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

Book Twenty Three

11/30/2008 - My Life in France by Julia Child *
Why: I was pulled by the allure of France and cooking to learn more about this famous chef. I heard good things about the book while in Red Balloon – that it was a love story. Rachel picked it for what turned out to be our last official Vanaheim book club.
Emotions Felt: boredom, perhaps jealously but maybe just disbelief that someone would spend her days at cooking school and be so utterly free of commitments or worries
Remaining Questions: How did it end? I guess the book completes her life, including her sojourn to popularity in America and her husband’s death. I didn’t finish because I got bored with the quail and rabbit and other game meat. The chapters were too long.
Who Would Like This Book: Sarah loved it. Couldn’t quite understand why but she had her reasons.

Book Twenty Two

11/16/2008 – I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass **
Why: I have loved Julia Glass since Three Junes. She’s my second favorite author really next to Anna Quindlen. I was surprised to hear she had a new novel out and picked it up knowing little about it. I wouldn’t let myself read the reviews until I was finished and then was not surprised to see the comparisons with good chick lit.
Emotions Felt: The beginning was a little slow and I was confused about the direction of the plot. I could tell there was animosity between the sisters but didn’t understand it. I was remained interested because the author’s wording is so poetic and yet I think she took liberties at some points, waxing and waning a bit much. Too many men, so much so that I started to forget the characters. And I hate that Louisa ended up with a man from her suicide survivor’s group. A little too neat and tidy. I still don’t understand the title exactly which annoys me. I kinda think I missed something. And yet, I read and I read and I read. Pleasantly.
Remaining Questions: What happened to Roy? I liked him.
Favorite Quotes: I liked the part when Clem talked about her life going two ways and trying to catch up with her alternate life. I related. I hated the part when Louisa identified Clem’s dead body. It was too close to home right now and I started to cry.
Who Would Like This Book: I don’t think anyone would love it so I hate to recommend. But, at the same time, no one could say it sucked.

Book Twenty One

10/5/2008 – The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Not much to say about this one, I guess. Given the book as a gift. Gave it away and the darn thing came back to me again. Still didn't finish it though.

Fantasy land, picked by Nancy Berven of the Stillwater Book Club

Book Twenty

9/20/2008 – Guests of My Life by Elizabeth Watson***
Why: Mary Kassera from Stillwater Book Club presented this book to me at our August book club at Water Inn. I gave her a hug afterwards which I think made her uncomfortable. It was a thoughtful thing to do. They understood so well the pain I was going through and the book was a salve for me in August.
Emotions Felt: Mostly understanding. The book made grief feel like a normal emotion and a courageous journey that continues on. From Dickinson’s raw grief to Whitman’s realization that life is constant and evolves, I understood that my feelings all were part of the experience and that the tears would dry up eventually
Remaining Questions: I hated to finish the book because I felt then that the teachings would stop. It’s a funny thing grief. You want it to stop but the stopping means everything will be different and you don’t want anything at all to be different from the life you once knew. I wonder if I will pick this book up at a later time and what it will mean to me then.
Favorite Quotes: “Even death, like the nettle, loses its sting when grasped with courage.” “When we accept the unacceptable, it has no more power over us. We can move through and beyond the experience.” I like this quote a lot because I truly feel Mom’s death is unacceptable and yet something I have to accept. Such a paradox.
Who Would Like This Book: Erica, I think.

Book Nineteen

9/17/2008 – The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner***
Why: Saw this book for the first time at The Red Balloon and was simply intrigued by the concept and the fact that an MPR writer authored the text. The saleslady said it was a fabulous book and one that she read when she was getting through a difficult time. This summer has definitely been a difficult time for me and I wanted to learn the secret to being happy. Weiner was an excellent travel companion.
Emotions Felt: Funny. The descriptions of the countries and the people he met along the way were so captivating you felt like you were journeying along with him. I felt like I was learning and enjoying the process at the same time. The research was stimulating and the narrative interesting too. I felt happy reading the book.
Remaining Questions: What is the real story on Eric Weiner? Why is he so unhappy?
Favorite Quotes: feevty-feevty and the whole Moldova chapter. Plus the epilogue.
Who Would Like This Book: Everyone who liked Eat, Pray, Love. Others would think it was too indulgent. I absolutely loved. It.

Book Eighteen

9/9/2008 – How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez **
Why: Picked by the Stillwater Book Club. I, however, thought the book choice was In the Time of the Butterflies and had to rush to finish. Was not an easy, quick read but rather a series of vignettes that didn’t call me in. The writing was magnificent but the technique of writing the ending first and then telling the story backwards felt awkward. I didn’t finish (after going to book club) the last 100 pages because the rest of the book club felt much the same way and didn’t see the conclusion as tying the whole book together. I tried to convince the book club to read In the Time of the Butterflies which I think is a much more captivating story and a better representation of the unique talents of the author.