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