Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

On April 21, 2010 our book club met at the Abyssinia restaurant

on the west side to discuss our book "Cutting For Stone"

by Abraham Verghese because it was set in

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and had many

references to the culture and the food.

The author featured below is a physician who teaches medicine
at Stanford University. One is so envious that a person can
achieve such success as a physician and also write such
well crafted , passionate novels.

Enjoy photos of dinner which is served on "injera" a spongy

pancake like bread with which you scoop the food

as no cutlery is given. There were many uniquely spiced meat and

vegetarian dishes and some people had the special tea to finish.

Some said it was too hot while others liked it hot.

I have tried to get everyone in the photos but sometimes it is challenging.
If I did not get your best side maybe next time.

Our waitress wore a beautiful traditional costume


The owner came to greet us and explained how they
only use fresh ingredients.

Our discussion of the book started before dinner and was well

covered. It is over 600 pages about a set of cojoined twins born

of an Indian nun who dies in childbirth and a british surgeon

who abandons them. They were then raised by 2 Indian Doctors

from Madras who took loving care of them and taught

them how to be good surgeons. One twin goes to America and

works in an underfunded hospital while the other stays in

Ethiopia and becomes a surgeon famous for fistula repairs.

It was a tale of medicine, love, betrayal, and redemption with

a bit of African history along the way. We all agreed that it was

a captivating read. Though big in scope everything was wrapped

up neatly in the end. The title was part of the to the old

hippocratic oath when Doctors would vow not to take a surgical

case on unless they were qualified and of course a play on words

as the surgeon was named Dr. Stone. One of the author's ideas

was that doctors should have a bedside manner and that

generally comes from caring for a patient and developing

a relationship with the patient. Everyone got a chance to say

something about parts that impressed them.

All 10 people present had read the book and unanimously

agreed that it was one of the best we have read.

I was particularly pleased since I had stumbled upon

the book and recommended it to our club.

We think a movie adaptation is imminent.

Nancy chose "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett for our next read

which is to be discussed on June 10, a Thursday since summer

tennis starts and Wednesdays are no longer an option.

I will send out reminders closer to the date.

Happy reading to all!

FEB. 10, 2010 MEETING- STRAIGHT MAN

On a very snowy evening we had almost perfect attendance

at our meeting to discuss "The Straight Man" by Richard Russo.

If you don't see your photo below then you were not there. Maybe you

were in Florida enjoying the sunshine.

Most of us had read the book, some had not completed it but everyone liked it.
Every one thought it was humorously written and some people said they had
laugh out loud experiences. Hank Deveroux is the chairperson of the English
department of a poorly funded University. Everyone in the department is
fearing the outcome of next year's cuts. Russo paints his characters well.
Madeleine read a quote which she thought summed the book up. Julie explained
the reference to Occam's Razor.

We went around the table and each person got to say something that struck

them. I thought the hot tub scene and the time Hank spent in the ceiling after

urinating while the English Department conducted a meeting was hilarious.

Kathy liked the racquetball scene. Donna commented on professors and their

uniqueness. Sarah who now works in Academia could attest to all their quirks.

The used Mr. Purdy was brought up. He would be the polar opposite to

these proffesorial types who are sometimes posturing and pompous.

He drove a pick up truck and was actually handy. He also ate scrapple.

The relationship of Hank and his father was discussed also. He never got over

his father. The opening scenes when he was a child trying to convince his

father that he should get a dog set the tone. Nancy felt like their were many

little stories within the big story. I wonder if the big story was the passing

of the "alleged" kidney stone.

Diane did not want to choose a book in her absence and Nancy did not
want to be rushed.

So I chose the next book called "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese.

It was well recommended.
April 7th was chosen for the next meeting. Venue will be announced with

reminder email. Next chooser should be Nancy as Diana will

probably not return till May .

" Can You Count The Santas?"

Carol has a very big santa collection which fills an entire room.

We got to check them out at our book club meeting last night

We realized that this must have taken years and a lot of funds to

gather all these different ones.

Kathy likes the flying santa There were glass santas, African santas, European Santas, Asian santas
Julie pointing out one with a wooden face

Sarah and Nettie trying to blend in

Sarah found a Colts Santa

I liked this Harley santa.

Here is a flying santa

This Santa made it to the new sun room downstairs

I think that Carol's santas could make a very beautiful

exhibit worthy of any museum. I think Carol must

have had fun collecting them from all over

the world.
Thanks for sharing them and the warmth

of your lovely home with us.

"The Little Book"

These ladies braved the blustery weather to attend the book club meeting

Carol, Donna, Betsy, Sarah, Julie, Nettie, Nancy and Kathy

The december 9th meeting was held at Carol's house which was

decked out for the season

We were discussing marsha's choice

This is the cover of "The Little Book" that most of us got

This is another cover of "The Little Book" below

The author is Seldon edwards who is an educator, headmaster and novelist.

This is his debut novel which began in 1974 and was published in 2007.

It is a love story that spans 3 generations, a time traveler's delight, and a story

that connects the past, present and the future.

After a Mexican appetizer we had a warm chicken-wild rice-mushroom
casserole accompanied by a pear-pecan salad with rolls.
Dessert was a meringue base with peppermint ice cream
drizzled with chocolate sauce. There was also hot cider
to finish the meal.

The book was read by most of us who enjoyed it thoroughly.
Some of us had difficulty with the time travel and keeping
things in order. Julie suggested that we suspend logic
as time travel is not logical. Most of us loved the historical
look at the turn of the century Vienna when many events
were unfolding. Some of them were Freud's psychology,
the Viennese opera and music scene, anti-semitism, new art and
Mark Twain's visit . I thought the Viennese cafe

scene was exciting. I had visited Vienna

twice and had the fabulous coffee with the tons of

whipped cream in some of those old establishments.

I had also visited the opera house,

I could envision being right there as the old parts

of Europe really have not changed in centuries.
We were relieved that Wheeler was not his grandmother's
real grandchild as we could not accept an incestuous affair.
Kathy thought it would be nice to have met your grandmother
when she was young and vibrant.
We discussed the idea of the Burdens meeting Hitler as
a child and the temptation they had of changing history
and killing Hitler. Donna said she has seen this theme in
other books. No one can kill a child even if they know he
grows up to be a monster. But can you really change
history by knowing the future? You can use future
knowledge like the grandmother did to invest in
the stock market and then pull out before the crash.
That would be nice.

Julie chose "The Straight Man" by Richard Russo
for the next read. It is supposed to be funny.
The date is scheduled for February 10th.
Venue to be announced.

October 28th Meeting - The Riker Home

Donna's Table


Frank and Mamah

On October 28th, Wednesday, our club met at Donna Riker's home to discuss "Loving frank" by Nancy Horan. Donna had her table beautifully set in a Fall theme. She served up bountiful portions of white bean chicken chili topped with sour cream and cheeses accompanied by home made corn bread. We finished with a yummy apple chocolate chippy cake slathered with whipped cream. Thanks Donna.

Most of the discussion centered on Mamah Bortwick's character and whether she was a good mother for practically abandoning her children and leaving them to the care of her sister in order to be with Frank Lloyd Wright. Well the price for loving Frank was quite dear as she virtually lost her children and the respect of the community. Was she sacrificing all that for a lustful obsesssive relationship with Frank or was she trying to develop her own personal self at the time when women's rights were just emerging in America? We had to be reminded that this was still "Historical Fiction" and that we should not judge her too readily. The fact still remains that she and her children came to a tragic end in the fire at the hands of the axe murderer. Some clouds hang over Wright as to whether he may have orchestrated that?

Regardless of what Wright was in his personal character which was an ego-maniac,mad visionary, selfish and dishonest we must admit he was a genius who changed the face of architecture. He harmonized nature into his buildings and has left quite a legacy in the field of architecture. Is he any different than most creative people who are always eccentric and certainly not without fault? Julie started another book about the 4 women in his life called "The Women" by T.C. Boyle. She is enjoying it.

Marsha Callahan has chosen our new book which is another historical fiction genre.It is entitled "The Little Book" by Seldon Edwards that has been 30 years in the making.It is about Wheeler Burden of the Boston banking family and it is a generation spanner.I just love those. We have agreed to meet on December 9th. Location and details to be announced. Happy Reading!

I have decided that this blog will serve as a more permanent record of what we are reading and if time permits, I will do a flashback from the past to remind us of other books we have read over the years.

About Our Book Club

Indy's Unique Book Club was founded by Maureen Forrest who
currently resides in Florida. I believe Maureen was inspired by
the book "The Divine Secrets of The Ya Ya Sisterhood" by Rebecca Wells.
This was our very first book.

The plot was about a group of childhood friends
in the South and their life long bond that helped
them cope with the travails of life.
As my ailing memory serves this was in the year
1999 or thereabouts.
So we started our bond of friendship through tennis
initially but now have expanded it by reading.
Members have come and gone and we even had one
who has died of ovarian cancer. May Mary Pogue rest
in peace.

Our format has been very non structured and
that is what makes us unique.
We say what we feel like and everyone has a right to
their opinion. Membership is now limited as our rolls
are burgeoning. Our current members who attend
regularly and these are in alphabetical order because
that is how we choose our books.
Betsy Baltz, Carol Branson, Marsha Callahan,
Julie Champagne, Diana Crews, Nancy Forbush
Nettie Hughes - Secretary, Madeleine Leraris
Susie Mazur, Doug Reichl - (token male),
Donna Riker, Donna Smith, Kathy Willis,
Sarah Witwer and sometimes Jean Ziegler.
We have met at different members' homes if they
have felt like hosting or we meet at local restaurants.
I feel like I have made lifelong friends with all of you and
I look forward to sharing more ideas and hope that we
continue to respect each other's opinions because that
is exactly what they are.