The Year of Less by Cait Flanders

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to you and yours! We had a lovely, warm gathering to discuss The Year of Less, by Cait Flanders. Up next for January is Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. We have ample copies of Bradbury's book, so we shouldn't have any trouble getting a copy to each of our members, however, if you don't need a copy of this title, would you mind letting us know? It helps us be more efficient in book distribution~ thanks in advance for your help! 

To the book!

In her late twenties, Cait Flanders found herself stuck in the consumerism cycle that grips so many of us: earn more, buy more, want more, rinse, repeat. Even after she worked her way out of nearly $30,000 of consumer debt, her old habits took hold again. When she realized that nothing she was doing or buying was making her happy—only keeping her from meeting her goals—she decided to set herself a challenge: she would not shop for an entire year.

The challenge became a lifeline when, in the course of the year, Cait found herself in situations that turned her life upside down. In the face of hardship, she realized why she had always turned to shopping, alcohol, and food—and what it had cost her. Unable to reach for any of her usual vices, she changed habits she’d spent years perfecting and discovered what truly mattered to her.

With the exception of one of us, we thought this book was just ok. The most prevailing observation was that we were initially under the impression that this was something along the lines of a self-help book, but in the end it also had a heavy memoir feel to it. We largely thought it should have been one or the other, rather than a short glance at both... as neither genre was represented particularly well. One member said, they thought the entire premise of the book could have been condensed down to the very last chapter, entitled "Your Guide to Less", as it gave a good list of tips and tricks to better financial management with some handy examples as well for illustration purposes.

On a more positive note, I think we liked Cait. We discussed at length what the differences might be in those who are more financially savvy than those that are a bit more careless with their money/resources, and we didn't find any tried and true formula that could account for the masses. The Year of Less got a handful of us to think about putting together a personal budget, just to see, on paper, where their money goes and if there are any places things could be tweaked.

Overall, we talked more about our own spending and saving habits, and why we think they are what they are, than we did about the book itself. What are your thoughts on the read? Let us know in the comments below! 👇

 

Did you really like The Year of Less? Fans of the book also enjoyed, How to Keep House While Drowning, by K.C. Davis, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, by Margareta Magnusson, and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!  

 

Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"NO"  

 
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"

Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 

3 stars

 

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

 

 

What a beautiful day is was for a book club meeting! We welcomed two new faces and had great conversation surrounding When Breath Becomes Air, our November selection. The Year of Less, by Cait Flanders, is coming up next for December~ we have limited copies, so if you have an opportunity to find the book elsewhere, we would encourage you to do so. Also, if you don't need a copy of this title, would you mind letting us know? It helps us be more efficient in book distribution~ thanks in advance for your help!

 

Onward!

 

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a naïve medical student "possessed," as he wrote, "by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life" into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in When Breath Becomes Air.

It was unanimous, we all liked this one! We are fond of Paul, we thought he was warm, and genuine, and truly set out to make a difference in the world. Just as it was wondered aloud what more of a difference he could have made if he had lived, it was added, "But what more of a difference is he also making with his memoir?" It was an excellent, valid point. A couple members bravely and solemnly shared that they too have faced the loss of loved ones to cancer, some very recently, and they found comfort in this book~ were thankful to have read it. One other member said they don't generally buy books to add to a personal collection, and they aren't personally walking through this trial right now, but they will buy this book regardless~ just to mark parts and places that resonated with them.

We liked and appreciated the writing and the honesty of this book. We are grateful that Paul got to be everything he had originally considered pursuing... scientist, doctor and writer. We found Paul to be brave and honorable to the end.  

We liked Lucy, Paul's wife, and are so pleased she agreed to finish his book. If there was anything we weren't unanimous about, it was Paul and Lucy's decision to have a baby after the terminal diagnosis. On the one hand, by choosing to have a child, it meant that a part of Paul lives on. On the other hand, newborn babies require a lot of round the clock time, and attention, and commitment... we imagine so does caring for someone with terminal cancer. What would this mean for Lucy? What about in the future if Lucy decides she'd like to remarry? What would this mean for the child, bonding with, and then losing, their father? 

One of us was pretty sure they wouldn't choose to have a child if ever in a similar circumstance... the rest were pretty sure they would. Of which opinion are you? Let us know in the comment section below! 👇

 

P.S. If you'd like an update on how Lucy and Cady are doing these days, here's a link to an interview Lucy did about just that in 2020! Enjoy!

https://stanmed.stanford.edu/lucy-kalanithi-love-five-years-later-husband-paul/

Did you really like When Breath Becomes Air? Fans of the book also enjoyed, Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande, Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom, and Educated (a previous book club title!), by Tara Westover. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!  

 

Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"YES"  

 
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"

Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 

4.5 stars

A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner

 

 

Welcome Fall! We met at the Perham Library to discuss this month's selection, A Fall of Marigolds, by Susan Meissner. We had a good discussion and welcomed a new face~ all good things! Up next for November is When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi. We have an abundance of this read, we should have no trouble getting a copy to each of our members~ but to be even more efficient, please let us know if you don't need a copy. Thanks!

 

To the book!

September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries …and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she’s made. Will what she learns devastate her or free her? 

September 2011. On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store and raising her daughter alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Towers … the same day a stranger reached out and saved her. Will a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf open Taryn’s eyes to the larger forces at work in her life?

The very first comment made about what we thought about this book was "Meh". That sentiment was instantly seconded by another member and with the exception of just a few, it seemed to be the overall feeling of the group. The parallel time lines were a little too similar for our taste~ it felt like we were reading the same story twice, just with different names, dates, locations and two different tragedies. We had trouble believing the story in a few places, for example, how Clara so quickly and hopelessly falls in love with Edward during a handful of elevator rides... and how the scarf itself had survived and traveled through 5 different families and several generations and remained in perfect condition. We also found Clara's seemingly constant indecision and emotional upheavals tiresome. It was noted we enjoyed her book from last year's reading list, The Nature of Fragile Things, far more than this.

We all agreed that we liked Meissner's writing, and felt she did really well at setting a scene that you could easily picture in your mind. It was said historical fiction is the way that history should be taught in our schools, as it does a much better job of "sticking" with a person. Those who really enjoyed this book said they liked the romantic story lines and kept waiting to find out whom Clara was going to choose in the end. They found the both tragedies, Ellis Island and 9/11, both moving and compelling. In fact, a fair amount of time was spent discussing 9/11~ where we all were and what we were doing when it happened, people we knew who were spared from either the buildings or the planes. It was said that part of the discussion was the best part.

 

Which did you like better in the end, The Nature of Fragile Things, or A Fall of Marigolds? Let us know below!

 

Did you enjoy A Fall of Marigolds? Fans of the book also enjoyed, The Paris Daughter, by Kristin Harmel, When We Had Wings, by Ariel Lawhon, and The Spectacular, by Fiona Davis. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!  

 

Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"YES"  

 
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"NO"

Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 

3 stars

Columbine by Dave Cullen

 

It was a slightly brisk September afternoon when we met at the Perham Area Public Library to discuss Columbine, by Dave Cullen. A Fall of Marigolds is coming up next for our October read. Copies are limited, so if you have an opportunity to find a copy elsewhere, we would encourage you to do so. Also, if you don't need a copy, would you mind letting us know? It definitely helps in our efforts to get a copy in everyone's hands who needs one! Thanks in advance for your help!

Onward!

What really happened April 20, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we "know" is wrong. It wasn't about jocks, Goths, or the Trench Coat Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene, and spent ten years on this book-widely recognized as the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world's leading forensic psychologists, and the killers' own words and drawings-several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.

Every member at the meeting agreed that the thought going into this book was that it would be very heavy, very difficult material to get through, and for a few, it was. No one felt like it was a light, uplifting read by any means, but the majority were glad that they read it in the end. They appreciated how well the author presented just the facts of the tragedy, both the events leading up to it and the subsequent investigation and devastation that followed, with no personal bias, and left it up to the reader to ultimately draw their own conclusions about who was to blame, the police response and investigation, and possible steps to take to prevent further senseless ruin in the future.

There was also a great deal of talk about psychopaths and how to spot them, which lead to mention that the author had solid evidence that there is no tried and true "profile" for this type of crime/perpetrator, citing that according to Sue Klebold, Dylan's mother, there were no hard and fast obvious signs that he was this deeply troubled... certainly no indication of the mass shooting that was to come. In almost a survivalistic sense, psychopaths typically present as very "normal" people, masters at blending in and gaining trust. It was said that if the different people involved with the Dylan and Eric had compared notes about their behavior (the Creative Writing teacher, the school counselor, the parents, fellow classmates, friends, police, etc.) all along, then maybe some of the troubling details could have come to light sooner and an intervention could have been staged. This kind of pattern of scattered pieces of the puzzle, that once put together in their entirety put things quickly into perspective, seems to be a common theme with most psychopaths across the board. More evidence of why they can be so hard to spot and apprehend~ not any one person has all the details. 

It was said it's easy to pass judgement in hindsight, but it was still hard to believe that both sets of parents didn't know more than they've claimed. That they didn't do the bare minimum of checking their backpacks and bedrooms, even accidentally so by emptying a garbage can, or delivering clean laundry. It seemed Eric's father was in a strange sense of denial about his troubled son, although it's clear Eric was a highly skilled smooth talker. 

It was also added that it was incredibly brave and painful for Sue Klebold to write letters of apology to the survivors and the families of those lost. She has gone on to do a Ted Talk, write a book, and participate in an Amazon Prime documentary titled, "American Tragedy", where she continues to share her uncensored thoughts and feelings, along with the personal details from her home life with Dylan. She is a crusader for mental illness in children and works towards a future where there are no more school shootings.

 

Did we miss anything? Do you have anything to add to our talk? Please do so down below! 👇

 

 

Are you interested in reading more books like Columbine? Fans of the book also enjoyed, Sandy Hook, by Elizabeth Williamson, Newtown, by Matthew Lysiak, and The Stranger Beside Me, by Ann Rule. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!  

 

Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"NO"  

 
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"

Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 

4 stars

 

Looking for Alaska by John Green

 

 

The weather was almost perfect at Paul Miller Park for our August meeting where we discussed Looking for Alaska, by John Green. Up next for September is Columbine, by Dave Cullen. We'll plan to meet at the library on September 12th, and will provide a Zoom link as the time gets closer. Looking forward to seeing you all again next month!

Onward!

Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . . 

After. Nothing is ever the same.

 

Everyone who attended the meeting liked the book, in varying degrees. We loved Mr. Greens character development, and found the ensemble believable, and mostly likable... although it was asked what the boys found so appealing about Alaska, being the tortured soul that she was. We appreciated the fast read with shorter chapters that were cleverly labeled so many days "before" and then so many days "after". 

If we were divided about anything it was all the controversy around book banning, with this being one of the books selected to be banned in places. On the one hand, there were members who felt like no one has the right to decide for everybody what books should be available to any audience. Kids are exposed to this conduct, and much worse, in their everyday day-to-day lives at school, on TV, the radio and the internet... this would be nothing new and/or alarming for them. They thought, in a way, that the adult themes depicted in this book, along with their consequences, was a good thing, as it could serve as a deterrent to teens, and instead encourage them to make better choices. It was also said this could open a dialog between teens and their parents to discuss these subjects and get some boundaries established. Ultimately, this group felt like it was up to parents to decide what was ok for their kids to read.

On the other hand, members countered that most teens aren't interested in having lengthy, open discussions with their parents about much of anything, let alone these precarious topics. No one felt good about handing anyone in the Young Adult age range of 12-17 years old (the marketed audience for this title) this book to read, as it felt like they'd be telling them they approved of this kind of behavior. It would feel like normalizing it. In the end, it was added, "If this book was made into a movie, it would be rated R due to it's content and subject matter, and this Young Adult audience wouldn't be allowed in. Why then, is it ok that it's marketed and put on a shelf with this specific age range in mind?" No one in the group was saying they think this, or any other book that readily came to mind, should be pulled off the shelf entirely and disposed of. Rather, a fair number thought this book should be moved from the YA shelf, to the adult fiction section and promoted to this faction instead.

How do you feel about book banning? What are your thoughts on better age appropriate book classifications? Let us know below! 👇

 

 

Are you a big fan of Looking for Alaska? Admirers of the book also enjoyed, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell, and If I Stay, by Gayle Forman. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!   

 

Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"YES"  

 
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"

Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating:

4 stars

The Liars' Club by Mary Karr

 

The weather chased us indoors for our July meeting where we discussed The Liars' Club, by Mary Karr. Coming up next for August is Looking for Alaska, by John Green. As a reminder, for the August 8th meeting, we have already reserved the large shelter at Paul Miller Park. If the weather turns again, we'll move the meeting back to the library meeting room and provide a Zoom link for anyone interested in tuning in from home~ we'll be sure to let you all know ASAP if there will be any changes. 

 

To the book!

 

Mary Karr grew up in a swampy East Texas refinery town in a volatile and defiantly loving family- a hard-drinking daddy, a sister who can talk down the sheriff at age twelve, and an oft-married mother whose accumulated secrets threaten to destroy them all. In this funny, devastating, haunting memoir and with a raw and often painful honesty, she looks back at life with a painter mother, seven times married, whose outlaw spirit could tip over into psychosis, and a hard-drinking, fist-swinging father who liked nothing better than to spin tales with his cronies at the Liars' Club.

This book was largely received and described as a slog. Our members report that it was hard to get into, hard to to keep our attention, and harder still to want to pick up again after having put it down~ several attendees said they never finished it. This group couldn't relate to the story and really didn't care for any of the characters, with the exception of maybe Mary's father. They cited disjointed, distracted writing that veered off onto a myriad of tangents... and long chapters... and a bizarre ending.

The sparse praise that we could offer for this read was that Karr could craft a setting with good sensory bits folded into it so that one could "feel" the scene right along with her. One member added, "It made me want to clean my house, do the laundry, and take a shower." It was also added that while they didn't necessarily enjoy the book, they were glad they finished it.

In the end, when a handful of members mentioned that they hadn't finished the book and thought they'd decide on whether they'd like to or not after our talk, one attendee said, "There's just too many other good books out there to read." Collective laughter followed.

It was touched on a couple different times during the meeting that a few people questioned whether or not the book was completely accurate, or if it had been embellished here and there in an effort to be more sensationalized, and in turn, sell more copies. To the surprise of some, this practice in memoir is kind of the best un-kept secret of the genre. Apparently, it isn't unheard of in the slightest for memoir authors to exaggerate in their recounting... this was highly disappointing to some. Shouldn't it then be considered/marketed/shelved as fiction?

 

Weigh in below! 👇

 

Would you like to read more books like The Liars' Club? Fans of the book also enjoyed, Running with Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs, Savage Beauty, by Nancy Milford, and The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!   

 

At the conclusion of every book club discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:

Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"NO"  

 
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"NO" (we were unanimous!!)

Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating:                                                      2 stars

 

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

 

Our June meeting was held outdoors at Paul Miller Park! We welcomed a couple new faces and discussed The Bookshop on the Corner, by Jenny Colgan. Coming up next in July, we're reading The Liars' Club, by Mary Karr. As a heads up, it looks like we'll be planning on trying to meet outdoors for the duration of these summer months meetings~ but we'll be sure to let you know for sure either way prior to each meeting~ stay tuned!

 

To the goods!

 

Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more.

Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile—a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling. From helping her grumpy landlord deliver a lamb, to sharing picnics with a charming train conductor who serenades her with poetry, Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.

I think it would be appropriate to say the group agreed that this book was a welcomed, easy read after last months The Sentence. The majority of us thought this was an enjoyable, uncomplicated summer read, however, they agreed with the few naysayers that there were unbelievable places seeped in sap. Those who caught this read as an audio book highly praised, and recommend, that version.  

Those few who were less impressed by the book liked the authors introduction to the book better than the story itself. The read felt like young adult fiction, written by a young adult. They couldn't get past the implausible parts and missing details that lead to the happy, tidy endings for each character portrayed. 

In closing, again, it was said that maybe not every read has to be stellar. Some books can just simply be a welcomed reprieve from heavier material or life stressors. One member thought enjoying books despite all their perceived hangups is a superpower they wish they could wield.... can you guess who that might be? 😉

 

 

Would you like to read more books like The Bookshop on the Corner? Fans of the book also enjoyed, The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, by Abby Waxman, Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt, and The Bookshop of Second Chances, by Jackie Fraser. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!   

 

At the conclusion of every book club discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:

Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"YES"  

 
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"NO" (we were unanimous!!)

Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 
3 stars

2023-2024 READING LIST

June 13, 2023: The Bookshop on the Corner// Jenny Colgan

July 11,2023: The Liars' Club// Mary Karr

August 8, 2023: Looking for Alaska// John Green

September 12, 2023: Columbine// David Cullen

October 10, 2023: A Fall of Marigolds// Susan Meissner

November 14, 2023: When Breath Becomes Air// Paul Kalanithi

December 12, 2023: The Year of Less// Cait Flanders

January 9, 2024: Fahrenheit 451// Ray Bradbury

February 13, 2024: The Man Who Climbed...// Jonas Jonasson

March 12, 2024: Murder on the Red River// Marcie Rendon

April 9, 2024: Thunderstruck// Erik Larson

May 14, 2024: Harbour Street// Ann Cleeves

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

 

 

Hello May! Boy, are we ever ready for your sunshine and warmer temperatures! For May, we discussed The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich, with The Bookshop on the Corner, by Jenny Colgan up next for June. As a head up, we'd like to mention that we have very limited quantities of June's book, The Bookshop on the Corner, within the Viking System. There are, however, audio book versions available, as well as an electronic version on Hoopla for anyone interested in those alternatives. Otherwise, we encourage you to please get your borrowed copies back to us as quickly as possible so that we can pass them along to the next person in line. Thanks for you help with this!

As promised, we voted in the books for next year's reading list at yesterday's meeting~ yeah! We'd like to thank each of you that participated either in voting either online or in person. This book club wouldn't be the same without you! We are currently busy bee's putting them into a schedule, but are hoping to have that ready for you within the next couple of days. We'll be sure to post it here when it's ready, and we'll also have copies available at the front desk to take home. Happy reading!

 

Onward!

 

A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading with murderous attention, must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.

This book had us divided. On the one side, there were those who really liked it~ gave it 4 stars. They appreciated the writing, found the ghost/haunting bits entertaining, and mentioned that they thought this book might be semi autobiographical in that Erdrich is a book store owner in Minneapolis (a select few of our members said they've even visited her shop!) and that she, and her store, were most likely right in the center of the George Floyd storm and subsequent rioting that ravaged that area. Clearly, she, like everyone else, has been effected by the Covid 19 pandemic, so it wasn't hard for some to understand why these events made it into her book. 

On the other hand, there were those who didn't care for the book~ some couldn't bring themselves to finish it. These members cited an outlandish, unbelievable opening chapter and difficulty keeping up with plot transitions. They found it bizarre and disjointed. This book felt crowded with all the different elements added in~ prison, George Floyd, rioting, Covid, ghosts, Native American rights and rituals, family issues, etc. Were all these components necessary to the story? Did they leave us with anything meaningful? 

 

Which side did you find yourself on?

 

Are you a fan of The Sentence? Fans of the book also enjoyed, Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver, Our Missing Hearts, by Celeste Ng, and Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!   

 

At the conclusion of every book club discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:

Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"NO"  

 
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"

Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 
3 stars

French Braid by Anne Tyler

 

Welcome Spring! We had a beautiful weather day for our April meeting where we discussed French Braid, by Anne Tyler. Coming up next in May is The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich. We hope you are enjoying the good reads~ and the warmer weather! 🌞

As a reminder, we will plan to vote for this next year's reading list at the conclusion of our May 9th meeting. If you can't make the meeting, you are welcome to vote online with a link Susan has created here: https://tinyurl.com/2y2n7vns. You can also e-mail your votes into Amanda or Susan, and/or call into the library with your choices. Let us know if you have any questions~ happy voting!

To the book!

The Garretts take their first and last family vacation in the summer of 1959. They hardly ever leave home, but in some ways they have never been farther apart. Mercy has trouble resisting the siren call of her aspirations to be a painter, which means less time keeping house for her husband, Robin. Their teenage daughters, steady Alice and boy-crazy Lily, could not have less in common. Their youngest, David, is already intent on escaping his family's orbit, for reasons none of them understand. Yet, as these lives advance across decades, the Garretts' influences on one another ripple ineffably but unmistakably through each generation.

French Braid is a stirring, uncannily insightful novel of tremendous warmth and humor that illuminates the kindnesses and cruelties of our daily lives, the impossibility of breaking free from those who love us, and how close--yet how unknowable--every family is to itself.

With the exception of maybe just one, the overall vibe of this book was that it was just ok~ our members didn't love it, but didn't hate it either. We thought it was a quick and easy read that didn't leave us feeling much of anything by the end. Words like "mundane", "boring", and "tedious" were offered... it felt like taking a long glance in the window of any ordinary families home. It was added that this book didn't have much of a plot to speak of, but rather had a  heavy focus on character development, with the characters all being believable. A few members confessed to reading the book a few months ago and struggling to remember anything about this read.

All that aside, we had a good, long discussion about what Anne Tyler may want people to take away from this book. We hypothesized about possible motives, feelings, and actions of the different characters. We grumbled about all the loose ends, and then considered how real life has ample loose ends. And no plot. We wondered if there could be a hidden deeper meaning within the story that wasn't readily apparent. We talked about if every book has to be a 5-star read, or if these easy, fast, noncommittal books have their place. We marveled at how much we had to say about a book we all generally thought was just ok.

 

Do you have anything to add to the discussion? Give us your thoughts in the comments below!

 

 

Did you enjoy French Braid? Fans of the book also enjoyed, Lucy By the Sea, by Elizabeth Strout, This Time Tomorrow, by Emma Straub, and Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!   

 

At the conclusion of every book club discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:

 

Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"NO"  

 
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"

Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 
3 stars

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

 

Hello March! Our March selection was The Winter of Our Discontent, by John Steinbeck, with French Braid, by Anne Tyler, coming up next for April's discussion. Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting~ we are so thankful for our members, and look forward to seeing you every month!

While I have you, we collected a few more book nominations for next year's reading list during our meeting today! If you were unable to attend the meeting and still have some nominations you'd like included, we're asking that you get those in to Amanda no later than by the end of the day this Friday, March 17th. We'll then get started on getting them organized and ready for distribution at our April 11^th meeting~ we plan to cast our votes at the May 9^th meeting, where shortly after we'll get a compiled, finalized reading list put together, and away we go!

For any member who isn't able to attend the April and/or May meetings and would like to participate in voting~ Amanda will be sure to e-mail a final, compiled list of nominated books to anyone not present at the April meeting. We can also print out a copy for you at the front desk if that's easier. There will also most likely be a way to cast votes online via a link on the Perham Library's website~ we'll get the final word out about that as May approaches, but you can also always e-mail your votes to Susan or Amanda, and/or call them into the library if you'd prefer.

Lastly, we plan to stick with the same five dedicated categories that we had last year. Those 5 dedicated categories are: Minnesota Author, Memoir, Mystery, Classic, and Young Adult. The remaining 7 slots will being left open for nominations of any genre. You do not have to nominate books into these 5 designated categories (although some of the nominations may naturally be put into these categories based on their subject material), but you will need to plan to vote for at least 1 title out of the 5 dedicated categories when we vote. If there aren't enough books nominated into the designated categories to offer some good variety, we'll add them in!

 

Without further ado!

 

Ethan Allen Hawley, the protagonist of Steinbeck’s last novel, works as a clerk in a grocery store that his family once owned. With Ethan no longer a member of Long Island’s aristocratic class, his wife is restless, and his teenage children are hungry for the tantalizing material comforts he cannot provide. Then one day, in a moment of moral crisis, Ethan decides to take a holiday from his own scrupulous standards.

Set in Steinbeck’s contemporary 1960 America, the novel explores the tenuous line between private and public honesty that today ranks it alongside his most acclaimed works of penetrating insight into the American condition.

It would be fair to say we all wanted to like this book, being it was a shorter read with an interesting premise. And for a select few, it delivered. Those few members said they thought it was an accurate representation of being human. They liked Ethan Hawley, and could easily believe and understand his different choices and reasoning, even if they personally disagreed with them. They thought all the characters, and the story itself, were plausible, adding that they have a feeling that Steinbeck personally is for the underdog, and it reflects in his writing~ we all agreed that was a positive.

For those who felt this book missed the mark, it was cited that the writing itself, just as in Steinbeck's East of Eden that we read in August of last year, was awkward and disjointed. It was repeatedly pointed out that even though this book was a shorter read, it felt long and drawn out~ wordy. These members found themselves waiting for the book to make it's point. Instead, it felt like a mundane glimpse into one man's very ordinary life with nothing of any value to take away from the story. They weren't at all impressed with the ambiguous, clumsy ending and found themselves fairly disappointed in Ethan by the end.... a protagonist who they initially favored.  

What are your thoughts on ambiguous endings? Do you like to be left to fill in the blanks on your own, or do you prefer clear, concise finales? Weigh in down below!  👇

 

Were you one of the ones who really enjoyed The Winter of Our Discontent? Fans of the book also enjoyed: For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway, The Passenger, by Cormac McCarthy, and Mad at the World, by William Sounder. All of these titles are available within the Viking system~ reserve your copy today!   

 

At the conclusion of every book club discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:

 
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"YES"
Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"NO"
Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 
3 stars