March 2, 2018 Jack, Elise, Julie, Lori, Kate, and Debbie will meet at the Cuban Restaurant, Cortaditos Cuban Cafe, on Meeting Street. The book for this meeting is Power by Naomi Alderman

We've been meeting for 4 or 5 years now, mostly the same six or seven loyal friends. Forgive the few and far between my posts. Not much to tell, just a nice long list of books that we've read.

Reading List Updated

Take a look at the Books We've Read. 54 titles in total. Of those, my favorites are: The Quiet American, Fingersmith, The Help, Let the Great world spin, Cutting for stone, Sisters Brothers, People of the book, The Secret History, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Maya's Notebook, Orphan Master's Son, The Lost city of Z, The Signature of all things (I think this is my favorite)

Fall semester 2014

Well..............I'm sorry you haven't been revited by my newest news of the book group. But, you know, we are faculty and therefore NOT here in the summer. Reading the last two big fat books has been a burden for me. I'm such a slow reader so I thought this must be the reason I didn't love the books. Ah, not true, because I love Gone with the Wind! The last book, The Luminaries, brought such questions that most of use just gave up trying to put all the pieces together. Only a couple of people took the intellectual challenge. Cheers to them. We had a great meeting November 14 at the Park Cafe, talking about Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of All Things.

DeSano Pizza Bakery

Our meeting at the new local pizza place, DeSano Pizza Bakery, went very well. The space is somewhat like a wharehouse, but it's quiet enough for our meeting. The pizza is good and wine too. I suppose we'll continue to meet there, at least for this semester. We talked about books we read over the holidays. Tanya read and liked very much Empty Mansions. I can't remember the other books we discussed.

Setember 6, 2013. I'm enjoying the Orphan Master's Son which begins in North Korea. A glimpse into this oppressive culture where people have no control over their lives. In one passage, a sailor recounts a horrifying tale of a giant squid, put stops abrutly as a panic came over them. It is unlawful to talk about anything that inspires passion that is not directed to their totalitarian LEADER. This has to be the epitomy of oppression. Other horrors are revealed, such as prisoners being sent to an underground tunnel, never allowed to exit.

September's book was Stephen King's 11/22/63 October's book was The Secret History by Donna Tartt

QUIZ: What is bildungsroman? ANSWER: It represents a genre of novels about the moral and psychological growth of the main character. Examples: The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy, Great Expectations by Dickens, The House of Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and Villages by John Updike.

We have read some really good books this year! Thanks to all for the recommendations. Since my last (very long ago) post, this is what we've read. People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan The Land of Green Plumbs, by Herta Muller The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot The books I enjoyed the most were People of the book, Sisters Brothers, and Cutting for Stone. Which did you like?

May 6

At this meeting we came up with a list of possible titles. “Tiger’s wife“ by Tea Obrht "When the killing was done" by T.C. Boil “War at the end of the world” by Mario Vargas Llosa

April 1

Ella Minnow Pea was an odd little book, I thought. Set on an island off the coast of South Carolina, the marque in the town square with a quote by a local poet/famous man, kept loosing letters. One day a letter dropped off, and from that day on, the residents of the island were forbidden to use that letter in speaking and writing. On and on it went as letters continued to drop off. I found it silly and annoying, but others found it fascinating that someone could write such a cleaver book, using fewer and fewer letters as the novel went on. See for yourselves. Suite Frances is a novel about the German occupation in a small town in France. It provided an interesting perspective on the German occupying forces.

February 11, 2011

Our discussion of The Room focused mainly on the escape; the boy rolled up in a rug, slung over his fathers shoulder, to be buried. He gets out of the truck, and someone calls 911; the officers find the room within minutes, and the mother, and eventually Old Nick. The mother - how did she know what skills the child needed to survive in that little space, and prepare him for the real world, if they ever escape. Why did she try to kill herself after all she had accomplished? New recommended reads have been posted, as we brainstormed our favorite books ever, and those we still want to read. Happy singles awareness day (Valentine's Day)

Fast forward to the end of 2010

I missed the meeting in December at which the talk was about THE ELEGANCE OF A HEDGEHOG. Don't know how it was enjoyed. I'm still reading it, and won't know 'til the end if I like it or not. It's not what you call... rivetting. But the protagonists do bring up more than several interesting topics for discussion. So, on to 2011. We'll be reading THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, by Rebecca Skloot. Amazon has 400 reviews already!

May Meeting

Oops, April went so quickly, I didn't get a post in about that meeting, but, nevermind. In May we all agreed, with wonder and amazement, about the The Book Thief. Most interesting was the identity of the narrator. We talked a lot about WWII, not only because it is the setting, but also because at the scene was our political science prof, and history prof, interested and knowledgable about this time in our pitiful history. So...... what have you to say? FYI> Two margaritas might be too much.

March Meeting

Was anyone at Taco Boy on the 26th? I wasn't there, but spoke with a couple of people about the book. Between the three of us, no one finished The Land of Green Plumbs, because we found it either too depressing or difficult to follow.

February Meeting

Well, it's already March 17, so...... I'm not remembering much about that meeting. We loved The Help...haven't talked to anyone who didn't enjoy it very much. Wonder how we'll feel about The Land of Green Plumbs.

January meeting

Everyone agrees that Wolf Hall is a difficult book to read. One person finished it (with difficulty), one was still reading it, and others just stopped after 50 or 100 pages. We all had an interest in the time period, so our discussion was quite lively. The book we're reading for February is The Help. An easy read, one that's hard to put down. Our challenge now is to find a new time to meet. With graduate classes beginning at 4:00 on Monday, Tuesdays and Thursdays, that leaves Wednesday, which doesn't work for Jack, and Friday. Friday seems to be the only free day. I like it! So does Jane. :-)

Spring semester book list

During our December meeting, we chose four books for next semester. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - January 13 The Help by Kathryn Stockett - February The Land of Green Plums by Herta Mueller - March The We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris - April

South of Broad

On Monday we talked about Pat Conroy's new book with contrasting opinions. Some didn't like it at all, others liked it quite a lot. "Over the top," was often heard in the discussions about several of the characters. And, why was the suicide mentioned at the very beginning and end, but nothing in between? Jane would have liked a hundred pages on that dramatic event. The scene on The Citadel campus, as it turns out, is one that Cadets have imagined happening "for real." Let's hope not. All in all, I'm looking forward to reading this book over the holidays. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Taco Boy! 217 Huger Street

Margaritaville......sitting under an umbrella, on the tile (cement) floor of le chique le cool restaurant, we whiled away an hour or two talking books, politics, history, books, and more........... and of course enjoyed la salsa, tacos, and quesadilla. Yumm........yeah, we had fun.