Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

 

 

September salutations to you and yours! We met at Paul Miller Park to discuss Yolk, which may be our last opportunity to meet outdoors for this year, as the author of our October read, Diane Wilson, has graciously agreed to join our October 11th meeting via Zoom! Mark your calendars~ hope to see you all there! 

Speaking of October's book, The Seed Keeper, as a friendly reminder, we have limited copies available within Viking. However, there is an audiobook in Viking, and an e-book available on Hoopla, for those who don't mind those versions. We'd like to encourage anyone who may already have a copy, or has an alternative means to obtain a copy, to do so if at all possible. In addition, in an effort to keep the limited quantity of copies we do have available circulating, we politely ask that you read through your issue quickly and return it as soon as possible so that we can pass it along to the next member. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

To the book!

 

Jayne Baek is barely getting by. She shuffles through fashion school, saddled with a deadbeat boyfriend, clout-chasing friends, and a wretched eating disorder that she’s not fully ready to confront. But that’s New York City, right? At least she isn’t in Texas anymore, and is finally living in a city that feels right for her.

On the other hand, her sister June is dazzlingly rich with a high-flying finance job and a massive apartment. Unlike Jayne, June has never struggled a day in her life. Until she’s diagnosed with uterine cancer. Suddenly, these estranged sisters who have nothing in common are living together. Because sisterly obligations are kind of important when one of you is dying.

 

Unlike most all other book discussions, there really weren't two camps of opinions regarding Yolk. The closest present company could come to saying they liked the book was, "Well, I kind of liked it..." while their mind wandered, trying to put their finger on just what it was that they kind of liked. Another member added, "It doesn't make any sense, but I liked Choi's writing itself. I liked the proposed plot of the book, and I even gave it 3 stars and would consider reading something else of hers... but I also hated it at the same time." I'm afraid that's as good as it got for Yolk.

Largely, we found it polluted. Several members put it down within the first few chapters, completely uninterested in finishing. The ending was ambiguous and open-ended, something several members found disappointing. With Patrick being the only possible exception, we didn't care for, or relate to, any of the characters. Also, it was obvious Jayne and June were estranged, but it wasn't clear why that was. 

All of that aside, outside of a 23-year-old being successful enough so early on in life in New York City to have seemingly unlimited funds and a luxurious apartment complete with a doorman, we found the depiction of life in the Big Apple, with it's illustrated "haves and have nots", realistic and believable... as bleak as that is. Overall, clearly, this book wasn't a crowd favorite. 

Disagree? Please, fill us in below!

P.S. We wondered about where the title for the book came from~ any ideas?

 

Are you a Yolk fan? Admirers of the book also enjoyed: Chosen Ones, by Veronica Roth, The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon, and The Heir Affair, by Heather Cocks. All of these titles are available in Viking~ reserve your copy today!   

 

At the conclusion 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 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 
 3 stars

 

Movie vs. Book: Where the Crawdads Sing

Hello the group! We thought it would be fun to get the discussion/comparison going regarding Where the Crawdads Sing for those who have had the chance to both read the book, and also catch the movie while things are still fresh in our minds. We are also planning to set aside the first few minutes of our September 13th, meeting to either expand and/or add to this exchange~ so if you haven't had a chance to both read and/or taken in the movie yet, and you'd like to, you've got time! 

Does the timeless precept of "the movie is never as good as the book" apply here? Which did you prefer?

 

Give us all the details below!!! 👇

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

 

 

August's book club selection was East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, with Yolk, by Mary H.K. Choi coming up next for September's pick. Once again, we held our meeting in a sheltered area at Paul Miller Park, we will plan to do the same for our September 13th meeting~ conclusive details to follow the closer the date becomes! 

Just a friendly reminder, book club members are encouraged to join us this next Tuesday, August 16th, at The Comet movie theater, for the 7:00pm showing of Where the Crawdads Sing. Tuesday night is bargain night at The Comet, with tickets being $5.00 each~ you are welcome to bring guests if you'd like (all attendees will be responsible for their own ticket and treat purchases). We are not planning to try to sit together, but if it shakes out that way, great!

Since the viewing of this movie comes a week after our August book club meeting, we thought we'd take the first few minutes of our September 13th meeting to discuss our Crawdad opinions and comparisons, and I'll also start a separate post on the library's blog directly following the movie, for anyone who would like an earlier discussion. We invite you to share your thoughts, on either avenue, afterwards!

To the goods!

 

Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives nurtured by the love of all those around him; the other grows up in loneliness enveloped by a mysterious darkness.

In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence.

 

The opening comment of our discussion was, "Does anyone else have the sense that people either loved this book, or hated it?" While I can't report that anyone actually said the word "hate" regarding their summations, there were definitely two separate camps of opinion. Those fond of the book said they liked long, generational sagas. They could appreciate the characters for what they were~ tortured, mentally ill (and certainly undiagnosed and untreated) and conflicted. They felt empathy for their plights and rooted for better things to come for them. Several mentioned they had read Steinbeck before and enjoyed revisiting his work.

Those in the opposing camp said they just liked it. They didn't love it, and they didn't hate it, but they liked it. A few members mentioned it was far too long, felt like the story was told twice, and could have been condensed down by at least 200 pages. Members of this camp weren't fans of Steinbeck's writing in general, they thought it too wordy and tedious. It was also pointed out that there were some loose ends left undone, for example, did Tom Hamilton actually kill himself after his accidental medical misstep concerning his sister? They couldn't be sure, and they didn't like that there was no more mention of him after the ominous bit of a reference of a gun directly followed by him writing to his brother, "Tell Mom I got kicked in the head by a horse"... no closure, no funeral in tribute to this good man's life. Lastly, it was thought that Adams seemingly blind, perpetual devotion and longing for Cathy was not believable... especially considering their parting just after the twins were born.

Maybe Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent will favor differently? We'll surely see come March 2023!

Speaking of loose ends, did Cathy actually sleep with Charles early on, and therefor Caleb and Aron are his biological children and not Adam's? Did Cathy ever actually receive the inheritance from Charles's estate? Why did she leave everything to Aron in the end?

Let us know below!
 

P.S. Just a head's up, East of Eden has been made into both a movie and a mini series in the past~ however it appears Netflix has recently won the rights to begin work on a new East of Eden series after what was apparently a very intense bidding war. The woman writing and producing the series is the granddaughter of the director of the movie from 1955 with James Dean! Here's a link to the details: https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/florence-pugh-netflix-series-east-of-eden-what-we-know-so-far/

 

(Thanks for sharing Tracy!)

Did you enjoy East of Eden? Fans of the book also enjoyed: A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut, and The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. All of these titles are available in Viking~ reserve your copy today!   

 

At the conclusion 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? 
"NO"
Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 
 3 stars

Where the Crawdads Sing movie night!

 Hello to you!

It looks like Where the Crawdads Sing is in fact coming to the Perham Comet Theater this month! Yeah! Tuesday night is bargain night at The Comet, with tickets being $5.00 per person~ so with that in mind, we'd like to plan to attend the 7:00pm show on Tuesday, August 16th. (Everyone will of course be responsible for their own ticket and snack purchases). Since the viewing of this movie comes a week after our August book club meeting, we thought we'd take the first few minutes of our September 13th meeting to discuss our Crawdad opinions, and I'll also start a separate post on the library's blog directly following the movie, for anyone who would like an earlier discussion. We encourage all of you to come to the show and share your thoughts, on either avenue, afterwards!

 

Comment below with any questions~ looking forward to seeing you soon!

Five Presidents by Clint Hill

 

 

For July, we read Five Presidents, by Clint Hill, and held the discussion outdoors at Paul Miller Park in Perham in the main shelter area. We are planning to meet there again for our August meeting, where we discuss East of Eden, by John Steinbeck. Hope to see you there!

 

Onward!

Secret Service agent Clint Hill brings history intimately and vividly to life as he reflects on his seventeen years protecting the most powerful office in the nation. Hill walked alongside Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford, seeing them through a long, tumultuous era—the Cold War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the Vietnam War; Watergate; and the resignations of Spiro Agnew and Richard M. Nixon. With a unique insider’s perspective, Hill sheds new light on the character and personality of these five presidents, revealing their humanity in the face of grave decisions.  

 

We had a wide spread of reviews for Five Presidents~ it ranged from a small handful who enjoyed the book enthusiastically, to a couple of people who just liked it, could have taken it or left it, to yet a few more who really didn't care for the book at all. Most everyone could agree it was an easy, uncomplicated read that didn't really make you think (like The Silent Patient did us). We liked hearing about the intricacies and quirks of each of the presidents depicted.

It appeared the big draw for those who really liked it was that it was a retelling of history from a time in their personal lives that they could relate to and reminisce about. It was said he was a hero for running towards danger without hesitation when duty called, and they also appreciated his sacrifice, dedication and respect for the office of the presidency, something that seems to be sorely lacking in today's culture.

However, while respectfully acknowledging all those good remarks, a fair amount of members found Hill arrogant (could that be a necessary attribute for a job such as this?), despite his efforts to appear otherwise. He was clearly in love with Jackie Kennedy and seemed largely, although admittedly so, absent and neglectful of his first wife and children. He had no qualms sharing that Johnson had a bad temper (and what he describes as an annoying habit of giving elaborate tours of his beloved Texas ranch and childhood home, complete with attempts to outsmart the secret service about his whereabouts and intentions) or throwing Nixon under the bus regarding Watergate (commenting he knew all along Nixon was a bad egg), but completely overlooked and omitted Kennedy's rampant extramarital affairs.

One member found the book mostly a bore with repetitive, unnecessary details (all the parades and their intricate details, Eisenhower's many golfing excursions) amongst a few interesting bits of information mixed in. It was said the book didn't really disclose anything a high school history book wouldn't have already covered, and was therefore found uninspired. 

Should we know everything a president is up to? It was pointed out that former President Jimmy Carter is widely known as a good, honest man... but is he considered a good president? Did he get the job done and do it well?

 

Did you enjoy Five Presidents? Fans of the book also enjoyed: The Kennedy Detail, by Gerald Blaine, The First Family Detail, by Ronald Kessler, and First Women, by Kate Andersen Brower. All of these titles are available in Viking~ reserve your copy today!   

 

At the conclusion 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? 
"NO"
Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 
 3 stars

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

 

 

 

June's selection was The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides, with Five Presidents, by Clint Hill, up next for July. Just a reminder for those who read ahead, we ended up switching the books for August and October around to be able to facilitate some guest speakers coming up later this fall~ stay tuned! With that in mind, August 2022's read will be East of Eden, by John Steinbeck, and the following October's selection will be The Seed Keeper, by Diane Wilson. Thanks for being flexible!

 

To the book!

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—

 

This was a fun conversation! While not everyone cared for the book, you wouldn't hardly know it from the discussion. It was noted that Michaelide's writing is outstandingly brilliant, with several people marveling at what it must have involved to come up with such a complex, twisty and interwoven story. There were places we couldn't understand Theo's motives, and to a degree found it unbelievable that one would behave in such a way, but in the end, decided on the point of these places in the book (Theo wanting to work with Alicia at all, Theo following his wife and her lover into the woods at the park to stay and listen to her betrayal, the final scene of Theo being caught and confronted in his home and then casually opening a window to reach out and catch a falling snowflake), were meant to vividly illustrate how disturbed Theo, and real people as well, can truly be. With the exception of one, no one saw the ending coming and we were amazed by how it all seemed to add up in the end. It was mentioned that that very thing motivated several members to want to go back and read it again to see what clues they missed along the way.

Our list of criticisms is short, but noteworthy nonetheless. It was said the book felt heavy and dark and had an ominous tone to it... a feeling of, "you just knew this wasn't going to end well." It was also said that the read felt unrealistic, with the ending being predictable by the second half, and there were red herrings aplenty that didn't really serve the story. 

Would you read Michaelide again? Did you see the ending coming? Let us know where the rest of us went wrong down below!

 

Did you enjoy The Silent Patient? Fans of the book also enjoyed: Verity, by Colleen Hoover, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and The Guest List, by Lucy Foley. All of these titles are available in Viking~ reserve your copy today!   

 

At the conclusion 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: 
 3.75 stars

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

 

For May, we discussed The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah, with The Silent Patient, by Alex Michaelides, coming up next for June. Thank you to everyone who attended, and to those who sent in emails ahead of time to share their thoughts despite their absence. We appreciate each of you! Happy Spring!

Let's get to it!

Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

 

I want to generalize and say that we all really and thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I'm not sure that would be quite right. While it's true the vast majority of the group had big praise for this read and found it hard to find anything to fix, there were a few adamant criticisms that seemed to stick. While we all agreed Hannah's writing, character development and plot assembly are all very well done, we were divided on the ending. Some liked the hard to read outcome, they considered it a real, "life isn't always fair" kind of ending that made the book all that more believable and authentic. Others would have preferred a happier, tidier ending.

 

Outside of Welty and those like him, we liked all the characters and found something good, and relatable, in each of them... especially Elsa. We marveled at her strength, courage, and persistence in the face of so much strife. Speaking of characters, there was mention that it was hard to believe that no one in Elsa's family, especially her children who were witnesses to her untimely death, didn't hold Jack at least partially responsible for her passing. Did he pressure and provoke her to a degree to take a big stand at the protest that ultimately, albeit unintentionally, lead to tragedy? "If you love someone, shouldn't you do your best to keep them out of harm's way?" How much of Elsa's actions were authentically her own, and which, if any, were heavily influenced and/or coerced? 

 

On a final note, it was said it would have been a valuable addition to the story if there could have been a sentence or two within the last chapter about how and when the tide turned for the farmers of the Dust Bowl. When and how did conditions improve? What did that look like and mean specifically for Elsa's family? 

 

Are you a Kristin Hannah fan? If so, how does this read compare for you to her other works?

 

 

Did you enjoy The Four Winds? Fans of this book also enjoyed: Lady in Waiting, by Anne Glenconner, Mr. Malcolm's List, by Suzanne Allain, and The Daughters of Erietown, by Connie Schultz. All of these titles are available in Viking~ reserve your copy today!

 

 

At the conclusion 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: 
4.5 stars