2024-2025 Book Club Reading Schedule

 

Thunderstruck// Erik Larson

 

Hello April and hello Spring! This month's selection was Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson. Up next for May is Harbour Street, by Ann Cleeves. We have limited copies of Harbour Street, so if you're able to find a copy elsewhere, we'd encourage you to do so. Also, if you don't happen to need one, would you let us know below? Thanks!

As promised, the votes are in and we have 13 new books on their way to being sorted into a reading order... however, for those who like to read ahead, Susan has picked "Gunflint Falling", by Cary Griffin, as our June 2024 selection. As it happens, the Perham Library is hosting Mr. Griffin on Tuesday, June 18th, from 2:00pm-3:30pm, in the meeting room to discuss the very same book, so it seemed very appropriate that this be the June selection. We hope to see you all there!

We'll be sending out the new reading schedule via email, and also creating an additional post here on the blog within the next few days or so... stay tuned!

To the goods!

Thunderstruck tells the interwoven stories of two men—Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication—whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.

Set in Edwardian London and on the stormy coasts of Cornwall, Cape Cod, and Nova Scotia, Thunderstruck evokes the dynamism of those years when great shipping companies competed to build the biggest, fastest ocean liners, scientific advances dazzled the public with visions of a world transformed, and the rich outdid one another with ostentatious displays of wealth. Against this background, Marconi races against incredible odds and relentless skepticism to perfect his invention: the wireless, a prime catalyst for the emergence of the world we know today. Meanwhile, Crippen, “the kindest of men,” nearly commits the perfect crime. 

Every once in a great long while, we all more or less agree on a book... and it can be a really lovely thing. While collectively, we can all respect the amount of time and attention the research must have required for Larson to put this book together, we found it was tiresomely arduous to get through it on our end as well. It felt bogged down, almost choked out, with too much information about matters we didn't think made any real difference to the main thread of the story. In fact, it was suggested that the entire Marconi narrative could have been left out altogether, that it felt like Larson's main objective was to write a story about the invention of the telegram and then haphazardly pulled in Crippen's tale to entice the reader to stick with the book... the two men never having crossed paths, and couldn't be more different from each other if they tried.

Several members couldn't get through the book. Some didn't even try, after reading the first few pages. Others still made it far enough that they wanted to hold on to the end to see what became of Crippen, disappointed in the end that he never did find lasting happiness. 

On a more positive note, we liked Crippen. And Ethel. We commented that we generally like Larson's writing, citing our fondness for Dead Wake and The Devil in the White City... our sentiment about Thunderstruck wouldn't deter us from reading any of his other works, but in the end, for us, this was far from a fan favorite.

 

Did you love it? Let us know the view from the other side down below! 👇

 

 

 

Did you enjoy Thunderstruck? Fans of the book also enjoyed, The Wager, by David Grann, Destiny of the Republic, by Candice Millard, and The Johnstown Flood, by David McCullough. 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: 

1.5 stars

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