The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

In January, we read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.  We had read Deacon King Kong previously and loved it.  This was a notable recommendation by Lexi who we finally let choose a book.  And now that we have read her pick, she gets to choose from now on. This was a great novel with excellent character development.  We had a good discussion around each reader's favorite characters.  This novel was an excellent rendition of a time and place, of the politics of the time, and social issues set in Chicken Hill.  

We spent time talking about Ed Amidon who had been in our bookclub for 33 years.  He died on December 26th and we can hardly believe it.  He loved Confederacy of Dunces. by John Kennedy-so much so that we had to read it twice!  He loved the Rabbit series by John Updike and I think we read Run Rabbit Run twice as well.  He will be remembered for his great laugh and sense of humor.  He was our literary friend.  We are planning to put together our thoughts and stories about Ed and will find a place on our blog to honor and perhaps roast him a bit.  

We are meeting at Mindy's on March 18th at 5:30, hoping to finally have some of her famous turkey chili. We will be reading Prophet Song by Paul Lynch.

The Glass Chateau

 We read The Glass Chateau by Stephen Kiernan in November.  We met in December via Zoom, missing Mindy's turkey chili and left to our own devices for our dinners.  Stephen Kiernan is a local author and journalist.  We had read A Universe of Two earlier this year and had liked it.  The Glass Chateau had some similarities in terms of themes of trauma associated with war-both managing that pain within the turmoil and later during healing.  Mixed with this theme is the story of blowing glass and creating stained glass as an art form.  We learned from the epilogue that the author had been inspired by an exhibit in Montreal by Chagall.    She shared photos with us which really put some of the novel into perspective for us around the artistic style of the characters.  

There were mixed reviews and a great discussion.  Alan, Mindy and Tim found the novel to be timely and a good reflection on the senselessness of war and the subsequent healing and hopefulness of the novel.  Others enjoyed the novel as a story, however were not able to connect with characters.  We had a great discussion and look forward to our next meeting.  We are hoping to meet at Mindy's but since I am writing this so late after our meeting, that I know that we also have the next meeting via Zoom at 7Pm (so Chrysanne can join) on January 23rd. We will read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride.

 

October 2023 –

This month we met to discuss “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh” by Michael Chabon.  This is his first novel, written in 1988, and is a coming of age story that takes place during the summer after the protagonist finishes college.  None of our group members loved this book – a rarity since usually at least one person proclaims to love each book that we read!  As a group, we appreciated Chabon’s beautiful language and sentence construction.  We were disappointed with the lack of character development and the pace of the first half of the book.

However, we had a fabulous meeting – beginning with Chrysanne’s incredible cooking - baked chicken with lemon and garlic, roasted potatoes and green beans, fresh bread, salad and finished with an incredible fall apple dessert. Terry updated the group on his new agri-business, which lead to an interesting recounting of his business ventures over the last 50+ years.  Tim had recently returned from Kansas City where a private collector has a painting by Lemeul Wilmarth and Tim’s grandmother was the model for the painting when she was 16 years old.  After a series of communications with the collector, Tim visited and saw the painting, which is the collectors favorite piece of art!  Cindy also shared a Doug Nap painting that she is the model for.  We shared much laughter, conversation, and comradery – now that’s a successful book group!

Next meeting is on December 11^th at Mindy’s house to discuss The Glass Chateau by Steven Kiernan.

 

"This was the right book at the right time".                                              This sentiment was endorsed by almost all of us who gathered at Cindy's house, enjoying a spectacular summer garden salad, in September.  The story of the residents of the town of Algren had a sweetness that was a nice counterpoint to some of the darker books we have read in recent months.  Many people commented on the authenticity of the characters and their struggles. Many novels have included the challenge of sons longing to know their fathers - and this book explored this with humor and an almost child-like longing.  

NEXT MEETING IS: OCTOBER 9th at Chrysanne's where we will discuss "The mysteries of Pittsburth, by Michael Chabon"    

 

We met at Tim's house in  East Montpelier, just a couple of weeks after the devastating flooding in Montpelier,  for a lovely dinner and a lively discussion of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.  Some of our group found this book too painful and depressing to finish - others found a lot to like in the character development, gorgeous writing, and interesting modern take on David Copperfield.  This was a very rich discussion sharing our experiences reading the book - and how it intersected with our lives.

Next up:  On Monday September 11th we will be meeting at Cindy's to discuss  A boy of good breeding by Miriam Toews

 

May 22, 2023

Our book this month was "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks.  Ed and Chrysanne attended by zoom, with the rest of at Mindy's house sharing food and company.  Everyone enjoyed the story of the Sarajevo Haggadah, and appreciated the history that was (re)told.  The science of book restoration was also interesting - we wondered what our books could tell future restorers about our lives.  We noted that while this story is ancient, it is about themes that are very relevant today.  At one point in the evening someone asked exactly what a Haggadah was - which prompted Alan to open up his satchel and share a number of Haggadahs from his house.  

UP NEXT: is Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. 5:00 on July 20th at Tim's

The Seven Moons

For April, we read The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka.  This is a novel that brings to light the violence and horrors of the civil wars in Sri Lanka.  The novel is set in the afterlife where the main character is faced with reviewing his life, the subjects he photographed, his relationships to solve his own death.  This was a difficult read, but an important one.  We had good discussions about Sri Lanka, colonialism, and afterlife.  We talked about the spiritual nature of the novel.  Some of us were unable to finish, given how hard the subject was but we were encouraged by the finishers to read it through in the future.

We also had a good talk about recalibrating our book club and recommitting to the core reason we have been together for so long.  We first of all, love each other.  Secondly, we appreciate the push to read material we would not ordinarily read.  Thirdly, meeting with each other rises us out of our day to day lives in a very meaningful way.  While the pandemic and our more remote members have caused us to figure out some more creative ways of gathering.  We agreed that earlier is better.  5:30 is a great time to meet.  We also appreciate our Burlington members who are more central and can accommodate us all.  We will make every effort to bring dinner to those who open their homes to us, while also wanting to be creative about perhaps a Saturday afternoon at a member's home that is more of a drive.  Finally...communication!  Everyone agreed that email is the best way to communicate!  I am recommitting to being more timely with the blog!

We are meeting next on May 22nd at 5:30 at Mindy's home- Lexi is taking the lead on dinner, but might delegate to the rest of us.  We are reading People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks