Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

March 12, 2020

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone


Host:  Julie
Attendees:   Ruth, Michelle, Pam M, Debra

Short synopsis from Goodreads :
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
by Lori Gottlieb (Goodreads Author)

Stars:  4.39  ·   Rating details ·  70,138 ratings  ·  6,875 reviews

One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.

As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients' lives -- a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can't stop hooking up with the wrong guys -- she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.

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A very small group made for an intimate setting (which could be said to almost mimic a one-on-one with a therapist...)  We answered a lot of book club discussion questions and explored some of the author's featured characters (were they considered patients or clients? How would you want to be described, if you were in therapy, as a patient, or a client? )  We agreed we enjoyed this book and took away a lot from it.  Despite our forgetting to actually rate it, it's probably safe to say it ranks way up there! 
PS.  This is being made into a television series...stay tuned, it should be quite entertaining!


Next month:    The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richadson

February 13, 2020

Then She Was Gone  by Lisa Jewell
Host:  Ruth
Attendees:  Julie, Pam T., Lori, Michelle, JJ, Amy, Myra, Debra, Pam M.



From Simon & Schuster:  
A 2018 Goodreads Choice Award Finalist—Top 5 Best Mystery & Thriller * A Suspense Magazine “Best of 2018” Thriller/Suspense Pick

“An acutely observed family drama with bone-chilling suspense.” —People

“Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace, leaving readers on the edge of their seats. Her multilayered characters are sheer perfection, and even the most astute thriller reader won’t see where everything is going until the final threads are unknotted.” —Booklist, starred review

“Sharply written with twists and turns, Jewell’s latest will please fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, or Luckiest Girl Alive." —Library Journal

Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. She was fifteen, the youngest of three. She was beloved by her parents, friends, and teachers. She and her boyfriend made a teenaged golden couple. She was days away from an idyllic post-exams summer vacation, with her whole life ahead of her.

And then she was gone.

Now, her mother Laurel Mack is trying to put her life back together. It’s been ten years since her daughter disappeared, seven years since her marriage ended, and only months since the last clue in Ellie’s case was unearthed. So when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a café, no one is more surprised than Laurel at how quickly their flirtation develops into something deeper. Before she knows it, she’s meeting Floyd’s daughters—and his youngest, Poppy, takes Laurel’s breath away.

Because looking at Poppy is like looking at Ellie. And now, the unanswered questions she’s tried so hard to put to rest begin to haunt Laurel anew. Where did Ellie go? Did she really run away from home, as the police have long suspected, or was there a more sinister reason for her disappearance? Who is Floyd, really? And why does his daughter remind Laurel so viscerally of her own missing girl?


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A lot of suspense, some interesting but not necesarily likeable characters, a lot of unexplained and 
very far-fetched oddities in the story, (was it a turkey baster?!) but we pretty much agreed this novel kept our interest.   It gave us a chance for some stimulating conversation; also a chance to gather and catch up with each other in general..... on Galentine's Day, no less.

We selected the next three months' reading:  
March   -   Maybe You Should Talk to Someone  - Lori Gottlieb
April     -    The BookWoman of Troublesome Creek*  - Kim Michele Richardson
May      -    Dear Edward - Ann Napolitano 

*Another novel that mirrors The Bookwoman is The Giver of Stars by JoJo Moyes.  (Author of Me Before You, remember?)   Both books published almost in tandem.  Same subject and similar story.   Read both and decide for yourself?

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2020  January selection  was   The Alice Network  by Kate Quinn  (Michelle)  

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

December 12, 2019
Host:  Michelle
Attendees:  Lori, Susan, Janna, Ruth, Gayle, JJ, Mary Margaret, Pam T, Pam M




Simon&Schuster:    A profoundly moving novel about two neighboring families in a suburban town, the friendship between their children, a tragedy that reverberates over four decades, the daily intimacies of marriage, and the power of forgiveness.

Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope, rookie cops in the NYPD, live next door to each other outside the city. What happens behind closed doors in both houses—the loneliness of Francis’s wife, Lena, and the instability of Brian’s wife, Anne, sets the stage for the explosive events to come.

Ask Again, Yes is a deeply affecting exploration of the lifelong friendship and love that blossoms between Kate Gleeson and Peter Stanhope, born six months apart. One shocking night their loyalties are divided, and their bond will be tested again and again over the next 40 years. Luminous, heartbreaking, and redemptive, Ask Again, Yes reveals the way childhood memories change when viewed from the distance of adulthood—villains lose their menace and those who appeared innocent seem less so. Kate and Peter’s love story, while haunted by echoes from the past, is marked by tenderness, generosity, and grace

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Thank you Michelle for a cozy and festive setting.  Good company and lively discussion.  The book itself......meh.  It brought out some interesting points but the more we dissected various topics it seemed the novel just came up short.  Most of the reviews seem more effusive and positive than we actually felt the story deserved.   (An Amazon Best Book of June 2019,  Wha?!)  In any event, we had a night full of conversation and thoughtful consideration as we bounced thoughts and opinions off each other.  Mental illness, family dynamics and dysfunction,  immigrant experience, estrangement... just a few of the topics we covered.   We ultimately rated the book 2.75 to 3 (maybe) stars.

Happy holidays all!

Our next selection January 2020:  The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Unwinding of the Miracle by Julie Yip - Williams

Thursday  Nov 7, 2019

Host:  Pam T.

In attendance:  Lori, Debra, Julie, Susan, Michelle, Pam M.

A quick review from Leisure Commando.com:

A detailed, sorrowful account of the author’s untimely death from colon cancer at the age of 41.  Yip-Williams was born with severe vision problems, and her grandmother insisted that her mother and father have the girl euthanized (there’s no other way to say it) by an herbalist.  The herbalist refused, and the author overcame her handicaps to graduate college, marry, and have a family, only to acquire and die from colon cancer. The book addresses nearly every practical and emotional issue that a cancer patient might have to deal with, with only occasional forays into sentimentality.  The author holds nothing back, and is brutally honest about everything. If anything, it reinforces the notion that you need to live each moment as if it’s your last and cherish the people and things that are important to you while you can.

A cozy, rainy night with seven us (color coordinated, even!) discussing this book and noshing on some delicious tidbits from new recipes thanks to Pam's coworkers.                                          The Unwinding of the Miracle actually began as the author's blog and included letters to her children.   It truly is a story that started with a miracle during infancy and then unravelled and ended far too soon.    Very difficult and tragic subject matter but the author was able to express hopes and joys which came through during some of her  darkest  moments.   The Unwinding of the Miracle was every bit about living as it was a memoir about dying.   We rated it a 3.5 to maybe 3.75.   It did not receive  a "would recommend it to a friend" rating, except maybe with qualifiers.   Although we had various mixed reviews for this book, we unanimously agreed we were not sorry we read it.

Next month's selection is  Ask Again, Yes. by Mary Beth Keane. (Host:  Michelle)

 

Winter Loon by Susan Bernhard

October 3, 2019

Host:  Janna
Attendees:  Julie, Ruth, Pam T., Michelle, Tricia, Amy, Lori, Susan, Emily, Pam M.

KIRKUS REVIEW   

(October 15, 2018)

Bernhard’s debut centers on the ugly cards fate deals to adolescent boy Wes Ballot: poverty, alcoholism, rape, incest, abuse, and abandonment, to name a few.

Living with the pain caused by other people in pain, the protagonist has a resilience that's almost beyond belief—really, it is hard to believe. The novel opens with 15-year-old Wes’ “ear to the ice, alone on a frozen lake surrounded by remote miles of woods and farmland...where the ice had given way and the hungry lake had swallowed [his] mother whole.” The utter bleakness of this initial scene aptly sets the tone for the remainder of the book and showcases one of the author’s most commendable skills: visceral descriptions of the frigid winters in rural Minnesota. Abandoned by his drifter father, Wes ends up in Loma living with Gip and Ruby, his maternal grandparents. The two are a sad and vile pair who blame their grandson for his mother’s death. When Wes asks if God allowed his mother to die, Ruby responds heartlessly: “God wasn’t there, Wes….You were.” Against this emotional backdrop and with no supportive authority to guide him, Wes somehow attends high school, holds a summer job, and falls in love. Bernhard shows that she is not afraid of difficult or touchy subjects, illustrating the prevalence of classism and racism in the lives of the inhabitants of her fictional small town, but she doesn't go beyond the surface in her exploration of systematic prejudice. The problems, like the characters, are underdeveloped. As the novel progresses, Wes uncovers repressed family secrets so horrendous that the reader might find some passages difficult to read.

A coming-of-age story overloaded with tragedy, hopelessness, and trauma.

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Of the 75% of us who read the book, the rating of this book varied from 1 star to 4.5 stars.  There is no denying the dark, painful subject matter was difficult.  To the author's credit she did not graphically portray details; her lyrical and descriptive writing encouraged us to use our own imaginations.  A beautifully written novel about some ugly subject matter and come equally ugly characters, Winter Loon gave us much to talk about.  

November's book:   The Unwinding of the Miracle
by Julie Yip Williams (Host:  Pam T)

  

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

September 12, 2019

The Silent Patient
Host:  Amy
Attendees:  Lori, Mary Margaret, Michelle, Tricia, Pam M, Myra, Pam T, Emily, Janna, Julie, Debra


From MacMillan Publishers:

The instant #1 New York Times bestseller

"An unforgettable—and Hollywood-bound—new thriller... A mix of Hitchcockian suspense, Agatha Christie plotting, and Greek tragedy."
—Entertainment Weekly

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

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The Silent Patient gave us a very full night of discussion.  We agreed this was a page turner even if there was often confusion about the overlapping timeline.  The author did a good job of leading his readers on and throwing out a few red herrings along the way.  The author's first profession as a screenwriter confirmed to us that this book would make a good movie;  perhaps it's already in the works.   One of us who shall remain nameless thought Theo the therapist would resemble George Costanza....but most of us thought our imaginary image of Theo resembled the author's picture; which led us to the conclusion the author wrote as Theo.   Our rating was varied from 3.5 to 4.0 with the majority of the group leaning towards the higher ranking.   After Lori's helpful observations and thoughtful insights we agreed she could have pushed our rating to a 5! 

Next book:   Winter Loon by Susan Bernhard  (NOT TO BE CONFUSED with The Winter Loon by Lori Henriksen.  Look for the book with the loon on the cover.   Host:  Janna

8 Aug 2019
MAID by Stephanie Land
Host: Michelle
Attendees: Lori, Amy, Janna, Pam T., Myra, Susan, Julie, Gayle, Ruth, Debra, Pam M.

BOOK REVIEW:
maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land  

Hachette Books    288 pp.

By Jim Swearingen

...When Land became pregnant at 28, she tabled her dreams of a writing program at the University of Montana to raise her daughter single-handedly. A deadbeat father and a resentful boyfriend filtered through her life offering little to no support. Ultimately, to make ends meet, she became a household maid. The companies that employed her provided neither health care, nor a transportation per diem, requiring her to spend more money than she could afford to earn less money than would sustain her small family....
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Our May selection, Maid, due to so many people being unable to attend, became our August book club read. Good attendance and good conversation! Discussions included diagnosing the failures/successes of government assistance programs, observations on family support and upbringings, and poor life choices. We were both sympathetic to the author's situation and struggles, as well as critical of her decisions. 28! 28? 28!? We were appalled by some of the cruelties the author faced. (Don't judge people on what they are purchasing when in the checkout lane!) We came away with the agreement that it's always better to be kind; one never knows the battles someone else is fighting....and we all could easily be only one paycheck away from disaster as well. We felt grateful to have had family when we needed, and being able to provide family and support to our own children.
Our informal (loosey - goosey) rating system ranged from a 2 to a 4 so overall this book ranked 3 stars.

We selected our next six month's selections. See the list by clicking on the tab Our Future Selections under the blog heading.
September:
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
(Amy)