Hostess: Trish
Attendees:
Amy, Michele, MaryMargaret, Susan, Pam T, Myra, Ruth, Pam M, Janna
Zoom Zoom!
It's the year 2020. The world has run out of toilet paper. There are bread (or milk/eggs/paper towels/ you-name-it) lines at the grocery stores. A handshake could be considered rude, but you smile with your eyes because you're wearing a face mask. With orders to stay home and shelter in place, socializing takes on a new definition. Six feet! Anxiety, disbelief, despair. Hope, kindness, creativity. Sound like the makings of an apocalyptic novel?
Nope.
Life in 2020 under the Covid-19 Corona virus pandemic.
We adapt. No bookclubs allowed the usual way, so we hold it via Zoom Meeting.
Most of us finished The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Didn't matter if one didn't finish the book, it was just nice to see everyone's faces on screen. (a la Brady Bunch!) Our virtual book club was a first, thanks Amy, for setting it up!
From Goodreads:
The New York Times and USA Today bestseller!
In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry. The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.
Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government's new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a powerful message about how the written word affects people--a story of hope and heartbreak, raw courage and strength splintered with poverty and oppression, and one woman's chances beyond the darkly hollows. Inspired by the true and historical blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek showcases a bold and unique tale of the Packhorse Librarians in literary novels — a story of fierce strength and one woman's belief that books can carry us anywhere — even back home.
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One of the most interesting topics of the book was learning about the true Blue People of Kentucky. The book appeared to be well researched on this subject. Sad to say that prejudice abounds, no matter what color your skin. We also learned a little more about the WPA and the library program. Good discussion points and we were concise with our time!
Quote of the night: "they won't get the news (in rural Appalachia) about the pandemic until the book woman comes"
Next month's selection: Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano
Probably via Zoom again....
