Meeting: February 11, 2016

What a delightful evening at Judy’s! The evening began by loading our plates with yummy veggie lasagna and lots of other snacks before we moved into the living room alongside the cozy fire. With so many members off sunning themselves in warmer climes, there were only 5 in attendance: Annie, Christe, Judy, Kathy, and Nanc.

Winter view from the Lee's deck (photo credit: Scott Lee)

As often happens, we find out new things about one another in the pre-book discussion. While Annie is quite active, she told us that she doesn’t like gyms. Who knew? Even though two former Physical Education teachers were present, we were not offended by her revelation. In fact, I’m sure Judy and I (and Julie) taught many a student who shared Annie’s feelings about gyms! And, we also learned that Christe played team sports in high school. In softball, she was a 3rd baseman and loved firing the ball across the infield to throw batters out at 1st with her strong arm. And she was bit miffed when Aric’s baseball coach told her that Aric had his dad to thank for his great arm!  

When our conversation turned to Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson, Annie grabbed her computer and pulled up a TED talk that Stevenson had done several years ago. In addition to doggedly working for social justice through his Equal Justice Initiative, Stevenson is a gifted orator, as well. It is well worth the 20-25 minutes to watch it.

https://www.ted.com/talks/bryan_stevenson_we_need_to_talk_about_an_injustice

Quite by accident, we chose this very appropriate book for February which is Black History Month. Just Mercy is a powerful story of those who have been wrongly convicted, of children on death row and serving life sentences, and of malfeasance and racism by public officials. It would be impossible to read this book and not be affected by it.

We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others. The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it's necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice, and — perhaps — we all need some measure of unmerited grace.

Although the narrative of Walter McMillan dominates the storyline, many other anecdotes of our flawed justice system are threaded through the book. In 1993, Walter’s conviction was overturned after serving six years on death row.  Bryan and Walter were often invited to speaking events.  On one such trip, Walter is talking with Bryan as they traveled.

“Bryan,” he said at some point during our short flight, “capital punishment means ‘them without the capital get the punishment.

Both in the book and in the TED talk, Stevenson relates his meeting civil rights activist, Rosa Parks, on a number of occasions, and how he was invited there “just to listen.”  And then one day, Parks asked him about his work:

"Well, I have a law project called the Equal Justice Initiative, and we're trying to help people on death row. We're trying to stop the death penalty, actually. We're trying to do something about prison conditions and excessive punishment. We want to free people who've been wrongly convicted. We want to end unfair sentences in criminal cases and stop racial bias in criminal justice. We're trying to help the poor and do something about indigent defense and the fact that people don't get the legal help they need. We're trying to help people who are mentally ill. We're trying to stop them from putting children in adult jails and prisons. We're trying to do something about poverty and the hopelessness that dominates poor communities. We want to see more diversity in decision-making roles in the justice system. We're trying to educate people about racial history and the need for racial justice. We're trying to confront abuse of power by police and prosecutors —" I realized that I had gone on way too long, and stopped abruptly. 

Ms. Parks leaned back, smiling. "Ooooh, honey, all that's going to make you tired, tired, tired.”

Judy mentioned that she disagreed with Stevenson’s opposition to drug testing welfare recipients, feeling that there are many who are abusing drugs and the system. The only reference I could find relating to drugs and welfare was the following, but I’m not sure this is what Judy was referring to in her comments.

In 1996, Congress passed welfare reform legislation that gratuitously included a provision that authorized states to ban people with drug convictions from public benefits and welfare.  The population most affected by this misguided law is formerly incarcerated women with children, most of whom were imprisoned for drug crimes.  These women and their children can no longer live in public housing, receive food stamps, or access basic services.  In the last twenty years, we’ve created a new class of ‘untouchables’ in American society, made up of our most vulnerable mothers and their children.

Bryan Stevenson will be speaking at Luther College in Deborah, IA on Tuesday, March 1st at 7:00. Annie feels like Marah can probably assist in purchasing tickets if anyone would like to attend.  

March meeting:

Book: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Location: Ellen’s

Date: Thursday, March 10, 2016

Time: 6:30pm

Upcoming meetings:

April 2016: Book TBA at Julie's

May 2016: Book TBA at Nanc's

June 2016: Book TBA at Linda'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

Meeting: January 7, 2016

Thanks to Annie for writing up the following detailed account of this month's meeting!

After not seeing each other for a month, there’s always lots to catch up on – what we’ve been doing, what our families are doing, what’s going on in the neighborhood, what we’ve been thinking and feeling – so it’s no surprise that we didn’t dive into all the delicious food that Christe prepared for us until 8:00! Our mouths were too busy to eat right away!! But lo and behold, as we sat down to eat in the candle light by the fireplace, we actually spent the rest of the evening talking about (of all things!) the book (All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr)! Annie, Christe, Ellen, Judy, and Julie attended this month's meeting. 

A winter peek at the river from Christe's driveway

But before we get into a recap of our book discussion…thanks to Christe for her hospitality and warm, inviting atmosphere! Enchiladas are no picnic to make, and she took time after a full day’s work to whip up a wonderfully delicious meal for us. Praise to the cook!

I have no idea how Nanc does this every month – even with me taking some furious notes, I feel that I missed key points that were discussed. With that said, I was able to grab onto some threads of our conversation…here goes:

We were all awed by Doerr’s use of imagery/poetic language, especially considering the topic. Here are some examples:

His voice is low and soft, a piece of silk you might keep in a drawer and pull out only on rare occasions, just to feel it between your fingers. 

Music spirals out of the radios, and it is splendid to drowse on the davenport, to be warm and fed, to feel the sentences hoist her up and carry her somewhere else. 

I have been feeling very clearheaded lately and what I want to write about today is the sea. It contains so many colors. Silver at dawn, green at noon, dark blue in the evening. Sometimes it looks almost red. Or it will turn the color of old coins. Right now the shadows of clouds are dragging across it, and patches of sunlight are touching down everywhere. White strings of gulls drag over it like beads. It is my favorite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties. It seems big enough to contain everything anyone could ever feel.

We all come into existence as a single cell, smaller than a speck of dust. Much smaller. Divide. Multiply. Add and subtract. Matter changes hands, atoms flow in and out, molecules pivot, proteins stitch together, mitochondria send out their oxidative dictates; we begin as a microscopic electrical swarm. The lungs the brain the heart. Forty weeks later, six trillion cells get crushed in the vise of our mother’s birth canal and we howl. Then the world starts in on us.

Having the main character be a young, blind girl added much to the storyline – being so dependent, yet being so strong.

When I lost my sight, Werner, people said I was brave. When my father left, people said I was brave. But it is not bravery; I have no choice. I wake up and live my life. Don't you do the same? 

There is pride, too, though - pride that he has done it alone. That his daughter is so curious, so resilient. There is the humility of being a father to someone so powerful, as if he were only a narrow conduit for another, greater thing. That's how it feels right now, he thinks, kneeling beside her, rinsing her hair: as though his love for his daughter will outstrip the limits of his body. The walls could fall away, even the whole city, and the brightness of that feeling would not wane.

Of course with the setting being WWII, there were those hard parts of the story to move through – the conditioning of the boys, Frederick’s brutal attack, bombing/killing in general – but it was felt that by Doerr’s use of language, it was easier to wade through the ‘ick’, and the short chapters were a great tool to engage and disengage with the various story lines that were being tied together.

Ellen enjoyed ‘the worlds within worlds’ (literally speaking even, with the models that Marie Laure’s father makes) and the internal/external conflict and symbolism throughout the story.

Christe talked about her interest in learning more about Saint-Malo and also of how it would be a whole different existence without eyesight (sorry, Christe, I can’t make sense of my notes, but I liked what you said!)

Julie pointed out how Marie Laure could ‘smell fear’ and then spoke of a workshop she had attended years ago about how fear actually does smell and how she could then detect it in a subsequent meeting with a parent.

Annie was all about the use of figurative language and had more quotes jotted down than there was time for!

Judy hadn’t finished the book, but was fascinated all the same. 

We spent a lot of time discussing the key and the diamond…and what the heck happened anyway?! Julie paged through the book to find the various clues and read:

For a week he lives in the strange greenish light beneath the canvas of that huge tent, his duffel clutched in one hand and the hard corners of the little wooden house clamped in the other. When he has the strength, he fiddles with it. Twist the chimney, slide off the three panels of the roof, look inside. Built so cleverly.

So…when I googled ‘what happened to the diamond in all the light…’ it went right to that page that Julie read. Here are more snippets of it:

Werner’s body seems to have gone weightless under his blanket, and beyond the flapping tent doors, the trees dance and the clouds keep up their huge billowing march, and he swings first one leg and then the other off the edge of the bed. 

"Ernst,” says the man beside him. “Ernst.” But there is no Ernst; the men in the cots do not reply; the American soldier at the door of the tent sleeps. Werner walks past him into the grass. 

The wind moves through his undershirt. He is a kite, a balloon. 

The moonlight shines and billows; the broken clouds scud above the trees. Leaves fly everywhere. But the moonlight stays unmoved by the wind, passing through clouds, through air, in what seems to Werner like impossibly slow, imperturbable rays. They hang across the buckling grass. 

Why doesn’t the wind move the light? 

Across the field, an American watches a boy leave the sick tent and move against the background of the trees. He sits up. He raises his hand. 

“Stop,” he calls. 

“Halt,” he calls. 

But Werner has crossed the edge of the field, where he steps on a trigger land mine set there by his own army three months before, and disappears in a fountain of earth.

Again – I wish I could have been more accurate on some of the details we discussed, but feel that I at least captured the main threads of discussion.  I have a new appreciation for Nancy’s skills at our monthly recap without even jotting a thing down!! You rock, Nanc!

February meeting:

Book: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Location: Judy's
Date: Thursday, February 11, 2016
Time: 6:30pm

Upcoming meetings:

March 2016: Brooklyn by Colm Toibin at Ellen's

April 2016: TBA at Julie's

May 2016: TBA at Nanc's

June 2016: TBA at Linda'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

Christmas Gathering: December 10, 2015

Rather than holding a regular book club meeting this month, we had a Christmas potluck at Annie and Paul's home. Their cozy home was decorated for the holidays and provided the perfect place for our gathering.  Annie and Paul, Christe and Steve, Ellen and Jeff, Jo, Julie and Bob, Kathy, Linda and Jim, and Nanc attended. We mingled and discussed a myriad of topics before being amused by the fact that the menfolk gravitated to the table and the women gathered around the counter for awhile. It was a wonderful evening with dear friends.  

January meeting:

Book: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Location: Christe's
Date: Thursday, January 7, 2015
Time: 6:30pm

Upcoming meeting:

February 2016: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson at Judy'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.

Meeting: November 19, 2015

We met at Jo Smith's house to watch To Kill a Mockingbird.  Our social time was short because the movie was over 2 hours long. Perhaps we should think about starting movie night meetings at 6:00 rather than 6:30 so we have a bit more time to visit!  Due to a few members with grandparent duties, only 6 members, Annie, Jo, Judy, Kathy, Linda, and Nanc, were in attendance. 

View from Jo's just after sunset (and before we gathered for the meeting)

As the movie began, and Scout was seen in her overalls and short haircut, Jo mentioned that her hair and attire were similar when she was a kid.  

Mary Badham as Scout Finch and Jo French (at a younger age than Scout)

As is typical in book to film movies, much of the story was dropped due to time constraints. The book covers three years, while the film only two. The story is still narrated by Scout, but she narrates far less, so we don't get quite as much insight into her thoughts. There are also other changes including Jem finding the articles in the tree rather than Scout, Jem going back to retrieve his pants right after their escape from the Radley's yard rather than him returning later that night, and Jem and Scout watching Mr. Radley cement the hole in the tree instead of just discovering it after the fact. Also, Calpurnia plays a smaller role and Jem and Scout do not go with her to church. Mrs. Dubose is only briefly introduced and no mention is made of her addiction to opiates. Aunt Alexandra and Uncle Jack are never mentioned in the film.

Overall, the film focuses more on the trial of Tom Robinson and less on the novel's coming-of-age story.

December meeting:

Holiday Gathering
Location: Annie's
Date: Thursday, December 10, 2015
Time: 6:30pm

Upcoming meetings:

January 2016: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr at Judy Lee's
February 2016: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson at Christe Gillespie'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

Meeting: October 22, 2015

We met at Annie's to socialize and discuss To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Annie provided delicious food and a cozy meeting environment. Annie, Christe, Jo, Judy, Julie, Linda, and Nanc attended. As usual, we socialized for a long time, including some taking a tour of Annie's little Scamp Trailer.

I forgot to take a photo from Annie's before it got dark, so I'm substituting this photo that I took down near Annie's a couple of years ago.

Annie and Judy reported that Sissy Spacek was the perfect narrator for Scout, and did a great job with all the other voices should anyone want to listen to the audio book in the future. It would seem that everyone enjoyed the nostalgic element in To Kill a Mockingbird and the way it depicted every day life of the era. Some of us remembered the creepy house in our neighborhood and using our imagination as we played so many hours outdoors. It's sad how different kids' lives are these days as technology has replaced imagination to some degree, and parental fears have limited outdoor exploits.

To Kill a Mockingbird had many layers.  The book eloquently depicted the injustices of life in the 1930's in the deep south.  It was a coming of age book that dealt with innocence and loss of innocence.  It dealt with racism, injustice, prejudice, and intolerance, while balancing it with courage, acceptance, hope, and the love between a father and his children.

After Scout's rocky first day of school, she and Atticus had a discussion:

“First of all,“ he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—"

“Sir?” 

“—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” 

Atticus said I had learned many things today, and Miss Caroline had learned several things herself.  She had learned not to hand something to a Cunningham, for one thing, but if Walter and I had put ourselves in her shoes we’d have seen it was an honest mistake on her part.  We could not expect her to learn all Maycomb’s ways in one day, and we could not hold her responsible when she knew no better.

Scout recounts Atticus' advice when she was confused about something that Jem told her:

“Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts."

Miss Maudie explained to Scout why Atticus said it was a sin to kill a mockingbird.

“Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

After Jem had torn up Mrs. Dubose’s camellias because she had bad mouthed Atticus for defending Tom Robinson, Atticus sent Jem to speak to Mrs. Dubose, and then had a conversation with Scout.

“Atticus, you must be wrong….” 

“how’s that?” 

“Well, most folks seem to think they’re right and you’re wrong…” 

“They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions," said Atticus, "but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience."

After Mrs. Dubose died, Atticus talks to Jem about her.

“I wanted you to see something about her — I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but sometimes you do."

This was a statement by Judge Taylor during Tom Robinson's trial that we should probably think about as we embark on the presidential election in this next year:

“People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for.”

If nothing else, this novel should be viewed positively for its role in raising public awareness of racial discrimination.

November meeting:

Movie : To Kill a Mockingbird

Location: Jo Smith's

Date: Thursday, November 19, 2015

Time: 6:30pm

Upcoming meetings:

December 2015: Holiday gathering
January 2016: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr at Judy Lee's
February 2016: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson at Christe Gillespie'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

Meeting: September 10, 2015

A small group met at Nanc's house after a last minute change of venue. We all hope that Ellen has been able to help her dad make a smooth transition as he settles into his nursing home facility. Nancy French, Linda Jenkins, Annie Larkin, Judy Lee, and Jo Smith were in attendance.

View from Nanc's during the meeting

We had a good discussion on Annie's adjustment to empty nesting, and how she is trying to focus on the positive rather than what she is missing. We also talked at length about how important it is to connect with kids in the educational setting and how all the new regulations and requirements make it so much more difficult to do so. In addition, we discussed local issues including the Trempealeau Pool and the ever present scrap railroad ties.  

We did all dash out to the deck when a new riverboat passed by. None of us could figure out what boat it was in the dark.  It was not well lit and was significantly smaller than the American Queen and more the size of The Queen of the Mississippi, but it most definitely wasn't The Queen of the Mississippi. I was able to find out via a river boat tracking webpage that the boat is called The American Eagle, and that it debuted in May 2015.

The American Eagle

For the first time, we barely discussed the book. This was largely due to the subject matter that was so unpleasant. But, here's a brief recap of the book anyway.

Ruby, by Cynthia Bond, features human cruelty, rape, child molestation, religious hypocrisy, animal sacrifice, racism, and just pure evil. But sometimes tender moments or the poetic writing soften its harsh topics.  Bond makes you vividly see things; however, she is thankfully the least explicit in the moments describing the prostitution of children.

In general (as we've discussed before), books keep us reading for different reasons. For some it's the plot, for others it's the characters, and yet for others it's beautifully crafted sentences or other intrigue. None of us read the book because of intrigue.  Ruby really didn't have a plot, only an increased understanding of the characters. Bond was able to craft an understanding of human frailty and psychological pain.

Some excerpts from the book:

When Ephram first went to Ruby after she'd returned to Liberty, she realized that she'd wasted 11 years without noticing, and that she wasn't the woman who had returned from NY. 

Ephram took her hand, "But I'll tell you what.  I'm most interested in the woman you have yet to be."

After Ruby reveals the horrors of her past to Ephram he sweetly whispered to her.

I ain't going nowhere.  If you brave enough to live it, the least I can do is listen.

Spending time with Ephram gives Ruby the strength to fight the Dyboù.

I'm not meant for using! I never was! I aint never never going to be used again!

Shortly after that, Ruby reflects on the way Ephram has stood alongside her despite how the rest of the folks in Liberty behaved.

Ruby knew then that a lie could only control a person if they believed it.

After reading the book and then discovering that the author is a survivor of human trafficking and that she works with survivors of human trafficking, really gives one pause to view the book differently.  The scenes are dark, gruesome, and disturbingly traumatic.  But while the story is fictitious, the characters are based on real-life situations that countless victims have faced.

October meeting:

Book : To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Location: Annie Larkin's

Date: Thursday, October 22, 2015

Time: 6:30pm

Upcoming meetings:

November 19, 2015: Movie night to watch To Kill a Mockingbird at Jo Smith's

December 2015: 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

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