Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

In December we met at my house but were hosted by Madeleine who

treated us to pizza, wine and cookies. 

Madeleine chose a book about artificial intelligence. 

We are transported to an age where teenagers have

their own robots as companions and caretakers to take up the slack when

parents are unavailable. It is a future time where Children have been 

genetically modified or lifted to be superior in intellect. It's the  parents'

choice. Klara is a perceptive robot who is chosen by Josie who is afflicted

by a life threatening illness. Klara as a robot is powered by the sun and she

believes the sun can heal Josie. Klara has many opportunities to observe

human behavior with all its complexities, loneliness and vulnerabilities.

Klara though lacking a heart is able to feel love and willing to make a big 

unselfish sacrifice to save  Josie,

We had a lively discussion about the morality of genetic modification,

cloning and the way the world is headed technologically whether we like

it or not.

Donna chose "Sold on a Monday" by Kristina Mc Morris for our next read.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 

In November we met at Nettie's home to discuss Matt Haig's book

"The Midnight Library". This book is about a girl called Norah who

tries to commit suicide because her life has gone south. Her cat has

died, she has lost her job and life seems to have no meaning. She goes

to a library where a librarian guides her to the possibility of choosing

alternate lives that she may have lived. Nora pursues a "multiverse" where

she did become an Olympic swimmer, a rock star, a glaciologist, and had 2 different

married lives. Possibilities were endless but in the end she comes to realize

that her best life is the one she chooses for herself where the point of life

is life itself. We had a great discussion and even had a sharing moment when

each person revealed another life that they may have wanted to live. Maybe

we learned some thing about another person we did not know and that we have

to live this life as best as we can with all it's ups and downs.

Madeleine chose "Klara and the Sun" by Kazuo Ishiguri, a British author.

The World That We Knew

  

In October we met at Laura Derrickson's home to discuss her book

"The World That We Knew" by Alice Hoffman. The book begins in Berlin

in 1941 when a mother decides she must send her 12 year old daughter, Lea. away to

save her from Hitler's regime. She seeks the help of a mystical Rabbi but ultimately it

is the Rabbi's daughter Ettie,  who creates a Golem out of mud. The Golem, Ava, accompanies

 Ettie and her sister and Lea to France. So we were introduced to Jewish Mysticism and the

 mixing of it with realism, The Golem is invincible, strong, loyal and lacks nothing except a

soul and her chief purpose is to protect Lea. Once we suspended our disbeliefs we were 

taken on a magical journey of love, sacrifice  and survival by Hoffman who is a fine storyteller.

There were many themes of love explored between mother and daughter, between sisters,

and between man and woman.

We had a good discussion,

I chose "The Midnight Library" by Matt Haig for the next read,      

  

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

 

This one was chosen by Carol Branson.

This was enjoyed by everyone especially those who had the pleasur

of listening to Tom Hanks narrate this tale.

It is about a brother and sister who have been thrown out of

their childhood home by the stepmom when there father dies.  

They cannot help returning to the scene of the lavish Dutch

house where their lives were unraveled. The house is part gift,

part curse. It spans five decades and 3 generations.

Carol made a great dinner and we were entertained by the 

myriad of hummingbirds that buzzed by her dining room window.

This book post is out of sequence. This was after "The French Bistro"' 

  

The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

 Julie chose this British mystery Whodonit novel which was published

in 2016. The murder is set is a small English village. The brilliant detective

is Atticus Pund. There are many characters all who could have

some motive in killing the Lord of the Manor as well as his housekeeper.

There is also a second murder as the writer of the novel is murdered.

The editor now becomes a detective and there are many clues in

both stories that the reader has to notice if he or she is to solve

the crimes. Lots of fun as we all tried to be sleuths.

Julie made a lovely spinach salad. I made a caprese salad and we had

pizza. Sarah made a lovely  peach crisp to end the delightful evening 

on Julie's deck.

Doug detected a small plane going by that sounded strange and we

all saw it on our way home as it had made an emergency landing on 96th St.

 

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

Marsha chose this historical fiction published in 2019. It is set  in a

remote area of Eastern Kentucky back in the depression. It is about

five brave women who journey through the hills of Kentucky by

packhorse distributing library books funded by a program started 

by franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Moyes is a British author but

she really captures the people and ways of the area. There is of course

some nice love stories woven in as well. There was some claim that

Moyes plagiarized Kim Michele Richardson's "The Book Women of Troublesome Creek".

Marsha made pot pies and we played with Opal, her Bichon Frize.

 

 

Little French Bistro by Nina George

 This was chosen by Betsy. It is about an unhappily married German lady

named Marianne who attempts suicide during a vacation in Paris with her controlling

husband. She is however saved from drowning by an onlooker,  She goes to the

coast of Brittany to a small Breton village where she meets many people and

eventually finds herself and begins to take pleasure in life. Of course she also

finds love and develops her given talents.

We had to discuss this one at Diavolo's Pizza as Marco's closed. It was loud and

the acoustics were bad but the food and drinks were good.