1000 White Women

This Reading Group Guide offers some interesting discussion points and a Q&A with the author. Sometimes I find that books I didn't love lend themselves to better meetings. Trying to find a review that can critic the historical accuracy of the book.

BTW, Jim Fergus has published another book, The Wild Girl : The Notebooks of Ned Giles, 1932, but, I don't think it did too well because the paperback edition was given a new name and a whole new publisher: Last Apache Girl

1000 White Women

Just a reminder that we will be meeting at my house at 7 pm on Dec 3 to discuss lots and lots of white women. I'm still working on the book - trying to plow my way through. It's a bit slow moving so far, and not the best-written book we've encountered. But I'm hoping it will pick up in the chapters to come.

Also, at the last meeting we discussed using our "free months" to springboard off the previous month's book to a related topic. So next month, for example, we may choose to read books about the Cheyenne or women's journals from that time period, or to watch a movie even. That way we still have some common ground for discussion the following month. That meeting will be January 7th at Jayne's house.

Carolyn said she would like to do Eat, Pray, Love for February 4 at her House.

Other books we added to Our BIG List of good reads are: Ahab's Wife;
Love in the time of Cholera; When the Emperor was Divine; Down River; Blue Highway; The Spellman Files and Where the Road Goes.

Frances gets to choose a book for April.

I can't believe I got signed in-even us old dogs can learn new tricks occasionally. I just finished listening to Roots the 30th Anniversary edition. I got it from the library and will return it tomorrow. Of course I read it 30 years ago when it first came out but the audio version is even better. It was beautifully read by Avery Brooks (I think) and it was very moving. 24 discs?!! It gave a powerful account of black history and slavery-the history buff would surely like it but of course it is very intense. I'm not reading anything right now-library closed today

Monday meeting?

Did you meet on Monday? I'm sorry I missed it! I was sitting on a runway in Minneapolis, hoping to make my connection in Chicago. Luckily, the flight attendant declared Happy Hour in progress and passed out free wine. I made it to Chicago with plenty of time, because the flight to Richmond was also delayed. The reason? Wind in Chicago--hey, that's why they call it The Windy City!! I finally got home to Water House at 4:00a.m. And was in bed by 4:10, accompanied by warm cats.

If I'd been there, I'd have discussed The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. This book discusses what would happen to the world if all the people disappeared in some non-violent way, just walked (flew?) away and left everything as it is. The ecological side of The Rapture, perhaps. Weisman discusses how things fall apart, what would go first. New York City and its subways? Very fast because pumps are constantly pumping out the subways and once they stopped....Bronze sculpture? Lasts a long long time, and Mt. Rushmore, made of granite, practically forever. Not so happy parts of the book discuss other things that would last a long time--PCBs and other nasty contaminents, the aftermath of nuclear reactors left unattended. Another topic covers places on earth that have been undisturbed like the Korean DMZ, Chernobyl and a pristine forest in Poland. Fascinating, accessible science, and very thought provoking.

What's up next for the group?

Jaynethelibrarian

Frances' Ideas

Saw "Jane Austin's Book Club" movie. Chick flik and very nice. Brought up an idea tho'. How about us having an author theme year - as the movie" So, starting January we could pick a mutually agreed author and the books, each person decides which one to nominate and host etc. Think about it.

My suggestions for upcoming books in no particular order:
1. When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka. Published in 2002. Only 143 pages. It starts in Berkeley California in 1942 when Japanese-American citizens were being round up and sent to camps. It follows a family - mother and two children. Very enjoyable book and it will not upset you Reid. On sale on Amazon in paperback starting at $2.39 onwards. I do have a copy to be lent as long as I have it back a few days before our meeting should we chose it.

2.The Innocent Man (murder and injustice in a small town) by John Grisham. Non-fiction but reads like fiction. It is about 4 innocent men either sent to death row or life imprisonment for murders they did not commit and how the local police and prosecuter of a place called Ada cooked the books just to get convictions. It will horrify and amaze you to what lengths some people will go to. This again will not upset you Reid. Cost on Amazon, paperback from .75 cents onwards. The Library has it on tape but not sure about book.

3. How about Doris Lessing's book: The Golden Notebooks that won the Nobel Peace Pize. Is available on Amazon but not as cheap as the above. Dont know if the library has it.

One Thousand White Women

This book sounds good! Someone had requested the library buy it and it came in yesterday. The suggester gets first crack at it but I've put you on the list, Reid, so you'll get it second.
jayne the librarian

One Thousand White Women

Thinking about suggesting this as our next book. Any comments?

Amazon says: An American western with a most unusual twist, this is an imaginative fictional account of the participation of May Dodd and others in the controversial "Brides for Indians" program, a clandestine U.S. government-sponsored program intended to instruct "savages" in the ways of civilization and to assimilate the Indians into white culture through the offspring of these unions. May's personal journals, loaded with humor and intelligent reflection, describe the adventures of some very colorful white brides (including one black one), their marriages to Cheyenne warriors, and the natural abundance of life on the prairie before the final press of the white man's civilization. Fergus is gifted in his ability to portray the perceptions and emotions of women. He writes with tremendous insight and sensitivity about the individual community and the political and religious issues of the time, many of which are still relevant today. This book is artistically rendered with meticulous attention to small details that bring to life the daily concerns of a group of hardy souls at a pivotal time in U.S. history.

Water For Elephants

We just finished reading Water for Elephants. Everyone seemed to like it. My very basic synopsis is that it's a depression-era novel about a circus train. But, more than that, it's a love story. I was a bit put off by the circus theme when this book was first suggested, not being a big circus fan mayself, but I couldn't put it down after reading the first two pages. Being the group history buff, I loved the aspects that related to life during the Depression. The animal lovers in our group found some parts a bit hard to get through. We have one woman who works in a long-term care facility and said that author Sara Gruen really hit the nail on the head with her descriptions of the main character's life in a nursing home. Anyone else want to add anything here? Click on the comment button below.

Thanks, Reid!

Wow! I can't believe I'm blogging! Setting up my account was really easy, but I had to think of a screen name. Hmmm, something about kayaking? Or living on the creek? Or knitting (wrong blog) sooo, I decided on jayne the librarian, and here I am! I haven't started a new book since our meeting Monday. I'm waiting on Amazon to deliver Istanbul for my other book club and have to have it read by the 16th. Meanwhile I checked out What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman. It's about 2 children who disappear from a shopping center and years later someone appears claiming to be one of them. Lippman is from Baltimore and it sounds like the case of the daughters of that newsman who disappeared years ago in the DC area.
Oh, this is addictive! Best get back to work.
jayne the librarian