Meeting: September 21, 2017

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.

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 Vonnegut 

And 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 Vonnegut 

And 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 Vonnegut

 Favorite 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 Vonnegut

And 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 

 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

Meeting: July 13, 2017

Jo hosted our July meeting. Along with tasty food, Jo provided her family of eagles to entertain those who ventured outside to look. Christe, Jo, Judy, Julie, Linda, Liz, and Nanc attended. Nanc was the only one in attendance who had finished reading Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins. Some were halfway through the book and others had not yet started. Those of us who'd read at least parts of the book agreed that the story line moved slowly as Robbins rambled (as Ellen had warned us). Despite that, there were some entertaining parts. 

Jo's lovely yard and view of the river

We canceled August's meeting when it appeared that half the book club would be out of town on the second Thursday (and beyond). Julie volunteered to host September's meeting, but asked that we read Kurt Vonnegut's A Man Without a Country for her meeting. Also, for numerous reasons, we pushed September's meeting to the third Thursday (the 21st). We've moved The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore, originally scheduled for August to the October Meeting. 

One of the now full-grown eaglets

"There's birth, " he grumbled, "there's death, and in betweeen there's maintenance." ~ Tom Robbins

"And that's why when you've exhibited the slightest tendency towards self-importance, I've reminded you that you and me -- you and I: excuse me -- may be every bit as important as the president or the pope or the biggest prime-time icon in Hollywood, but none of us is much more than a pimple on the ass-end of creation, so let's not get carried away with ourselves. ~ Tom Robbins

~ Julie Howard

"I need to babble with a brook or two, inhale starlight, make friends with some trees." ~ Tom Robbins

~ Nancy French 

Next Book: A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut
Location: Julie's
Date: Thursday, September 21, 2017
Time: 6:30pm 

Upcoming meetings:

October 12, 2017  The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore at TBA

November 9, 2017 TBA

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

Meeting: June 15, 2017

We had a record-breaking meeting at Linda's to discuss the book The Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, and also watch the film. We started the meeting thirty minutes early to give ourselves time to watch the 90 minute film and still have time to compare and contrast the book and the movie. However, we visited for so long before we sat down to eat the many delicious dishes that Linda prepared, and then continued to visit (and talk about the book a bit, as well), that it was after 9pm before we sat down to watch the film. In the end we met for over 4 1/2 hours! We talked a little about the differences between the book and the movie, but we were mostly just moving to the door and heading home after the movie ended. Annie, Christe, Ellen, Jo, Judy, Julie, Linda, and Nanc attended.

Beautiful evening with Linda's water view

We decided to delay reading The Awakening Land: The Trees, The Fields, and The Town by Conrad Richter (originally penciled in for August) because Linda checked at Barnes and Nobles and the trilogy isn't going to be re-issued until November.  We felt it might be too difficult for everyone to acquire a copy.

Also, Linda found a list of classics and read the list to all of us.  The titles from her list that jumped out at us were: The Awakening by Kate Chopin, The Call of the Wild by Jack London, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.  So, be thinking about which of these classics you'd like to select for September.

Julie and I felt the film would have been confusing, or at least the viewer could not have understood completely the intricacies, without having read the book. I think it would have added a lot to the film if Griet had narrated the story a bit, the way she did in the book. In particular, I thought Griet would have been a blank slate if someone hadn't read the book. I was fine with Griet's brother and sister being left out of the film... and largely her parents, as well.

Vermeer and Griet did not have a romance but they had an intimate connection. Griet began to view the world differently as she developed a better understanding of his painting process.

"He saw things in a way that others did not, so that a city I had lived in all my life seemed a different place, so that a woman became beautiful with the light on her face." ~ Tracy Chevalier 

~ Nancy French

It was wonderful to see you all and I feel grateful for such a beautiful neighborhood of dear friends.

~ Linda Jenkins

My heart smiles after spending time with all of you. Thanks, Linda, for the delightful summer spread of food and hospitality. With a grateful heart. 

~ Annie Larkin

Thank you, Linda. Good view, good food, good people equals a wonderful evening. It is always a fun and enlightening time when the Waterview Book Club meets. I look forward to our next meeting.  

~ Judy Lee

Next Book: Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates by Tom Robbins
Location: Jo's
Date: Thursday, July 13, 2017
Time: 6:30pm 

Upcoming meetings:

August 10, 2017  The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore at TBA

September 14, 2017 TBA

October 12, 2017 TBA

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