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Lunch Time Book Discussion Group|
Join us for this lunch time book discussion group on the fourth Wednesday of every month at 1 p.m. in the library's 2nd floor conference room. We discuss the books we've been reading and share ideas about what to read next. December 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 These are the books we discussed in August 2005:
Historic American Covered Bridges by Brian J. McKee There are more than 1000 covered bridges in the United States and this book of photographs gives details about 150 of the best. Of local interest is the Green Sergeants Covered Bridge in Hunterdon County. Libby Shanefield: “Inspired by this book, we turned a recent trip to visit relatives in New York into a covered bridge hunt. I highly recommend this book for by-way explorers.”
The story of Leo, an elderly Holocaust survivor living in New York, merges with fourteen year-old Alma, who is trying to set-up her widowed mother. Kristin Pehnke: “I love this book, and am so happy to recommend it. Krauss is an absolutely wonderful writer, completely charming.”
This partly autobiographical novel tells to story of four sisters leaving their comfortable lives in the Dominican Republic to live in the United States. Julie Wepplo: “Julia Alvarez is one of my favorite authors and I am re-reading all of her novels this summer.”
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea A novel full of magical realism about a young orphan girl with spiritual powers living in a primitive, but wealthy world. Lucy Mackenzie: “This book got marvelous reviews, but I’m about to give up on it.”
An antiquarian book dealer has a stroke that destroys his personal memories, but his knowledge of books remains intact. He investigates his past by exploring history. Barbara Silberstein: “I couldn’t read this in my life, but I can listen to it on my MP3 player.”
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy While hunting antelope the “old man” finds two dead bodies, a load of heroin, and two million dollars. This extremely violent novel explores the results of that discovery in the American Southwest and Mexico. Lucy Mackenzie: “This wasn’t as good as McCarthy’s other works; I had to push myself to finish.”
Caroline Wardlaw: “I could hear teenage girls today having the identical conversations to the ones in this novel; good books don’t age. This is Austen’s funniest novel.”
The author is a Renaissance scholar at Cambridge and he draws on previously unused sources like Mary’s letters and secret correspondence from spies. Portrays Mary as an adroit diplomat who deftly maneuvers between the French, English, and Scottish powers while also balancing Protestant and Catholic zealotry. Linda Sipprelle: “I highly recommend this biography. It is full of interesting relationships and the grievous machinations of those trying to get and keep power.”
Stella Crown is a dairy farmer in Pennsylvania whose farm is being sabotaged and an aggressive land developer is the likely suspect. Local children are dying from an unidentified virus and Stella must determine if the events are connected. Caroline Wardlaw: “I was impressed with how the author dealt with the struggle of the small farmer, but ultimately disappointed with how the misdoings were the result of an individual and not an indictment of the larger problems in modern, conventional agriculture.”
A sequel to How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, this novel picks up with the publication of that book and the family’s unfavorable reaction to their portrayal in it. Each chapter is a family member’s version of what “really” happened. Julie Wepplo: “This book is very good; it can be read on its own.”
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The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco; translated by Geoffrey Brock
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart by John Guy
Till the Cows Come Home by Judy Clemens
Yo! by Julia Alvarez
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