Palace of Illusions - May 2009

Finally a book club for those of without time to go to meetings. Take our suggestion for the month, read along. Post your comments to this blog.

Now Reading: Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Questions to ask while you read:

http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385515993&view=rg

The Alchemist's Daughter - April 2009

Now Reading: The Alchemist's Daughter by Katherine McMahon

Questions to Ask while you read: (from the publisher)

1. How do you feel about the way the novel and its characters deal with the issue of slavery? How does the situation of each character color his or her opinion of the slave trade? How do those opinions help define their characters? How would you describe Emilie ’s opinion of the slave trade? Does her point of view change during the course of the book?
2. At the time of their meeting and then marriage, how do you think Aislabie truly feels about Emilie? Is he in love? Does he have other motivations for wanting to marry her? How and why do these feelings change during the course of the book?
3. Why are the Gills so loyal to Selden, despite evidence that they have disagreed with their master and were, at the end of his life, blamed for Emilie ’s fall from grace?
4. Would you describe Emilie as a sentimental person? Considering the purely intellectual education she has received at her father’s hands, how do you make sense of the sentimental attachment she has toward her mother’s possessions?
5. Despite her intelligence, Emilie tends to miss or ignore many signs that point to Aislabie ’s true nature: his involvement in the slave trade; flaunting expensive new ornaments while claiming poverty; undermining his wife ’s wishes about the remodeling of Selden; refusing to consider the concerns of Selden’s tenants. Why do you think it takes infidelity on such a blatant scale for her to see him for what he is? Are there other signs she may have missed?
6. Do you think Emilie will be a better landlord than her father was? Why or why not?
7. Did Emilie fail her father’s parenting “experiment,” as she supposes when she reads his notebooks? What outcome do you think would have satisfied him? Were his hopes realistic? Were they fair?
8. After the discovery of her mother’s true identity, Emilie begins to regard men’s attentions to herself in a new way. What do you make of this change?
9. Do you think that Sarah and Emilie could ever have been friends? Is there any action Emilie could have taken early in her marriage to gain Sarah’s affection? What do you think their relationship might have been like if Emilie had invited Sarah to stay at Selden with her child?
10. Discuss the laboratory explosion. What do you think Emilie expected to happen? What did she hope to accomplish?

Land of Mango Sunsets - March 2009

A book club for those of us without the time to go to meetings. Take our book suggestion for the month and read along. Post your comments or answers to the question below.

Now Reading The Land of the Mango Sunsets by Dorothea Benton Frank Pick up your copy in front of the circulation desk.

Try out recipes from the area http://www.dotfrank.com/Whats_New.html

Questions to Ask while you read:

1. At the beginning of the novel, Miriam is desperate to be accepted among the society set and their opinions mean a great deal to her. Does she care too much about other people's judgments? How has this affected her life?
2. When Miriam needs solace she returns to Sullivans Island—the "land of mango sunsets". What does the place do for her? Do you have a healing retreat? What kind of a special place would you like to have if you don't?
3. The novel's heroine transforms herself from "Miriam Elizabeth Swanson" to "Mellie." How do these two personalities compare and contrast with one another? What do you like about them? Do you see yourself in either?
4. Weather and nature are an important backdrop in the novel. How do they reflect Miriam's transformation?
5. What is the relationship like between Miriam and her mother, Miss Josie? How are the women alike—and how are the different? How do parents impact their children's lives?
6. Friendship and family are the cornerstones of The Land of Mango Sunsets. What makes a good friend? What makes people "family"?
7. When Liz's relationship turns violent and she is terribly hurt, Miriam blames herself. Why does she feel responsible? Was she to blame?
8. Miriam did not know her mother was ill until very late. Why do you think Miss Josie and Harrison didn't tell her?
9. In the prologue, Miriam says "Recognizing yourself in my mistakes won't be pretty, but perhaps it will keep both of us from making the same mistakes again." Can we learn from others' mistakes or do we have to make our own to truly learn life's lessons?
10. Miriam also says "Things happen for a reason." Do you agree?
11. What role Miriam's fling with "Manny the Man" play in the novel? Though it didn't end quite how she expected, was it ultimately good for her?

The Middle Place - February 2009

Finally a book club for those of without time to go to meetings. Take our suggestion for the month, read along. Post your comments to this blog.

Now Reading - The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

Questions to ask while you read:

1. What is the effect of having the book structured as it is? Why do you think Kelly’s childhood is presented as flashbacks rather than chronologically? In what ways does her childhood affect her adult self?

2. How does Kelly’s breast cancer diagnosis prepare her for her father’s cancer? Does her own experience help her to help her father, or does it hinder her ability to cope?

3. Why do you think it is important for Kelly to travel in Australia and Nepal? What need does the act of traveling fill for her?

4. How does Kelly change when she becomes a parent? In what ways does she choose the family she’s created over the one that created her?

5. Kelly’s family is her safety net. She turns to them when she’s in trouble and they run to help. What are the safety nets in your life? What are the mainstays in your life that you can’t imagine living without?

6. What is “The Middle Place”? Why is this the title of this book? What does being in The Middle Place mean to Kelly? What does it mean to you?

Questions from kellycorrigan.com

The Senator's Wife - January 2009

No meetings required but lend your comments below for the book we are currently reading:

Now reading - The Senator's Wife by Sue Miller

Meri is 37, newly married and newly pregnant, standing on the cusp of her life as a wife and mother, and recognizing with some terror the gap between reality and expectation. Delia, her neighbor in the adjoining New England town house, is twice Meri's age, the wife of Tom Naughton, a venerated former U.S. senator --- a man whose habitual infidelities are an open secret in Washington. As dissimilar as they may appear, these two women find themselves leading strangely parallel lives, reckoning with the contours and mysteries of marriage, one refined and abraded by years of complicated intimacy, the other barely begun.

Questions to ask while you read:

1. In the second paragraph of Chapter One, Miller says, "Meri has occupied the backseat the whole time—at first because that's just how it happened when they all got in the car, then by choice." What does this tell us about Meri? Did your first impression of her turn out to be accurate?

2. Discuss the title. Why do you think Miller called her novel "The Senator's Wife" when Meri's story gets equal time?

3. Several times in the novel, it's suggested that moving to a new home equals an opportunity for new beginnings. Which move proves to be most important to Delia?

4. At times there are parallels between Meri and Tom, Delia and Nathan, and at other times the pairings are rearranged. Who do you think is most similar? Most unlike each other? Who would you most like to spend time with, if these were real people?

5. Delia's relationships with her grown children are quite varied. Why do you think she wound up with three such different results? What kind of mother was she?

6. Re-read the last paragraph of the novel. Did Meri really act out of love? Why do you think she did it? What price did she pay, if any?

Questions from readinggroupguides.com

The Book Thief - December 2008

A book club for those of us without the time to go to meetings. Take our suggestion for the month. Read along. Post comments to this blog if you'd like to answer the questions below with your thoughts.

Now Reading - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Liesel Meminger is only nine years old when she is taken to live with the Hubermanns, a foster family, on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany, in the late 1930s. She arrives with few possessions, but among them is The Grave Digger’s Handbook, a book that she stole from her brother’s burial place. During the years that Liesel lives with the Hubermanns, Hitler becomes more powerful, life on Himmel Street becomes more fearful, and Liesel becomes a fullfledged book thief. She rescues books from Nazi book-burnings and steals from the library of the mayor. Liesel is illiterate when she steals her fi rst book, but Hans Hubermann uses her prized books to teach her to read. This is a story of courage, friendship, love, survival, death, and grief. This is Liesel’s life on Himmel Street, told from Death’s point of view.

Questions to ask while you read:
1. What is ironic about Liesel’s obsession with stealing books? Discuss other uses of irony in the novel.
2. Explain Rudy’s reaction when he discovers that Liesel is a book thief. How does stealing books from the mayor’s house lead to a friendship with the mayor’s wife?
3. How does she equate love with abandonment? At what point does she understand why she was abandoned by her mother?
4. Death says that Liesel was a girl “with a mountain to climb.” (p. 86) What is her mountain? Who are her climbing partners? What is her greatest obstacle?
5. How does it take courage to oppose Hitler?
6. How does Zusak use the literary device of foreshadowing to pull the reader into the story?

Questions from readinggroupguides.com

Bee Season - November 2008

No meetings required but lend your comments below for hte book we are currently reading:


Bee Season by Myla Goldberg



Eliza Naumann, a seemingly unremarkable nine-year-old, expects never to fit into her gifted family: her autodidact father, Saul, absorbed in his study of Jewish mysticism; her brother, Aaron, the vessel of his father's spiritual ambitions; and her brilliant but distant lawyer-mom, Miriam. But when Eliza sweeps her school and district spelling bees in quick succession, Saul takes it as a sign that she is destined for greatness. In this altered reality, Saul inducts her into his hallowed study and lavishes upon her the attention previously reserved for Aaron, who in his displacement embarks upon a lone quest for spiritual fulfillment. When Miriam's secret life triggers a familial explosion, it is Eliza who must order the chaos.

Question to ask:
1. Why does Eliza slip the information about the district spelling bee under Saul's door, rather than telling him about it in person? Is her behavior unusual for an eleven-year-old?
2. Initially, Saul is portrayed as an involved and caring father. What hints are there that his interest in his children's lives masks a need to satisfy his own ego? How does his relationship with Miriam enhance the image he has created for himself?
3. Is there a common thread that links Aaron's experiments with different religions, Miriam's secret excursions, and Eliza's plunge into Jewish mysticism?
4.Bee Season presents the narrative viewpoints of all the family members. How does this technique add depth and nuance to our understanding of each character? How do the self-portraits differ from the portraits, implicit or explicit, sketched by the other members of the family?