We met at Julie's for our September meeting to discuss A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut. Julie provided a delicious meal, not to mention appetizers and dessert. No telling how she did this, having had the grandkids on Thursday, as well! It was so good to see everyone after having canceled the August meeting. We had a lot of catching up to do! Christi, Ellen, Jo, Judy, Julie, Linda, Liz, and Nanc attended.
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| Julie's peaceful water view |
"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow." ~ Kurt Vonnegut
"Do you know what a Luddite is? A person who hates newfangled contraptions." ~ Kurt Vonnegut
"The good Earth -- we could have saved it, but we were too damn cheap and lazy." ~ Kurt VonnegutAnd my favorite quote from the book:
"Electronic communities build nothing. You wind up with nothing. We are dancing animals. How beautiful it is to get up and go out and do something. We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different." ~ Kurt Vonnegut
~ Judy Lee
I agree with Kurt Vonnegut on most social issues, so I appreciated reading many pages of the book. However, I am not a fan of smart-ass humor, so I wasn't always amused by Kurt Vonnegut's statements. Some examples:
"It was a big mistake for me to take a degree in anthropology anyway, because I can't stand primitive people - they're so stupid." ~ Kurt Vonnegut
"Nor will I confess that I sleep with children." ~ Kurt VonnegutAnd I didn't appreciate the apparent put-down of people who are suffering from addictions:
"It seems to me as if everyone is living as members of Alcoholics Anonymous do, day by day." ~ Kurt VonnegutFavorite quotes from the book:
"So the America I loved still exists if not in the White House, the Supreme Court, the Senate, the House of Representatives, or the media. The America I loved still exists at the front desks of our public libraries." ~ Kurt VonnegutAnd when asked to reassure someone that everything would be okay, his response was simple but eloquent -
"Goddamn it, Joe, you've got to be kind!" ~ Kurt Vonnegut
~ Jo Smith
It was decided to nix The Secret History of Wonder Woman which had been slated for the October book. Several people had started it and it was felt that it was long and so detailed that it might be too tedious for a book club selection.
Next Book: Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala
Location: Annie's
Date: Thursday, October 12, 2017
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Annie's
Date: Thursday, October 12, 2017
Time: 6:30pm
Books that were discussed for possible selection in the future included:
- Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
- Death Need Not be Fatal by Malachy McCourt
- The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman
Upcoming meetings:
November 2017 - Date is TBA due to Annie's request. We will discuss the particulars at the October meeting.
December 2017 - Holiday gathering?
January 11, 2018 - TBA at Nanc's
Books we've read so far:
January 2014 - Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
February 2014 - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
March 2014 - Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
April 2014 - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
May 2014 - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
June 2014 - Breaking Free by Marilyn Sewell
July 2014 - The Orphan Train by Kristina Baker Kline
August 2014 - The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
September 2014 - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
October 2014 - The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
November 2014 - The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
December 2014 - No book. Holiday gathering.
January 2015 - No book. Watched The Book Thief
February 2015 - The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
March 2015 - Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne
April 2015 - The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin
May 2015 - The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
June 2015 - The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
July 2015 - Still Alice by Lisa Genova
August 2015 - The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
September 2015 - Ruby by Cynthia Bond
October 2015 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
November 2015 - No book. Watched To Kill a Mockingbird
December 2015 - No book. Holiday gathering.
January 2016 - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
February 2016 - Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
March 2016 - Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
April 2016 - Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie
May 2016 - Jewelweed by David Rhodes
June 2016 - One Woman's River by Ellen Kolbo McDonah
July 2016 - Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
August 2016 - Deep Water Passage by Ann Linnea
September 2016 - This Road I Ride by Juliana Buhring
October 2016 - The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
November 2016 - No book. Watched The Boys of '36
December 2016 - No book. Holiday gathering.
January 2017 - About Grace by Anthony Doerr
February 2017 - Between the World and Me by Ta-nehisi Coates
March 2017 - Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
April 2017 - No book - meeting canceled
May 2017 - Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
June 2017 - The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier also watched The Girl with a Pearl Earring
July 13, 2017 - Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins
August 2017 - No book - meeting canceled
September 2017 - A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut
