Sunday, January 13, 2008

MARCH . . . AND BEYOND!






Yes, we went crazy and picked books for the next several months. And the winners are:

"Murder in Amsterdam" by Ian Buruma for March, "Taft" by Ann Pachett for April, "The Last Friend" by Tahar Ben Jelloun for May.

Start your reading!

THE WORST HARD TIME




TIMOTHY EGAN

February 9, 2008. Delancy Street Restaurant, San Francisco.

BOOK REPORT

We had a full house on Saturday with everybody present except Greta. She did intend to come but fell ill and couldn't make it. 6 people showed up including Ann, the newbie, fresh from her relaxing getaway cruise with her husband. Tony was there again (that's three in a row) and Art made it through the Mavericks traffic on the bridge. Anne Marie, Janice and myself rounded out the group. It was a little surprising (though pleasantly so) to see everybody there since there was no general reminder sent out other than the posting on the blog.

There was some lively discussion of the book. Everybody had read some part of it. Most people thought it was a very good yarn but that it lacked the character development that could have added depth. I thought the passages in the assisted-living home distracted from the overall feel of the book. For me, they tended to take me away from the part I liked the best - the circus story. Other people thought that these passages added greatly to the story, providing some of the character development that was otherwise lacking in the book. I guess I really thought that the circus itself was the main character and the narrative illustrated what a character it was.

We had many choices for our next book (This is the point where you make your list and upload the photographs, Anne Marie!) but we all decided that we would like another look at Depression-era America so we chose "The Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

THANK YOU, JANICE!

I am almost finished the book (unfortunately).
I have to say it is one of the best books I've read in a long time.
Thank you Janice for recommending this book.