The Year of Magical Thinking

Hello,

Thank you all for coming last night, what a great discussion. For those of you who missed the group, this month we read The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. I think what I love most about our group is just how honest everyone is about there feelings for the books that we read. At the beginning of every meeting I always ask, did everyone read and finish, what normally follows is a chorus of yes, no, halfway through. My favorite comments this month were Connie, when asked if she liked the book she replied URGGGGGGG the pain was relentless ... for me to read ! Followed by Lori saying how much she loved the book and the way it dealt with the topic of loss. Its so interesting to hear what everyone's view point is, especially on such a dark topic. For those of you who have not read the book here is a link to a very complimentary review from the NYC. The premise of the book is about how Didion deals with the sudden death of her husband just before their 40th anniversary. Didion fills the book with a unique way of describing how she takes the next year searching for answers and relief for the loss of her partner. Even the book jacket is used to highlight her loss, the letters JOHN are spelt out within her name in another color.

Didion talks about loss and being a widow, making the situation feel very real for many of the readers, Rose felt many similarities in her life that parallel Didion, from the places they had been to the the medical issues that arose within their families. We all felt some sort of connection with the topic of death and the way that we approach it, all commenting on how it always seems that when your not paying attention or have just walked away that it happens like they are waiting for you to leave.

Carol quoted this poem by Jane Kenyon about the feeling of waiting for loss to happen. How we go through life's routine and then one day it will not be the same any more.

We did find the book a little relentless and were left wondering if she was wallowing in self pity. She came across as quite a cold character showing no emotional break downs or pure feelings of sorrow, but perhaps this is just the way that she dealt with her loss ? The book is full of quotes and references to non-fiction titles, she even references Emily Post and the appropriate etiquette of Mourning. Perhaps she is just a very analytical person and the regimented structure helps ?

In the back of my book were a list of book club questions, one of which mentioned that she was planning on making this a broad way play, I have to admit the idea of watching this on stage sounds terrible and depressing. It made it onto the stage, and Vanessa Redgrave played Didion ! Here is the link to the performance review let me know what you think !

I'm looking forward to a brighter lighter topic next month, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

Happy Reading,
Ellie

What every one has been reading:

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold fry by Rachel Joyce
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Grace Notes by Brian Doyle (author of Mink River)
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman (author of Lexus and the olive tree)
Sleeping with the Enemy by Hal Vaughn
Other Voices Other Rooms by Truman Capote
To Have and Have Not by Hemmingway
Crooked letter Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
Bring up the Bodies by Hillary Mantel (author of Wolf Hall)
The Push Cart Prize - Short stoories collection
Elsewhere by Richard Russo
A Beautiful Blue Death by Charles Finch
The Round House by Loiuse Erdich
Light Behavior by Barbara Kinsolver
Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
Fall of the Giants by Ken Follett
1491 by Charles Mann





2013 list of book club reads :

February : The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

March : The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

April : Elanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir

May : Dancing for Degas by Kathryn Wagner

June : Lightning by Jean Echenoz

July : The Language of Flowers by Lauren Diffenburg

August : Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

September : The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

October : A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova

November : Down the Nile by Rosemary Mahoney

December : The Ghost Map by Steve Johnson

Happy Reading

Ellie

The Votes are in 2013

Hi Everyone,

Thank you to everyone for taking the time to vote for this years book list, I hope that you have all found something new or something that you were meaning to read. So without furthur ado here is the next 12 months list of book club reads :

February : The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

March : The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

April : Elanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir

May : Dancing for Degas by Kathryn Wagner

June : Lightning by Jean Echenoz

July : The Language of Flowers by Lauren Diffenburg

August : Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

September : The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

October : A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova

November : Down the Nile by Rosemary Mahoney

December : The Ghost Map by Steve Johnson

Happy Reading

Ellie

Book Votes 2013

Hi Everyone,

Let the annual book voting begin below are the titles that I am recommending for this years reading. Please select 12 that you like and comment in the box below, email me or leave a note at he library front desk.

Happy Voting !

Novels
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Lightning: A Novel by Jean Echenoz
Dancing for Degas: A Novel by Kathryn Wagner
Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
The Language of Flowers by Lauren Diffenbaugh
Blue Orchard by Jackson Taylor
The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent
A mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova
Roots by Alex Haley
Smuggled: A Novel by Christina Shea


Non Fiction
Down the Nile: alone in a Fisherman's Skiff by Rosemary Mahoney
The Ghost Map by Steve Johnson
The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century by Steven Watts
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir

Short Stories
Ten Sorry Tales by Mick Jackson

The Women by T.C Boyle

Hello Everyone,

This past month we read and discussed The Women by T C Boyle, a novel about Frank Lloyd Wrights women. Whilst Frank could be said to be one of the architectural genius of modern time not much can be said for his behavior with women. We were all in-fact astonished with how much they were willing to put up with, it was almost as if they were groupies. I have added a link to the NY Times Review which includes an interview with the author who actually lives in one of Franks homes.

I hope you have all had a wonderful start to the new year and look froward to seeing you tonight.

Happy reading,

Ellie

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place—-and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.

Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end—-but instead she discovers it is only just beginning.

With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka'i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death. Such is the warmth, humor, and compassion of this novel that "few readers will remain unchanged by Rachel's story"

Alan Brennerts website click here has a great biography all about the author and his novel.

This really was a great read and very informative about Moloka'i and the leprosy colony. I hope you all enjoyed it !

Happy reading

Ellie

Lady of the Snakes by Rachel Paston

Octobers Book Club introduced us to  Lady of the Snakes by Rachel Paston, a cunning literary detective story. The novel is an unflinching and compassionate portrait of its heroine, a young woman struggling to manage the competing demands of marriage, motherhood and career. This book met with mixed reviews, nobody particularly liked any of the characters and quite often found them irritating, although sometimes its good to read with an annoying protagonist it can get a little dry after a while! We all felt like it could have done with some extra editing, or even a different ending altogether. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
 

Blind Woman Sleeping Woman by Harukumi Murakami

Septembers book choice offered some what of a challenge for the book group, I think it would be safe to say that at least half of the group did not enjoy this book. We read Blind Woman Sleeping Woman by Harukumi Murakami. She writes with a very distinct melancholic style that seems very influenced by her nationality. This collection of short stories is both slow and fast, descriptive and vacant, true to life and fantastical. Her imagery is outstanding and the attention to detail is flawless. Every tale is strange and for the longest time no of us could figure out why they went together at all ? Then Connie pointed out that they all centered around some feeling of loss, after that revelation it was a lot easier to understand the stories and the direction that Murakami was going. I have add a great review for you to read from
Quarterly Review.
I hope you liked or at least found interesting the fantastically strange observations that she writes about.
Happy reading,
Ellie