The Immortalist

In July we read the Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin.  We had a great discussion about self fulfilling prophecies.  Did each of the characters allow the predictions for the future dictate their destinies?  We had a great discussion around each story and which stories spoke to us personally.  We all loved Varia's story the best of all the stories.  We wondered if knowing the date made a difference. 

Next month we are at Terry's at 7PM on August 19th, reading Rules of Civility by Amor Towles.

An American Marriage

In June we read An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.  I missed this meeting because I wrote the wrong date done and because I was also late on writing the blog, I missed the book club.  Reportedly everyone liked the book.  I will update this when I can.

Next book will be The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin.  We are meeting at Ed's House at 6:45.

Where the Crawdads Sing

In May, we read Delia Owens' novel Where the Crawdads Sing.  Our group celebrated Delia Owens for the story of Kya living in the Southern marshes off the North Carolina coast.  Albeit the story is at times hard to believe.  How does Kya survive alone in the wilds?  How does she escape going to school and how does she actually carry out the major (spoiler alert) crime, given the fact that she is not a frequent traveller.  Also, we love that she became successful, but is this plausible?  That and other questions were tossed about at our book discussion.  Mindy had done a bit of research and enriched our discussion with some background information about the author and her intention to write a novel about living in isolation.



For June, we are planning to read An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.  We are planning on Tim's house on June 4 at 6:45.

Milkman

In March, we read Milkman by Anna Burns.

We think Ed finished reading the novel.  And he sent a message that he loved it.  We know Tim and Alan read the entirety and that he was glad he did because of how unique and memorable the message was.  Chrysanne, Mindy, and I did not finish, mostly because of time constraints, but also because it was difficulty to hang in there.  The novel is written in a very uniques style with many universal truths that the reader can relate to around family relationships, interpersonal relationships, small community dynamics and being a minority.  The writing was beautiful.  Tough to hang in there on the very long eloquent sentences. We were, overall, glad we read what we did.

We will meet at Mindy's and Chrysanne will host on May 1st to discuss our next novel: Where the Crowdad's Sing by Delia Owens.

Washington Black

In February, we read Washington Black by Esi Edugyan.  We had mixed feelings.  Most thought that perhaps the novel was too long and wandering.  Some of the surrealism was a bit of a stretch for some of our members, for others, it was read as a tale.  The relationship between Titch and Washington was unusual and provided good material for discussion!

“There could be no belonging for a creature such as myself, anywhere,” Wash says, “a black boy with a scientific turn of mind and a talent on canvas, running, always running, from the dimmest of shadows.”



In March, we will read Milkman by Anna Burns.  Cindy will cook and serve at Chrysanne's on March 20th!

Less

 In December, we read Less by Andrew Sean Greer.  This was my pick, because after Who is Rich, I wanted something lighter and funny-which is how it is described.  Well, one should not always judge a book by it's descriptors, because although it was very witty and some scenes were very funny, overall it was not a book full of spontaneous belly laughs.  Overall the group gave it not a thumbs up, not a thumbs down, but somewhere it the middle.  The development of the main character was brilliant and we were in agreement that we were glad we read it.

Next time is Ed's choice, Washington Black by Esi Edugyan and we are Mindy's at 7PM!  February 4th, 2019.

Who is Rich

This October 2018, we read Who is Rich by Matthew Klam.

For one of the first times ever, the men in our group loved the book and the women did not.  There were some wonderings around why the group was split.  Was it the way the author able to understand the workings of the mind of men.  The women felt that the female characters were not as well developed and that we were only seeing the male side of things.  Ed compared this work to Updike and Tim to Philip Roth.  This novel falls in the genre of sorting out the confusion of infidelity.  Klam writes: ” About Amy, he thinks, “I didn’t really love her, I wasn’t even sure I liked her, although maybe I liked her. But did I like her because I was lonely and she was hot and rich? Or was it because I didn’t get any sleep and had brain damage from speaking baby language? Or because Robin’s booty had snapped back into shape but touching it was still a no-no?”  We had a good discussion about relationships and how intimacy moves from partners to children to others and where that leaves the individual.  Great discussion and Great dinner.  Lexi's Chili recipe was fantastic!


Next month we will meet at Alan's House and read Less  on December 4th at 6:45.