Women of the silk

review by Amy

In attendance: Jayne M., Jane E., Frances, Carolyn, Pam, and Amy. Thadd (Jayne M's son) was also there, built a great fire, and it was nice to catch up with his plans.

Frances went overboard with an array of Chinese-inspired snacks (fried rice, shrimp rolls, sauces, noodles, etc.), tea and wine. At first everyone said they enjoyed the book, until Jane E. dared to say she didn't. No one disagreed with her opinion that it was hard to keep the characters straight and that the story was oversimplified. "Better to just reread The Good Earth" was her remark, more or less. Much of the story seemed to rely on what was not said between the characters, which revealed a lot about Chinese culture. However, as Pam pointed out, it was a great introduction for someone who knows nothing of China during this time period and what life might have been like for young women there. Frances is ordering the sequel, which might be interesting for the group to read one day.

I think there will be some good follow-up discussion, although few suggestions were offered. In bringing up the lesbian element to the story, and the atmosphere that these girls lived in, and that there didn't seem to be one sympathetic male character (save the brother of Lin [was that Pei's friend's name?]), I recalled a book I read several years ago about an ethnic group in China, near Tibet, that is matrilineal. Sons live with their mother. Daughters can take as many lovers as they like and raise the children themselves along with their sisters and mother. The core of the family is the mother and her home, but I forget all the details about how this system really works. It's called "Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the End of the World."

Interesting List

Found this list of favorite book club books for December.

1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
2. The Boy in Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
3. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
4. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
7. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
8. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
9. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
10. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
11. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
12. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
13. The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty
14. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
15. March by Geraldine Brooks
16. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
17. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
18. Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern
19. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
20. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
21. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
22. World Without End by Ken Follett
23. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones
24. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
25. Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

Blogging, meetings, etc.

Hello book club members!

First of all I would like to thank all our new folks for joining us. I hope you stick with it. You have all been invited to be authors on this blog. You will need to create a blogger account to do that. I would love it if people would help me keep this up with interesting updates on things we discussed and links to articles and movies we reference. Or you can just comment below an entry to keep it interactive. This blog is open to the general public so let's keep it on a first name basis for privacy.

Also - We now have 12 people on the rosters, which is probably the maximum we can handle between the food, the living room and getting a word in edgewise. Let's hold off on inviting anyone new for a little while.

Here is a schedule of upcoming events:(all events start at 7 at Reid's).

March 2: Free Read. Potluck. Topic should relate somehow to Change of Heart. Book, movie, article etc.

April 6: Women of the Silk Frances's Choice. Book host will bring the food and info on the author as well as discussion topics. Please remember to bring a favorite quote or passage to meetings.

May 4: Free Read. Potluck.

June 1: Loving Frank Carolyn's Choice

July 6: Free Read. Potluck. (possible summer break)

August 3: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. Reid's choice.

September 7: free read. potluck

Change of Heart

Here's are some discussion questions for Change of Heart.

This book, while not one of the best from a literary perspective, possibly generated one of the best conversations we've ever had. First of all, TEN women attended this meeting (a record) and so it was a bit challenging to even get a word in edgewise. The topics ranged from discussions on the death penalty to organ donation to gay rights. No topic was left untouched. Frances pointed out, and Reid agreed, that the book too closely followed many of the plot lines in "The Green Mile," almost to the point of seeming stolen at times. We also debated our favorite characters. Some preferred redemption-seeker Michael while others preferred wise-beyond-her-years Claire. Jane E. liked the honest voice of Lucius. Many agreed that June was underdeveloped. And Amy said she was disappointed in the "Chick Lit" relationship between the too-good-to-be-true Doctor and Maggie. We would highly recommend this book to other reading groups because of the nature of the discussions it generated, and we can't wait to see where people go with this for their free read next month. Thanks Kerri for recommending a great book!

The Quality of Life Report

Click Here for a Reading Group Guide on this book.

This was our book for December. (Hoping somebody will write a review here).

Those Who Save Us

Thanks everyone for coming last night. It was fun, though we missed
Reid, Jayne, Amanda, and Elizabeth, and I now have leftover
sachertorte.

I think we all agreed with Elizabeth's remark that Those Who Save Us
was somewhat predictable. To me, I felt that the author took a good
story line and then decided to add what was needed to give it movie
potential. Somehow, inconsistencies, lack of plot development, and
preposterous but happy coincidences are more acceptable in a movie
format. However, despite the inconsistencies, and the lengthy and
overdone sex scenes, it was a good read.

Some of us felt confused that Anna could be so cold to her adult
daughter after having sacrificed everything for her when she was a
child, and showing so much love for her early on. Perhaps this was
understandable since she had to block out her past as a survival
technique, and did not want to dwell on actions that were done in
desperation. In part, this is a theme of the entire book -- trying to
understand how such horrible events could have occurred, how people
felt about being a part of those events -- even condoning the events
-- and how survivors dealt with their past.

Frances posed the interesting possibility that Trudy's German-Jewish
survivor boyfriend Reiner was in fact a Nazi who has been in hiding as
a Jew in Minnesota all these years and that is the reason that he
suddenly must leave for Florida. Hadn't thought of that, but it's a
good possibility.

When I was in Chile, I chatted in Spanish with a blue-eyed elderly man
in the supermarket who had a strong German accent. I later thought --
this man might have been a Nazi!! He seemed so friendly and harmless
and I would have liked to have asked how it was that he had come to
Chile. Many Nazis as well as Jews escaped to South America after the
war, though he might have come for business or family. Anyway, it is
interesting to ponder the question of the "banality of evil" and
wonder what you would have done as a German or a Jew in Nazi Germany.

Pam suggested reading "The Quality of Life Report" by Meghan Daum for
the December meeting -- something light and not war related.

November meeting will be at Reid's.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Click here for a Reading Group Guide on A Thousand Splendid Suns

Well, we rarely read a book that we don't like, but this one ranks up there among our favorites. We've been floating around the literary Middle East for three months now and we're beginning to feel like experts on the region. We read Kite Runner a few years ago, but we all liked this book better. Here's another example of a guy who can give a pretty good female perspective (See One Thousand White Women) It's a book about hope and sacrifice. We found a lot to talk about with this book, which isn't always the case.

Charlie Wilson's War was recommended as a possible follow-up book or movie.

Up For October: Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum