The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

 May 7, 2015
Hostess:  Pam
Attendees:  Cheryl, Myra, Janna, Emily, Betty Rose, Susan, Michelle
Overall Rating:  3.75

This book has been on the #1 list of the NY Times bestsellers list but our group did not unanimously agree with that ranking.  It seemed like our group had the biggest issue with the characters and their lack of development.    Every character was introduced in a very linear manner while  their story was being developed, but only up to a point, and then they seemed to disappear.    The primary characters seemed bipolar, and none of them were very likable, except for Cathy, Rachel's roommate.

(Janna's Quote of the Night:  "Cathy tripped into the wrong book" )   

Some of our criticisms:  

1.  There was no background on why Tom was a sociopath

2.  What was the significance of the clothes on the track?   

3.  What happened to the psychiatrist?

4.  What about the red-headed guy Rachel met on the train?

The imagery of Rachel viewing people on the train and out the window and imagining their lives drew us in.  Haven't we all done that before?    We did like the suspense and wanted to keep reading to see what happened next.    Rachel transformed from a spineless, weak person to a more determined, aggressive person toward the end of the book.  

We had a good discussion about a memory not always being a fact. (reference back to a previous selection, The Round House)   Tom mentally abused Rachel by planting untrue memories of her behavior when she was drunk.   Overall this book generated good discussion and we considered it a good beach read.   It could have been much better with more character development because we felt it had good bones.   We gave this book an overall  3.75     

We also inducted a new book club member, Charlotte Ottley, (Susan's downstairs neighbor who needs a lot of beauty sleep and a little piece of quiet)  Is that Charlotte's empty chair?

The next book selection is The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (and currently on sale for $2.99  Kindle edition)    Our next meeting will be in August;  so over the summer we decided to give ourselves reading assignments.  This way we vet the selections and when we meet up again, we can decide what months we want to read them.

Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf  (Cheryl)
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt (Betty Rose)
Mr. Owita's Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall (Lori)
The Headmaster's Wife by Thomas Christoper Greene (Emily)
The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams (Amy)
The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah (Michelle)
Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (not assigned)
A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner (Pat)
Lila by Marilynne Robinson (Susan)
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris (Pam)
God Help the Child by Toni Morrison (Nan)
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (Myra)
Dead Wake by Eric Larson (Mary Margaret)
A Spool of Blue Thread (Janna)

Mrs. Kennedy and Me

April 16, 2015
Mrs. Kennedy and Me -  An Intimate Memoir
by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin

Hostess:  Amy
Attendees:  Mary Margaret, Cheryl, Pat, Pam, Michelle,  Janna, Myra
Book Club Rating:  3 stars

Clint Hill was Mrs. Kennedy's personal Secret Service agent who at first was disapointed and dismayed at his assignment guarding the First Lady.  Boring!  Art and Culture!  He ended up developing a close relationship with her probably because of their closeness in age.  He was there for her darkest moments as well as her happiest.   It was surprising to us that this book got such good reviews and was on the best seller list for a long period of time.  It had to be the subject matter because we all agreed that it wasn't the most well-written book.  It read like a People Magazine;  not that it wasn't enjoyable...

We found it interesting that Jackie was so against being in the public eye and fiercely guarded her privacy, given the fact that JFK was already a senator when they married.  She must have known he might have entertained the idea of running for president...   After having children, she became a tigress protecting them from the paparazzi.   We agreed that when you become a celebrity it's a trade off;  you can't expect to live your life in privacy.

Oh those pearls! the gloves!

No denying Jackie brought class and glamour to the White House.

She was a hit in India and Pakistan, too.  That's Clint in the center, and her sister Lee Radziwill on the left.  

Jackie's gift horse Sardar

On this day in 1962, Pakistan’s governor, Ayub Khan, in a gesture of goodwill, gives first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy a horse named Sardar. Governor Khan and President Kennedy cultivated a close diplomatic relationship between their two countries. When the Pakistani governor first visited the White House, he and Jackie discovered a common interest in horses. In her memoirs, the first lady referred to Sardar as her “favorite treasure.” She nicknamed the jet gelding “Black Jack.” Jackie chose “Black Jack” to serve as the ceremonial rider-less horse during JFK’s funeral. The horse’s nervous capering once caused the procession to come to a halt while everyone waited for him to settle down.

CORRECTION:   There are many newspaper reports that claim Sardar was the skittish riderless horse in JFK's funeral procession.  (it must be true, it's on the internet.....)   This turns out to be incorrect. The real Black Jack was a half-Morgan, half American Quarter ARMY  horse.  Sardar was a Thoroughbred.

Army Owns high-strung Black Jack . WASHINGTON - Black Jack, the skittish riderless horse in President Kennedy's funeral procession, is an Army horse. ... 

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/blackjack.htm

Black Jack died after a 29-year military career on February 6, 1976. He was cremated, with his remains laid to rest in a plot at Fort Myer, Virginia, on Summerall Field; his final resting place lies 200 feet (60 m) northeast of the flagpole in the southeast corner of the parade field. He is one of only two horses in United States history to be buried with Full Military Honors, the other being Comanche.^[3]

We felt there was not enough character development or lack of insight into Clint Hill and his family, and how the demands and pressure of his job affected his family life.  What family life?  He spent all his holidays with the Kennedy clan,  in Hyannis Port, Palm Beach, Middleburg, Camp David....

We also felt disappointed that the author did not include any stories about JFK's womanizing (i.e. Marilyn Monroe) while in the White House; as in who knew?...and how were the trysts orchestrated? The Secret Service had to know!  It also surprised us a little at how little time Jackie  actually spent in the White House itself.    Overall, our group felt that the book did not provide that much more detail about things that we didn't already know.   The author carried tremendous guilt after the assassination, and suffered depression.  We had some questions about what happened when Mrs. Kennedy left the White House.   One question we would have liked answered:  Why was JFK so adamant that Clint keep Jackie away from Aristotle Onassis during one of her overseas jaunts?

The main lodge at Camp David.  Doesn't this look like it could be a home in Indian Hills?

Amy questioned whether Camp David has been updated/ modernized at all in recent years.  Or perhaps stock photos are kept dated for security reasons....

How about we put this on our future field trip list :)  https://whitehouse.gov1.info/camp-david/



After all the Jackie and JFK discussion, we felt like we wanted to know more details about her life after the assassination:   what was the attraction to Aristotle Onassis?  and what about  her later companion, Maurice Tempelsman.

 Jackie wed Aristotle Onassis in 1968, five years after JFK's assassination, and which also happened to be the year one anonymous book club member was born...

Then, approximately five years after Onassis' death in 1975, Jackie and Maurice moved in together in NYC.

Overall we gave this book a 3, which may have been generous,

but great discussion was generated! 

Quote of the night:  must remain anonymous....it was a doozy!

Next Month's Book:  Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Round House by Louise Erdrich March 12, 2015

The Round House by Louise Erdrich

March 12, 2015

Attendees:  Emily (hostess) Cheryl, Lori, Pat, Myra, Michelle, Pam 

                                                    Can I have a piece of cheese, please?

 We were feeling so good we decided to do a group selfie (Michelle, where did you go?)

This book generated a lot of discussion points.  We liked this for its interesting and mostly unfamiliar subject matter about life on the reservation.   Lori had great facts to share from her son's work with tribal law in Montana which opened our eyes to the ongoing challenges of the Native American and helped enhance the setting of the book; one of the key themes being the importance of where the crime took place, on tribal land or off the reservation?   There was much emphasis on the awareness of the senses in Native American culture, and how everything has its place and order (until something like a crime disrupts the balance)   This generated more dialogue on the importance of boundaries in life.  Despite the main subject of the search for justice for a violent crime,  Myra and Pam liked the gentleness of the coming-of-age theme and the friendship of the boys.  

The protagonist's search for justice generated conversation about the reliability of eye witness accounts, which  brought us around and around to even more talking points:
1.  how the brain distorts memory every time it has to recall that memory.... does an eyewitness really see the events he thinks he does... the brain often adds in details depending on the setting and surrounding circumstances
2. a debate on the color of the striped dress in current events:  was it blue and  black or white and gold?  

http://www.dogonews.com/2015/3/6/white-and-gold-or-blue-and-black-the-great-dress-debate

Note:  4 out of 7 of us saw blue and black and....  the remaining 3 saw white and gold (really?!)
hmmmm....it made us wonder how reliable would any of us be as eyewitnesses?      
(Myra, the bank thanks you for your help, but you may go on your way....)

Thanks to Cheryl's attention to detail and notes, this book helped us learn something new about....

COFFEE.    Quote of the night: "What about the egg in the coffee?"  Check it out here:

http://www.food.com/recipe/lutheran-church-basement-egg-coffee-130947

                      http://www.instructables.com/id/Swedish-Egg-Coffee/

Overall rating:  4.5 out of 6 stars. 

Interest of topic:  6

Character development:  5

Plot deelopment: 5

Author's creativity:  5

Overall enjoyment: 4

Discussion generated:  6

              Thank you Emily for a good night!

Next month's book:   Mrs. Kennedy and Me byClint Hill    Hostess:  Amy

http://mrskennedyandme.com

May:  Girl on the Train by    Paula Hawkins      Hostess:  Pam

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22557272-the-girl-on-the-train

What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman

September 10, 2104  What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman

Host:  Janna  

Attendees:  Betty Rose, Nan, Susan, Michelle, Emily, Mary Margaret, Cheryl, Myra, Pam

I'm sorry, did this book bore you?

This book was based on the Willard Suitcase Project which you can read about here:

http://www.willardsuitcases.com

We agreed the story was good, it just need to be written by a different author  :)

It generated good discussion but there was no real character development.  Many parts were too simple to be believable.

This sweet kitty face kind of sums it up:  ....Ho Hum....

We rated this book a THREE.

Quote of the night:   "There's a fine line between crazy and free-spirited; and it's usually a prescription."

Here's our upcoming line up of books

Untamed by Will Harlan Nov 6, 2014

November 6, 2014  Untamed - The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight for Cumberland Island by Will Harlan
Host:  Susan
Attendees:  Cheryl,  Amy, Emily, Michelle, Betty Rose, Nan, Pam

Good discussion on coservationist and wild woman Carol Ruckesdell who has spent her life on Cumberland Island.  We all enjoyed learning about the Island, sea turtles, Carol and her four husbands, (including the one she shot to death) and the lifestyle of wealthy families like the Carnegies, Coca-Cola Candlers and even JFK, Jr.  

Betty Rose brought Paul's scrapbook of his many boar (wild pig) hunting trips to Cumberland Island, including great pictures.  We shared pictures of the island, feral horses, Carol and Gogo's homes and the Candler compound.  We also got to admire Gogo Ferguson's famous island jewelry.   Everyone enjoyed the Atlanta connections:  Conservation of the Chattahoochee, the Dickey brothers, Jimmy Carter, and Coca Cola money.  

We might have had a quote of the night, but the hostess failed to write it down!  We didn't care because we were too interested in the delicious cake for dessert.....

You can read a little more about Gogo's jewelry here:

http://www.gogojewelry.com/#!about/c213h

We talked about a field trip to see Callanwolde (the Candler home) for Christmas.   

We unanimously rated this book a 5.   Thank you Susan for a great night with excellent visual aids.

Note:  Check out the field trip page on this blog!