The Audition

 

We read Audition by Katia Kitamura and it blew our minds.  We had no idea how to sort out the meaning of this book.  Was it a Sliding Doors theme where an encounter could take two different directions in life? Was the main character psychotic and making up different scenarios or was in a study in two different scenarios with the same characters? Some of us loved it, others not so much.  

Next meeting is Isola by Allegra Goodman.  We will meet at Alan's House at 5:30.

Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

 

We loved The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai.  We thought that the author was able to capture the immigrant experience of having one part of one's identity rooted in one's heritage while living in another culture, learning all the nuances.  There were so many challenges for Sonia and Sunny that were parallel and different based on their economic status, educational status and gender.  

Next book is Auditon by  Katia Kitamura   .  We are meeting at Chrysanne's at 5:30.

My Friends

 

We loved Fredrik Backman's My Friends.  Such a great story of young friends bonding and holding one another into adulthood.  Each character was well developed and we fell in love with each one.  In spite of insurmountable challenges, their friendship held and they not only survived their childhoods, but became humans that were interesting, productive and loving.  

Next book is The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny.  We are meeting at Cindy's at 5:30 for good food and discussion!

Kafka on the Shore

 

We read Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami this month.  This was our first Murakami and it felt like a wild ride to most of us.  Some of us could not read the entire book but 

Orbital

 December brought us altogether with our newest member, Alex! We had an excellent discussion about Orbital by Samantha Harvey.  This novel won the Mann Booker 2024 prize.  The judges said the following:

‘In an unforgettable year for fiction, a book about a wounded world. Sometimes you encounter a book and cannot work out how this miraculous event has happened. As judges we were determined to find a book that moved us, a book that had capaciousness and resonance, that we are compelled to share. We wanted everything.

Orbital is our book. Samantha Harvey has written a novel propelled by the beauty of sixteen sunrises and sixteen sunsets. Everyone and no one is the subject, as six astronauts in the International Space Station circle the Earth observing the passages of weather across the fragility of borders and time zones.  With her language of lyricism and acuity Harvey makes our world strange and new for us. 

‘All year we have celebrated fiction that inhabits ideas rather than declaiming on issues, not finding answers but changing the question of what we wanted to explore. Our unanimity about Orbital recognizes its beauty and ambition. It reflects Harvey’s extraordinary intensity of attention to the precious and precarious world we share.’ 

I think it is unusual in our group to have everyone focus on a different aspect of the book.  We talked about the pull of the earth, the breaking down of the constructs that define cultures and geographical boundaries, about space and imagining our futures and mortality.

Our next book is The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Bremmer.  We are meeting at Mindy's new apartment on January 30th at 5:30.  I cannot remember who is bringing what- Here is my guess:

Jeffrey- Soup

Alex- Salad

Lexi- Dessert

Tim or Allen Beverages

Cindy- Bread