EugenidesBook Chat: March 1
March American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar (release date: Jan. 9)
Book Chat: April 5
March's Pick: American Dervish
http://www.amazon.com/American-Dervish-Novel-Ayad-Akhtar/dp/0316183318
When Mina meets and begins dating a man, Hayat is confused by his feelings of betrayal. His growing passions, both spiritual and romantic, force him to question all that he has come to believe is true. Just as Mina finds happiness, Hayat is compelled to act -- with devastating consequences for all those he loves most.
American Dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life. Ayad Akhtar was raised in the Midwest himself, and through Hayat Shah he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up Muslim in America. This is an intimate, personal first novel that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.
This book will be released Jan. 9, 2012
Keep checking your library throughout January to get on the list right when it comes in!
Synopsis on AMAZON:
Hayat Shah is a young American in love for the first time. His normal life of school, baseball, and video games had previously been distinguished only by his Pakistani heritage and by the frequent chill between his parents, who fight over things he is too young to understand. Then Mina arrives, and everything changes.
Mina is Hayat's mother's oldest friend from Pakistan. She is independent, beautiful and intelligent, and arrives on the Shah's doorstep when her disastrous marriage in Pakistan disintegrates. Even Hayat's skeptical father can't deny the liveliness and happiness that accompanies Mina into their home. Her deep spirituality brings the family's Muslim faith to life in a way that resonates with Hayat as nothing has before. Studying the Quran by Mina's side and basking in the glow of her attention, he feels an entirely new purpose mingled with a growing infatuation for his teacher.
When Mina meets and begins dating a man, Hayat is confused by his feelings of betrayal. His growing passions, both spiritual and romantic, force him to question all that he has come to believe is true. Just as Mina finds happiness, Hayat is compelled to act -- with devastating consequences for all those he loves most.
American Dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life. Ayad Akhtar was raised in the Midwest himself, and through Hayat Shah he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up Muslim in America. This is an intimate, personal first novel that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.
Mina is Hayat's mother's oldest friend from Pakistan. She is independent, beautiful and intelligent, and arrives on the Shah's doorstep when her disastrous marriage in Pakistan disintegrates. Even Hayat's skeptical father can't deny the liveliness and happiness that accompanies Mina into their home. Her deep spirituality brings the family's Muslim faith to life in a way that resonates with Hayat as nothing has before. Studying the Quran by Mina's side and basking in the glow of her attention, he feels an entirely new purpose mingled with a growing infatuation for his teacher.
When Mina meets and begins dating a man, Hayat is confused by his feelings of betrayal. His growing passions, both spiritual and romantic, force him to question all that he has come to believe is true. Just as Mina finds happiness, Hayat is compelled to act -- with devastating consequences for all those he loves most.
American Dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life. Ayad Akhtar was raised in the Midwest himself, and through Hayat Shah he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up Muslim in America. This is an intimate, personal first novel that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.
When Mina meets and begins dating a man, Hayat is confused by his feelings of betrayal. His growing passions, both spiritual and romantic, force him to question all that he has come to believe is true. Just as Mina finds happiness, Hayat is compelled to act -- with devastating consequences for all those he loves most.
American Dervish is a brilliantly written, nuanced, and emotionally forceful look inside the interplay of religion and modern life. Ayad Akhtar was raised in the Midwest himself, and through Hayat Shah he shows readers vividly the powerful forces at work on young men and women growing up Muslim in America. This is an intimate, personal first novel that will stay with readers long after they turn the last page.
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