Meeting: May 10, 2018

We met at Julie's to review Beartown by Fredrick Backman. As always, Julie outdid herself providing a delicious meal complete with dessert. Annie, Christe, Ellen, Jo, Judy, Julie, Linda, and Nanc attended. It is always so great to share cheerful dialogue and laughter with everyone.

Water view from Julie's

1. A nurse had whispered the prayer in Amat's mother's ear in the hospital when Amat was born.  It is said to have been written on the wall above Mother Teresa's bed. And the nurse hoped it would give the solitary woman strength and hope.

If you are honest, people may deceive you. Be honest anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfishness.  Be kind anyway.

All the good you do today will be forgotten by others tomorrow.  DO GOOD ANYWAY! ~ Fredrik Backman 

2. Sune's advice to Amat:

Some of you were born with talent, some weren't. Some of you are lucky and got everything for free, some of you got nothing. But remember, when you're out on the ice you're all equals. And there's one thing you need to know: desire always beats luck. ~ Fredrik Backman 

3. Written a few times in the book (it was a quote on a poster):

A great deal is expected of anyone who's been given a lot. ~ Fredrik Backman

4. How Amat felt when he found out he was going to be playing in the game, with the older boys, the next day:

It takes the boy an hour to half crawl, half stagger to the locker room.  It's empty.  The heating has been switched off. His shoes have been shredded and his clothes are lying soaking wet on the floor of the shower.  IT'S THE BEST DAY OF HIS LIFE. ~ Fredrik Backman

~ Judy Lee 

Next Book: The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman

Location: Linda's
Date: Thursday, June 7, 2018
Time: 6:30pm

Future meetings:

July 12, 2018 - TBA at Jo's

August 9, 2018 - TBA at TBA

Books mentioned for the future include: 

• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stroud
• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
• The Boy Who Knew Too Much by Cathy Byrd
• In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides
• A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

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

October 2017 - Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

November 2017 - The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich

December 2017 - No book. Holiday gathering.

January 2018 - To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

February 2018 - Wonder by RJ Palacio

March 2018 - Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

April 2018 - My Grandmother Told Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

May 2018 - Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Meeting: April 12, 2018

We had a wonderful evening at Christe's, including delicious Mexican fare.  Annie, Christe, Ellen, Jo, Judy, Julie, and Nanc attended.  As always, it was fun catching up with everyone before discussing My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman.

View from Christe's driveway... which I forgot to take at book club, so it includes this weekend's snowfall

Grandma speaking to Elsa: "Only different people change the world. No one normal has ever changed a crapping thing."

Elsa hears how the drunk starts singing her song. Because not all monsters look like monsters. There are some that carry their monstrosity inside.

Grandma telling Elsa what they would do if/when the "world is crumbling": And then Granny had squeezed her forefingers hard and replied, "Then we do what everyone does, we do everything we can." Elsa crept up into her lap and asked,  "But what can we do?"  And then Granny had kissed her hair and held her hard, hard, hard and whispered: "We pick up as many children as we can carry and we run as fast as we can."

Elsa remembers how Granny said that "the bests stories are never completely realistic and never entirely made-up." That was what Granny meant when she called certain things "reality-challenged." To Granny, there was nothing that was entirely one thing or another. Stories were completely for real and at the same time not.

At Granny's funeral - to Elsa from the lady in the black skirt: "Don't fight with monsters, for you can become one. If you look into the abyss for long enough, the abyss looks into you." Elsa to the lady in the black skirt: "Granny always said: "Don't kick the shit, it'll go all over the place."

It's snowing again, and Elsa decides that even if people she likes have been shits on earlier occasions, she has to learn to carry on liking them. You'd quickly run out of people if you had to disqualify all those who at some point have been shits. She thinks that this will have to be the moral of this story. Christmas stories are supposed to have morals.

Annie Larkin's reading: It's hard to reason about death. Hard to let go of someone you love. Granny and Elsa used to watch the evening news together. Now and then Elsa would ask Granny why grown-ups were always doing such idiotic things to each other. Granny usually answered that it was because grown-ups are generally people, and people are generally shits. Elsa countered that grown-ups were also responsible for a lot of good things in between all of the idiocy----------space exploration, the UN, vaccines, and cheese slicers, for instance. Granny then said the real trick of life was that almost no one is entirely a shit and almost no one is entirely not a shit. The hard part of life is keeping as much on the not-a-shit side as one can."

Britt-Marie and Elsa together: "And they sit on the chest together and eat chocolate Santas. Because you can be upset while you're eating chocolate Santas. But it's much, much, much more difficult.

~ Judy Lee

I found a few examples of how I enjoyed his use of language to describe characters...

'And when Elsa at last says she has to do something at home on their way to the hospital, Alf doesn't ask why. He just drives. He's good in that way, Alf.'

'And they drink coffee. As brothers do. Sit in Alf's kitchen and compare postcards from Britt-Marie. Because she writes to them both every week. As women like Britt-Marie do.'

'Elsa's mum tries to throw the globe at him. But Elsa's mum gets there first. Elsa will always love her for that.'

~ Annie Larkin

Just finished My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry. Got a bit behind since I started “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey. 

I really enjoyed my grandmother.... What a creative story full of lots of great thoughts to think about ourselves and our fellow humans. Chapter 14 was really where the book came together for me and made me hungry to keep reading to find out more about all these interesting and “different” people living around Elsa. I love this chapter also for how Elsa and her mother really started relating to each other and getting to know each other as well as the “real” granny . I laughed so hard at the part where they end up at the hospital emergency entrance asking each other while waiting for the policeman to get help for Mum’s “supposed delivery”, “what would granny do?”  Elsa replies, “she would have cleared out”! So, they look at each other and Mum puts Kia into gear and takes off! A bit of granny in Mum. 

On p. 315, “ It’s snowing again, and Elsa decides that even if people she likes have been shits on earlier occasions, she has to learn to carry on liking them. You’d quickly run out of people if you had to disqualify all those who at some point have been shits. She thinks that this will have to be the moral of this story. Christmas stories are suppose to have morals.” 

Looking forward to starting Beartown and finding out what Fredrik Backman has for us to think about 😊. 

~ Linda Jenkins

Next Book: Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Location: Julie's
Date: Thursday, May 10, 2018
Time: 6:30pm

Future meetings:

June ??, 2018 - The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman at Linda's

Possible selections for the future include: 

• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stroud
• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
• The Boy Who Knew Too Much by Cathy Byrd
• In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides

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

October 2017 - Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

November 2017 - The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich

December 2017 - No book. Holiday gathering.

January 2018 - To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

February 2018 - Wonder by RJ Palacio

March 2018 - Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

April 2018 - My Grandmother Told Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

Meeting: March 15, 2018

We had a delightful meeting at Judy's after walking to her house in daylight with an open river! With some members out of town, the six of us who attended were Annie, Ellen, Jo, Judy, Kathy, and Nanc. In addition to discussions about school violence and the eloquent and strongly committed students from Stoneman Douglas High School, we caught up on each others lives, including finding out that Kathy Day-Carey is going to be moving to NC for the next few years. She'll still be around from time to time visiting her daughter and grand daughter (and Jojo), and hopes that she'll be able to make some book club meetings on occasion. Oh, and we also talked about Before the Fall by Noah Hawley!

Open water view from the top of Judy's driveway

It was such a wonderful gathering last night! Thank you so much for hosting, Judy! I am going to miss each and every one of you while gone over the next three years, but start planning a trip to Salida CO or Leland, NC! I love this little group, and even though I haven't been a regular member, I have considered it a highlight in my life events when I am able to join you. Our topics are so varied, whether colorfully discussing the book, or flying loftily in the philosophical realm, or tumbling down a rabbit hole of silliness!  I love it all.

Happy trails to all, whether to the deep corners of the world, through the garden corner of your yard, or through the imaginary world of books. 'Til our roads meet again! 

😘

~Kathy Day-Carey

I enjoyed the voice of Scott Burroughs as he navigated the fame and media assault from the power-hungry news manipulators. I hope this helps people to recognize that its parallel, Fox News, attempts to control the news and shape events to fit their political message. This is a way to gain riches and power by convincing people that they are losing, and target their anger and blame into big collective forces.

I learned how each very different character tried to live in this world of diverse cultures.

~ Ellen Bowles

Next Book: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You I'm Sorry by Fredrik Backman
Location: Christe's
Date: Thursday, April 12, 2018
Time: 6:30pm

Future meetings:

Thursday, May 10, 2018 -  Beartown by Fredrik Backman at Julie's
June ??, 2018 - The Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman at Linda's

Possible selections for the future include: 

• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stroud
• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
• The Boy Who Knew Too Much by Cathy Byrd
• In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides

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

October 2017 - Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala

November 2017 - The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich

December 2017 - No book. Holiday gathering.

January 2018 - To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

February 2018 - Wonder by RJ Palacio

March 2018 - Before the Fall by Noah Hawley