Tuesday, April 1, 2008
April 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
February 2008
Thursday, December 13, 2007
January 2008
And, our Gina actually has this book in her hot little hands, (thanks to our Christmas book exchange) so she is likely to read it. Lisa, has not read a book in let's just say a "little while" and was intrigued by the book, so she is likely to read it. With these great odds of someone actually reading the book, (Susie and Lynnea aside, we're already done with it!) we voted for this book. I loved the soul searching piece of it, for I think our 30/40s brings that out in our journey of life.
From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review: Elizabeth Gilbert (The Last American Man) grafts the structure of romantic fiction upon the inquiries of reporting in this sprawling yet methodical travelogue of soul-searching and self-discovery. Plagued with despair after a nasty divorce, the author, in her early 30s, divides a year equally among three dissimilar countries, exploring her competing urges for earthly delights and divine transcendence. First, pleasure: savoring Italy's buffet of delights--the world's best pizza, free-flowing wine and dashing conversation partners--Gilbert consumes la dolce vita as spiritual succor. "I came to Italy pinched and thin," she writes, but soon fills out in waist and soul. Then, prayer and ascetic rigor: seeking communion with the divine at a sacred ashram in India, Gilbert emulates the ways of yogis in grueling hours of meditation, struggling to still her churning mind. Finally, a balancing act in Bali, where Gilbert tries for equipoise "betwixt and between" realms, studies with a merry medicine man and plunges into a charged love affair. Sustaining a chatty, conspiratorial tone, Gilbert fully engages readers in the year's cultural and emotional tapestry--conveying rapture with infectious brio, recalling anguish with touching candor--as she details her exotic tableau with history, anecdote and impression.
See you in the new year!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
December 9th 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
October and Beyond 2007
Sunday, September 2, 2007
September 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
August 2007
by Kim Edwards
Edwards's assured but schematic debut novel (after her collection, The Secrets of a Fire King) hinges on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome, resulting in the father's disavowal of his newborn daughter. A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter's handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul's twin died at birth. Instead of institutionalizing Phoebe, Caroline absconds with her to Pittsburgh. David's deception becomes the defining moment of the main characters' lives, and Phoebe's absence corrodes her birth family's core over the course of the next 25 years. David's undetected lie warps his marriage; he grapples with guilt; Norah mourns her lost child; and Paul not only deals with his parents' icy relationship but with his own yearnings for his sister as well.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
July 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
The Historian June 2007
As well as numerous settings, both in and out of the East Bloc, Kostova has three basic story lines to keep straight--one from 1930, when Professor Bartolomew Rossi begins his dangerous research into Dracula, one from 1950, when Professor Rossi's student Paul takes up the scent, and the main narrative from 1972. The criss-crossing story lines mirror the political advances, retreats, triumphs, and losses that shaped Dracula's beleaguered homeland--sometimes with the Byzantines on top, sometimes the Ottomans, sometimes the rag-tag local tribes, or the Orthodox church, and sometimes a fresh conqueror like the Soviet Union.
Although the book is appropriately suspenseful and a delight to read--even the minor characters are distinctive and vividly seen--its most powerful moments are those that describe real horrors. Our narrator recalls that after reading descriptions of Vlad burning young boys or impaling "a large family," she tried to forget the words: "For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth." The reader, although given a satisfying ending, gets a strong enough dose of European history to temper the usual comforts of the closing words. --Regina Marler
Raising Cain May 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Old Readings
It goes:
Date, Book, Author, Host
February-00, Einstein's Dreams, Alan Lightman, Lynnea West
March-00, A Map of the World, Jane Hamilton, Lisa Thompson
April-00, The Christmas Box, Richard Paul Evans, Karen Doerfler
May-00, A Widow for One Year, John Irving, Gina Sciola
June-00, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis, Amy O'Neill
July-00, The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russel, Kelli Cox
August-00, SUMMER VACATION
September-00, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou, Susie Sawyer
October-00, Ishmael, Daniel Quinn, Lisa Bekemeyer
November-00, Bridget Jones' Diary (Baby Shower for Maya) Helen Fielding, Gina Sciola
December-00
January-01, The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans, Karen Doerfler
February-01, Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver, Lynnea West
March-01, The Red Tent (Baby Shower for Luke), Anita Diamant, Susie Sawyer
April-01, Left Behind, Tim LaHaye, Gina Sciola
May-01, Bridget Jones' Diary The Movie, MOA
June-01, Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur S. Golden, Amy O'Neill
July-01, SUMMER VACATION
August-01, Bee Season (Wedding Shower for Gina), Myla Goldberg, Lisa Bekemeyer
September-01, Stolen Lives, Malika Oufkir, Kelli Cox
October-01, Big Stone Gap, Adriana Trigiani, Lynnea West
November-01, Charms for the Easy Life, Kay Gibbons, Susie Sawyer
December-01
January-02, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman, Lisa Bekemeyer
February-02, A Beautiful Mind The Movie, MOA
March-02, When Calls the Heart, Florence Denais
April-02, Cause Celeb, Helen Fielding, Michael Possehl
May-02, Back When We Were Grownups, Gina Schneeberger
June-02, Mermaids Singing, Kelli Cox
July-02, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Lynnea West
August-02, The New Birth Order Book, Kevin Lehman, Susie Sawyer
September-02, The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, Brady Udall
October-02
November-02, A Girl Named Zippy, Haven Kimmel, Amy O'Neill
December-02
January-03
February-03, Satellite Sisters, Dolan Sisters, Fairview Hospital
March-03, Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris, The Good Earth
April-03, The Secret Life of Bees, Amy O'Neill
May-03, Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work (Wedding Shower for Susie), Gottman, Lisa Bekemeyer
June-03, YEARLY PLANNING, Lynnea West
July-03, SUMMER VACATION
August-03, The Hiding Place, Trezza Azzopardi, Kelli Cox
September-03
October-03
November-03
December-03
January-04
February-04
March-04
April-04
May-04
June-04
July-04, Waiting, Ha Jin
August-04, Nine Hills to Nambonkaha, Sara Erdman, Lynnea West
September-04, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, Dr. Laura, Michele Carlson
October-04, The Devil Wears Prada, Natasha Rodich
November-04, Indian Restaurant