The Sandcastle Girls - Nov. 7, 2013

Attendees:  Pam, Susan, Cheryl, Myra, Michelle,
                  Lori and Nan

This book was a work of historical fiction involving the Armenian genocide.  Most of us had never heard of the Armenian genocide which occurred around the First World War. This was the Ottoman government's extermination of minority Armenian people from their homeland which is present day Turkey. Males were killed by massacre and forced labor while women, children and the elderly and infirmed were forced to march to the Syrian desert.

The story told about a young American woman who arrived in Syria to deliver food and medical aid to the refugees of the genocide.  She falls in love with an Armenian engineer, whom she marries and comes back to America with him to live.  Her family - children and grandchildren - are not aware of what happened to their parents/grandparents in Syria until their granddaughter starts to research their life.

In our discussion:
     Interest of topic: yes, since so many of us were not aware of this time in history
     Character Development:  used as a vehicle to push the story long
     Plot Development:  N/A
     Author's Creativity:  so, so - he had to tell a story to get the historical topic across
     Overall Experience:  Enjoyed the history
     Rating:  4

We also voted to buy the house in front of the neighborhood for OUR book club house.  It would  have its own library, places to read quietly and a place you could escape to.  It would be perfect for us!!!

Buddy Hawkins made another appearance to our book club.  Thank you all for being so tolerant of him!!
Quote of the night was:  Nan, you're not giving him enough attention!!!

Ernie

Our Book Club house

                                      

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - October 10

Nan, Mary Margaret, Michelle and Lori all engaged in deep and meaningful conversations

Attendees for the evening (11): Cheryl (hostess), Myra, Pam, Susan, Amy, Emily, Nan, Mary Margaret, Michelle, Lori, Pat

When Harold Fry discovers that a former friend and colleague is seriously ill, he sets out to mail her a letter but instead embarks on a 600-mile walk across England.

One of the main themes of the novel: A seemingly ordinary life can take on extraordinary aspects. "Life might appear ordinary simply because the person living it had been doing so for a long time."

Harold never fully understands why he started his journey or all he is walking for; he just knows he must keep going. The novel gave us moments of connection, the reawakening of a woman frozen by grief, and examples of the ability of people to touch one another's lives.

Most readers were surprised how far gone Queenie was in her illness by the time Harold arrived; she was in a much worse state than we presumed.

Several main characters were well developed. We felt the overall idea that "it's not the destination but the journey that matters" stayed with us.

Rating: 4.0

Amy's quote of the night: "All this nonsense is about the clowns!"

Hostess Cheryl hopes that everyone takes home some leftovers!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Sept 5, 2013

Jane Austen, born December 16, 1775 in England, was the daughter of a minister.  She lived a fairly middle class life despite her family's descriptions of themselves as farmers.  Jane had a busy social life but appears to have had very little romantic experience herself.   She fell ill and  died at the age of 41.  (too young!)   Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice 200 years ago this year.  Her novel offers a glimpse of life back then and seems timeless even today.


Here we are at book club:  Emily, Pat, Mary Margaret, Nan, 
Cheryl, Susan, Janna, Michelle, Pam (hostess)

No, wait.  That was then.  This is now:

Susan and Janna.  Looking lovely.

We laughed and enjoyed a lively conversation which revolved a lot around the class system, what women did all day back then (singing, piano, "netting" a purse) and how much freedom women have today.  We got on a very interesting tangent about girls today:  their sexual freedom, "exercise," friends with benefits, relationship commitment (and not), the lack of dating, and how cell phones have drastically changed the lives of young people today.  The book challenged us with the vocabulary and dialogue.  We agreed the book is still relevant even 200 years after it was written.

We explored some of the novel's themes with the controversial letter written by the Princeton alum mom who urged undergraduates to "find a husband."  Sounds like Mrs. Bennett.  The article about the female students at University of Pennsylvania who didn't have time for real relationships (but scheduled their physical relationships) also generated a lot of dialogue.

Mary Margaret shared a humorous video which pretty much sums up our discussion visually:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8

~We agreed the novel challenged us with the vocabulary/dialogue of the period.

 ~The book seems to be timeless.  

Emily's quote of the night:  "just go find a hole in the wall!"  

Rating:  solid 4.5 stars 

Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly - July 11, 2013

One family’s epic journey captures both the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experience—and echoes the myths and legends of Ireland herself …in a hidden Ireland where fishermen and tenant farmers find solace in their ancient faith, songs, stories, and communal celebrations, young Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly wed and start a family. Because they and their countrymen must sell both their catch and their crops to pay exorbitant rents, potatoes have become their only staple food.

But when blight destroys the potatoes three times in four years, a callous government and uncaring landlords turn a natural disaster into The Great Starvation that will kill one million. Honora and Michael vow their children will live. The family joins two million other Irish refugees—victims saving themselves—in the emigration from Ireland.

Danger and hardship await them in America. Honora, her unconventional sister Máire, and their children help transform Chicago from a frontier town to the “City of the Century.” The boys go on to fight in the Civil War and enlist in the cause of Ireland’s freedom.

Spanning six generations and filled with joy, sadness, and heroism, GALWAY BAY sheds brilliant light on the ancestors of today’s forty-four million Irish Americans—and is a universal story you will never forget.

    
hostess:       Betty Rose Gibbs
attendees:   Pat, Lori, Cheryl, Janna

Rating:  4 stars

~ No one remembered studying about the history of Ireland

~ We were amazed at the number of countries that were oppressed
    by the British 

~ Rather slow beginning 

~Learned about Irish history

~Cheryl:  "enjoyed reading about the resilience of the Irish people"

~Good questions for bookclub in the back of the book.

~Overall good discussion

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton **** (that's four stars)

August 8, 2013


















We had a nice sized turnout after so many members not being able to make the earlier summer meetings.   In attendance were Amy, Betty Rose, Jana, Myra, Cheryl, Lisa, Lori, Nan, Michelle, Pam and Emily, who was our hostess and moderator.

Here are just a few of the discussion points this book generated:
1.  so many characters with secrets
2.  ease/difficulty of assuming another's identity--in the 1940's vs. 2011,
     in America vs. Britain
3. the effect of the wartime setting
4.  The author's portrayal of aging (not a pretty picture!)

The consensus rating of this book was a 4 or 4.5, and a few gave it a 5.

The majority seemed to agree that the story kept us interested with the twists, and the characters were developed fairly well.   The author's style of constant shifting back and forth between past and present was annoying to some, as well as the use of parenthetical style to add additional details, but most declared this was a book that kept one guessing and entertained.  Some comparisons were also made between the author's earlier book we read, The Forgotten Garden.

Quotes of the night:

"rusted-on loyalties"  -  from a discussion question

"where DID that birthday knife (with the red ribbon) go?"  -  Amy

"was that in parentheses?"  -  Lisa

Note changes to the October meeting!
NEW DATE:  Thursday, October 10th 
NEW BOOK:  instead of Devil in the White City, the book has been changed to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

Hostess:  Michelle Smith
Thursday June 13, 2013

We met a week later than originally scheduled due to so many people unable to attend that date. It still turned out that only five of us were able to make this night.  

Here are Pam, Cheryl, Michelle, Myra, and Janna ready for a cozy night. 

And....a truly cozy night it turned out to be!  Just as we sat down in the den, Cheryl's brand new very smart phone alerted us with a tornado siren so we turned on the TV only to hear Fox weatherman Ken Cook advising people "now is the time to take shelter."   So, we did.  Here we are hunkered down in the wine closet on top of the doggie crates! The howling wind and the pounding rain gave us a wild and mysterious setting in which  to review our  murder/mystery selection.  

It really was a tornado!

After things quieted down weather-wise, we  actually did review the book.  The author's writing style reminded us of the author Stieg Larsson (Dragon Tattoo series).   We thought Harry Hole (we were curious where/why the author came up with this particular name, and if it's possibly pronounced differently in Norway) was reminiscent of Mikael Blomkvist, the detective in these books.    Cheryl was the only one who figured out who the killer was, early in the book, based on the description of his "child-like eyes," but she changed her mind later and thought it could be Katrine or the mold-exterminator (because if not him, what was the possible purpose of having him as part of the story?)

We rated the book a 3.75:  two gave it three-stars ("in a book club, so had to read it"), and three gave four-stars ("wouldn't have chosen it, but glad I read it.")   Observations included:  interesting and suspenseful story....great transitions between chapters....lots of details and names that were hard to pronounce and remember....and too many rabbit trails that never connected.

No great quote about the actual book (Amy wasn't there) but there was a quote of the night (made several times by Janna standing in front of the door/window)... 

"It's over."  Wait, the sky is yellow!"

Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews

Tonight's meeting featured the debut of our Princeton Walk Book Club blog! Thanks to Pam and Susan! We were very impressed!

Overall rating: The group rated the book 3 stars. 3 stars means, "I read it because I was in a book club."

Despite our laughing at the term "novel" used to describe this book, we did have a lot of funny discussion generated.

As a group, we felt that the story was too predictable, cliche and trite. Pam made a good observation that the book was mostly dialogue....not a lot of observation and detail.





As far as the subject matter, we felt that the subject wasn't very interesting; we grew tired of Quixie very quickly.

For plot development, there was a little surprise at the end, but the book was waaaayyyy too long. As Amy said, "It could have been a pamphlet!" 

Considering the enjoyment factor, we seemed to enjoy book club more than the book.

Quote for the evening from Amy:  "Is this erudite enough for you?"
(When does Amy not make the quotes?)

You can also check out her website:
http://marykayandrews.com/the-books/books-by-mary-kay-andrews/spring-fever/#discussion

Behind the Beautiful Forevers - April 2013

Hey Ladies!

Welcome to the Princeton Walk Ladies Book Club!  This is the inaugural debut of our own humble little website/blog:  a site where we can keep our book selections organized...make it easier for everyone to remember what's our next selection...see who is hosting...and post our comments and reviews!

Gotta start somewhere so here's a little post from our most recent meeting, April 4, 2013:   behind the beautiful forevers, by Katherine Boo, hosted by Susan.  

Overall Rating:  **** (4 stars)

We all agreed that this was tough subject matter and not an easy book to read and digest.  However, the discussion was a lively one ranging from India, poverty, the caste system, workings of the judicial system and government corruption. We compared the lives of the characters of the book to how we all live in the bubble in East Cobb.  There were many interesting things to learn about the slums of Mumbai - who would have known that there is one toilet for every 170 people.  It was easy to see why people such as Asha would do anything, no matter how corrupt, to try to improve the lives of their children.

Quotes of the night:

Myra - "When you get in the environment of stink, you can't even smell it!"

Amy - " I hated the book if anyone asks."  (via text from her house)