April 2019 Bookclub Recap

Diane's amazing carrot cake with ginger mascarpone frosting

Dear Bookclub,
An evening at Diane's promises pampering and the unexpected. Liane Moriarty's Tranquillum House did the same to nine perfect strangers in "Nine Perfect Strangers". Unless any other attendees experienced wild dreams that night, I believe the micro dosing was not included in our evening.

Discussion was animated or as Lynne's Aunt Annette observed, "everyone is talking at once and no one is listening!" Braving our large and imposing group, both Lynne's mother, Margaret, and her sister, Annette, were a charming addition to the meeting. Most had read the book, some yet to finish, so skillfully trying not to reveal any surprises, general deliberation about unethical treatment and outcomes of certain characters' experiences proved interesting. Hearing some sentiment that the book was hard to read because of the topic, I wondered if I had read the same book. Delighted by the hilarious characterizations created by Moriarty, I thought the book funny and now wondered if I was insensitive to the central issues. Having 'read' the book sometime ago, I'd decided to re-listen to my audible version as a refresher. Only being a couple of hours into the re-listen at the time of our meeting, I was motivated to finish it for a second time to see if I could empathize with the opposing views.

Perceptions are based on experiences, attitudes, preconceived notions, and individual differences. Being prepared to be entertained by a book and then having it strike a nerve with any difficult situation that stirs up painful emotions is certainly distressing. Out the window goes any satire. Tuning into this scenario with my second go-around of "Nine Perfect Strangers", illuminated the many situations that may be too close to home for some to be lightly dismissed. Quoting the much referenced Wikipedia, re: "satire":

"Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. "

Barely scratching the surface of the wider issues included in Moriarty's book, the opportunity to delve into such issues was lost. Fair enough, that cake was awaiting us!

Not regretting any of the fourteen more hours spent listening to "Nine Perfect Strangers" while attacking endless household chores, I will long remember all the trials and tribulations experienced by the characters while marveling at Liane Moriarty's creative genius.

Diane's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"A Place for Us" Fatima Farheen Mirza
"Women in Sunlight" Frances Mayes
"House of Broken Angels"Luis Alberto Urrea*
 *chosen

Up next, Daniel H. Pink's "When, The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing".

Happy Reading!
LK

April 2019 Bookclub News

Moriarty

Dear Bookclub,
 Who is Liane Moriarity?  Author of "What Alice Forgot", "The Husband's Secret", "Big Little Lies", and "Nine Perfect Strangers", along with several other novels, Moriarty has a distinct style that is most enjoyable for her massive following. And it is difficult to share about her books with any detail for you would ruin the experience for the reader, as revelation is the name of the game.

 From Wikipedia:

"Moriarty was raised in the north-west suburbs of Sydney. She has four sisters and one brother.....

....This trilogy retains some familiar features of Moriarty's style, such as a loosely epistolary form (the use of alternating chapters in which characters speak in their own quite distinctive voices); a sneaky sense of humor; and a plot that keeps the reader off balance by constantly subverting the 'facts' that one thought one understood. But it also marks a departure in the direction of fantasy: the premise of the trilogy is, or at least appears to be, the existence of an almost fairyland-like parallel world, sealed off from our world but in connection with it via 'cracks,' through which letters, or even people, can travel. As usual with Moriarty, nothing is quite what it seems, and incidents and ideas that appeared incidental may turn out to be central. All three of the books in the trilogy have been released."


"Nine Perfect Strangers" smacks with the writing style as described above. Changing viewpoints and 'voices', by alternating chapters with different characters' perspectives keeps us, as the readers entertained, off-balance, as mentioned above, and certainly turning the pages. But, the Moriarty shown above and described above is not Liane, it is her sister, Jaclyn!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaclyn_Moriarty


http://jaclynmoriarty.com/

Moriarty

Liane, is the older sister of Jaclyn, with two more sisters and a brother. One of the other sisters, Nicola, is also a novelist. What an interesting family! Liane read like a fiend as a child to the point where her friends would hide their books if she came over to play because all she did was read their books. She had a career in advertising and marketing, eventually becoming a freelance advertising copywriter, writing everything from websites and television commercials to the backs of cereal boxes. Never considering that real people wrote novels, she was shocked when she learned her younger sister, Jaclyn, was about to publish what would become a brilliant award-winning novel ("Feeling Sorry for Celia"). Sibling rivalry spirited Liane to write a children's book which was then enthusiastically rejected by every publisher in Australia. With a more calculated path, Liane got a Masters degree from Macquarie University in Sydney, where she wrote what would become her first published work, "Three Wishes".  The rest is history!

Liane and Jaclyn

Liane's first novel
 

Diane's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"A Place for Us" Fatima Farheen Mirza
"Women in Sunlight" Frances Mayes
"House of Broken Angels"Luis Alberto Urrea


Looking forward to letting loose with our discussion! See you then....
Happy reading,
LK

February 2019 Bookclub News

Dear Bookclub,
Delia Owens had a mother who would tell her, “Go way out yonder where the crawdads sing”, encouraging the exploration of the woods near their home in southern Georgia. Her love of nature expanded from there, initiating her path to becoming a scientist.  A renowned author of nonfiction books about her life as a scientist in Africa, "Where the Crawdads Sing" is her first novel. Do some exploring about Delia on her website:

https://www.deliaowens.com/

Delia on a mountain top in North Carolina on a family vacation in 1960

To listen to a delightful interview of Delia discussing her book, please click below:

From the Marginalia chronicles:

October 5, 2018 • Delia Owens has written several books, but they are primarily non-fiction, a reflection of the 23 years she spent studying wildlife in Africa. Her new book, Where the Crawdads Sing , is Owens' first work of fiction. It also takes the reader on a deep dive into nature, but this novel is set in the marshlands of coastal North Carolina. I recently spoke with Owens about growing up with nature, about how her research informed her fiction, about the nature of sisterhood and more.

Marginalia: Delia Owens

Listen · 19:22 19:22


Happy reading!
LK

 

January 2019 Bookclub Recap

Dear Bookclub,
What we were promised:
Laughter, friendship, discussion, and yummy food - thanks to Lynne for a bookclub meeting with it all!

sweet Maggie

Added bonus: visit by Jessica, Kelly and baby Braydon along with appearance by beaming Grandpa Ken.














Lucy Tan's "What We Were Promised" was well received for its distinct setting in a post-Mao Shanghei with threads of privilege, rural poverty, fractured family, and soul-searching characters artfully woven into the plot. Nearly losing the momentum of the convoluted story, Tan catches the reader's free-fall and gains traction again as the story develops ending with a satisfying, memorable twist.

Lynne's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"The Library" Susan Orlean
"Nine Perfect Strangers" Lianne Moriarty *chosen
"Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine" Gail Honeyman


Up next:
"Where the Crawdads Sing" Delia Owens

Happy Reading!
LK

January 2019 Bookclub Newsletter

Amy Tan

Dear Bookclub,
Confusion seems to rise to the surface more frequently as one ages. At first glance, our next read, something, something Amy Tan, had me reminiscing about “Joy Luck Club” and “The Bonesetter’s Daughter”. Researching “What We Were Promised” stopped me short with the first phrase of the first review: ‘debut novel’. Closer inspection and a head scratch cleared up the matter and I discovered Lucy Tan.

Amy vs. Lucy
Amy - born February 19, 1952, Oakland, CA
Lucy - born in the United States (could not find her age or birth date but imagine she is about 30)

Amy - attended Linfield College, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, San Jose State University
Lucy - attended NYU and University of Wisconsin Madison(MFA).

Amy - works explore mother/daughter relationships and the Chinese/American experience
Lucy - her one novel explores an expat family returning to China, wealth and poverty, rural and modern Shanghai, perceptions and misperceptions

Amy - life experience includes: born to Chinese immigrants, Amy’s older brother and father both died of brain tumors within 6 months of each other when Amy was 15; she learns her mother, Daisy. had a previous marriage with four children (one died as a toddler) in Shanghai, that she left behind when coming to the USA. Amy travels to China  with Daisy to meet three half-sisters in 1987; from here on, there is much more to tell beyond paraphrasing, I will just acquiesce to Wikipedia:

“Tan had a difficult relationship with her mother. At one point, Daisy held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her while the two were arguing over Amy's new boyfriend. Her mother wanted Tan to be independent, stressing that Tan needed to make sure she was self-sufficient. Tan later found out that her mother had three abortions while in China. Daisy often threatened to kill herself, saying that she wanted to join her mother (Tan's grandmother, who also committed suicide).^[9] She attempted suicide but never succeeded.^[9] Daisy died in 1999.^[10]

Tan and her mother did not speak for six months after Tan dropped out of the Baptist college her mother had selected for her, Linfield College in Oregon, to follow her boyfriend to San Jose City College in California.^[5][11][12] Tan met him on a blind date and married him in 1974.^[6][11][12] Tan later received bachelor's and master's degrees in English and linguistics from San Jose State University. She also participated in doctoral studies in linguistics at UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley but abandoned her doctoral studies in 1976.^[13]

While in school, Tan worked odd jobs—serving as a switchboard operator, carhop, bartender, and pizza maker—before starting a writing career. As a freelance business writer, she worked on projects for AT&T, IBM, Bank of America, and Pacific Bell, writing under non-Chinese-sounding pseudonyms.^[6]

While Tan was studying at Berkeley, her roommate was murdered, and Tan had to identify the body. The incident left her temporarily mute. She claimed that every year for ten years, on the day she identified the body, she lost her voice.^[14]

In 1998, Tan contracted Lyme disease, which went misdiagnosed for a few years. As a result, she suffers complications like epileptic seizures. Tan co-founded LymeAid 4 Kids, which helps uninsured children pay for treatment.^[15] She wrote about her life with Lyme disease in The New York Times.^[16]

Tan also suffers from depression, for which she takes antidepressants. Part of the reason that Tan chose not to have children was a fear that she would pass on a genetic legacy of mental instability - her maternal grandmother committed suicide, her mother threatened suicide often, and she herself has struggled with suicidal ideation.^[14]

Tan resides in San Francisco, California, with her husband in a house they designed "to feel open and airy, like a tree house, but also to be a place where we could live comfortably into old age" with accessibility features.^[17] Tan has recently taken up drawing and has shared her art on social media.

Tan sang with the Rock Bottom Remainders before they retired from touring.”

Lucy Tan

I could not locate a Wikipedia page for Lucy Tan, if one even exists. From her website's bio, I can only surmise that she had a privileged upbringing, with a distinguishing experience of spending the last ten years in NYC and Shanghai.


Lucy and Amy are both gifted writers each having distinct styles and inspirations. Looking forward to discussing Lucy's work and appreciating the depth and breadth of both of the Tan writers' cultural viewpoints. 

Lynne's suggestions for an upcoming read:

"Nine Perfect Strangers" Liane Moriarty
"Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine" Gail Honeyman
"The Library Book" Susan Orlean

(She also recommends these runner-ups:  "Dear Hamilton" Laura Kamore {excellent historical fiction but very long, Lynne said} and "Robin" Dave Itzoff)

Happy Reading!
LK

December Recap

(OK,  so I never took a picture of Lynn T's amazing collection of tea cups;

 I get distracted by cute dogs.)

Dear Bookclub,

A warming cup of tea or two along with sandwiches, salad, cheese, fruit and tiramisu in Karen's festive dining room gave us much joy! But first, the task at hand. After toasting our year and our fellowship we buckled down to formally discuss Anne Tyler's "Clock Dance". We were all over the place giving it from one to five stars and, I believe, if it could have no stars, some may have owned that! Noting that Willa was not an accomplished, independent woman, which is the type of woman we want to read about and admire, the book fell flat for some. Others enjoyed some of the quirkiness of the surrounding characters, Cheryl, Denise and even Airplane. There was a distinct remembrance of Tyler's 1995 novel, "Ladder of Years" where the main character walks out on her family in the middle of a family vacation, just walking away on the beach. And despite Karen's unusual interpretation of the ending with Willa, I did see Tyler's use of the same freeing abandonment in my imagination of Willa's next move. However, Karen does have the best I-never-even-considered-that!!! twists. Please keep those coming; great discussion gets stirred up.

Bookclub  Angels

 
Our collection for the organization, Gently Hugged, appeared to be successful as there was a distinct pile for Karen to deliver (thank you for that!!). In case you want to continue to donate:

http://gentlyhugged.org/


Karen's suggestions for an upcoming read were influenced by the PBS series, "The Great American Read":

"Catcher in the Rye" J.D. Salinger *chosen
"Gone With the Wind" Margaret Mitchell
"To Kill a Mockingbird" Harper Lee

Read the One Hundred List:
https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/


Up next: Lucy Tan's  "What We Were Promised"


Happy Reading,
LK

November 2018 Recap

Tara's Idaho

Dear Bookclub,
Minutes feel normal; hours pass as expected; days truncated by the dictated, ever-shortening sunlight.....  the cumulate: weeks gone since the last bookclub meeting. In keeping with the forward charging December, here is a recap to guide us to the end of the year.

The November Cast

Reports from Julie and Kate tell of a lively and lovely November Kate-hosted meeting. Discussion of Tara Westover's "Educated" included marveling at Tara's intelligence and courage and a focus on her abusive father and detested brother, Shaun. I felt Tara's Stockholm syndrome signaling each time Shaun appeared. A paralleled idea found in this clinical psychologist's fascinating view:

Goali Saedi Bocci, Ph.D.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/millennial-media/201804/psychologists-take-tara-westovers-memoir-educated
 

Kate asked a good question...Why did Tara write the book?  With two therapists present, discourse centered on parental neglect, parental protection, sibling dynamics, blind fervency to religion,effects of Mormonism, fundamentalism, education vs. non-education, mental illness, family dynamics etc..  Westover's story is a wealth of debatable material.

Another focus was comparing and contrasting similar books like Jeannette Wall's "Glass Castle" and Kristin Hannah's "The Great Alone". Both of these works are also built on the resiliency of the main character in the face of a severely deficient and harmful upbringing. Only "Educated" has the caveat of a surviving and fully functioning set of parents. LaRee and Valaree have their opinions about the book and also thrive with a successful business:

https://butterflyexpress.shop/

Logan Utah's Herald Journal News, February 23, 2018

'Educated' should be read with grain of salt, says family's attorney:

https://www.hjnews.com/allaccess/educated-should-be-read-with-grain-of-salt-says-family/article_0583f217-6fd2-51de-a891-9ca32adb589c.html 

Kate's suggestions for an upcoming selection:

"The Great Alone" Kristen Hannah

"When" Daniel Pink

"A Spark of Light" Jodi Picoult *chosen

Next up:

Ann Tyler's "Clock Dance"

Happy reading,
LK