Report prepared by Lori
We had a wonderful meeting at Stephanie's to discuss "The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander Newfoundland" by Jim
DeFede. Stephanie served an extremely delicious split pea soup, and
there was plenty of other good food to be had as always. We were sad
that Ann S. was too sick at the last minute to come (reason why I'm
proving the meeting summary), and we also missed Ann F, Judy, and all of
those who have flown south for the winter. We were happy that
Marlena and her care-taker could come, and we love how kind and loving
Marlena's care-taker is to her.
Diane added this book to her list because she had seen the play, "Come From Away" based on these stories, and was deeply moved by it. The discussion of the book started with Diane asking us to go around the room and describe what we were doing the day of 9/11 and how we heard about the events. This brought us back into the emotions of the day and also put into context the kindness shown by the town of Gander to those stranded there. There was only one person in the group that didn't LOVE the book and this time it wasn't Marilyn, but CLAIRE!! (BTW: I got permission from Claire ahead of time to share that she didn't love the book). Most agreed that it wasn't fine literature, but still felt very engaged with the stories and characters. Some agreed they would have enjoyed the book more if they had seen the play. We all wondered if the same level of kindness and sacrifice could happen in today's political climate, and although some were skeptical, we sincerely hope the same outpouring of kindness could happen today.
Diane added this book to her list because she had seen the play, "Come From Away" based on these stories, and was deeply moved by it. The discussion of the book started with Diane asking us to go around the room and describe what we were doing the day of 9/11 and how we heard about the events. This brought us back into the emotions of the day and also put into context the kindness shown by the town of Gander to those stranded there. There was only one person in the group that didn't LOVE the book and this time it wasn't Marilyn, but CLAIRE!! (BTW: I got permission from Claire ahead of time to share that she didn't love the book). Most agreed that it wasn't fine literature, but still felt very engaged with the stories and characters. Some agreed they would have enjoyed the book more if they had seen the play. We all wondered if the same level of kindness and sacrifice could happen in today's political climate, and although some were skeptical, we sincerely hope the same outpouring of kindness could happen today.
After
the book discussion, we had a small birthday celebration for Claire's
70th birthday for those that couldn't make it down to Boston last
Sunday. Claire got many lovely gifts even though she had given
instructions for no presents, only our presence!
The next meeting will be on February 25th at Ann Fitzherbert's house. We will discuss The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman.
The March meeting will be on March 25th, place
TBD (please correct me if we decided on something but I missed it). We
will discuss "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine", by Gail Honeyman.
A reminder from the notes taken from the December meeting: Judy has volunteered to host the June meeting.
I (Lori) will submit book suggestions next for the April meeting and Judy will submit book suggestions for the May meeting.
We look forward to seeing everyone at the February meeting!!
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