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.