Jack Says...

I read a couple of negative reviews on the book which doubted that the writer had done proper research.

I bought the kindle version of the book and started reading. One instance that the reviewer mentioned was about John Brown and saying that the book stated that he was executed in 1861. No. I got to that point of the book and it has the correct time period of John Browns execution and it does later mention that Jackson wrote a letter in 1861 about John Browns execution. Perhaps the reviewer was confused. Another point that the reviewer said was inaccurate was that Major General Robert E. Lee, a ranking officer, gave Jackson his first command at Harper's Ferry. His claim is that Lee was not a major general or ranking officer at that time. So I did the research and YES Robert E. Lee was appointed April 18th as a Major General, a ranking officer and he gave the orders to Jackson on the 26th of April.

So the book is right and the reviewer wrong. One of those cases where you don't believe the reviews.

Discussion of The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause

We met December 3rd to discuss L Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause.

In attendance were:

Dave
Mary
Darryl
Barbara
Jack
Shelia

 This book was a short quick read. This one was chosen for it's holiday theme, and because those of us associated with schools are very busy at this time of year and we needed something light and fast. 

The discussion was entertaining and lively. Unfortunately I posted this quite late and backdated it (!!) so I'm afraid I don't remember much of the discussion.

Our next book was chosen at this meeting, it will be S. C. Gwynne's "Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson". We will meet to discuss that book January 21st.

 We also chose the next book, Gregory McGuire's Wicked, which we will discuss Feb 25th.

Discussion of The Book Thief

We met Thursday to discuss The Book Thief.

In attendance were:

Dave
Mary
Darryl
Barbara
Jack
Shelia

Most of us completed the book, and everyone who completed the book enjoyed the read. We set aside 6 weeks for this read as the page count was over 600 pages, but the book is a very fast read. Mary and Dave both completed it within a few days.

The discussion was a little light on this book. There are publisher book club questions, and we did consider a couple of those, but the discussion never really took off.

We spent quite a bit of discussion time on what we want to read after L Frank Baum's "The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause". We seemed to collectively settle on history or biography, but there isn't anything on the current list that appeals. It seemed figures from the american revolution held the most appeal, but several other suggestions were offered including a biography of Custer.

Dave will put four new entries on the list that are biographies or histories, and others should send emails or comment below, with suggested history or biography books they are interested in for December into January.

Our next meeting is scheduled for 3 December, to discuss L Frank Baum's "The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause".

Discussion of Master and Margarita

We met and discussed Bulgakov's Master and Margarita 24 Sept. In attendance were Dave & Mary Darryl & Barbara Jack & Sheliah Alice This selection was not well read by our group, with only 1 person completing it. We previously selected The Book Thief, and will meet for that discussion November 12th. Our next selection after that is L Frank Baum's "The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause". We plan to meet 3 December for that discussion.

Discussion of The Anansi Boys

We met on the 27th of August to discuss The Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. In attendance were: Darryl and Barbara Jack and (Virtual) Shelia Alice Mary and Dave There was some discussion of suspension of disbelieve required to accept the range of odd things that happen in the book. We also talked about the relationship between Fat Charlie and his fiance, compared to the characters at the beginning of Neverworld, where a similar relationship dynamic appears to be going on between the main character and his fiance. There was no consensus on whether Spider and Charlie were "brothers", were actually the same person, or in exactly what way they were related to one another. A point was made about the uni-dimensionality of many of the characters, and what that does to the story. There was some discussion of what race folks assumed Fat Charlie and other characters in the novel were. Gaiman is not explicit about the race of the characters. Some of our readers assumed they were white, while others assumed they were black, with various points made on either side of the discussion. Our next selection, Master and Margarita, fails on one key point of the bookclub: it is not available on Kindle. The group chose to keep the selection as most of us already had in hand, or on order, print copies of it anyway. Some who read mostly on Kindle agreed they would simply order the print book from amazon or pick it up in a used book store.' We will meet on the 24th of September to discuss The Master and Margarita Several members who moved out of town this year have indicated interest in still participating in the club, perhaps via Skype or teleconference. I'm working on a solution that will allow those who cant be physically present, to still be able to participate, so more on that shortly. Our choice for October is The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. Mary suggests a movie night following this read, to watch the movie.

The Anansi Boys

Hello Readers,

Hopefully everyone is finding this selection entertaining.

Our meeting is set for Thursday, 27 August, at 7PM.

From those who have finished the work, I hear positive things.  Looking forward to the discussion.

For discussion, this list of questions may be useful to consider.

An interview with David McCullough on The Wright Brothers

We are in our second week of The Wright Brothers. Hopefully everyone is on target to reach somewhere near page 200 by this coming Thursday, 2 July!

Our next meeting is set for 16 July.

Darryl sends this link for everyone's edification:

Interview with Wright Brothers author

Discussion of The Warden

We met June 18th to discuss Anthony Trollope's "The Warden" Readership of the selection, and attendance to the meeting, reached a historic low on this selection. In attendance were: Mary & Dave Barbara & Darryl Catherine Alice Of those attending, several had started the book but found it unappealing and did not complete it. Only one individual completed this reading. The next meeting date is set for July 16th, with our previously selected "The Wright Brothers" by David McCullough. Following The Wright Brothers, we will read Neil Gaiman's "Anansi Boys"

Henrietta Lacks genome

Doing a little research on Henrietta Lacks, I came across this 2013 New York Times article that indicates  the National Institutes of Health did come to an agreement with the family of Henrietta Lacks for the use of the HeLa cell line for medical research.

Her cervical cancer (which she died of) was caused by HPV infection, they have found its location in her genome.  That's likely why her cells are so resilient as well, permitting their long term use as a research tool.

I note the agreement did not include financial compensation to the family. Instead a research review board has been established, and the Lacks family has two seats on the board.

One big concern with genomic research is privacy concerns for descendants.  I look forward to that as a topic of discussion in this meeting.

There's a collection of supplemental materials including interviews with Rebecca Skloot and Deborah Lacks available here.

Hopefully everyone is somewhere close to page 100 of the current selection.

Discussion of Stranger in a Strange Land

We met on April 30th to discuss Stranger in a Strange Land.   In attendance were:

Dave & Mary
Darryl & Barbara
Katherine
Alice
Kwame
Gayla

Barbara opened the discussion with observations about the statuary of Rodin referenced in the book. The statues are the Fallen Caryatid and the She who used to be beautiful Heaulimiere.

In the edition she read, the cover shows the Fallen Caryatid, but not the one Michael actually purchased for Jubal, the Heaulimiere!  My copy does not show a statue on the cover, but we looked up the two statues on google images and discussed them at some length, including why the publisher may have chosen the one for the cover rather than the one Michael gave to Jubal.  Barbara found a poem associated with the Heaulimiere, but it was too long to read for the group, so instead we read Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone by Shari Zollinger.

The discussion was very lively.  I chose questions from LitLovers, but really they weren't necessary and didn't get used in the discussion.  The discussion focused on religion, polyamory, and how to understand the Martians, including how Michael could have been raised by the martians given how they raised their own young, and how to think about the Old Ones.

Of those who had read the book, it seemed most folks enjoyed the book.  It was a re-read for a few people, who noted the book didn't carry the same meaning as we remembered from when we read it as teenagers.

Our next read is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.  We selected The Warden to follow Henrietta Lacks.

We did not identify anyone for the poem next time.  If anyone would like to volunteer, you could comment here, or shoot me an email message.

Discussion of The Big Sleep

We met 23 January to discuss The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.  In attendance were:

Dave & Mary

Jack and Shelia

Darryl and Barbara

Alice

Katherine

Kwame

Darryl kicked off the meeting with a reading from the novel, a passage exemplifying the author's descriptive writing of a scene.  

Most folks seemed to feel the novel reads quickly, and didnt find the writing style difficult.  Several expressed difficulty with the pacing of the novel, finding it slow and uninteresting.

Most in attendance did finish the novel.  Some discussion centered on the several plot twists that occur throughout the book.

Most felt the characters of the two daughters were not well developed, particularly the younger sister.  Marlow was seen as either a dark hero and moral, or as a pragmatist.

I used the mppl site for questions when necessary to advance the discussion, those questions can be found here: http://mppl.org/check-it-out/book-discussion-questions-the-big-sleep/

Our next read, selected in December, is Anthony Doerr "All the Light We Cannot See".  At 550 pages, that novel is a 6-week read, so the date for that meeting is set for 5 March.  For March we selected a short read, Jack Keroack "On The Road", taking us somewhat back into American canonical works.  Keroack is one of the best known of the beat authors.

Our newest member Kwame agreed to select a poem for reading for the next meeting, and Alice said she would look for one as well.

Regarding future choices, a preference was indicated to move in the direction of more "punishing" works, and away from the lighter and shorter works of the last several months.  An active side-discussion of David McCullough "John Adams" led to a suggestion we try either history or biography as a selection soon.  I'll check the lists and suggestions sent previously (you can see those on the notes page of the blog) to see if anything previously suggested but not already on the list qualifies.  The McCullough "John Adams" was on our choices list already.