The Huntress by Kate Quinn

 

I apologize that I have this one report out of sequence, 

The discussion of this book took place in June and was actually

our second Covid patio meeting at Julie's home.

This book was a wonderful read which keeps the reader close 

to the action of a chase to find a female war criminal. It is historical

fiction and it draws you in, takes old of you and does not let go till

the end. Could not put it down,

The story is about a female Russian bomber pilot, Nazi hunters and a 

young Boston girl who pursue an evil war criminal. Everyone loved

this one and especially the story about the "Night Witches" who were

the first Russian female bombers of which the protagonist Nina was

a member. These were women of grit, grace, love and tenacity facing

insurmountable odds.

World war II junkies will love this well researched exciting book.

The next book chosen was, "The Other Einstein", 

      

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

 

In early October we had yet another patio gathering at my house to

discuss American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. 

This was a story of illegal immigrants who march to the

borders of the United States trying to escape the violence

of the cartels, inhumane gangs, rape, poverty. It is not an

easy story to read as it is filled with violence as a Mexican woman

who is middle classed is force to flee north with her 8 year old son

as their entire family of 16 is gunned down as they hid during a family

gathering, Her husband was a journalist who published an expose on

a powerful Jefe of a drug cartel who had an actual literary relationship

with the protagonist Lydia.

This book got to fame because it was on of Oprah's book club choices.

It was hotly contested by the Hispanic reviewers who claimed the author was

not Mexican and had no right to the telling of their story. Even the

McMiillan Publishers were brought to account for how they chose

manuscripts and whether books are chosen based on the probabilities of

them being purchased.

Despite all the  controversy about the book I think that the take away

is that it exposes the reader to the immigrant situation and maybe they 

see things they did not know about. The dangerous riding of the trains

and the arduous foot treks of thousands of miles where one is most likely to be 

a victim of rape and robbery. It is a heartbreaking read.

The solution to the problem is

certainly a big part of our political scene today. It is not an easy issue to solve.

We had a great turnout. Everyone except for Nancy and Doug.

Madeleine chose Fredrik Backman's new book "Anxious People".

We have to see how to proceed with our meetings as the weather

changes. But as of now Madeleine has offered her screened in porch for

November.  

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

 In August 2020 we again braved another patio gathering at

Laura Derrickson's home to discuss her book "The Other Einstein"

by author Marie Benedict,

The book was labelled as historical fiction which sets us up to

not believe that everything was factual. 

This is a story of a woman who loved Einstein, his first wife,

who was a brilliant scientist in her own right and who may have 

actually shaped his theories that brought him lasting renown.

This book brings to light the story of a brilliant, fascinating woman

Mitza Maric  whose mathematical contributions to the theory

of relativity is hotly contested. She got no recognition in any of

the publications of works which led to his Nobel prize.

The book takes us into a  scientific world of yesteryear

which was totally dominated by men where this pioneering

woman tries to forge a place for herself.

The book exposed Albert Einstein as an egotistical  male bully and 

frankly not a nice or kind person ,

The author based her research on existing papers and correspondence

which are at Princeton University.

Whether you believe or not I am sure you learned something

new about this not so famous part of history.

Laura got a star for perfect attendance at her soiree, We even had

a Doug sighting.

I chose the book American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins for

discussion in October.

Stroke of Insight

 

In July we braved a patio gathering at Marsha's home to discuss

her book "A Stroke of Insight" by Jill Bolte Taylor,

In 1996, Jill Bolte Taylor who is a Harvard trained brain

scientist and a Hoosier suffered a massive stroke which

affected the left hemisphere of her brain.

She could not walk, talk, read, nor Write,.
She alternated between the euphoria of the right brain and

the logical left brain, recognized she was having a stroke, With the help

of her mother and a revelation that she could use her right

brain to achieve peace and well being she recovered after 8 years.

She returned to being a a teaching professor at Indiana School

of Medicine in Bloomington Indiana, She is also the national

spokesperson for the mentally ill for the Harvard Brain Tissue Resource 

Center (the Brain Bank). 

Anyone who is a caregiver or related to a stroke patient should

have to read this book so full of little insights as to what the

patient is experiencing.

This was a truly amazing story about a woman who was named one of

the most influential women in 2008 by Time magazine.

Those who attended were Sarah, Marsha, Kathy, Carol, Betsy, Madeleine,

Kathy, Laura and Nettie.

Laura Derrickson chose the next book entitled "The Other Einstein" by

Marie Benedict.

Eleonor Oliphant is completely fine

On or about April 29th, 2020, we held our second virtual

book club on facetime due to the Covid 19 lockdown.

We welcomed Laura Derrickson to our discussion hoping

she would be inspired to join our club and she said yes.

I believe that all the members participated because lets

face it we have no commitments and plenty of time to read.

I think everyone had read the book and I did not hear any

negative reviews but heard that we all enjoyed and found the

book a delight. We discussed the protagonist Eleanor in depth.

She is a lonely girl without friends who works in a creative firm

in the accounting department. She struggles with human contact

and her life consists of routine, vodka, pizza and weekly talks

with her Mommy who is an abusive woman whom we are

led to believe is locked away in prison. Eleanor is so sad and

lonely she has been planning a suicide by pills and vodka.

She forges an unlikely friendship with Raymond from her

IT department at work and they save an old man named Sammy

who had fallen in the street. Eleanor starts interacting with people

and is saved by Raymond's big heart. Eleanor is able to find a way

to repair her heart and ditch her mother's voice who we come to

find out is actually dead and only lives in Eleanor's head.

The writer is good. She develops her characters very well and her

vocabulary is vast and learned. She is funny while writing about a

very sad subject. What a wonderful debut novel. This will soon be movie

as it was picked up by Reese Witherspoon who is now producing and

directing movies.

We chose May 27th for our next meeting to discuss Marsha's 

book choice entitled "My Stroke of Insight", by  Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor.     

Florence Gordon by Brian Morton

On March 25th, 2020  we hosted our first meeting via Facetime 

due to the Corona Virus Pandemic affecting the entire world.

It was no surprise that we were all able to attend except for

Donna who was enroute from Florida, Thankfully we all

had iphones and were able to overcome the few technological

challenges to make the discussion a huge success, We were

very chatty because we had been isolated for more than a week.

Florence Gordon was Betsy's choice and some people liked

the book but did not like the main character and some simply

did not care for the book. Nevertheless Florence is a 75 year

old New York resident who is a feminist activist and writer.

Florence lives life on her own terms being a very insular person

who does not need family and sometimes not even friends.

Florence has suddenly been thrust into the limelight at this

juncture due to a favorable review by one of her peers.

Florence is cold, rude and blunt and has no filter, Some of

the members liked and admired her for her activism and

bravery while others found her to be an insulting intellectual

New York snob. She doesn't share anything with her family

members including her diagnoses of Lou Gehrig's disease.

She was compared to Olive Kitteridge because of some

similarities but this blogger loves Olive and just could not

even feel close to this character, Florence Gordon. 

Other characters, like the son, granddaughter and daughter in law

were introduced but there stories were never really developed well.

Carol chose a book called Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by

Gail Honeyman. We decided to have another virtual meeting on

April 29th because we would have lots of time to get it read.

Hope you are all compliant in your quarantine and look forward

to chatting soon, 

    

"Mercies in Disguise" by Gina Kolata

In January we met at the round table at Marco's.

Attendees were Julie, Nancy, Sarah, Kathy, Marsha, Betsy,

Madeleine and Nettie. Everyone had read the book and loved it.

Gina Kolata is a science reporter for the times and studied

Molecular biology at M.I.T at the graduate level.

Her book is about a family who discovers they have a

genetic illness which is caused by a mutated gene in the brain.

It is a very debilitating disease. Many of the family members

are doctors and because of their research and that of 

the scientific community they are able to identify 

which family members have the mutated gene although

no cure is available. Some family members do not want to know

while one daughter, Amanda who is positive for the gene does not want to leave her

future to fate. She wants to have a family but does not want to

produce children who could have the disease so she embarks

on  an expensive fertilization in vitro process where embryos created

from her eggs and her husbands sperms are tested for the mutated gene.

There are religious moral issues here as mutated embryos are discarded.

She is successful in bearing three healthy kids who will not get

the disease though she knows she will eventually have it.

It is a medical mystery as well as a story of hope against fate while

intertwining a human family drama.

Though a good part of the book is very technical and full

of scientific terminology it is very engrossing.

Betsy chose a book called "Florence Gordon" by

Brian Morton as the next read. March 25th was tentatively

chosen for the next meeting.

   

Sarah's book was 

)rdinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

 In December 2019 we met at Marco's restaurant to discuss the book

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Kreuger which was Donna's choice.

Donna. Julie, Nancy, Marsha, Kathy, Madeleine,Carol and I attended.

We loved this venue as we were seated at a round table in a private

area which was perfect for discussion,

This was a well liked book narrated by a13 year old Frank Drum

living in a small Minnesota community about his summer of 1961.

Frank and his younger brother experience events that summer which

will forever change their lives.

Although there is a crime and an element of whodonit pervades,

it is really about the ties of family and community and the effect of

ordinary grace which is granted by God to people when they

encounter a major crisis which can shake faith in God.

The book is populated by a cast of characters who are totally

believable and engaging. We each got to name our favorite

character and explain why this was our choice.

It is a wonderful coming of age story which evoked so many emotions

with a good mystery and one can't stop thinking about it long

after we have closed the book.

Sarah sent her choice by email which is a entitled, "Mercies in Disguise"

by Gina Kolata and January 22nd was chosen for the next meeting.