We were a small group in September for our discussion of Heartland by Sarah Smarsh. We sat down to black bean chili and had Ecker's apple pie for dessert. We all felt the book was informative and gave us insight into the plight of those born to poverty in America's heartland. Among us, there was a wide range when it came to our level of enjoyment while reading the book. Annie, Ellen, Linda, and Nanc attended... and we actually discussed the book quite a bit!
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| It was an ugly, rainy day for our meeting, so I chose this photo for this month's water view instead |
I appreciated Smarsh's ideas about the "middle class concept that was white fiction for her and everybody she knew." Laws had institutionalized poverty that was a constant peril and stress. The health care crisis was new to the culture: the cost of basic care, epidemics of obesity, addiction, diabetes, dental infection, and lack of mental healthcare. "The American economy is less like a dream supported by democracy than it is an inconsistent god." She was always being told there was no problem when there was. Her culture had no problem with work. The problem was whose work was assigned what value. Work should be a true communion with resources, material, and other people.
Those are my loosely quoted references. In my opinion, her family, the teenage mothers' challenges, the economy and culture in which they lived created a cycle of entrapment.
~ Ellen Bowes
Next Book: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Location: Ellen's
Date: October 10, 2019
Time: 6:30
November 14, 2019 - Empire of the Sun by JG Ballard at TBA
December ??, 2019 - No book - Christmas gathering at TBA
January 9, 2019 - America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray at TBA
February 13, 2019 - The River by Peter Heller at TBA and/or Oscar nominated film at the library?
Other books we are considering:
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Trees by Conrad Richter
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
June 2018 - The Marriage of Opposites by Fredrik Backman
July 2018 - The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony
August 2018 - No book - meeting canceled
September 2018 - In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides
October 2018 - My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
November 2018 - A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline
December 2018 - No book - Holiday gathering
January 2019 - The Boy Who Knew Too Much by Cathy Byrd
February 2019 - Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
March 2019 - And Every Morning the Way Home gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman
April 2019 - No book. Meeting canceled due to a snow/ice.
May 2019 - The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel
June 2019 - Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
July 2019 - The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
August 2019 - Educated by Tara Westover
September 2019 - Heartland by Sarah Smarsh
