Dear Bookclub,
Some of you may have experienced a strange block to our blog:
Agreeing to continue allows normal access. My guess is some AI-bot has oddly flagged this post yet nothing offensive is in our blog.
Rest assured.
I have successfully published "my other bookclub blog" today without any block. Let's see how this one goes!
Happy reading,
LK
Dear Bookclub,
An evening at Lori's new princess-cottage thrilled our little group as we tucked in to discuss Elizabeth Strout's "Tell Me Everything". Treated to a delicately delicious supper, the atmosphere emphasized the sweet luxury of bookclub friendship. Armed with elaborate character charts to decipher the Strout community, we got down to business and marveled at the web of relationships and the variety of personalities:
Strout's prolific output had us tied up in recalling what we had and hadn't read of her bookshelf. "Olive Kitteridge" was most widely read and the winner of Strout's 2009 Pulitzer Prize. Here is a list of her other titles:
Publication Order of Olive Kitteridge Books
| Olive Kitteridge | (2008) | |
| Olive, Again | (2019) |
| My Name Is Lucy Barton | (2016) | |
| Anything Is Possible | (2017) | |
| Oh William! | (2021) | |
| Lucy by the Sea | (2022) | |
| Tell Me Everything | (2024) |
| Amy and Isabelle | (1998) | |
| Abide with Me | (2006) | |
| The Burgess Boys | (2013) |
Meanwhile our discussion tried to hone in on the meaning of the book and if in fact, despite many poignant conversations and well-developed characters, the lack of a point was the point indeed. Kate put a smile on our faces reminding us that the last line was Lucy Barton telling Olive Kitteredge that "Love is love." All that for that! I must admit that I enjoyed the romp and have been listening to the other books, gratefully entertained and distracted while I slog through chores.
The following excerpt from a 2017 New Yorker article illuminates Strout's comedic influence:
She had always been interested in standup comedy, and it occurred to her that what’s funny is true. “That’s why people respond, because the unspeakable is getting said,” Strout told me. “So I thought to myself, What would happen if I put myself in that kind of pressure cooker where I was responsible immediately for having people laugh?” She enrolled in a standup class at the New School, which required students to perform at the Comic Strip. She was terrified before going onstage. “My whole routine, I made so much fun of myself for being an uptight white woman from New England,” Strout said. “And the incredible part is it worked.”
Her writing does reflect this therapeutic stand-up style. I hope an understanding of Strout opens your understanding of her work.
Lori's suggestions for an upcoming selection:
"All the Colors of the Dark" Chris Whitaker
"The Wedding People" Alison Espach
"Miss Benson's Beetle" Rachel Joyce *chosen
Up next:
LK
Dear Bookclub,
Right there. On the cover. 'Jeanine Cummins Bestselling author of AMERICAN DIRT'. Casually chatting after our meal and deep dive into our April selection, "The Outside Boy", someone mentioned that this is the author of "American Dirt". I was flabbergasted! Did I expect an 'Irish' writer?
How did this amazing feat escape me... Cummins, the center of the 2020 Oprah-selection-controversy, is clearly a gifted writer. Not an Irish writer or Puerto Rican writer(both in her heritage), a Spanish writer (she was born in Spain), or an 'American' writer - she is a writer able to create work across many cultures.
Cummins weathered the race storm stirred up by Latin writers, as many felt she was inaccurate in writing the Latino immigrant experience, since she identified as 'mostly white'. Without re-visiting the whole of the controversy, the point of exclusion was noted yet this is fiction and a great book was written.
From Wikipedia:
Some also claimed that Cummins had previously identified as white but re-branded herself as Latina with the publication of the book, pointing to a line in a 2015 New York Times op-ed in which Cummins stated "I am white." Most did not refer to the entire statement in the op-ed, however, which was about the murder of Cummins's cousins by a group of three black and one white men and included the line "I am white. The grandmother I shared with Julie and Robin was Puerto Rican, and their father is half Lebanese. But in every practical way, my family is mostly white."
As readers, we benefit from the depth of her work and leaning away from ethnicity. "The Outside Boy" was well-liked. We relished the descriptions, the beauty and heartache of Christy. The travellers and the dichotomies of their moral codes and that of the Catholic Church set us to pondering the gray areas. The boy who chose outside could not help but leave us with a renewed appreciation for different perspectives, once again. The above is from a book of photography "Irish Travellers: Tinkers No More" by Alen MacWeeney:
My suggestions for an upcoming read:
"Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir" Ina Garten *chosen
"The Violin Conspiracy" Brendan Slocumb
"Travels With George: In Search for Washington and his Legacy" Nathaniel Philbrick
Please check out the above mentioned memoir, "A Rip in Heaven", to recognize Cummins' varied styles.
https://www.amazon.com/Rip-Heaven-Memoir-Murder-Aftermath/dp/0451210530
Up next:
Happy reading,
LK
Dear Bookclub,
Martha's round table held steady and even as we negotiated Percival Everett's novel "James". Huck and Jim, however, were roiled by their Mississippi negotiations as Everett satirically portrayed his re-imagined version of Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". We loved it.
Everett's art: language, social commentary and historic truths bundled into a package we will long hold as a high standard of a truly great work. Both the audible and the written word vine together to form a stunning literary masterpiece.
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| Tracy Nguyen for The New Yorker |
Everett's talents beyond his writing include being an accomplished abstract painter, a jazz guitarist, a horse trainer, a tracker, and a cowboy. He and his wife, Danzy Senna, are professors at USC.
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| Danzy Senna |
Danzy sent me into a maze of googling. I can only imagine the workings of this relationship as she has an amazing trail. I read her memoir, "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" about her parents' mixed-race marriage and am intrigued by her fiction. I will not subject you to the hours of threads I have followed but I will share this entertaining, short and illuminating interview of Everett with Seth Myers (you will not be disappointed):
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZMabgZZtZc |
Finally, my quest to find out how Percival and Danzy met, yielded a lengthy piece (pre-"James") from Project Muse: "An Overview of Everett's Life and Career" by Derek Maus. I did not learn a thing about their meeting. Please enjoy perusing:
https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/244/oa_monograph/chapter/2283518
Martha's selections for an upcoming read:
'Lady Tan's Circle of Women" Lisa See
"Leave Only Footprints" Conor Knighton
"Tell Me Everything" Elizabeth Strout *chosen
**** Alert **** We decided to flip May and June suggestions so we will have a breezier read for our La Jolla Anniversary Trip.
Up next:
LK
Dear Bookclub,
A smaller version of "The Thursday Bookclub" met at Julie's to discuss Richard Osman's "The Thursday Murder Club".
Karen's endearment to the series is evident! Enjoyed by all, Osman's novel, the first of the series, represents only one of his many talents. The clever Englishman is also a television presenter, producer, and comedian.
Please enjoy this episode of the BBC television quiz show Pointless, and look for Osman, the creator and former co-presenter.
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| Richard Osman |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrOXyCkgdps
Julie's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"Go as a River" Shelley Read
"Lady Tan's Circle of Women" Lisa See
"Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame" Olivia Ford *chosen
Up next:
Happy reading,
LK
Dear Bookclub,
Kate's sliders, salad and pie(!) comforted our group as we gathered for our discussion of Ilyon Woo's 2024 Pulitzer Prize winner, "Master Slave Husband Wife". Woo's astounding biography of Ellen and William Craft introduced us to an unimaginable journey that we surprisingly knew nothing about. The above image, as imagined by artist Judith Hunt, is posted in an article about the Crafts on the America's Black Holocaust Museum website. There is much to explore:
https://www.abhmuseum.org/ellen-and-william-craft-make-a-crafty-escape-from-slavery/
Karen's wondering about the authenticity of the story was initially surprising, given the detailed notes included at the back of the book, yet the notion of morphing history by filling in blanks is intriguing. The author's "A Note On Sources" preceding the "Notes" section should be re-visited to fully appreciate both the writing process behind the book and the seams Woo revealed 'so that readers can examine the sources directly and formulate their own conclusions.' Truly, beyond the telling of the passing, exposure to the era and history was a the real gift of this book. Learning of the Crafts' dedicating their time to sharing their story on the speaking circuit and ultimately fleeing the United States were two such aspects to me.
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| The Crystal Palace |
Finally, Ilywon Woo's first named the book with the subtitle, "An American Love Story" which felt bristly to me for I wanted to believe the passion for justice beyond a coupling union was at the heart of their motivation. Woo strongly felt the subtitle expressed the jung, a Korean word meaning something like an enduring connection. Please read more about Woo's thoughts in her website piece:
And play the game, match this photo in her website and you will win by reading her charming piece, "An Asian Father’s Gift: Permission to Fail".
Kate's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"The Outside Boy" Jeanine Cummins *chosen
"The Island of Missing Trees" Elif Shakaf
"Nothing to See Here" Kevin Wilson
Up next:
Happy reading,
LK
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| Spot the Difference! |
Dear Bookclub,
Festively ensconced in the Vintana holiday luncheon mayhem, our lovely group gathered to discuss Claire Keegan's "Small Things Like These". Discussion was challenging due to a long table in bustling surroundings; generally, the book was well-liked although some found the depressing topic not in keeping with the season. As a "Christmas read", Keegan's tale is more Dickensonian than Fannie Flagg. Blindsided by the unexpected ending, we wanted more, yet deeply appreciated the beauty of the unsaid. One can only hope that pragmatic Eileen, Furlong's wife, will honour Christmas in her heart and try to keep it all the year (as a dutiful Ebeneezer would), allowing young Sarah to flourish. Keegan's tapestry of characters, most notably Mrs. Wilson and Ned, lent a believable, memorable flow to the novella
Keegan's book sparked a curiosity about the laundry and the timing of the story. The Magdalende Laundries, also known as Magdalene asylums were in existence from the 18th century into the late 20th century, the last one closing in 1994:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_Laundries_in_Ireland
The above images are from the Justice for Magdalene Research website, an organization dedicated to educating the public about and supporting research into the Magdalene Laundries. Please read more about the history and ongoing struggle to recognize the wrongful institutional abuse of 10,000 + women:
On December 3, 2024, Oprah announced this selection as being her latest pick for her bookclub. Check out the 109 books she has chosen since 1996... you will recognize quite a few!
https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/g23067476/oprah-book-club-list/
As our luncheon came to a close, truth stranger than fiction delivered an unbelievable moment, as our waiter revealed that he had been a kindergarten student of Lori's! The moving moment was a huge tribute to the influence we know Lori holds with her caring gift in the classroom and beyond:
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| Lori and Arjuna |
Finally, our Gently Hugged efforts, spearheaded by Julie, were much appreciated by Sharon who received Julie's delivery just days after our luncheon. Gently Hugged distributed 905 bags of newborn clothing, board books and blankets to needy babies throughout San Diego County last year. This is a record yet requests for help outnumber what they've been able to supply. Gently Hugged will expand their operations to a second site in the Carlsbad area. The current Rancho Bernardo site will continue unchanged. Please read more about the organization and how you can continue to help throughout the year:
https://gentlyhugged.org/home/
Up next:
Happy 2025 reading!
LK
