Hello October! 🎃
Up next for November is Crooked House, by Agatha Christie. We have several copies, but just in case you don't need a copy and you haven't already let me know, would you please leave me a quick note in the comments below so we can keep the call list updated? Thank you for your help! As a reminder, we have voted this year to not read a book during November, for December discussion. Instead, we'll be hosting a small holiday gathering to discuss good books we've read, ones we're looking forward to reading, and maybe even some we didn't particularly care for. 😉 We'll issue the next read, The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon, during that December get together and get back to the reading list!
To the book!
For three decades following World War II, the Great Lakes overtook Europe as the epicenter of global economic strength. The region was the beating heart of the world economy, possessing all the power and prestige Silicon Valley does today. And no ship represented the apex of the American Century better than the 729-foot-long Edmund Fitzgerald, the biggest, best, and most profitable ship on the Lakes.
But on November 10, 1975, as the “storm of the century” created 100 mile-per-hour winds and 50-foot waves, the Mighty Fitz found itself at the worst possible place, at the worst possible time. When she sank in Lake Superior, she took with her all twenty-nine men on board. For fifty years the tragedy was shrouded in mystery.
This book was very well received by almost all of the group! They loved Bacon's writing, and soaked up all of the good bits of history and backstory he provided. Although it was noted a few times that it was a difficult book to get into, we learned a lot we didn't know about the sinking, and spoke at great length about the different facets covered... like the Gordon Lightfoot song (we listened to some of it!), the storm and technology at the time, and safety measures and requirements.
On the meager other hand, while the few naysayers agreed that they learned a lot, and that the parts about the crew, their backgrounds and their families were probably the best stuff, we got bogged down in all, what we thought, were unnecessary details... the history of the shipping industry, the history of how the ships themselves were made, etc. The sinking alone seemed to drag on and on, spanning many chapters, before finally coming to fruition. It was mentioned by a few that maybe the way to go with this book is to listen to it, instead of read it, but be warned, there was also one member who really didn't care for the narrator's voice, and wasn't positive they'd be able to continue with it.
Tell us more below! 👇
Did you really like Gales of November? Fans of the book also enjoyed, The Wreck of the Mentor, by Eric Jay Dolan, Family of Spies, by Christine Kuehn, and This Vast Enterprise, by Craig Fehrman. All of these titles are available within the Viking Library System~ reserve your copy today!
The votes are in!
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
