What We Are Reading:

Book Clubs Weigh In

 

 

 

 

By Nancy K. Crevier

Readers love to share with others the books about which they feel passionate. This past summer, Newtown Bee employees shared with our readers what they were reading. Expanding on that, we will take a look this winter at what local book clubs are reading, what they love or do not love, and why certain books stand out for their clubs, and even how the clubs select books.

Each month, comments from participating book clubs will appear in this column, along with a posting on The Newtown Bee Facebook page.

The JULIETs (Just Us Librarians In Engaging Talk), four former librarians who have been meeting for years to discuss books of all shapes and sizes, recently decided to select a classic.

“We chose Uncle Tom’s Cabin [by Harriet Beecher Stowe],” writes their correspondent, Lee Jaworksi. “It was a book we all knew about, but which none of us had read. It was a revelation. It told the story of slavery in our country from several perspectives. It was not, however, polemic. The story was thoughtful and beautifully written. Mrs Stowe is a compelling and gifted writer. She is still a voice in the history of human experience. The fact that so many of her characters became stereotypes is a tribute to her talent,” said The JULIETs. This book club recommended Uncle Tom’s Cabin as “a good read, well-written, and a compelling critique against slavery.”

Also focusing on slavery was another local club, which read The Known World by Edward Jones. Briefly, “It is about free blacks who owned black slaves in the antebellum south,” this club reported. Several members of this club struggled to finish the book, calling it “hard going,” with many names to remember and keep straight. The members who did finish the book called it a worthwhile selection. This club is currently reading The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka, an epic family story that spans several generations of a family living in Malaya, and told from the viewpoints of many characters.

The C.H. Booth Library Non-Fiction Book Club selected The Lost City of Z by David Grann, for its November selection, and called it “a provocative page-turner.

“After all, what’s not to like about cryptic maps, false clues, poison dart-throwing cannibals, and mysterious disappearance in the Amazon rainforest?” asked member Dottie Evans. The book researches the life of famed 19th Century British explorer Percy Fawcett.

Ms Evans went on to say, “According to tales told by the Spanish conquistadors from centuries past, a fabulous city known as Z lay hidden deep within the Brazilian rain forest and was home to a highly advanced civilization. Fawcett’s early expeditions to map this unknown area of the world for the Royal Geographic Society evolved into an obsessive search for Z’ After multiple harrowing encounters, Fawcett somehow survived, managing to mount his next, even more ambitious expedition. That is, until the final one in 1925 from which he never returned. In 2005, author David Grann sets out to solve two intriguing mysteries — what happened to Percy Fawcett and does the Lost City of Z really exist?”

Next up, the Non-Fiction Book Club will read Tracy Kidder’s Strength In What Remains.

The Benvenuto Cellini Society recently read The Given Day by Dennis LeHane, reported member Gordon Williams.

“Members of this all-male book club found it a most interesting read,” he said. “Set in Boston during and right after World War I, the story concerns an Irish family. The father is high up in police ranks, one son is a lawyer, and another a budding copper. This new cop is sent to spy on all the radical groups abounding in the city at the time, only to find that his sympathies are aroused by some of these groups and the plight of the poor in Boston. The book concludes with the Boston Police Strike,” Mr Williams reported.

The Benvenuto Cellini Society found the book to have great characters, read at a good pace, was historically accurate, and was “even a page turner at times.” It is Mr Williams’ opinion that The Given Day is the best book Dennis LeHane has written.

In October, another local book club began reading Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Other books that they have read this past year include The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, with the comment, “Kind of scary to think that we do this to people in the name of science.” The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein was a lighter read for this group and elicited the comment, “Nice, funny story. You look a dogs differently after reading it.” A book that made members think was The Good Wife by Stewart O’Nan.

The Mystery Mavens had a lively discussion, said Liz Arneth, a member of the mystery book group, over The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.

“Why has Flavia de Luce captured the imaginations of so many mystery readers?” this group asked. “There was some disagreement over the fact that Flavia seemed to be too brilliant for an 11-year-old who didn’t go to school, but was self-educated because she had access to her father’s extensive library. The absences of the mother was a pervasive theme,” they noted. The sisters in the novel do not get along, and Flavia spends time dwelling on punishing her sisters. “We decided that the dissention between the sisters was believable and regaled each other with stories of our own childhoods and some of the dastardly deed we did in the throes of sibling rivalry,” said Ms Arneth.

The Mystery Mavens were in agreement that The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is an entertaining, imaginative mystery, and wondered how children would react to the book. This book is “heartily recommended” by The Mystery Mavens.

Become a fan, if you are not already, and join in conversation about these selections by visiting the Newtown Bee Facebook page this week.

If your book club is not already participating, please contact Nancy@thebee.com for information. The more the merrier!