Book Twenty Seven

12/30/2008 – Letter From Point Clear by Dennis McFarland*
Why: Gift from Erica. She called it chick lit.
Emotions Felt: kinda intrigued, mostly bored. Quick read though . . .
Remaining Questions: who really cares. Just didn’t like the book
The older Owen siblings--Ellen and Morris--long ago left behind their gracious family home in Alabama in favor of the northeast. But when they learn that their wayward baby sister Bonnie has moved back into the old place with her new husband, a local evangelical preacher, they head home to perform a rescue. Upon their arrival, they find Bonnie reformed, and pregnant. But she hasn't yet broken the news to her husband that her brother Morris is gay, and the preacher soon begins a campaign to rescue him.

Book Twenty Six

12/19/2008 – Here if You Need Me by Kate Braestrup***
Winner of the 2007 Discover Award, Nonfiction
Kate Braestrup was living an enviably happy life as a wife and mother, when one morning her beloved husband was killed in a traffic accident. Fighting her grief, she decided to follow his dream -- and became a chaplain to the game warden service in their Maine community.
Why: Pretty obvious. Needed inspiration and comfort after my mother’s death. Came highly recommended by the Red Balloon Bookshop.
Emotions Felt: I didn’t cry and I didn’t have an Oprah lightbulb moment but I did enjoy the honest, simple observations that she made about life. It made me feel that life really does go on. The book gave me pause when she spoke about her views on heaven and made me question my draw to Unitarian Universalism. I still want to believe in a Christian heaven though I doubt it really exists. I loved being able to ride along in the car as she experienced the up and down days of a game warden. The kind of author that you would really like to meet someday and talk more to.
Remaining Questions: How did she really get through the icky days after her husband’s death. I’m glad she made it through but heard more about the other side than the actually coping with the tragedy.
Who Would Like This Book: Not sure, but I sure did.

Book Twenty Five

12/11/2008 – Loving Frank by Nancy Horan**
Why: Heard about it all over (Red Balloon recommended)
Emotions Felt: anger at Mamah for leaving her children and claiming feminism as a cause. Astonishment at the ending and hard to believe it actually happened.
Remaining Questions: Really, did it really happen at the end? What happened to Frank Lloyd & Edwin Cheney afterwards. I’d like to visit Taliesen sometime if it has been rebuilt.
Quotes: none to recall
Who Would Like This Book: good, diverse book clubs for discussion. I did not like it nearly as much as the reviews have but acknowledge it as a quick read and interesting discussion of Frank Lloyd Wright, a man I knew nothing about. I have to say I thought both Mamah and Frank Lloyd incredibly selfish. I just couldn’t stand them unfortunately.

Book Twenty Four

12/5/2008 – The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay***
Why: Kate Nelson recommended it for our Stillwater Book Club. One of her mothers (son is a Nat’l Merit Scholar) said it was their top book club read ever.
Emotions Felt: reflection, lots of it. Bored at times but loved the characterization. I felt I really knew Peekay and his role models (Doc, Hoppie, etc.) I liked how Peekay seeing the snake served as an omen. It reminded me of my own snake sighting in the summer of 2007. I thought some of the happenings in the book were a little too neat. How he fought his wet nurse’s son. How he met the Judge in the end of the book. I agree that the book might have had more power had the last 15 pages been left off but understand that these events were also a part of his story.
Remaining Questions: Why did he hate his Mom so much? More of this story line would have been interesting. Was this novel really autobiographical? Is the sequel actually good? Is the movie okay?
Quotes: First with the head, then with the heart (Hoppie)
Who Would Like This Book: real readers