January 2015 Recap

Dear Bookclub,

Syrupy hibiscus flowers settled in the bottom of our champagne flutes as we prepared to take on the meaning behind the meanings of the language of flowers in our selection, "The Language of Flowers".  Having enjoyed the writing, the story and the heavily female slanted fantasies (flowers!, a hero who cooks for the heroine, a heroine who can't eat enough, flower farm, a sister farm of wine-making grapes, intuition!, midwife/borderline wicca, take-my-baby-while-I-get-my-business-off-the-ground, etc.), we agreed that Vanessa Diffenbaugh's memorable read gave us much to ponder about mothers, sisters, & daughters - and the bonds, whether created by nature or not. Victoria's resourcefulness to survive, contrasted with her paralysis to function normally kept us, as readers, intrigued and squirmy. We agreed that the passages of her inability to properly care for her baby were difficult to read. But the tale itself was clever and entertaining down the last sprig of baby's breath.


The botanical communication was not lost on the evening:

February has us reading a favorite author from the past, Jojo Moyes.  Way back in August 2013, we read  and enjoyed "Me Before You", which is a lingerer in our literary memories (not such an easy thing these days). "One Plus One" promises to be a fantastic read with irresistible characters that I am hopeful will give us a reason to chat it up.

Please RSVP to Sue for our February 19th meeting.

Considered for May at our last meeting:

"Deep Down Dark:The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle that Set Them Free" by Hector Tobar *

"Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande

"Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson

"13 Hours:The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi" by Mitchell Zuckoff

*chosen


Happy Reading!
LK

January 2015 meeting

Dear Bookclub,
We will be meeting this Thursday, January 22 at my house to discuss "The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Please RSVP.
 The following is a blurb from the Random House website.

About the Author

Vanessa Diffenbaugh was born in San Francisco and raised in Chico, California. After studying creative writing and education at Stanford, she went on to teach art and writing to youth in low-income communities. She and her husband, PK, have three children: Tre’von, eighteen; Chela, four; and Miles, three. Tre’von, a former foster child, is attending New York University on a Gates Millennium Scholarship. Diffenbaugh and her family currently live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her husband is studying urban school reform at Harvard.
Vanessa Diffenbaugh is also the founder of the Camellia Network.  The mission of the Camellia Network is to create a nationwide movement to support youth transitioning from foster care. In The Language of Flowers, Camellia [kuh-meel-yuh] means “My Destiny is in Your Hands.” The network’s name emphasizes the belief in the interconnectedness of humanity: each gift a young person receives will be accompanied by a camellia, a reminder that the destiny of our nation lies in the hands of our youngest citizens. For more information visit www.camellianetwork.org

The Diffenbaugh family: (from left to right) PK Diffenbaugh, Donavan Ford, Chela Diffenbaugh, Vanessa Diffenbaugh, Tre’von Lyle, Sharon Higgins, and Miles Diffenbaugh

Happy Reading!
LK

January 2015 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
Happy New Year! Our holiday party was so enjoyable. The Rancho Bernardo Country Club was a festive setting for our gathering, complete with an attentive waiter to keep the chat 'flowing'. I was so relaxed, I shed my leadership role completely, neglecting to memorialize with some snap shots, and am grateful for the photos taken by others below, as a remembrance of the evening:

 And now... moving forward into the new year, some administrative details about the calendar and hosting. I am proposing to start our year, hosting January and hope that you will let me know ASAP when you would like to host. Please look at last year's schedule as your guide;we seem to be settling into a pattern and if you feel you can commit to the same month as last year, that would be great. Otherwise please speak up with a preferred month. January has five Thursdays and I am electing to host on the fourth Thursday: January 22.

Our selection for January is "The Language of Flowers" by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.

Sigh...the suggestion is fragrant. I can smell them!

Happy Reading...
LK


PS: Pam Warnock, is putting together an author's dinner on Wednesday February 11th at Carver's. She has 3 authors lined up: Susan Meissner, whose latest book, "The Secrets of a Charmed Life", comes out the first week of February (about the Blitz in WWII), Marivi Soliven, author of "The Mango Bride" (this book won one of the highest literary awards in the Philippines), and Pat Jackson-Collando, author of "Stashes", a satire about Gen X and the Millenniums. An interesting line-up! Attendees will have a choice of salmon, chicken or prime rib and one of three salads, coffee/tea or soft drink. Cost will be $45-50 including tax and gratuity. Please let me know if you are interested in attending and I will help arrange.

PPS photo credits:  #1 - Karen Ferrette
#2, #3, #4 - Truman Capote's Black & White Ball (we should be so lucky).... inspiration for next year?

November Recap

Dear Bookclub,
 Again, so sorry to miss our meeting.. still cursed with a head cold and cough. The two-year-old grandson weathered it in a mere 3 days but I appear to have given it a place to stay for the season.

With a nod to Paul O'Rourke, Kim served beer, pizza, and a Red Sox discussion. Would love to discuss this book with anyone! Our April 2015 selection was chosen: "The Husband's Secret".

Looking forward to the Bookclub Christmas Party on December 13 at 7 PM at the Country Club of Rancho Bernardo. Please be sure to respond to Karen's darling evite!

Next up is "The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown, one of my favorite books of the year. I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Reading,
LK

November Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
 The 2014 Man Booker prize for fiction was awarded at a ceremony on October 14, 2014. Until this year, only novels written in English and published in the UK were eligible for consideration. Beginning in 2014, rules were changed to extend eligibility to any novel written in English^.  It is therefore the first time in the award's history that authors from the United States of America have been included.

On September 9 , 2014, the shortlist was announced..... among the six novels was our selection:

***Joshua Ferris:  To Rise Again at a Decent Hour ***
Richard Flanagan: The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Karen Joy Fowler: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Howard Jacobson: J
NeelMukherjee: The Lives of Others
Ali Smith: How to be Both

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Joshua, show us your teeth :)

 

On the 14th October, chair judge A. C. Grayling announced that Australian author Richard Flanagan had won the 2014 Man Booker Prize. (The judges spent three hours deliberating before announcing the winner. Grayling described the historical novel as a "remarkable love story as well as a story about human suffering and comradeship").  Meanwhile, back in the Ferris world,  "To Rise Again at a Decent Hour" just won the Dylan Thomas prize, two days ago. This is interestingly awarded to the best literary work written in the English language written by an author aged 39 or younger. (the age Thomas was when he died). (Aside: Ferris turned 40 on 11/8/2014....... today!) Enough with the minutiae. But I love it and I love this novel. Please RSVP to Kim for our November 13 meeting. Read, floss, read, LK

October 2014 Bookclub Recap

Dear Bookclub,
I was so disappointed to miss last week's meeting at Karen's. I knew she'd put on a beautiful gathering - I still have her last year's October meeting in my memory bank of charming evenings. It's all those pumpkins!




In the spirit of literary letters, I thought I'd share verbatim Karen's response to my request for a report on the evening. Emails are the new quill and pen- so here it is in the original format:

Hi Lynn-

Sorry it has taken awhile for me to send this but it was a busy weekend! We had a great turn out for Book Club and a very lively discussion (even if most of it was not regarding the book).

We all enjoyed the book as it was a heartwarming break from some of our more gruesome reads of late.  What  a wonderful book to theme with food too! We had all things Irish. I served homemade Baked Potato Soup, pumpkin bread, Reuben spread on rye & caraway crackers, and Irish almond cake with Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey in it! I have included a couple of pictures for the Blog too.

The books suggested were:

Factory Man by Beth Macy

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr  (revisited)

After voting and discussion we chose All the Light We Cannot See. It had been suggested earlier but we felt it was worth revisiting.

We missed you and I hope your migraine is gone. If it is any solace, I have been getting less frequent migraines of late.

We also discussed the Christmas party. We will have a cash bar at the gathering and appetizers will be served. We will figure out a dollar amount per person as to the cost by next meeting.

Hope to see you soon!

Karen


And just to add to our literary weight, this will be a collection of letters. My request for information yielded this nice note from Julie:

Karen beautifully connected the evening from "book to table" with an Irish theme that dazzled all.  From her potato soup to a delicious Irish pound cake, we enjoyed it all sprinkled with conversation tidbits about the lovely story.

Karen briefed us on the holiday party (Karen has those details, Lynnie) and we selected a book (Karen has the winner... not sure... I Voted for The Interestings by Meg W. (again see Karen).

It was a fun night catching up in the glow of carved pumpkins!  A  great turnout of 9, I think, was well accommodated by Karen's comfortable seating area.

js



Thank you so very much Karen and Julie!

Finally, a collection of Whiskeys: 

Happy Reading!
LK

October 2014 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
Just to finish a few items about our last meeting; an explanation about the "Lyn(n)(e)"'s is due, as well as the list of books considered for our next selection. For those of you not present at Lynn T's last month, you did not get to meet Diane's old friend, Lyn, from Chicago. Visiting San Diego for a conference, to see Diane and of course, to attend our meeting, Lyn was absolutely delightful and a fun addition into the Lyn(n)(e) lineup of the night.

Considered for February:

"One Plus One"  JoJo Moyes *chosen
"The Dovekeepers" Alice Hoffman
"I am Hutterite: The Fascinating True Story of a Young Woman's
                               Journey to Reclaim Her Heritage" Mary-Ann Kirby


Next up:

Patrick Taylor

From Taylor's website (www.patricktaylor.ca): Born in 1941, Taylor was brought up in Bangor, Northern Ireland, and received his medical education in Ulster. He initially practiced in a rural Ulster village akin to Ballybucklebo before taking specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. After living in Belfast through the first two years of the recent Irish Troubles (1969-1994) he and his family emigrated to Canada where he pursued a career in medical research and teaching in the field of human infertility. His contributions have been honoured with three lifetime achievement awards including the Lifetime Award of Excellence of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society.

for more:http://www.patricktaylor.ca/ptaylor_bio.html

I think you will find Taylor's book wee buns to enjoy and have it read in a doodle. Apologies to the Ulster-Scots if this sounds glipe.

Please RSVP to Karen for our October 16th meeting. 

Read on!

LK