"Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

Our January meeting was held at my home to discuss

Madeleine's choice "Little Fires Everywhere" which

was written by Celeste Ng published in 2017. Ng grew up in

Shaker Heights a suburb of Cleveland Ohio and the setting for her

second novel. Sarah who is a native of Cleveland guided us through

Shaker Heights which was almost like a character in the book.

The book is about the relationship of two very different families who

commingle and clash,

Madeleine led a great discussion. I believe the central theme was

about motherhood and it's special bond and whether it is forged by blood

or love and better yet by both. The custody battle between the biological

Chinese mother,  Bebe Chow who gave her child up during a time that

she could not cope and the adoptive parents was a major part of

our discussion.

We also delved into Mia's character a somewhat hippie like artist who

never stays in one town very long till she lands in Shaker Heights.

Mia is pitted against Mrs. Richardson who is a strong, meddling solid

resident of perfect Shaker Heights. There are a lot of sub plots in the

novel and it takes us on many twists and turns. All in all a great page

turner and great character development by the author. 

I have had my surgery since and have been taking some narcotics so

I forgot what date we chose for the next book and I have also forgotten

who attended the meeting. So we will just have to choose a date in April

to discuss Sue's choice which is "The Winter in Anna" by Reid Karan. 

"The Life We Bury" by Alan Eskins

Our December meeting took place at Kathy's home.

We had pizza, Christmas fellowship and a discussion of 

Alan Eskin's debut novel "The Life We Bury".

Thanks to Kathy for providing all the refreshments,

food and a warm fire for our meeting.

Those present were Sue, Kathy, Betsy, Madeleine, Nettie,

Sarah, Doug and Janet.

All who were present had read the book and

admitted to having been taken in immediately by

the mystery and interest never waning through the

twist turns and surprises.
College student Joe has chosen to write  a biographical piece

about a Vietnam veteran, Carl Iverson  convicted of rape and murder who

is now dying of cancer due to exposure of agent orange.

The book touches on many thing such as family relationships,

 autism, abuse, parenting, Vietnam war, wrongful incarceration,

alcoholism, DNA and much more. 

Joe and his neighbor Lila set about proving Joe Iverson's

innocence incurring major personal danger to themselves.

This was a quick read and very good for a 1st novel.

Doug added some good statistical insight of wrongful

incarceration as it relates to veterans and persons of color.
Janet posed some questions based on a reading guide.
The biggest question was the significance of the book title.
We each gave an opinion of which characters were  hiding secrets and
who may have been trying to forget some aspects of their lives.  

Madeleine chose "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng for 

our next read and January 25th was set for the next meeting.

"Girl In The Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse

On October 25th we met at Rockstone to discuss my book

"The Girl In The Blue Coat" which is set in World War II Amsterdam.

Since many of us had just been to Amsterdam I thought it would be fun to

read. Discussion was difficult due to the noise level of the restaurant

caused mostly by 5 wine swilling females nearby. We decided we

need another venue. We had a large group consisting of Doug, Donna, Madeleine,

Betsy, Carol, Sarah, Kathy,Nancy, Sue, Janet and me. 

This was a young adult coming of age story of young people in Holland

written by a reporter for the Washington Post who is neither Dutch nor

Jewish. So although it was not great literature she manages to weave a nice

mystery about a Jewish girl who has disappeared from her hiding place.

The heroine is Hanneke who transforms from a selfish self serving girl to a caring

young woman who helps the Amsterdam Student Underground with smuggling,

obtaining ration cards and placing children into hiding from the Nazis.

One point of interest we discussed was war photography which was forbidden 

and done at great risk. The other thing we discussed was homosexuality which

was not accepted in that era and was actually dangerous.  These young

people had to grow up in dangerous times where nothing was normal.

It was just a small story within a big war.  

Nothing will ever equal Anne Frank's Diary but there are many stories

that can still be told about the never to be forgotten atrocities of that war.

Next book chosen by Janet was "The Life We Bury"  by Allen Eskens.

A tentative date of December 13th was chosen.  

"My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferrante

Due to Nancy's surgery in the summer as well as tennis activities

we decided to take a break from meetings during the summer of 2017.

We resumed in September and met at my house to discuss this book.

Unfortunately Nancy was not able to join us but we decided to

commence at her suggestion.

"My Brilliant Friend" written by Italy's Elena Ferrante is the first of

four  Neapolitan novels which is soon to be an HBO miniseries.

Those who read it loved it and even went on to read the other 3 books. 

It is about the friendship between two women beginning in the 1950's set

on the outskirts of Naples, Italy. Through the lives of these women

the author reveals what post war Italy was like for young girls in this small,

area where everyone knows everyone and the few prosperous families dominate. 

It is a story of two girls coming of age, of a town, of a nation emerging from war into an

economic boom. Vividly written by one of Italy's beloved authors.

Next book chosen by me was "Girl In The Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse. 

Defending Jacob by William Landay

Julie Champagne chose "Defending Jacob" by William Landay

which was discussed in May.

This was a wonderful book which was a very compelling and

readable courtroom drama about a district attorney who is defending his

son Jacob who is accused of killing one of his classmates. As the father 

attempts to prove his son's innocence he gets into a rather uncomfortable

territory: Can a tendency towards violence be inherited?

Is the capacity for murder a genetic disposition?

The author who was a district attorney gets the whole book just right.

It was a thriller with a clever plot which does not reveal itself to the end.

Many of us said it reminded us of a book we had read called "The Dinner"

by  Herman Koch. Both dealt with parents who had to confront the

fact that their child could be evil. Denial comes first and facing the ugly

truth can bring on tragic circumstances.

We all loved this book. Thanks Julie for your choice.

Next book was "My Brilliant Friend" by Elena Ferante chosen

by Nancy Forbush. 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

I have fallen down on my job as book club chronicler as I now see that

I have missed several books so I am going to  try my best to recall the missed ones.

Carol Branson  chose "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Annie Barrows

based on research by Mary  Ann Shaffer who is now deceased.

and we met in April at Rockstone for discussion.

I remember everyone being delighted with this novel which was set on the

 English Channel island called Guernsey.

It is a book of letters exchanged with an author and the members of  the Guernsey 

Literary and Potato Peel Pie society who formed a book club during the

Nazi occupation of their island during the second world war.

Not only is food scarce but so are books. Some people only read the same authors

 and what is available such as Shakespeare, Jane Austen and The Brontes.

We were all delighted with these quirky lovable characters as they navigated

the war with humor, bravery, kindness and optimism. The author not only finds a

subject for her next novel but a husband for life. 

We found out that the book has made Guernsey a popular destination for

tourism and we all thought it would be a great place for us to visit.

We are also awaiting the movie which is in the works.

The Boston Girl

On February 8,2017 some braved a potential snowstorm to

meet at Betsy's house to discuss her book choice which

was the Boston Girl by Anita Diamant.  The braves one were Nettie, Kathy, Donna,

Madeleine, and Sarah. Our bravery was nicely rewarded by a lovely

supper of a grilled shrimp Caesar salad, fruits and spinach quiche.

Madeleine brought heart shaped sugar cookies.

We all read and enjoyed the Boston Girl who was Addie Baum. 

Addie who is now 85 years old is relating her memoirs to

her favorite granddaughter.

Addie takes us back to 1900 when her Russian parents

escape the horrors of Russia to immigrate to America.

Their life was penurious and fraught with tragedies including

many losses of lives.

Addie's mother does not encourage women to get education and

she tries to suffocate her 3 daughters with her low expectations for them.

Addie however manages to become educated and through joining

a reading club gets exposed to a better class of people.

We liked the romp through the ages including the 2 world wars, the flu of 1918,

the orphan train, the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti

Mostly it is about the triumph of women who manage despite

great odds to become something other than a man's wife.

Carol was not present but sent in her selection of the next read

"The Guernsey Literary and  Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer

and Annie Barrow. It was puublished in 2008 and some thought we may have 

already read the book but we may not have or it was pre blog days.

However we can all use a refresher so we went with that book and

set the next date for the meeting to be March 22nd.