For our August meeting, we met again at Paul Miller Park to discuss The Guncle, by Steven Rowley. It is lovely to be able to meet outdoors when the Minnesota weather allows~ we are planning to try to reserve the large shelter again for our September meeting as well, where we will delve into Grandma Gatewood's Walk, by Ben Montgomery. We'll be sure to get the word out about final arrangements when the date gets closer~ stay tuned!
As always, if you are able to obtain a copy of Grandma Gatewood's Walk elsewhere, we would encourage you to do so. Also, we'd like to remind our members to please be intentional about reading through the book club books and returning them to library in as timely a fashion as possible to help us be as efficient as we can in distributing the copies we are able to secure~ we appreciate your help!
Speaking of efficiency, lastly, if you don't need a copy (and you didn't already let me know), would you mind leaving a comment down below to let us know? Thanks!
Onward!
Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short),
has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves
spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong
visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in
terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how
adorable, Patrick is honestly a bit out of his league.
So when
tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s
brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly
taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of “Guncle
Rules” ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent
years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a
somewhat-stalled career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a
nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting—even if temporary—isn’t
solved with treats and jokes, Patrick’s eyes are opened to a new sense
of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being
larger than life means you’re unfailingly human.
Most of us liked this one. We thought it was an easy read, with a healthy, balanced mix of both lighthearted and heavy material. We believed, and liked, all of the main characters, except maybe Clara, Patrick's sister, who was determined to take the kids out of his care. We also weren't fans of Greg, Maisie and Grant's father, who immediately following Sara's funeral checked himself into a 3 month rehab program, handing the kids off to Patrick during what had to be the darkest time in their lives. We suspected the kids must have felt a lot like orphans, at least for a time.
It was specifically mentioned that Grant's lisp, and Patrick's nickname of "Grantelope" was a particularly favorite part... along with the cake and wishes celebration on Sara's birthday. A small few of us were inspired to read his followup novel, The Guncle Abroad, and those who did liked that one too.
The few criticisms we scraped together were some of us thought it was boring and repetitive, though they had trouble citing where and when these offenses occurred. A small few mentioned they started the book and just couldn't pick it back up~ it wasn't that they didn't like it, it's just that they couldn't get into it. It didn't bother anyone that there was homosexual subject matter, but having the "JED" throuple right next door, and the nonbinary play director in the end, was a little too much LGBTQ+ content for just one fun little book of 326 pages.
Mostly, this book got us talking about our own uncles~ recalling and sharing fun childhood memories of favorite male relatives, but also talking about current relationships our children, and our grandchildren, enjoy in the here and now.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a beloved guncle? Let us know below! 👇
Did you enjoy The Guncle? Fans of the book also enjoyed, Funny Story, by Emily Henry, The Paradise Problem, by Christina Lauren, and Just for the Summer, by Abby Jimenez. All of these titles are available within the Viking Library 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"
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