BOOK CLUB

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Pep talk on February club selection

Hi All,

I just finished "Murder in Amsterdam" and wanted to encourage you to
keep going if you're stalling out.... the first third is very
academic and not that engaging, but after that, I'm pretty sure your
head will be spinning about Amsterdam, free speech, and Islamic
fundamentalism/ rage.

Janice

Sunday, February 3, 2008

KEPLER'S FEBRUARY EVENTS

Russell Banks -A Valentine's Day Alternative
The Reserve
Thursday, February 14, 7:30 p.m.

Part love story, part murder mystery, set on the cusp of the Second World War, Russell Banks's sharp-witted and deeply engaging new novel raises dangerous questions about class, politics, art, love, and madness--and explores what happens when two powerful personalities, trapped at opposite ends of a social divide, begin to break the rules.

KEPLER'S WEBSITE

MORE FEBRUARY EVENTS AT KEPLER'S, MENLO PARK

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.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS

by Sara Gruen

The December Book Club was noteworthy for the presence of Tony for the second month in a row. AND he read the book! He is now going to go through the archives and read every book he has missed. Bravo Mr. Miller!

Those who had read "The Grass is Singing" both liked the book despite the somber and downbeat story.

We will be meeting next on Saturday, January 12 at 10 a.m. at Delancy Street. We thought of making a reservation but then realized we would be tempting the fates, not to mention testing the abilities of the Maître d'. We will chance it, yet again, and pray for an available table in January.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

THE GRASS IS SINGING

by Doris Lessing

Meeting in San Francisco, December 15, 2007.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

IT'S STILL SUITE FRANÇAISE

Mairtin and Art graciously agreed to wait until Saturday, November 10, to discuss "Suite Française." The time, 10 a.m. The place, Delancy Street Cafe. See you there!

Sunday, September 9, 2007

SUITE FRANÇAISE

Our next book is "Suite Française" by Irène Némirovsky.
Meeting in San Francisco on Saturday, October 13.

What a great book club we had on Saturday! We had a surprise guest - Art's sister from New York, Eileen, who had read the book about a year ago.

There were two aspects of the book that we didn't get to touch on. We never talked about the fabulous costs involved in getting John to the hospital and treating Quintana over an extended period. I know the Dunne-Didions were wealthy from their involvement in Hollywood (there were hints that they weren't exactly hurting for money even before the script-doctoring days) but it must have cost a fortune to medi-evac Quintana across the country and treat her for six months at the Rusk Institute (anything with the word institute in the title is going to cost some bucks).

We also didn't talk much about the difference between how she treated the memory of John and how she treated her daughter. I know that when the book was being written she expected her daughter to recover and live so there is a fuller treatment of her relationship with John. But I think I detected testiness, irritability with her daughter's illness. Several times in the book she mentions that she had to push Quintana out on her own again to help her recover. Did I misread that as Didion's inability to focus on the grave situation her daughter was in while investing so much in grieving for John? Was it part of her "magical thinking" that she couldn't understand how close to death her daughter was even while she was getting clues from every doctor?

Thursday, September 6, 2007

QUESTIONS?

Why is their daughter called Quintana Roo?
What are the "Nassoons"?
Who was Rudy Gernreich?

I've finished "Magical Thinking" but I'm not sure what the magical thinking was.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING

Our next book is Joan Didion's "The Year of Magical Thinking".
We are meeting in San Francisco, at Delancy Street, at 10:00am on September 8.

WIKIPEDIA: MAGICAL THINKING