The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

 

This month was The Lager Queen of Minnesota, by J. Ryan Stradal for June, with Nazi Wives, by James Wyllie up next for July's pick. This meeting was so good for a few reasons, mainly that the author, Mr. Stradal, was able to join us via Zoom for the last half of our discussion, but also that we had a great turn out~ with a couple new faces! Welcome, and thank you to all who participated!

We learned at this meeting that it's rather difficult to conduct a Zoom meeting with some people joining from home and others gathering together in the meeting room at the library. With that in mind, we are planning on meeting outdoors for July 13th's book club discussion, however, if the weather has other plans for that afternoon, we'll aim to assemble all in person (while social distancing) in the meeting room at the library. We'll let you know the final word on where we're meeting as it gets closer.

In other news, Susan is in need of volunteers to help set up for the book sale happening next week. If anyone has some free time this next Monday and/or Tuesday (June 14th and 15th) and would like to stop in to lend a hand, it sure would be a big help! No appointment is necessary~ just swing by any time during regular business hours and stay as long as you'd like. Please also plan to stop over to peruse the the book sale~ which will be held from Wednesday, June 16th through Saturday, June 19th (during regular business hours as well)!

Without further delay~ 

Two sisters, one farm. A family is split when their father leaves their shared inheritance entirely to Helen, his younger daughter. Despite baking award-winning pies at the local nursing home, her older sister, Edith, struggles to make what most people would call a living. So she can't help wondering what her life would have been like with even a portion of the farm money her sister kept for herself.

With the proceeds from the farm, Helen builds one of the most successful light breweries in the country. Where Edith has a heart as big as Minnesota, Helen's is as rigid as a steel keg. Yet one day, Helen will find she needs some help herself, and she could find a potential savior close to home. . . if it's not too late.

With a few exceptions, this book turned out largely to be a, "I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either", kind of read. Most of our members said it was a good, easy read with well constructed characters and plot lines. There was a poignant, specific mention of Mr. Stradal's exceptional ability to illustrate profound loss and grief, which we later learned was based on his personal experience losing loved ones, most notably, his mother, not so many years ago. Mr. Stradal also shared that the three female leads of the book are all based on a mixture of the prominent female figures from his life~ both of his grandmothers and his mother~ which was well received and respected among the group.

The few criticisms we came up with were in regard to several scenes and narratives that were unrealistic, along with a juvenile feel throughout the book. It was also said that this book had a way of switching back and forth between plot lines and time frames, which can be hard to follow and confusing at times.

In closing, Mr. Stradal was an excellent speaker and we enjoyed his insight and conversation immensely! It is such a treat to be able to come together again for a book club meeting, but to have the author join us put it over the top! See you next month!  

Did you love The Lager Queen of Minnesota? Fans of this book also enjoyed: Evvie Drake Starts Over, by Linda Holmes, and Nothing to See Here, by Kevin Wilson. Both books are available in Viking~ reserve them today!

At the end 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? 
"YES"
Rate the book 1-5 stars with 1 being the lowest rating: 
 3.5 stars

 

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

 

 

This month we discussed Bridge of Clay, by Markus Zusak. It's The Lager Queen of Minnesota, by J. Ryan Stradal coming up next in June. For those of you who maybe haven't heard, we've arranged for Mr. Stradal to join us for our June 8th meeting via Zoom (yahoo!). With the governor recently announcing that he will be lessening the Covid-19 restrictions, Susan reports we will be able to meet together in the meeting room at the library for the June book club meeting, and join the Zoom call/conversation from there with picture and sound. Face masks and social distancing will most likely still apply, and if you'd prefer, you can certainly still join in on the meeting from home as we have been doing thus far. We'll announce the plan for the July meeting as the time gets closer and Susan has an opportunity to review the new Covid-19 guidelines. Stay tuned!

To the book~

Bridge of Clay is the powerful story of five brothers who bring each other up in a world run by their own rules. As the Dunbar boys love and fight and learn to reckon with the adult world, they discover the moving secret behind their father’s disappearance.

At the center of the Dunbar family is Clay, a boy who will build a bridge—for his family, for his past, for greatness, for his sins, for a miracle. The question is, how far is Clay willing to go? And how much can he overcome? 

The majority of the group just couldn't love this book, even though they wanted to, based on their sentiment about Mr. Zusak's previous novel, The Book Thief. They found the story longer than necessary, with too much flip-flopping back and forth between story lines, and believed those story lines to be largely confusing and disjointed as well. It was said the book was slow moving, hard to pick up and get engaged in, and a bit of a bore. All those in favor, however, cited this book as "literature", "poetry", and "literary genius". They raved about how well Mr. Zusak can craft a descriptive sentence and develop a character. They loved the story and truly savored their time with the book. Both sides could agree that there was a long list of characters that could be difficult to keep straight without the help of good note taking, that it took several chapters to become intrigued, and also that the concept of the story itself was a good one. 

It was predominantly hot or cold with this one, with very few in the lukewarm, "I liked it, but I didn't love it" category. Where did you find yourself on the spectrum? If you've read both The Book Thief and Bridge of Clay, which did you prefer?

 

At the end of every book club discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"NO"
Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"NO"
Rate the book 1-4 stars with 1 being the lowest rating: 
 2 stars

*NEW* 2021-2022 Book Club Reading Schedule

 

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

 

On the docket for discussion this month was The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich, with Bridge of Clay, by Markus Zusak, on deck for May's meeting (here's hoping we'll be able to gather together outdoors for that conversation~ we'll keep you all posted~ while keeping our fingers crossed!).

As promised, we voted for our next year's reading list at the close of this month's meeting. Here's the results, in no intended order:

1. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

2. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, by Lori Gottlieb

3. The Deep, Deep Snow, by Brian Freeman

4. The Lager Queen of Minnesota, by Ryan Stradal

5. Voices in the Stones, by Kent Nerburn

6. The Boy from the Woods, by Harlan Coben

7. Clap When You Land, by Elizabeth Acevedo

8. The Book of Lost Friends, by Lisa Wingate

9. The Book of Two Ways, by Jodi Picoult

10. The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah

11. The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, by Heidi Durrow

12. Nazi Wives, by James Wyllie 

While no official order has been set, we did decide on The Lager Queen of Minnesota, by Ryan Stradal, as June's book club selection for those of you who like to read ahead. We'll get the rest of the books lined up, and the new reading schedule posted and available soon! Thank you to everyone who voted!

Without further delay~

It's 1953 and Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a new “emancipation” bill on its way to the floor of the United States Congress. Thomas and the other council members know the bill isn’t about freedom; Congress is fed up with Indians. The bill is a “termination” that threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land and their very identity.

Since graduating high school, Pixie Paranteau has insisted that everyone call her Patrice. She makes jewel bearings at the plant, a job that barely pays her enough to support her mother and brother. Patrice’s shameful alcoholic father returns home sporadically to terrorize his wife and children and bully her for money. But Patrice needs every penny she has to find and follow her beloved older sister, Vera, who moved to the big city of Minneapolis. Vera may have disappeared; she hasn’t been in touch in months, and is rumored to have had a baby. Determined to find Vera and her child, Patrice makes a fateful trip to Minnesota that introduces her to unexpected forms of exploitation and violence, and endangers her life. 

With the exception of one, all of the attending members liked this read. Those in favor said they really liked the vivid descriptions of the cast of characters connecting with the Earth; detailing their favorite individual elements. It was said that the character development in this book was really good, with Thomas and Patrice picked as the two favorite protagonists. Members marveled at their strength, courage, and perseverance within the trials they faced. Those who have read some of Erdrich's work before commented that this was her best, most uplifting, book yet. 

In contrast, it was said this book was hard to get into, and harder still to stay engaged with. It felt clumsy and disjointed throughout, and the longer list of characters were hard to keep straight. It was felt there were unnecessary characters with irrelevant plot lines, some unbelievable parts, and a few significant loose ends left undone in the end.

Have you read this or any other works of Ms. Erdrich? If so, would you agree this is her best novel to date?

 

At the end 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? 
"YES"
Rate the book 1-4 stars with 1 being the lowest rating: 
 3 stars

 

The Girl in Building C by Marilyn Barnes

 

Our March selection was The Girl in Building C, by Marilyn Barnes, with The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich, up next for April's pick. It was a fantastic turnout this month~ thank you to everyone who was able to attend! 

As previously mentioned and promised, we have officially collected the last of the book nominations for this next year's reading list~ they are currently being sorted and organized, and will be distributed very soon! We'll be e-mailing a copy out to our members, along with offering paper copies at the front desk of the library if anyone should prefer that format. Voting takes place at our next book club meeting on April 13th, when we discuss The Night Watchman. Can't make April's meeting? No sweat! Susan will be posting a link on the library's website for online voting, and you can also call or stop into the library with your votes as well! Remember, this year we're requiring that each member cast at least one vote for each of the 5 required categories (Mystery, Minnesota Author, Memoir, Classics, and Juvenile/Young Adult), leaving the remaining six votes open to your liking! Let us know below if you have any questions!

On to the book!

In October 1943, sixteen-year-old Marilyn Barnes was told that her recent bout of pneumonia was in fact tuberculosis. She entered Ah-gwah-ching State Sanatorium at Walker, Minnesota, for what she thought would be a short stay. In January, her tuberculosis spread, and she nearly died. Her recovery required many months of bed rest and medical care.

Marilyn loved to write, and the story of her three-year residency at the sanatorium is preserved in hundreds of letters that she mailed back home to her parents, who could visit her only occasionally and whom she missed terribly. The letters functioned as a diary in which Marilyn articulately and candidly recorded her reactions to roommates, medical treatments, Native American nurses, and boredom. She also offers readers the singular perspective of a bed-bound teenager, gossiping about boys, requesting pretty new pajamas, and enjoying Friday evening popcorn parties with other patients.

Selections from this cache of letters are woven into an informative narrative that explores the practices and culture of a mid-century tuberculosis sanatorium and fills in long-forgotten details gleaned from recent conversations with Marilyn, who "graduated" from the sanatorium and went on to lead a full, productive life. 

This book, more than any other I can readily recall, offered an exceptional avenue for personal testimony among our members. How beguiling to hear the different shared stories, feelings, and lasting impacts left on the families touched by tuberculosis. It was noted that while Marilyn's personal chronicle of her time in a sanitarium had an incredibly positive and lighthearted spin on it, that certainly wasn't the case for everyone who resided at these institutions.

Overall as a group, we liked Marilyn. We liked her positive attitude and her cheerful, innocent demeanor. We marveled at how she coped so well for so long, with few visits from her family, while being bedridden the vast majority of the time. On the other hand, it was also almost unanimous that while we appreciated her youth, and thought the idea of basing a book largely off of personal correspondence was a neat idea, the book got boring and tedious after awhile. It would have been a nice additional component to the read if more of the letters from her family had been shared, or some form of their testimony as to how well they were handling Marilyn's stay so far from home, could have somehow been conveyed. Also, it was agreed that an added chapter to the end of the book about what life was like for Marilyn and her family when she returned home would have been a good way to round out her story and experience in the minds of the readers. 

We found this title a fast, easy read. Despite it becoming a bit humdrum for most, we can also say we had an especially good conversation surrounding it. We learned more about each other, and how differently a health crisis looks from the early 1940's to today. 

Do you know anyone who has personally been effected by tuberculosis? If so, was their experience similar to Marilyn's? Let us know below!

 

At the end 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? 
"YES"
Rate the book 1-4 stars with 1 being the lowest rating: 
 3 stars

 

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

 

 

It was The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes for our February pick~ up next for March is The Girl in Building C by Marilyn Barnes. We have made it down the current reading list far enough that it's time to start looking ahead to next year's list! We would like to get all the nominations collected on or before our next book club meeting on March 9th, 2021. You can submit those nominations personally by stopping into the library, or via phone or e-mail to either Susan or myself. Once the deadline has passed, we'll work to get those book nominations organized and out to you within the following two weeks, so you'll have some time to prepare for the vote during our April 13th book club meeting. Then, the new reading schedule will be distributed at our May 11th meeting and away we go!

 

A couple notes about next year's reading list: 

* We have decided to give some dedicated categories a try this next round. Those 5 dedicated categories are: Minnesota Author, Memoir, Mystery, Classical, and Young Adult/Juvenile. The remaining 7 slots are 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 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. 

Please feel free to reach out with any questions~ or comment down below!

Without further delay~

Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.

The leader, and soon Alice’s greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who’s never asked a man’s permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky. 

What happens to them–and to the men they love–becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion. These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. And though they face all kinds of dangers in a landscape that is at times breathtakingly beautiful, at others brutal, they’re committed to their job: bringing books to people who have never had any, arming them with facts that will change their lives.

I looked back on the previous year's book club picks and I didn't see a time, in recent history, that we have all liked a book so much collectively. As far back as I dug, we've never awarded a book a higher score of 3.5~ that's impressive! There were a handful that really loved the book, and couldn't find a thing they'd change about it. Respectively, there were also a small few that really liked it, but found it lacking in a few places. Most of our members were somewhere in the middle, they thoroughly enjoyed the read themselves and could relate to both sides. We found Moyes's writing style superb. She can illustrate a scene, a character, and a feeling like few can. It was also interesting to learn of, for some, and to learn more of, for others, about Eleanor Roosevelt's reading initiative, The Pack Horse Library, introduced into deep Appalachian Kentucky in the 1930's as part of the "New Deal" project, implemented by the Works Progress Administration.  

It was the part about Alice and her impending divorce from Bennett, along with Clem's daughter, Verna, promptly deciding to not only testify on Margery's behalf, but also that the ridiculous story she concocted to do so was accepted as truth and ultimately freed Margery of all the charges, that a few members found hard to believe. 

 

Questions surrounding these events for your consideration are:

    1. Why couldn't Alice have filed for an annulment/divorce on her own in Kentucky? Why did she feel like she had to go back home to England and employ the help of her parents to do so?

    2. Alice spoke and felt so warmly about the life she had made for herself in Kentucky, post-separation from Bennett, that it was hard to accept that she didn't try harder to stay with these good friends, this good job, and this new love she had found. Or that they didn't make more of an attempt to find a way to help her stay. She spoke so despairingly about having to return home to England and her family there, that it was surprising there wasn't more of an effort put forth to resolve these things in her current time and place.

    3. What ultimately motivated Verna to not only speak to Kathleen about her father's death, but to then immediately decide to go into town, a place she's never been before, to falsely, and outlandishly, testify on Margery's behalf, in front of a group of people she doesn't know, and whom deeply denounce her. Why did those people so willingly accept her testimony?

Bonus questions! 

    4. Do you feel like the ending was a little bit too tidy/unbelievable with the extraordinary developments surrounding Margery's release? Margery swiftly deciding to marry Sven, and then build a small cabin next to her home to house Verna and her sister, Neeta~ whom will babysit for Margery while she continues her work with the Pack Horse Library? Or Van Cleve Sr. suddenly agreeing to the annulment between Alice and Bennett immediately following him losing in court? 

    5. A couple of our members have read both, The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (published in 8/2019), and also a book entitled, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, by Kim Richardson (published in 5/2019), both books reference the same historical era and events, while offering different plot lines and characters. There has been a bit of controversy about Moyes replicating Richardson's original work. If you've read both titles, do you agree with the claims against Moyes? Do you prefer one book/author's storytelling over the other?  

Let us know below!

 

At the end 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? 
"YES"
Rate the book 1-4 stars with 1 being the lowest rating: 
 3.75 stars

Conversations with RGB by Jeffrey Rosen

 

 

 

January's read was Conversations with RGB by Jeffrey Rosen, with Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes coming in for February's pick. Susan mentioned during this meeting that the tentative plan going forward for book club meetings is to continue on with Zoom for a few more months, and then when the weather turns warmer we may be able to schedule some of them outdoors again. What a welcomed change that will be~ for so many reasons! Stay tuned!

 

 

 

To the book!

In Conversations with RBG, Justice Ginsburg discusses the future of Roe v. Wade, her favorite dissents, the cases she would most like to see overruled, the #MeToo movement, how to be a good listener, how to lead a productive and compassionate life, and of course the future of the Supreme Court itself. These frank exchanges illuminate the steely determination, self-mastery, and wit that have inspired Americans of all ages to embrace the woman known to all as "Notorious RBG."

 

This book was a middle-of-the-road kind of read. While most of our attending members liked the book, few loved it. And of those that liked it, they could still agree that the book had some less than desirable elements. Fewer still really didn't care for it at all, though they could still find the good bits found here and there. 

 

We all agree that RGB is a remarkable lady. Her accomplishments and largely her calm, common sense, and confident demeanor are highly noteworthy, and admired. Several members commented on how interesting it was to learn about the inner-workings of the court, and how nice, if not a little surprising, it was to find that the justices seem to have a healthy camaraderie and respect for one another. 

The group largely felt that outside of the specific cases RGB and Mr. Rosen discussed in detail, we felt predominantly out of place within all the talk of case files and legal jargon. We quickly and consistently got lost and confused, at times due to the books repetitive tendency, and would have liked to have seen a short few sentences of case explanation(s)/recap(s) while they were being discussed. The addition of supplemental pictures was also mentioned as being helpful in illustrating RGB's life, as so many times she comments on a small few pivotal people in her circle that had deeply influenced her.

FUN FACT: There was a movie made in 2018 entitled, On the Basis of Sex, that tells the story of RGB~ and there are 6 copies available within the Viking System. Also, if you're a Hulu subscriber, there is a RGB documentary available for streaming entitled simply, RGB. 

Let us know below which side of the road you find yourself regarding this book~ but also your thoughts on either of these films if you've had the chance to see them. See you next month!

 

At the end of every book club discussion we ask three questions and track the average answers:
Would we recommend this to another book club for discussion?
"NO"
Would we recommend this to a friend to read? 
"YES"
Rate the book 1-4 stars with 1 being the lowest rating: 
 3 stars