Murder on the Red River// Marcie Rendon

 

Happy March! Our pick for this month was Murder on the Red River, by Marcie Rendon, who was able to join us via Zoom~ she was a very well received speaker, and we enjoyed her company tremendously. Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson, is coming up next for April's read~ we have several copies already being circulated by our members, with a few more on the way, but if you don't happen to need one, would you mind letting us know below? Thanks!

As previously mentioned, yesterday was the last day to get nominations in for next year's reading list~ we are currently busy bee's getting them all sorted and organized on the nomination ballot for this year. Thank you for all the great nominations~ we are so fortunate to have such engaged members! It's looking like we'll have the nomination ballots out to you (via e-mail) by the end of this week or early next week~ stay tuned!

Looking ahead, we are planning to vote at next month's (April 9th) meeting~ Susan will also be adding a link to the Perham Library's website in the near future for online voting for anyone who can't make April's meeting, or who would prefer to vote that way~ we'll be in touch when that's available.

Please let me know below if you  have any questions!

To the book!

Renee "Cash" Blackbear, a 19-year-old, tough-as-nails, resilient Ojibwe woman, has lived all her life in Fargo, sister city to Minnesota's Moorhead, just downriver from the Cities. Her life revolves around driving truck for local farmers, drinking beer, playing pool, smoking cigarettes, and solving criminal investigations through the power of her visions. She has one friend, Sheriff Wheaton, who's also her guardian and helped her out of the broken foster care system. Together they must work to solve a murder across cultures in a rural Midwest community layered in racism, genocide, and oppression.

Everyone in attendance agreed that this book made them feel "dirty"... as in, they wanted to take a shower to wash off what was being described. For example, there were repetitive scenes in the book where smoking, drinking and urinating were being described, and while we could maybe see the point of these details here and there, they certainly felt overdone. 

It was mentioned that the title really didn't seem to fit the book at all, and so much of the plot just wasn't believable. Things like where all of Cash's money for beer and cigarette's and rent comes from when she doesn't seem to do much in the way of regular work... or how she first hears of a murder on the radio and races to the crime scene, somehow knowing the victim was Native American, and then not being shooed away in the slightest by the two present FBI agents... or how Wheaton all but asks her to help with some of the investigation, leading to tracking killers and being shot at.

It also was mildly bothersome that Cash seems to love and care for the Earth, she "hears" trees singing, but she drops her spent cigarette butts on the ground and tosses her beer bottles in the river?   

Another member mentioned the book felt seeped in hatred, from both the Native Americans to white people, and from white people to Native Americans. It was debated back and forth for some time as to if that was a necessary element of the book, and realistic to the time and place (Red River Valley area in the 1970's)

On a more positive note, we really enjoyed Ms. Rendon's visit with us via Zoom, and her descriptions of the landscape of that time and place was said to be spot on. If you enjoyed Murder on the Red River, you'll be pleased to hear she has 2 other books out in the series, with another book due out in October 2024! 

 

What are your thoughts on the book? Keep the conversation going below! 👇

 

 

 

Did you enjoy Murder on the Red River? Fans of the book also enjoyed, Shutter, by Ramona Emerson, Nail's Crossing, by Kris Lackey, and Blood Sisters, by Vanessa Lillie. All of these titles are available within the Viking Library 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?
"NO"

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

2.5 stars

 

The Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared// Jonas Jonasson

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day! Our February selection was The Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson. Up next for March is Murder on the Red River, by MN author Marcie Rendon. We have several copies on the way, but if you don't need one, would you mind letting us know below? Thanks!

 

Speaking of March, Marcie Rendon is slated to join our book club discussion via Zoom! If you can plan to come to the meeting with a few questions and/or comments for Ms. Rendon, we'd sure appreciate it! At the conclusion of the meeting, after Ms. Rendon has signed off, we'll then quickly take our regular votes regarding how many stars we'd give the book, if we'd recommend the book to a friend, and then if we'd recommend the book to another book club for discussion. See you then!

 

While I have you, as a reminder, we'd like to get all the book nominations in for next year's reading list on or before our March 12^th book club meeting. It was decided that we'll keep the same 5 dedicated categories (MN Author, Mystery, Memoir, Classic, and Young Adult) this next year as well, while leaving the remaining 7 slots open for the next seven books that receive the most votes, no matter their genre. You do not have to nominate books into the 5 dedicated categories, but you will be required to vote for at least one title from each when the time comes. Also, due to the abundance of nominations over the past few years, we'd like to ask that nominations be limited to 3 titles per book club member, if at all possible. 

Immediately following our March meeting, we'll be busy bee's getting all the nominations organized. We'll then e-mail the nomination ballots out to everyone for your review and consideration (if you'd prefer a printed copy, please ask for one at the front desk). We are planning to then vote in the next twelve books at our April 9^th meeting. If you are unable to attend the April meeting, Susan will again include a link on the Perham Library's website for online voting. You can also call the library with your selections, or email myself or Susan with your 12 picks and we'll be sure to get them tallied/included. We'll then quickly get the nominated books into a reading schedule... and away we go! *whew*

Here is Susan's email address for any book club nominations and/or questions: susanhl@perhamlibrary.org

 

Here is my email address for any and all of the same!  amandaschaefer@hotmail.com

Perham Library's phone number: 218-346-4892

Please, let us know down below if you have any questions about book club nominations!

 

 

 

Onward!

 

 

 

After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he's still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn't interested (and he'd like a bit more control over his vodka consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant (not to mention a death by elephant).
 

It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory: Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, but he has actually played a key role in them. Starting out in munitions as a boy, he somehow finds himself involved in many of the key explosions of the twentieth century and travels the world, sharing meals and more with everyone from Stalin, Churchill, and Truman to Mao, Franco, and de Gaulle.  

 

With the exception of one, no one really cared for this book. Two members said they had tried to read the book twice, and just couldn't keep with it. Interestingly enough, both of those members then got the audio book version and listened all the way through, finding it more palatable in that format. They also both said it helped them enjoy the book more when they changed their expectation from anything real and/or believable to something intended to be completely nonsensical. The lone member in high favor of the book said she liked the foolishness of it, and that she appreciated that it was a lite, easy read compared to some of our more recent, darker selections.

On the other side of the coin, most members couldn't get past the outrageousness and unbelievability of this read. It was mentioned that this book has a Forrest Gump feel to it (life being one happy accident after another for the protagonist), but we liked Forrest Gump as a character, and didn't care for Allan Karlsson much at all.  A few members never finished the book, others struggled to get through it, impatient for the end. No one present had read anything from Jonasson before, and no one was interested in reading anything else from him in the future. 

 

 

Two very different takes on the same book~ what's yours? Let us know in the comments below! 👇

 

 

Did you enjoy The Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared? Fans of the book also enjoyed, The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce, and A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman. 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?
"NO"

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

2.5 stars

 

 

 

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Happy New Year everyone!! Our January read was Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, with The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson, coming up next for February. Copies of this title are limited, so, if you don't need a copy, would you mind letting us know? It helps us be more efficient in book distribution~ thanks in advance for your help!

*Announcement* We are now encouraging our members to start thinking about next year's reading list! We'd like to know if anyone would like to switch around the dedicated categories (currently, we have 5 dedicated categories: Young Adult, Memoir, Minnesota Author, Mystery and Classic)~ we could replace a genre with another, or eliminate a genre altogether and leave the other 4, or we could do away with dedicated categories completely and go back to reading the top 12 books voted in in the end. We're interested in your thoughts, and we'd also like you to be thinking about all the good books you'd like to nominate this next go round!

Tentatively, the plan is to have all the nominations submitted to Susan or myself by our March 12^th book club meeting. You can call us, email us, leave them in the comments below, or drop your nominations off with anyone at the front desk at the library between now and March 12th. After the March 12^th meeting, we'll get the nomination ballots sorted and out to each of you ASAP, and then plan to vote at the April 9^th meeting. We'll then get the winners organized and get the new reading schedule squared away... and off we go! Whew​! 

 

Without further delay!

 

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.

We were a little all over the place with this read, but we also were in a bit of a collective agreement at the same time. On the one hand, the group could agree that there was a time and a place for Mr. Bradbury's writing. One member added that they struggled with the writing until they thought of it more as poetry, and then it began to flow better. Several members said they had read Fahrenheit 451 thirty plus years ago and remember liking it much better then than they did this time through it... they couldn't say why. It was said this book had a prophetic touch regarding our ever increasing interest and dependency on technology.

On the other hand, there was heavy criticism for the writing. It was disjointed, awkward and seemed to slog on and on. No one could point to a character that they particularly liked or didn't find superficially constructed. Some members struggled to finish the book, others left it lay after only a few pages in. The story was dark and void and left you feeling forlorn all the way to the end... which couldn't come fast enough for a select few.

 

Do you have anything to add? We'd love to hear from you down below! 👇

 

Did you love Fahrenheit 451? Fans of the book also enjoyed, 1984, by George Orwell, How to Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, and The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 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?
"NO"

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

2.5 stars

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