Saturday, March 24, 2012

March 2012 Newsletter

Hello Book Clubbers,
 This would have been in your hands a week ago, but this amazing weather we’ve been having has forced me outside to enjoy it.  I hope you have been doing the same.

The meeting on the 14th to discuss A Fierce Radiance brought with it a range of ratings and some great discussion.  I think we experienced a first that night when Grace & Jennifer AGREED on their ratings!  Overall, the group gave the book a 3.4 but that was from a range of 2 to 4.5.  Everyone agreed that the history of Penicillin (and the government and drug company involvement) was fascinating, but it was the characters and story line that left some people flat, unfortunately.  One person commented that Belfler’s City of Light was a far better story – so if you’re looking for another historical novel to add to your collection, check this one out.  Many thanks to Marty for leading the discussion and to Grace for opening her home to the group!

Looking forward to the next few meetings, here’s what the calendar looks like:

April 18 at Loraine's
   Book:  Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
   Desserts:  Jennifer (Key Lime Pie?) & Grace
   Appetizers:  Jackie & Elisabeth
   Wine:  Terry, Natalie, Marty, Kathryn, and…. ??
                                               (can we get one more volunteer?)
We’re going to try something NEW at this meeting – we’re ALL going to lead the discussion that night.  How will we do that, you ask?  I (Jill) will help facilitate the discussion amongst the group, but this time everyone should bring a question with them to pose to the rest of us!  Your “question” could be: something remarkable from the book, a reference to another book (or author or life experience), or just a random thought or idea that came from reading the story. At past meetings, for example, our members have brought up the idea of alternate realities for the characters (Frankenstein), the use of Japanese poetry in the author’s writing style (Jacob deZoet), and Shakespearian references (Hunger Games)… we all bring a unique perspective to the meetings – let’s capitalize on them!

May 16 or 23 at Joan’s
   Book:  The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
   Desserts & Appetizers & Wine:  Will decide in April (or volunteer via e-mail)       
The group voted to “mix it up” a bit (moving away from historical fiction for a month) by choosing “the dog book” for May.

June/July     The Summer Party!
    On Jacqueline’s deck
    Books:   The Hemingway Duo
          The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
          A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
It looks like McLain’s book will be out in paperback on March 28th (Amazon & Barnes & Noble say so, though I have seen contradictory reports of February 2013).  We’ll have to see what happens.  It is available on Kindle/eReader and Audiobooks, so maybe we can talk about the need for paperback at the next meeting.

August     The “Big” Book at Linda’s
      Book:   Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

So that’s where we are for now.  More to come on the book selection for September and then we start all over again for planning for 2013.  Wow!  Time feels like it’s flying.

After the discussion of the book and business, we got some updates on the health of our members.  It was so nice to hear the positive progress that most are making.  We look forward to further updates and hope for a speedy recoveries for all. 

That’s all for now.  Happy Spring to all!  Hope you’re enjoying the wonderful weather with a good book.

Cheers!
  Jill

P.S.  Don't forget to RSVP to Loraine if you'll be at the meeting in April!