Girl with the Louding Voice

We read The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare in for November.  I recommended this book based on a discussion in my Norwegian Remote Knitting Class.  This novel is considered a Young Adult novel.  The novel is set in Nigeria and points out the cruelties and injustices of childhood marriages and the treatment of those who work in other's homes where there is a significant power differential.  Adunni defies the position she has been put into with an arranged marriage and as a maid in a home where violence is practiced against others with less power.  Adunni has a strong spirit which helps her to rise above and have her voice heard. 

We had mixed reviews amongst members.  Some positives where that we learned about Nigeria because the novelist created a good sense of place.  We also talked about those power differences and some of the displaced anger some of the characters felt.  Some members felt that the book might not have really been able to delve into the intricacies of the layers of how Adunni could rise above her situation.

We are reading Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult for the next meeting in January.  We will be meeting remotely over Zoom at 5:30.

 

The Midcoast: A Novel

 We read Midcoast: A Novel by Adam White for September.  There were mixed reviews from our group.  I had suggested the novel having spent time in Damariscotta, I was interested in the evolution of some of the mid coast Maine working towns and their transformation from visitors from away.  Everything effects everything else.  How does a community and the people who live in it interact from those from away who have a higher standard of living?  Also, what attracts people from away-the rusticity and simplicity becomes transformed when visitors have a need for their place away to be like their home towns and cities. One needs to bring back a souvenir and then there are t-shirt shops.  One needs a latte and then there is a coffee shop dedicated to sophisticated drinks.  And maybe someone didn't pack the right clothing and needs an upscale clothing store.  It is about the eco system of the intersection of different lives, cultures, trades and socio-economic factors.

Someone pointed out that all of the main characters were men and that some of it just didn't seem realistic.  The morality that changed based on relationships with others and what one needed from another was interesting.  Mixed reviews altogether.  

Next month we are reading The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare.  We are meeting at Mindy's on November 17th at 5:30.

The Overstory

 We read The Overstory by Richard Powers in August. This novel which focuses on a story about the relationships between trees and people is long and complex.  We took some time to read it and met to discuss at Chrysanne's.  The Overstory won the Pulitzer Prize in 2019.  Richard Powers created a novel that features not only humans as characters, but trees as well.  He challenges his readers to think about trees as more than plants with their abilities to defy disease and to communicate when distressed: Chestnuts, Maples, Oaks, Redwoods, Mulberry, Bunyan to name a few. Powers brings to life nine or ten main characters whose life stories intersect with their relatedness to trees.  At the same time, he inspires the reader to think about trees and their role in the ecology of our world.  

“This is not our world with trees in it. It's a world of trees, where humans have just arrived.” Richard Powers

Everyone was glad to have read The Overstory.  The writing was lauded as poetic and beautiful.  We read a few passages to one another.  At times, because of the length, it seemed long and sometimes following the characters was a little confusing for us.  

For September, we are reading The Midcoast, A Novel by Adam White.  We will meet at Terry's at 5:30 on September 28th.

True Biz

 

For June of 2022, we read True Biz by Sara Novic, recommended by my daughter, Aretha who has followed the book club for the 20 years I have been part of this magnificent group of incredible readers!  She was nervous to hear whether we thought it was befitting our book club.  

I think the reaction was mixed at the start of the discussion, but as we delved into the many issues the book inspired us to think about, we had a great exchange of ideas and feelings about inclusion.  Is inclusion always the best course if you are not able to share who you are in a genuine way with others? Why do we try to encourage the neuro-divergent to be more neuro-typical?

  True Biz is a Young Adult novel that seeks to uncover the many issues of the deaf and hard of hearing community.  The author cleverly inserts facts and figures about the deaf culture within the lesson plans for the students in the novel.  From these facts, we did not know about how the deaf community was threatened by the eugenics movement.  We also interested in the community on Martha's Vineyard and how the community of both hearing and non-hearing people were able to socialize and work together.  Finally, learning about the nuances of sign language and how different geographical areas and cultural approaches led to dialects within American Sign Language.  

Finally, closer to home, we talked about the Vermont boarding school, Austine School for the Deaf  that was similar to the school described in the novel.  Austine closed in 2014, under similar circumstances.  We were amazed that we did not know and did not understand all of the issues surrounding this neuro-diverse group of students until we read and discussed this novel.  

We decided to read a longer novel, The Overstory by Richard Powers for August.  We are meeting August 29th at 5:30 PM at Chrysanne's House.

Austine School for the Deaf

Universe of Two

  It is May and we read a novel written by a local author, Stephen Kiernan.  In fact, he lived on the same street as one of our members!  We might even get a chance to talk to him about his thoughts about writing Universe of Two.  We had a good discussion.  Different readers had different perspectives.  We agreed that is is tricky to narrate as another gender, but the author's narration when he spoke as Brenda seemed authentic.  Sometimes it is great to focus as a group on a period of time in history and an event.  We spent most of our time talking about events of World War II that we previously had not considered such as the mass suicides after Germany surrendered, the actions of the Red Army and the attitudes of those in charge towards the power of the atomic bomb and its devastating consequences.  Thanks, Terry for a good suggestion!  

Next month, June 22nd we are meeting at Ed's house at an earlier time- 5 PM!  Details around food to be discussed later.  We are reading
True Biz by Sara Novic.

The Henna Artist

 For April, we read The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi.  We all liked it for different reasons.  And Tim conceded that he liked an 'I' novel!  We had a great discussion about power and the need to put others down to raise your own status.  This novel is set in the 1950's when the caste system in India was predominant.  However, given all of the work we are doing individually around privilege, it was yet another example of the human need to dominate over others.  We also learned about henna tattoos and their significance.  this is the first of a trilogy and I am hoping to read all three!

Next month we are reading Universe of Two by Stephen Kiernan and meeting remotely at 6:30.

We are meeting virtually on May 11th at 6:30.

The Promise

 For March, we read The Promise by Damon Galgut.  This novel won the Booker Prize.  The author has been committed to addressing the issue of Apartheid in his work.  This novel addresses and brings to light both the hopelessness and hope.  Difficult to read, but an important work.

New York Times Review

Next month we are reading The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi and meeting at Chrysanne's at 6:30 on April 4th for an Indian feast!

Cold Millions

 

We read Cold Millions by Jess Waters for our first book of 2022.  The Omicron variant of Covid 19 was peaking and we chose to meet remotely to discuss this book.   Given the dark times and the stretches we make to find the light, most of us began this novel with a bit of reluctance because the subject is on of inequity, fighting for basic human rights and poverty. 

Jess Waters quotes Albert Camus in the the Acknowledgements, "Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth."  This book was based on the early union organization and the fight for decent working conditions and living wages.  Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the famous labor leader, activist and feminist features as a leading character with Rye and Gig, two brothers who are struggling to support themselves and become involved in the labor movement of the Industrial Workers of the World-The Wobblies.  

Some of us found it difficult to follow the different voices throughout the novel.  The stories are told from different voices.  Some of us liked that style, while others found that it took a while to figure out who was narrating the new chapter.  All agreed that the writing was beautiful.  Mindy pointed out Water's skilled use of simile and metaphor in his narrative.  Thumbs up for the group.  Difficult to read about the suffering, but  resolved at the end and a good documentation of the number of changes one lived through at the turn of the century into the 60's.  

Next month we are on Zoom, pending the vicarious path of the virus...We are reading The Promise by William Galgut.  We will gather on February 21st
at 6:45.