Book Bash Choices: Our Most Recent Program
Wow, both our evening and morning editions set attendance records! We estimate well over 200 of you turned out for the sessions combined! That certainly made our August '11 Book Club Bash program a huge success. Fiction, nonfiction, young adult - we had you covered. We're also listing some of the many suggestions those in attendance had of books their book clubs had had success with.
Fiction
Accidental
Birds of the Carolinas by Marjorie Hudson (Press 53 $17.95).
In each story someone ends up in North Carolina for a different
reason and finds something or someone unexpected. Marjorie Hudson is
a gifted writer with a pitch-perfect sense of place that will
resonate with anyone who has spent some hot days in the South.
(Sarah)
The Call by Yannick Murphy (Harper $14.99).
A rural New England vet with 3 kids, 2 dogs, 1 wife, and 0 cats tells
his story in the unconventional format of his log of veterinary house
calls as he cares for the neighborhood horses, sheep and cows, then
comes home to care for his family. The family is gentle,
disorganized, sometimes sweet, sometimes sad and angry, often funny,
and increasingly bewildered as they deal with a serious crisis that
tests their bonds. (Sarah)
The Cookbook Collector
by Allegra Goodman (Dial Press $15). You could call this novel
a dot com era Sense and Sensibilities, as it’s a compelling story
of two sisters and other strong characters set right before the 9/11
tragedy. You will contemplate contemporary values during the times of
sudden fortunes, great bankruptcies and terrorist attacks.
(Sandra)
Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras (translated
by Frank Wynne, Black Cat $14.95), takes place in 1976 Argentina
after the brutal regime change when thousands of
Argentinians "disappeared," never to be seen
again. A ten-year-old boy and his brother are uprooted from
their comfortable lives to go into hiding because of their parents'
leftist politics. But, for them, because their parents do everything
they can to make them feel safe, it becomes an
adventure--full of excitement, humor and tenderness, though the
horror is always present in the reader's mind. Rich and
quietly powerful. (Nancy)
Love and Summer by William
Trevor (Penguin $15). In beautifully nuanced, restrained prose,
Trevor depicts society in a small Irish village in the 50's. A
pious spinster, whose dragon of a mother forced her into
lifelong atonement after abandonment by her lover, is
determined to protect a naive, young farmer's wife who meets
and has a bittersweet affair with a charming bicycling
photographer. The consequences of the self-righteous
villagers' interference are complex and surprising. (Nancy)
The
Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson (Other Press $15.95).
Based on an event that took place in post-Civil War Richmond, The
Reservoir opens with the finding of a body of a young pregnant woman
in the local reservoir. This is a story of lust, betrayal, justice,
and revenge woven around a love triangle of two very dissimilar
brothers and one young, naive girl. (Sandra)
Room by Emma Donoghue (Hachette $14.99). This is a stunningly original novel in which a woman, held in captivity for years, creates a secure, loving world for her five-year-old son. Despite its profoundly disturbing premise, it is rife with moments of hope and beauty, and the dogged determination to live, even in the most desolate circumstances. (Nancy)
The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paulo Giordano (Penguin $15). Prime numbers become increasingly isolated as distance from zero is increased. So too do the main characters become isolated due to self-induced, early trauma. This is a gentle tale of isolation, loneliness and attempted connections. (Sally)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë (Oxford University $10.95). Published in 1848, this is among the first truly feminist novels. At a time when women were legal property of their husbands, Helen Huntingdon made a daring escape from her marriage in order to save herself and her son. While strongly moralistic, the book nonetheless was called shocking, and was declared unfit to be put into the hands of women. (Sally)
The
Thing Around Your Neckby
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Anchor $15). This collection of short
stories from one of The New Yorker magazine’s “twenty under
forty” explores the ties that bind men and women, parents and
children, Africa and the United States. It describes the
collision of two cultures and the struggle to reconcile them.
(Sandra)
Tiny
Sunbirds Far Away
by Christie Watson (Random House $15.95). Through the eyes of
Blessing, an innocent but observant 12-year-old, you will be
transported to life in modern Nigeria. Blessing's family must make a
jostling transition from a relatively pampered life in the city to a
most rural village. You will be captivated by this optimistic, brave
girl and the memorable characters in her life. You'll also feel you
have truly visited Africa, and seen its horrors and amazing beauty.
(Rosemary)
Turn of
Mind by
Alice LaPlante (Grove/Atlantic $24). An original
achievement. The main character, a brilliant surgeon now retired due
to dementia, is suspected of killing her best friend (some of the
victim's fingers are expertly amputated), but the doctor can't
remember what happened. The story, told in her fractured,
eloquent, sometimes lucid voice is haunting and
unforgettable.(Nancy)
Nonfiction
Citizens of London by Lynne Olson (Random House $17). During Britain's darkest hour, three prominent Americans living in London were key to forging the Anglo-American alliance, helping to bring the US into WWII in Europe. Edward R. Murrow, Averell Harriman and ambassador John Gilbert Winant shared intense personal relationships with Churchill and his family during this terrifying, yet heady and electrifying, time. (Kent)The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean (Back Bay Books $14.99). This is the story of the scientists who discovered the Periodic Table of the Elements and the odd ways, dramatic and humorous, in which the elements have affected human lives and history. (Kent)
Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America by Eugene Robinson (Doubleday $24.95, paperback due in October 2011). Washington Post columnist Robinson posits that the time when black Americans all wanted and needed the same things (e.g. jobs, racial equality, opportunities) has passed. He defines four black Americas: mainstream middle-class, abandoned minority, transcendent elite and newly emergent. As expected from Robinson, the writing is engaging and persuasive. (Sally)
The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund de Waal (Picador $16). De Waal traces the inheritance of a collection of exquisite Japanese figurines known as netsuke down through his family and ultimately to himself. A descendant of the illustrious Ephrussi family of Europe, de Waal uncovers its incredible history of achievement, grandeur, and staggering loss. (Kent)
Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell (Random House $14). Two women meet while walking their dogs in a park and a deep, satisfying friendship quickly blossoms because of their shared life experience (both are recovering alcoholics), and other interests. Caldwell, an award-winning book critic, and Caroline Knapp, author of Drinking: A Love Story, are both intensely driven, and their relationship, though ending because of Caroline's terminal illness, which Caldwell writes about with tremendous grace, is a beautiful paean to friendship. (Nancy)
Literary Life: A Second Memoir by Larry McMurtry (Simon & Schuster $14). In this middle of three memoirs McMurtry recounts his path to becoming an accomplished author. He includes his own reading life, friendships with other authors, and describes how he has become "a man of letters." Also excellent reads are McMurtry's first and third memoirs, Books: A Memoir and Hollywood: A Third Memoir (both Simon & Schuster $14). (Kent)
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr (W.W. Norton & Company $15.95), Nicholas Carr shows what the printed book has done for us over the last 500 years and how our eager adoption of the highly addictive internet threatens to destroy our ability to think - and feel - deeply and creatively. Carr examines the history of many technological advances, including the map and the clock, and their effects on human thought and behavior in this very readable, thought-provoking book. (Sarah)
Young Adult
Eli the Good by Silas House (Candlewick $7.99). It's 1976, and even amidst Bicentennial preparations, the legacy of Vietnam is still felt. Ten-year-old Eli is at the start of the summer of his life, as his Vietnam vet dad suffers from post-traumatic stress, his teenage sister and their parents collide, and his best friend becomes distant. This boy will have captured your heart on the first page with his honesty. (Rosemary)
In the Name of God by Paula Jolin (Square Fish $7.99). Studious, polite, serious, religious, family loving – Nadia could be the perfect daughter. But it's Iraq, it's wartime, and as she sees her country spiral out of control, Nadia falls deeper under the spell of Islamic fundamentalism. How far she may go to set the world, as she sees it, right will be a revelation. (Rosemary)
Books Mentioned at Bash
Fiction:
Our well-read audience had suggestions of books their clubs had had success with. And Nancy (**) thought of others you might like to try, many of which have been presented at past Bashes.
- Middlesex (**)
- The Sparrow (**) by Mary Doria Russell
- Sarah's Key (**)
- Shanghai Girls
- Kafka On the Shore (**) Windup Bird Chronicles (**)
- Little Bee
- Caleb's Crossing (**)
- Invisible Bridge
- Forever by Pete Hamill
- Dry Grass of August
Nonfiction:
- In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White
- Enrique's Journey
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
- The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough (**)
