On Chesil Beach

On Chesil Beach is available in the library.

Our next meeting is January 16th in the library at 4:45 p.m.

See you then! Have a wonderful Holiday!

Discussion for Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox

We had a lively discussion about this book and found the author interview and newspaper article (both posted previously) very informative.

Clearly, I am the most bloodthirsty of the lot because I was "happy" with the Esme's act at the end. Others were not quite so sanguine about the outcome.

Did you think that Esme was justified? Did Esme realize her sister's part in her confinement only at the end?

How does Iris play into all of this? Is she the modern-day Esme (unfettered by old-fashioned convention) as the author suggests?

Would you recommend this book to someone? I certainly did.

New Books Are In

Some of the new books are in...please stop by the library to pick them up. We will be meeting on 12/12. Here is what we are reading: Across A Hundred Mountains.

Please be sure to return any book you may have. If I don't get a chance to see or talk to you, I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Esme Lennox tidbits

Here is a link to an article in the Telegraph that has some interesting parallels to our novel:

Falsely accused woman freed after 70 years and an interesting interview with Maggie O'Farrell

Meeting this Friday 11/14

Just a reminder that we will be meeting in the Library this Friday at 4:45 for the November Book Club.

New Books Are In

The next book: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox is available at the Reference Desk.

Book Discussion for Away

There were a number of discussion topics covered: immigrant literature, role of women, users, bad sex, emotions (or lack thereof), dreams and the ending. I very much doubt that we came to any firm conclusions but we very much enjoyed the journey.

1. One of the first questions I ask at every book group is: "Would you recommend this book to a friend?"

In the back of the trade paper edition there are a number of questions. Here are some of the ones we found most fruitful.

2. Relationships among family members, particularly parents and children, play an important role in the novel. Compare and contrast the relationship between Lillian and Sophie, Reuben and Meyer, Chinky and the Changs. What is distinct about each family? What is different?

3. Contrast Yaakov's story with Lillian's. How do they each handle the loss of a spouse and children, and how are they changed?

4. Dreams are a recurring theme in the novel. What are Lillian's dreams, both literal and metaphorical? How do these illustrate or inform the larger subject of the American dream?

5. "Not that she is mine. That I am hers, " Lillian says, describing her love for Sophie (p.79 - trade paper). In many ways, love is the primary engine of the plot. How does love define, inspire, and compel characters in the novel? What are some of the things characters do for love? Do you think tht love is portrayed in the novel as a wholly positive force?

Book Club Meeting and China Blog

Our inaugural meeting will be Friday, October 24th at 5:00 p.m. in the Library. We will have the library to ourselves.

As you may (or may not) know I am going with a group of faculty to China in support of a grant on Internationalizing Curriculum . Eileen McKee, Julie Delfinado, Roxanne Munch (from our very own book club), Berta Arias, Fred Miller, Max Lee and Jim Ethridge will be going as well. Gisele Atterberry (also a member of our little coterie) won't be going with us to China but will be visiting England instead (she has my deepest sympathies for the dreadful location.) We have created a blog (we hope to have it posted to a college web page soon) and hope to be posting from China. Here is the address: http://jjcchinavisit.blogspot.com/

Be sure to watch as I try, very hard, to stay out of trouble.

Books Are In!

The books are in!
The books are in!

Please stop by the Reference Desk to pick up your copy.

Book Request Survey

Please enter your request (if you want me to get the book) by Wednesday, September 17th by 11:30 p.m.

Away by Amy Bloom Request
Click Here to take survey

Survey Results

Here are the final counts!

• 12 VOTES: Away (Bloom), Across a Hundred Mountains (Grande) and On Chesil Beach (McEwan)
• 11 VOTES: Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (O'Farrell) and Then We Came to the End (Ferris)
  
• 10 VOTES: The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Hamid), Fire in the Blood (Nemirovsky) and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Diaz)
• 9 VOTES: Bridge of Sighs (Russo), The Lazarus Project (Heman), and Escape into America (Rivera)
• 8 VOTES: Spook Country (Gibson), A Free Life (Jin), The Road (McCarthy), The Gathering (Enright) and Lush Life (Price)
• 7 VOTES: Half of a Yellow Sun (Adichie), The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (Wroblewski), The Maytrees: A Novel (Dillard), Falling Man (DeLillo)
• 5 Votes: Master Pip (Jones), Savage Detectives (Bolano), Tree of Smoke: A Novel (Johnson)
• 1 Vote (I'm sad to announce that I was the only person who voted for this...typical) Atmospheric Disturbances (Galchen)
  

Susan
images are from USAsearch.gov

Suggested Meeting TImes and Books

I suggest that we start our reading with the books that got the most votes and then work our way down

• October - Away (Bloom) - sugggested meeting October 24th
• November - Across a Hundred Mountains (Grande) - suggested meeting November 14th
• December - On Chesil Beach (McEwan) - December 12th or 18th
• January - Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (O'Farrell) - January 16th
• February - Then We Came to the End (Ferris) - suggested meeting February 13th or 20th
• March - The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Hamid) - suggested meeting March 13th
• April - Fire in the Blood (Nemirovsky) - suggested meeting April 10th
• May - Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Diaz) - suggested meeting May 8th or 15th
• June - Bridge of Sighs (Russo) - suggested meeting June 12th
• July - Lazarus Project (Heman) - suggested meeting July 10th
• August - Escape into America (Rivera) - suggested meeting August 14th or 21st
• September - TBA

how do you want the books?

Information I need from you:

1. Do you want me to order a copy of our October book? New (amazon $11.20)? Loan? Audio? Large Print? Please let me know by Wednesday, September 17th.
2. Do you want me to order a copy of our November book? New (amazon $4.99)? Loan? Audio? Large Print? Please let me know by Friday, October 3rd.
3. Is there a book you would like to host? I will supply you with reviews and other background info (where available.)
4. Do you think you will attend the October meeting?
   

Ooooh, I almost forgot. It must be lack of caffeine. Do we want to have food and beverages? I can arrange for some fruit, soda, water and other small snacks for the first meeting. Perhaps we could chip in for anything else? This is going to be soooo much fun!

Face to Face Meetings (if you want):
We can meet in the library on Fridays after hours (so about 4;45 or 5:00.) I have a volunteer for On Chesil Beach. If no one else wants it I will cover Away. Does anyone have any preferences for hosting? Please remember you don't have to be here for the meeting and you don't have to make every month. I will set up a discussion on our blog for every book and as blog authors we can talk about each book online too! If you would like me to send you another invitation to the blog or you would like me to help you set it up just let me know.

Talk to you soon,
Susan

Welcome to the Fiction Readers Group

Hi Everyone!
Welcome to the blog for our book discussion group. Please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the functionality of the site. When you are unable to attend a meeting (assuming we can ever set a date) you can join the discussion by posting comments and observations on our blog.

Survey Monkey Survey

Here is the survey for our book selections for the year.

Please pick twelve books.

Click Here to take survey

Links for the Suggested Books

Here is a collection of links with information about the books on the list.
Please remember if you have any suggestions you may e-mail them to me....I will be very happy to entertain "write in" candidates.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz

Savage Detectives – Roberto Bolano

Then We Came to the End – Joshua Ferris

On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan

Away – Amy Bloom

Tree of Smoke: A Novel – Dennis Johnson

The God of Animals – Aryn Kyle

Bridge of Sighs – Richard Russo

Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell

Falling Man – Don De Lillo

A Free Life – Ha Jin

Fire in the Blood – Irene Nemiroswky

The Maytrees: A Novel – Annie Dillard

Spook Country – William Gibson

The Road – Cormack McCarthy

Escape Into America – Flavio Rivera

The Gathering - Ann Enright

Mister Pip – Lloyd Jones

Atmospheric Disturbances – Rivka Galchen

The Lazarus Project – Aleksander Heman

Lush Life – Richard Price

Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimanaenda Ngozi Adichie

Across a Hundred Mountains – Renya Grande

The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Moshin Hamid

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - David Wroblewski

The Condition - Jennifer Haigh