December 2, 2012, Meeting at Pembrook

Noontime meeting at Pembrook.  Carol was able to attend for the first hour and then had to leave.  Her Mom was being honored as the oldest citizen of Lincoln, NH, and was being given the special cane passed on to the oldest town resident in every NH town.  What an honor!  Congratulations, Mrs. L. 

 It was in 1909 that the Boston Post dispatched more than 700 canes to communities in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Rhode Island. The selectmen were given the gold-headed, ebony cane and asked to pass the cane on to their oldest resident. In return, the newspaper asked to be informed of the recipients, with circulation-boosting tales about what they attribute their old age to.

We had a fun time with our annual Yankee Swap using re-gifted gifts..

Voted on Kathy's suggestions for our February book.  "Their Eyes Were Watching God"  by Zora Neale Hurston was chosen by majority vote.  

Book discussed was Stephen King's "11/22/63".  Most of us liked this loooooong 800 + page book.  Not everyone had appreciated the works of King in the past....and perhaps half of the group did like his usual style of writing.

Most of us were young adults during the years of 1958 - 1963 and could appreciate the times and music as described in the book.   The theme of time travel was enjoyed by most.  We agreed that it is not easy to change the course of history.  To several, the book seemed too long.  An abridged edition might be perfect.

The word or acronym JIMLA came up quite often in the book.  What did this mean?

As always, we ate well at our meeting.  Requested recipes will be posted on our River Run Recipes blog site.

For our Christmas Community contribution, we collected food items for the Campton Food Pantry, books for women and children, cosmetics and toiletries for women.  Marilyn will deliver the food and clothing contributions and Diane will take care of the books and toiletries.

World Book Night was discussed.  Kathy will send out an email to remind everyone to apply for these free books which will be shared in our community in April.  

Our book for January 27, meeting is "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes.  We will meet at Colonel Spencer Inn.

We missed our members who were not able to join us for this meeting.....Ann F, Ann S, Bev, Lori, and Stephanie,

Kathy's suggestions for February Book Selection

Suggestions for Book Club – February 24, 2013

“The Incredible Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” by Rachel Joyce -  336 pages

I am reading this book.  Am two thirds of the way through…and liking it.  If you liked “Major Pettigrew”, I think that you would like this one.

Amazon Best Books of the Month, July 2012: Harold Fry--retired sales rep, beleaguered husband, passive observer of his own life--decides one morning to walk 600 miles across England to save an old friend. It might not work, mind you, but that's hardly the point. In playwright Rachel Joyce's pitch-perfect first novel, Harold wins us over with his classic antiheroism. Setting off on the long journey, he wears the wrong jacket, doesn't have a toothbrush, and leaves his phone at home--in short, he is wholly, endearingly unprepared. But as he travels, Harold finally has time to reflect on his failings as a husband, father, and friend, and this helps him become someone we (and, more important, his wife Maureen) can respect. After walking for a while in Harold Fry's very human shoes, you might find that your own fit a bit better. --Mia Lipman

http://www.amazon.com/Unlikely-Pilgrimage-Harold-Fry-Novel/dp/0812993292/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353602533&sr=1-1&keywords=harold+fry+pilgrimage

“Their Eyes were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston (I purchased but have not read this book as yet.)  256 pages

One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston's beloved 1937 classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose. A true literary wonder, Hurston's masterwork remains as relevant and affecting today as when it was first published -- perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature.

http://www.amazon.com/Their-Eyes-Were-Watching-God/dp/0061120065/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352404631&sr=8-1&keywords=their+eyes+were+watching+god

Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel   448 pages

By Susan Vreeland

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

It’s 1893, and at the Chicago World’s Fair, Louis Comfort Tiffany makes his debut with a luminous exhibition of innovative stained-glass windows that he hopes will earn him a place on the international artistic stage. But behind the scenes in his New York studio is the freethinking Clara Driscoll, head of his women’s division, who conceives of and designs nearly all of the iconic leaded-glass lamps for which Tiffany will long be remembered. Never publicly acknowledged, Clara struggles with her desire for artistic recognition and the seemingly insurmountable challenges that she faces as a professional woman. She also yearns for love and companionship, and is devoted in different ways to five men, including Tiffany, who enforces a strict policy: He does not employ married women. Ultimately, Clara must decide what makes her happiest—the professional world of her hands or the personal world of her heart.
448 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Clara-Mr-Tiffany-Susan-Vreeland/dp/0812980182/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351702757&sr=1-1&keywords=clara+and+mr.+tiffany+by+susan+vreeland

Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepa

By Connor Grennan – 304 pages

In search of adventure, 29-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.

Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined. When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war—for a huge fee—by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury. Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life’s work.
Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyond our wildest expectations.
304 pages
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Princes-Promise-Bring-Children/dp/B005UVQ5BW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351703165&sr=1-1&keywords=little+princes+one+man%27s+promise+to+bring+home+the+lost+children+of+nepal

 

 

In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom - 464 pages

By Quata Ahmed

From Booklist

Denied visa renewal in America, British-born Pakistani physician Ahmed, 31, leaves New York for a job in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she celebrates her Muslim faith on an exciting Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca even as she encounters rabid oppression from the state-sanctioned religious extremist police. She is licensed to operate ICU machines in the emergency ward, but as a woman, she is forbidden to drive, and she must veil every inch of herself. Her witty insider-outsider commentary as a Muslim and feminist, both reverent and highly critical, provides rare insight into the upper-class Saudi scene today, including the roles of women and men in romance, weddings, parenting, divorce, work, and friendship. After 9/11, she is shocked at the widespread anti-Americanism. The details of consumerism, complete with Western brand names, get a bit tiresome, but they are central  to this honest memoir about connections and conflicts, and especially the clamorous clash of “modern and medieval, . . . Cadillac and camel.” --Hazel Rochman

464 pages

http://www.amazon.com/Land-Invisible-Women-Doctors-Journey/dp/1402210876/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351703020&sr=1-1&keywords=in+the+land+of+invisible+women

October 28, 2012, Meeting at Diane's

Good representation at this meeting.  Only two members not able to attend.  The book discussed was "The Tea Tree Bird Watching Society".  We had diverse opinions of this book.....from "really enjoyed it" to "strongly disliked the book".  Marlena appreciated the loyalty of the friendships of the women in this story.  When those who opposed the book tried to say something positive.....it was "thank goodness, it was a short book....a fast read".  We discussed the "powerful" retired judge moving into town taking over to benefit himself,....and the abused woman whose friends tried to save. 

We voted for the book that we will discussed at the January 27, meeting.  Our choice of Judy's suggestions was "The Sense of An Ending" by Julian Barnes.

Our next meeting is on December 2, at Pembrook.  We will have a "Re-Gifted Yankee Swap.  Our North Country members will collect food for the Campton Food Pantry.  Our Southern Gals will contribute to causes in their areas.  Claire made a request for personal hygiene products, towels, and twin sized sheets for Women's Lunch Place where she volunteers.  We will also collect children's books for the homeless shelter in Plymouth. 

Book to be discussed at December meeting is Stephen King's "11/22/63". 

. 

Judy's Suggestions for our January Read

The Cat’s Table, Michael Ondaatje (author of The English Patient) Amazon Best Books of the Month, 10/2011

In the early 1950s, an eleven-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound for England. At mealtimes he is seated at the “cat’s table”—as far from the Captain’s Table as can be—with a ragtag group of “insignificant” adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship crosses the Indian Ocean, the boys tumble from one adventure to another, bursting all over the place like freed mercury. But there are other diversions as well: they are first exposed to the magical worlds of jazz, women, and literature by their eccentric fellow travelers, and together they spy on a shackled prisoner, his crime and fate a galvanizing mystery that will haunt them forever. By turns poignant and electrifying, The Cat’s Table is a spellbinding story about the magical, often forbidden, discoveries of childhood, and a lifelong journey that begins unexpectedly with a spectacular sea voyage.

288 pages

 

The Dovekeepers is Alice Hoffman’s most ambitious and mesmerizing novel, a tour de force of research and imagination.

Nearly two thousand years ago, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic and iconic event, Hoffman’s novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path. Yael’s mother died in childbirth, and her father, an expert assassin, never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker’s wife, watched the murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they have witnessed. Aziza is a warrior’s daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and expert marksman who finds passion with a fellow soldier. Shirah, born in Alexandria, is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power.

The lives of these four complex and fiercely independent women intersect in the desperate days of the siege. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets—about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love.

528 pages

 

 

The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes

Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize

A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning new chapter in Julian Barnes's oeuvre.   

This intense novel follows Tony Webster, a middle-aged man, as he contends with a past he never thought much about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. Tony thought he left this all behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world. 

 

“A page-turner, and when you finish you will return immediately to the beginning.” —San Francisco Chronicle


 

At 176 pages, The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes Man Booker-nominated latest is barely even a novella. Yet, there's something to be said for an author willing to tell a story in the time that is needed to tell it, and not feeling compelled to pad the narrative. Mr. Barnes has included exactly what's needed within these pages and not a word more.

 

A Yellow Raft on Blue Water, Michael Doris

The author has crafted a fierce saga of three generations of Indian women, beset by hardships and torn by angry secrets, yet inextricably joined by the bonds of kinship. Starting in the present day and moving backward, the novel is told in the voices of the three women: fifteen-year-old part-black Rayona; her American Indian mother, Christine, consumed by tenderness and resentment toward those she loves; and the fierce and mysterious Ida, mother and grandmother whose haunting secrets, betrayals, and dreams echo through the years, braiding together the strands of the shared past.  384 pages

Diane's Birthday Luncheon

On Monday, October 15, 2012, eleven of us gathered to celebrate Diane's "Special Birthday".  This was a Pot Luck luncheon so we ate very well.   Below is a link to photos taken at this celebration.

You are invited to view kdidier's photo album: Diane's Birthday Luncheon

Diane's Birthday Luncheon Oct 15, 2012 by kdidier View Album Play slideshow

September 30, 2012 - Meeting at Joy\s

Book read was Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine".  How could there be any discussion of this book without....the sharing of a glass of dandelion wine....thanks to Patricia.  Opinions of this book were mixed, bus as always a good discussion.

Joy went out of her way to provide a lovely lunch.  This was commented on afterwards by many. 

Group voted on book for the December 2, 2012, meeting.  Steven King's "11/22/63" was selected by a majority vote

Next meeting will be at Diane's house on Sunday, October 28, 2012.  Book to be discussed is "Tea-Olive Bird Watching Society".

Because of the holiday, we will follow our tradition of holding our November/December meeting on the first Sunday of December (December 2).  This meeting will be at Pembrook.....unless someone else would prefer to host the meeting.  It was decided that we would not do our usual "Yankee Book Swap".  We will collect books (children's and adults) plus beauty supplies for the women's and family shelter in Plymouth.  After the fact, it was suggested that we hold a Yankee Swap of "Re-Gifted" items.  This can be fun.  We will vote on this idea at our October meeting. 

Joy's Suggestions for December Book

5 Book Selections from Joy for November ( 3 pages)

1.)  No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden     Mark Owen

For the first time anywhere, the first-person account of the planning and execution of the Bin Laden raid from a Navy Seal who confronted the terrorist mastermind and witnessed his final moment

From the streets of Iraq to the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean, and from the mountaintops of Afghanistan to the third floor of Osama Bin Laden’s compound, operator Mark Owen of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group — commonly known as SEAL Team Six — has been a part of some of the most memorable special operations in history, as well as countless missions that never made headlines.
No Easy Day puts readers alongside Owen and the other handpicked members of the twenty-four-man team as they train for the biggest mission of their lives. The blow-by-blow narrative of the assault, beginning with the helicopter crash that could have ended Owen’s life straight through to the radio call confirming Bin Laden’s death, is an essential piece of modern history. With boots-on-the-ground detail, Owen describes numerous previously unreported missions that illustrate the life and work of a SEAL and the evolution of the team after the events of September 11. In telling the true story of the SEALs whose talents, skills, experiences, and exceptional sacrifices led to one of the greatest victories in the War on Terror, Mark Owen honors the men who risk everything for our country, and he leaves readers with a deep understanding of the warriors who keep America safe.

2.) 11/22/63

            Stephen King

NOMINATED FOR A 2012 LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE

Dallas, 11/22/63: Three shots ring out.
President John F. Kennedy is dead.
Life can turn on a dime—or stumble into the extraordinary, as it does for Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in a Maine town. While grading essays by his GED students, Jake reads a gruesome, enthralling piece penned by janitor Harry Dunning: fifty years ago, Harry somehow survived his father’s sledgehammer slaughter of his entire family. Jake is blown away . . . but an even more bizarre secret comes to light when Jake’s friend Al, owner of the local diner, enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession—to prevent the Kennedy assassination. How? By stepping through a portal in the diner’s storeroom, and into the era of Ike and Elvis, of big American cars, sock hops, and cigarette smoke. . . . Finding himself in warmhearted Jolie, Texas, Jake begins a new life. But all turns in the road lead to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald. The course of history is about to be rewritten . . . and become heart-stoppingly suspenseful.
In Stephen King’s “most ambitious and accomplished” (NPR) novel, time travel has never been so believable. Or so terrifying.
Winner of the 2012 Thriller Award for Best Novel
One of the New York Times Book Review's Top 10 Books of 2011

3.) Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption      Laura Hillenbrand

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood.  Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared.  It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.  So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini.  In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails.  As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile.  But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.  Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion.  His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

 

4.) Out Stealing Horses: A Novel

Per Petterson  Per Petterson (Author)

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(Author), Anne Born (Translator)

Book Description

We were going out stealing horses. That was what he said, standing at the door to the cabin where I was spending the summer with my father. I was fifteen. It was 1948 and oneof the first days of July.

Trond's friend Jon often appeared at his doorstep with an adventure in mind for the two of them. But this morning was different. What began as a joy ride on "borrowed" horses ends with Jon falling into a strange trance of grief. Trond soon learns what befell Jon earlier that day--an incident that marks the beginning of a series of vital losses for both boys.

Set in the easternmost region of Norway, Out Stealing Horses begins with an ending. Sixty-seven-year-old Trond has settled into a rustic cabin in an isolated area to live the rest of his life with a quiet deliberation. A meeting with his only neighbor, however, forces him to reflect on that fateful summer.

5.)    Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Cheryl Strayed

Publication Date: March 20, 2012

Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selection.

A powerful, blazingly honest memoir: the story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again.

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and to do it alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker, and the trail was little more than “an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise.” But it was a promise of piecing back together a life that had come undone.

Strayed faces down rattlesnakes and black bears, intense heat and record snowfalls, and both the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Told with great suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild vividly captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

Bookclub Meeting - August 26, 2012 - at Judy's House

Beautiful summer afternoon.  Judy's backyard with gardens, river and waterfalls looks like a park setting.  Book discussed was "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez.  There was a lengthy discussion about this historical novel of the four Mirabel sisters who led the struggle for a democracy in the Dominican Republic.  Ann S. shared the results of the research that she did about these heroines.  She had photos of the sisters.  A photo of the three who were murdered by the Trujillo government are on the paper money of the Dominican Republic.  Everyone had something to share about their views of the sisters and what their deaths accomplished....and the sister who was left behind.  It was my observation that this book was appreciated by all present.

We voted on Diane's suggestions for our October 28th book.  A vast majority voted for "The Tree-Olive Bird Watching Society" by Augusta Trobaugh.

Book for September 30, is "Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury.  Meeting will be at Joy's house.

Our October 28th meeting will be at Diane's.

Thank you, to Judy for being our hostess on this lovely day.

Diane's suggestions for October 2012, Book

Say You're One of Them (Oprah's Book Club)
Uwem Akpan

Each story in this jubilantly acclaimed collection pays testament to the wisdom and resilience of children, even in the face of the most agonizing circumstances.

A family living in a makeshift shanty in urban Kenya scurries to find gifts of any kind for the impending Christmas holiday. A Rwandan girl relates her family’s struggles to maintain a facade of normalcy amid unspeakable acts. A young brother and sister cope with their uncle’s attempt to sell them into slavery. Aboard a bus filled with refugees—a microcosm of today’sAfrica.  A Muslim boy summons his faith to bear a treacherous ride across Nigeria. Through the eyes of childhood friends the emotional toll of religious conflict in Ethiopia becomes viscerally clear.

Uwem Akpanâ’s debut signals the arrival of a breathtakingly talented writer who gives a matter-of-fact reality to the most extreme circumstances in stories that are nothing short of transcendent.

Midwives (Oprah's Book Club) [Paperback]
Chris Bohjalian

With a suspense, lyricism, and moral complexity that recall To Kill a Mockingbird and Presumed Innocent, this compulsively readable novel explores what happens when a woman who has devoted herself to ushering life into the world finds herself charged with responsibility in a patient's tragic death.

The time is 1981, and Sibyl Danforth has been a dedicated midwife in the rural community of Reddington, Vermont, for fifteen years. But one treacherous winter night, in a house isolated by icy roads and failed telephone lines, Sibyl takes desperate measures to save a baby's life. She performs an emergency Caesarean section on its mother, who appears to have died in labor. But what if--as Sibyl's assistant later charges--the patient wasn't already dead, and it was Sibyl who inadvertently killed her?

As recounted by Sibyl's precocious fourteen-year-old daughter, Connie, the ensuing trial bears the earmarks of a witch hunt except for the fact that all its participants are acting from the highest motives--and the defendant increasingly appears to be guilty. As Sibyl Danforth faces the antagonism of the law, the hostility of traditional doctors, and the accusations of her own conscience, Midwives engages, moves, and transfixes us as only the very best novels ever do.

The Tea-Olive Bird Watching Society
AuGusta Trobaugh

Readers will laugh at the antics of steel magnolia vigilante justice as the tea-toting, bible-quoting ladies fumble and bumble in their endeavor to protect their cohort and town . . . . the classic good rural vs. evil-urban premise makes for a fine, polite (sort of like a southern contemporary Arsenic and Old Lace) . . . tale.  Harriet Klausner Book Reviews Coconut cake, grits, poisoned turtle stew and bird-watching . . . the ladies of tiny Tea-Olive, Georgia share a lot of interests, including murder.Retired judge L. Hyson Breed, a Yankee, picked the wrong Southern woman to trick, bully and steal from. The members of the Tea-Olive Bird Watching Society plot revenge after the judge’s marriage to their friend, Sweet, turns out to be a greedy grab for her land and for control of their town. To the rescue: Beulah, Zion and Wildwood (all named after hymns, as is Sweet). The only problem? The wannabe murderers are southern matrons from a more civilized generation. How does one remain polite even while planning to kill a man and get away with it? Augusta Trobaugh is the acclaimed author of these southern novels also from Bell Bridge Books SOPHIE AND THE RISING SUN MUSIC FROM BEYOND THE MOONRIVER JORDANRESTING IN THE BOSOM OF THE LAMBSWAN PLACEPRAISE JERUSALEM!

July 29, 2012 - Meeting at Celia's

There were ten of us in attendance.  Book discussed was "Old Filth" by Jane Gardam.  It was my impression that no one disliked the book.  We liked it to different degrees.  Listening to each others insights, we seemed to get a greater understanding of the story of Edward Feathers "OLD FILTH".  Lori and Claire have started reading a sequel to this book "The Man in the Wooden Hat" which is the story of his wife Betty.  Lori expressed that this book clarified much that we did not perceive from OLD FILTH.   We agreed that the book was well written and that the author did not want to tell all in the first book.....so we would read on....

Claire had offered us a selection of books for our September  meeting.  Majority of votes went to "Dandelion Wine" by Ray Bradbury.  It was recommended that we serve Dandelion Wine....no matter which book was selected.  Not sure if it was the author or the wine that attracted the votes??

Our next meeting will be on Sunday, August 26, 1:30pm at Judy's.  Book will be "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez.

The September 30, meeting will be at Joy's. 

Claire's Suggestions for September Book

September Book Club Recommendations.

OUT STEALING HORSES   BY PER PETTERSON

Trond Sander, a sixty seven year old man who has moved from the city to a remote riverside cabin in Norway near the border of Sweden only to have all the turbulence, grief, and overwhelming beauty of his youth come back to him one night while he’s out on a walk. When he sees someone he recognizes coming out of the dark behind his home, the reader is immersed in a decades-deep story of searching and loss. The title serves as both awareness of adolescent prank and password for dangerous activity of the resistance in World War II. Why did his father disappear from his life who he adored, and how did this affect his mother and his relationship with Jon his boyhood companion.

I really loved reading this book and it was a very powerful book with the writing quiet and thoughtful and even a little sly. The writing sneaks up on the reader and captures them without then being aware of it.

TINKERS by Paul Harding (Most of the reviewers I read loved this book, It is the first book that he wrote.)

This book dips in and out of the consciousness of a New England patriarch as he lies dying on a hospital bed in his living room. As time collapses into memory the man travels deep into his past where he is reunited with his father and relives the wonder and pain of his impoverished New England youth.  At once heartbreaking and life affirming Tinkers is an elegiac medication on love, loss and the fierce beauty of nature. Tinkers is a poignant exploration of where we may journey when the clock has barely a tick or two left  and we really can’t go anywhere at all. Hardy’s prose is lyrical and specific. It is about loneliness, human frailty, fathers and sons, time and eternity. It is told in the voices of three generations.

AFTER DARK by Haruki Murakami

Two sisters, Eri, a fashion model slumbering her way into oblivion and Mari, young student soon led from solitary reading at an anonymous Denny’s toward people whose lives are radically alien to her own: a jazz trombonist who claims they’ve met before, a burly female “love hotel” manager and maid staff, and a Chinese prostitute savagely brutalized by a businessman.  These “night people” are haunted by secrets and needs that draw them together more powerfully than the differing circumstances that might keep them apart, and it soon becomes clear that Eri’s slumber- mysteriously tied to the businessman plagued by the mark of this crime, will either restore or annihilate her. After Dark moves form mesmerizing drama to metaphysical speculation, interweaving time and space as well as memory and perspective into a seamless exploration of human agency – the interplay between self-expression and empathy, between the power of observation and the scope of compassion and love. Murakami’s trademark humor, psychological insight, and grasp of spirit and morality are her distilled with an extraordinary, harmonious mastery.

(Some of you may not like this book but I found it very intriguing. It’s like loving some of Shakespeare plays even thought you cannot understand them but you want to still go and see more of his plays. Something is always drawing you to them. I love Star Trek – the Second Generation the old TV series but cannot always follow what the story or plot is about.)

DANDELION WINE by Ray Bradbury

This was the summer of 1928 about a twelve year old boy. It is a recreation of a boy’s childhood based intertwining of Ray Bradbury own childhood experiences and unique imagination A summer of green apple trees, mowed lawns and new sneakers.  Of half-burnt firecrackers, of gathering dandelions, of Grandma’s belly-busting dinner. It was a summer of sorrows and marvels and fold-fuzzed bees.  Dandelion Wine serves as a metaphor for packing all joys of summer into a single bottle. Routines of small town American and simple joys of yesterday.

This was initially short stories.

( I had not read this book at all but have always loved anything that Ray Bradbury wrote and since it is summer now it may be fun to read. Ray Bradbury had just died this past year.)

NOAH’S COMPASS by Ann Tyler

Laim Pennywell 66 years old has just lost job as 5^th grade teacher and is forced to move to a smaller apartment. He has a semi-detached relationship with his three daughters. Life is small and shrunken.  When something unexpected occurs to him he has memory loss and is desperate to recover the past.  He meets Eunice, an unusual 38 women. As their relationship develops he is forced to confront his own isolation. He needs to keep within bounds of his own comfort zones. This is a beautifully subtle book elegant contemplation of what it means to be happy and the consequences of a defensive withdrawal from other people. Life is at its best when we let it be messy and unstructured when like Jonah (his 4 year old grandson) we allow ourselves to color outside the lines. Ann Tyler brilliantly pins down another life on the edge as man confronts memory loss. She has empathy for her characters, she writes about middle-aged characters on the edge of a crisis.

July 1, 2012 - Meeting at Claire's

It is always a pleasure to be at Claire's condo with it's balcony view of Mt. Washington!  There were nine of our members present to discuss "Traveling with Pomegranates" by Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter Ann Kidd.  No one raved about the book.  Some said that it was okay....and others felt that it was poorly written.  BUT...the book did stimulate good discussions about mother / daughter relationships...the authors' in particular.  The traveling duo kept introducing the Virgin Mary in different countries and cultures.  Greek goddesses were also compared.  Religious beliefs and practices were discussed.

We voted on Celia's book suggestions for our August 26th meeting.  Winner by a vote was "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez.  Celia had offered a fine selection of books and any of them would have been interesting, good reads.

Our next meeting will be on July 29, at Celia's.  Book to be discussed is "Old Filth"by Jane Gardam.  It will be Claire's turn to offer book selections for the September meeting.

The August 26, meeting will be at Judy's.

We will meet at Joy's on September 30

Claire prepared a barbecue which was accompanied by stuffed eggplant.  Others contributed salads and appetizers.  MJ made a wonderful fresh fruit cobbler with vanilla ice cream.  We ate well and enjoyed every morsel.  Most of all we appreciated the shared friendship.  We are a very special group!

Celia's Book Recommendations for August Meeting

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.

Moving from Addis Ababa to New York City and back again, Cutting for Stone is an unforgettable story of love and betrayal, medicine and ordinary miracles—and two brothers whose fates are forever intertwined.

http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-for-Stone-ebook/dp/B001NLKV7C/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1340208281&sr=1-1&keywords=cutting+for+stone

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
he north coast of the Dominican Republic. The official state newspaper reports their deaths as accidental. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo’s dictatorship. It doesn’t have to. Everybody knows of Las Mariposas—“The Butterflies.”

In this extraordinary novel, the voices of all four sisters—Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and the survivor, Dedé—speak across the decades to tell their own stories, from hair ribbons and secret crushes to gunrunning and prison torture, and to describe the everyday horrors of life under Trujillo’s rule. Through the art and magic of Julia Alvarez’s imagination, the martyred Butterflies live again in this novel of courage and love, and the human cost of political oppression. 

http://www.amazon.com/In-Time-Butterflies-Julia-Alvarez/dp/1565129768/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340208515&sr=1-1&keywords=in+the+time+of+the++butterflies

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood.  Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared.  It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.  So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini.  In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails.  As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile.  But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

http://www.amazon.com/Unbroken-World-Survival-Resilience-Redemption/dp/1400064163/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340208604&sr=1-1&keywords=unbroken+hillenbrand

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
The true story of one family, caught between America’s two biggest policy disasters: the war on terror and the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun run a house-painting business in New Orleans. In August of 2005, as Hurricane Katrina approaches, Kathy evacuates with their four young children, leaving Zeitoun to watch over the business. In the days following the storm he travels the city by canoe, feeding abandoned animals and helping elderly neighbors. Then, on September 6th, police officers armed with M-16s arrest Zeitoun in his home. Told with eloquence and compassion, Zeitoun is a riveting account of one family’s unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water.

http://www.amazon.com/Zeitoun-Dave-Eggers/dp/0307387941/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340208706&sr=1-1&keywords=zeitoun+dave+eggers

May 20, 2012, Meeting at Bev's

Seven of the group carpooled from Campton south to Bedford for this meeting at Beverly's lovely home.  Our appetites were satisfied by a variety of appetizers before we discussed this month's book.  After the discussion we enjoyed several desserts.  We will post Ann S' strawberry pie on our www.riverrunrecipes.com 

Ann F. led the discussion of "The School of Essential Ingredients".  Our reactions to the book were varied.  The majority of group really liked it, a few said that it was okay, and two disliked the book.  Never the less....the book provoked lengthy discussions about relationships and about food!   We spoke about personal identify.  Three of our members will be retiring in 2012.  They will need to re-identify themselves.

Carol L. took our vote on the book that we will read for our July 29, meeting.  It was close vote...but, the winner was "Old Filth" by Jane Gardam. 
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Filth-Jane-Gardam/dp/1933372133/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337553008&sr=8-1

Future meetings:

Our next meeting will be held on July 1 (not June 24 as previously scheduled).  We will meet at Claire's North Country house.  If by chance, she has an opportunity to rent the house, Joy will fill in for her.

Book to be discussed on July 1, is" Traveling with Pomegranates" by Sue Kidd Monk.  Marilyn will check with Nina at the Thornton Library to be sure that it was ordered.  Kathy made the request three weeks ago.

July 29 meeting will be at Celia's.  Book to be discussed is "Old Filth", see above.

August 26 meeting will be at Judy's.

September 30 meeting at Joy's...unless she switches July 1, meeting with Claire.

July 2012 - Carol's Book Suggestions

Carol has suggested the following books for our July, 2012, Book Club discussion:

1."THE NINE Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court"  by Jeffrey Toobin,  340 pages,  copyright 2007“The Nine”  non fiction

2. "Apples & Oranges," My brother and Me, Lost and Found, by Marie Brenner 265 pages, copyright 2008 non fiction 

3."Old Filth" by Jane Gardam    pub 2006   289 pages fiction  

4." A thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
    Author of "The Kite Runner"

5.    "Redemption Street" by Reed Farrel Coleman, publ 2007, 250 pages  A mystery for a "summer read"


We will vote on our choice at the May 20, 2012, meeting at Beverly's.

April 29 - Meeting at Pembrook

"The Color of Water" by James McBride, was our book of choice for April meeting.  We were a smaller group than usual ....ten in all.  Everyone present liked this book...to different degrees.  Discussion of what motivated James mother to somehow provide a college education (some advanced degrees) for her large family.  What effect did her Jewish heritage play?  Why did she as a white woman marry two black men.  What difficulties did her decision cause her? 

Beverly presented a list of five choices for our June 24, book discussion. 
Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd
Digging to America by Anne Tyler
The Habit by Susan Morse
Such a Pretty Face by Cathy Lamb
Perfection- A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal

"The Habit" received a majority vote.  But, when Kathy tried to find library copies, there were not available in the entire state of New Hampshire.  Communicated to the book group via email and it was decided that our June book would be "Traveling with Pomegranates". 

May 20 Meeting at Beverly's in Bedford, NH - "The School of Essential Ingredients"
June 24 Meeting - Location tba                         "Traveling with Pomegranates"
July 29 Meeting - Celia's  in Thornton, NH
August 26 Meeting - Judy's in Thornton, NH

February 26, Meeting at Pembrook

Book discussed was Roland Merullo's "Breakfast with Buddha". Everyone seemed to like the book ...to different degrees. Most felt that the writing was well done and enjoyable to read. Most did not care for the ending of the book....a little bit too far out. The philosophies of life and the transformation of "Otto" were well received.

Voted on Ann S. book selections for April 29, meeting. "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride was chosen.

Future Meetings:
March 25 - Stephanie's - Ann Patchett's "State of Wonder"

April 29 - Diane's - James McBride "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother"

May 20 - Beverly's - Because Memorial Day weekend is the last weekend in May...we have moved book club up to May 20.

Ann S. Suggestions for April Book Club

1. Falling Leaves by Adeline Yen Mah – Autobiography – 278 Pages (1997)

Born in 1937 to an affluent Chinese family but emotionally abused by Eurasian stepmother. Adeline moved from Hong Kong to England and eventually to the U.S. to become a physician and writer. A moving story of a girl’s journey into adulthood. Explores the harsh realities of growing up female in a family and society that kept girls in emotional chains. Potent psychological drama pitting a stubborn little girl against the most merciless of adversaries and rivals: her own family.

______________________________

2. The Color of Water by James McBride (A Black Man’s Tribute to his White Mother) – Autobiography – 278 Pages (1996)

James mother was a rabbi’s daughter, born in Poland and raised in the south. She fled to Harlem and married a black man, founded a Baptist church and put twelve children through college. There are two stories, son’s and mother’s beautifully juxtaposed. Told with humor.

(Personal note: I love his writing. The book starts “When I was 14 my mother took up 2 hobbies: riding a bicycle and playing the piano. The piano I didn’t mind but the bicycle drove me crazy.”).

______________________

3. One Amazing Thing by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni – Fiction - 220 Pages

Late afternoon in an Indian visa office in an unnamed American city. Most customers have come and gone, but nine people remain. A punky teenager with an unexpected gift. An upper class Caucasian couple whose relationship is disintegrating. A young Muslim-American man struggling with the fallout of 9/11. A graduate student haunted by a question about love. An African-American ex-soldier searching for redemption. A Chinese grandmother with a secret past. And two visa office workers on the verge of an adulterous affair.

When an earthquake rips through the afternoon lull, trapping these nine wildly individual characters together, their focus first jolts to a collective struggle to survive. There’s little food. The office begins to flood. Then, at a moment when the psychological and emotional stress seems nearly too much for them to bear, the young graduate student suggests that each tell a personal tale, “one amazing thing” from their lives, which they have never told anyone before. As their surprising stories of romance, marriage, family, political upheaval, and self-discovery unfold against the urgency of their life-or-death circumstances, the novel proves the transcendent power of stories and the meaningfulness of human expression itself. One Amazing Thing is a passionate creation about survival—and about the reasons to survive.

From Ha Jin, author of Waiting, winner of the National Book Award: “Ingeniously conceived and intelligently written, this novel is a fable for our time. The characters, troubled or shattered by their past, vibrate with life when they begin to speak. The book is a fun read from the first page to last.”

_______________________________________________

4. The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr (1995) – Autobiography – 320 Pages

Mary Karr’s memoir, is riveting first of all as narrative, a meandering river of humorous, harrowing, poignant and deeply interesting stories. It is poetic as well, its images evoking a gritty physical reality sharply flavored by the locutions of the author’s origins. Full of casual violence, dislocation, fragmentation, it is social and psychological drama with a strikingly American slant.

In Leechfield, Texas, on the Gulf Coast, Charlie Marie Moore met J. P. Karr, a working man employed by Gulf Oil, and, for reasons which remained mysterious to Mary Karr, abandoned her husband and married him. Leechfield—swampy, vermin-infested, fouled by chemical poisons produced one of the highest cancer rates in the world, once voted by BUSINESS WEEK as “one of the ten ugliest towns on the planet.” Into this volatile family the author was born.

The Liars’ Club was a group of men, including Karr’s father, which met to drink, play pool, and tell stories. In this masculine world the author found some relief from the traumas of life at home dominated by a mother so mentally unstable that at one point she was committed to a mental institution. The author lived on the raw edge. Yet her spirit was never broken, and the deep feelings she retained for her mother led her, when she was in her twenties, to probe for a truth which set them both free.

THE LIARS’ CLUB is moving, deeply enjoyable, and a brilliant testimonial to the value of art. ___________________________________________

5. Little Bird of Heaven – Joyce Carol Oates (2009) – Fiction - 442 Pages

In the tradition of the remarkably successful "New York Times" bestseller "The Gravedigger's Daughter," Oates is back with this dark, romantic, and captivating tale set in the Great Lakes regions of upstate NY.

With "Little Bird of Heaven," Joyce Carol Oates returns again to depictions of life in Sparta, N.Y., "the doomed city on the Black River." In this latest offering, the fading blue-collar burg has been rocked by the grisly murder of one Zoe Kruller, a troubled but charismatic country singer with a taste for seedy pleasures.

This is a powerful novel. Oates's feel for the rhythms of hardscrabble life and its sour mix of alcoholism, suicide, drug abuse, adultery and murder is as keen as ever. In Sparta she has created a fictional universe to stand beside Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County or Cheever's Shady Hill. Her descriptions of the geography of urban decay -- the rusted bridges, tangled back alleys and trash-strewn lots -- are as vivid as any naturalist's portrayal of more felicitous scenes. Her unsentimental language makes a high-lonesome kind of poetry out of otherwise sordid and unremarkable circumstance.

Ann F's Book Recommendations for May, 2012

Brick Lane by Monica Ali (384 Pages)

Monica Ali's gorgeous first novel is the deeply moving story of one woman, Nazneen, born in a Bangladeshi village and transported to London at age eighteen to enter into an arranged marriage. Already hailed by the London Observer as "one of the most significant British novelists of her generation," Ali has written a stunningly accomplished debut about one outsider's quest to find her voice.

What could not be changed must be borne. And since nothing could be changed, everything had to be borne. This principle ruled her life. It was mantra, fettle, and challenge.

Nazneen's inauspicious entry into the world, an apparent stillbirth on the hard mud floor of a village hut, imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents when she is married off to Chanu, a man old enough to be her father. Nazneen moves to London and, for years, keeps house, cares for her husband, and bears children, just as a girl from the village is supposed to do. But gradually she is transformed by her experience, and begins to question whether fate controls her or whether she has a hand in her own destiny.

Motherhood is a catalyst -- Nazneen's daughters chafe against their father's traditions and pride -- and to her own amazement, Nazneen falls in love with a young man in the community. She discovers both the complexity that comes with free choice and the depth of her attachment to her husband, her daughters, and her new world.

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls (288 Pages)

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.

Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende (448 Pages)

Here, in an astonishing debut by a gifted storyteller, is the magnificent saga of proud and passionate men and women and the turbulent times through which they suffer and triumph. They are the Truebas. And theirs is a world you will not want to leave, and one you will not forget.

Esteban -- The patriarch, a volatile and proud man whose lust for land is legendary and who is haunted by his tyrannical passion for the wife he can never completely possess.

Clara -- The matriarch, elusive and mysterious, who foretells family tragedy and shapes the fortunes of the house of the Truebas.

Blanca -- Their daughter, soft-spoken yet rebellious, whose shocking love for the son of her father's foreman fuels Esteban's everlasting contempt... even as it produces the grandchild he adores.

Alba -- The fruit of Blanca's forbidden love, a luminous beauty, a fiery and willful woman... the family's break with the past and link to the future.

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister (256 Pages)

The School of Essential Ingredients follows the lives of eight students who gather in Lillian’s Restaurant every Monday night for cooking class. It soon becomes clear, however, that each one seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. Students include Claire, a young mother struggling with the demands of her family; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer learning to adapt to life in America; and Tom, a widower mourning the loss of his wife to breast cancer. Chef Lillian, a woman whose connection with food is both soulful and exacting, helps them to create dishes whose flavor and techniques expand beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of her students’ lives. One by one the students are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of Lillian’s food, including a white-on-white cake that prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of love and a peppery heirloom tomato sauce that seems to spark one romance but end another. Brought together by the power of food and companionship, the lives of the characters mingle and intertwine, united by the revealing nature of what can be created in the kitchen.

Too Close to the Falls:A Memoir by Catherine Gildiner (400 Pages)

Now a successful clinical psychologist with a monthly advice column in the popular Canadian magazine Chatelaine, Gildiner tells of her childhood in 1950s Lewiston, N.Y., a small town near Niagara Falls, in this hilarious and moving coming-of-age memoir. Deemed hyperactive by the town's pediatrician, at age four Gildiner was put to work at her father's pharmacy in an effort to harness her energy. Her stories of delivering prescriptions with her father's black deliveryman, Roy, are the most affecting parts of this book, with young Cathy serving as map reader for the illiterate but streetwise fellow, who acted as both protector and fellow adventurer. In a style reminiscent of the late Jean Shepherd, Gildiner tells her tales with a sharp humor that rarely misses a beat and underscores the dark side of what at first seems a Norman Rockwell existence. Mired in a land dispute, the local Native American population has a chief who requires sedatives to subdue his violent moods. Meanwhile, the feared "monster" who maintains the town dump is simply afflicted with "Elephant Man" syndrome. And Cathy's mother--with her intellectual preoccupations and aversion to housework and visiting neighbors--is an emblem of prefeminist frustration. The book's vaunted celebrity dish--Gildiner delivered sleeping pills to Marilyn Monroe on the set of Niagara--pales in comparison to such ordinary adult pathos. By book's end, Cathy, too, gets her share, as beloved Roy mysteriously exits and an entanglement with a confused young priest brings her literally and figuratively "too close to the falls."

Book Selection for February Meeting

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett will be discussed at the February 26, meeting.

Book Suggestions for March, 2012

Stephanie suggested the following books for our March, 2012 selection. We will vote on the choices at the January 29, meeting.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Paperback pages: 320, Published 2010

“… a nonfiction bestseller centered on the oppression of women and girls in the developing world. Relating the personal stories of various women across Africa and Asia who have been victims of gender-based violence, abuse, and torture, Half the Sky gives insight into the struggles and tragedies as well as some of the triumphs of these survivors while demonstrating how the future of the global economy relies on investing in and supporting women around the world.”

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Paperback pages: 667, Published: 2009

“…Verghese turns his formidable talents to fiction, mining his own life and experiences in a magnificent, sweeping novel that moves from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York City over decades and generations. Sister Mary Joseph Praise, a devout young nun, leaves the south Indian state of Kerala in 1947 for a missionary post in Yemen. During the arduous sea voyage, she saves the life of an English doctor bound for Ethiopia, Thomas Stone, who becomes a key player in her destiny when they meet up again at Missing Hospital in Addis Ababa. Seven years later, Sister Praise dies birthing twin boys: Shiva and Marion, the latter narrating his own and his brothers long, dramatic, biblical story set against the backdrop of political turmoil in Ethiopia, the life of the hospital compound in which they grow up and the love story of their adopted parents, both doctors at Missing. The boys become doctors as well and Vergheses weaving of the practice of medicine into the narrative is fascinating even as the story bobs and weaves with the power and coincidences of the best 19th-century novel.”

The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty

Paperback pages: 384, Published: 2005

“Smithy Ide is a really nice guy. But he's also an overweight, friendless, womanless, hard-drinking, 43-year-old self-professed loser with a breast fetish and a dead-end job, given to stammering "I just don't know" in life's confusing moments. When Smithy's entire family dies, he embarks on a transcontinental bicycle trip to recover his sister's body and rediscover what it means to live. Along the way, he flashes back to his past and the hardships of his beloved sister's schizophrenia, while his dejection encourages strangers to share their life stories. The road redeems the innocent Smithy: he loses weight; rescues a child from a blizzard; rebuffs the advances of a nubile, "apple-breasted" co-cyclist after seeing a vision of his dead sister; and nurtures a telephone romance with a paraplegic family friend as he processes his rocky past. McLarty, a playwright and television actor, propels the plot with glib mayhem—including three tragic car accidents in 31 pages and a death by lightning bolt—and a lot of bighearted and warm but faintly mournful humor. It's a funny, poignant, slightly gawky debut that aims, like its protagonist, to please—and usually does.”

Bound: A Novel by Sally Gunning

Paperback pages: 336, Published: 2009

“… seven-year old Alice Cole travels with her family from 1756 London to the New World, dreaming of a big house in Philadelphia and a new life. Her mother and brothers die on board and are buried at sea; the ship docks in Boston rather than Philadelphia; there, her father indentures her for 11 years without a backward glance. Alice does housework for the family of Simeon Morton of Dedham, in whose house she is treated almost like a second daughter, becoming constant companion to 10-year-old Abigail, or Nabby. When Nabby marries Emery Verley of Medfield, Alice's indenture is signed over to him, but the Verley household turns out to be an abusive one. Alice flees and winds up on Satucket, Cape Cod, where Lyddie Berry, heroine of Gunning's The Widow's War, and her companion, the lawyer Eben Freeman, give her shelter and a job. Alice works hard for them, and they grow fond of her, but when Alice discovers she's pregnant, she embarks on a journey of deceit and lies, one that comes to a bitter end.”

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Hardcover pages: 368, Published: 2011

“…pharmaceutical researcher Dr. Marina Singh sets off into the Amazon jungle to find the remains and effects of a colleague who recently died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. But first she must locate Dr. Anneck Swenson, a renowned gynecologist who has spent years looking at the reproductive habits of a local tribe where women can conceive well into their middle ages and beyond. Eccentric and notoriously tough, Swenson is paid to find the key to this longstanding childbearing ability by the same company for which Dr. Singh works. Yet that isn’t their only connection: both have an overlapping professional past that Dr. Singh has long tried to forget. In finding her former mentor, Dr. Singh must face her own disappointments and regrets, along with the jungle’s unforgiving humidity and insects...”

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

Paperback pages: 432, Published 2011

“Her palace shimmered with onyx and gold but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first and poisoned the second; incest and assassination were family specialties. She had children by Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, two of the most prominent Romans of the day. With Antony she would attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled both their ends. Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Her supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost.”