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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 September 2005:
A mystery set in the wonderful city of Venice. This series stars Commissario Guido Brunetti, who must deal with the rising waters in the canals. Lucia Acosta: “This is a wonderful series, de Brunetti is so believable, and you like him. I am now listening to A Noble Radiance, by the same author and read by Anna Fields, and it is also wonderful.”
A wonderful book for children. Libby Shanefield: “To revive my French I am going to start reading children’s books in French.”
A terrible hot-air balloon accident kills a man and has repercussions in the lives of all who witness the tragedy. One of the witnesses, Joe, becomes involved in a love triangle when another man at the scene becomes obsessed with him. The wife of the man killed finds evidence of an affair and doubt begins to destroy her memories of her husband. Catherine Harper: “The title of this novel should be Enduring Love? McEwan explores the fragility of love in this novel. Enduring Love directed by Roger Michell, screenplay by Joe Penhall, based on the novel by Ian McEwan A film based on the novel by the same name with an all British cast. Kristin Pehnke: “This film was so pervasively creepy that my head felt infected after watching it. I do not recommend watching this at night by yourself.”
This novel is about code-breakers deciphering the Nazi code during World War II. Jane Brown: “A very good book, and I hate to think about what the world would be like if they hadn’t succeeded.”
Fatherland by Robert Harris A detective story set in 1964 in a world where the Nazi’s won the war. Jane Brown: “Another good book by Harris.”
The Growing Seasons: An American Boyhood Before the War by Samuel Hynes Hines was born in 1926 and grew up in the American West during the Great Depression. Libby Shanefield: “This was a well-written book.”
A doctoral student in History goes on a quest for the tomb of Dracula after receiving a mysterious book and his mentor disappears. The story is reconstructed through the eyes of his daughter, who is also caught up in the quest. Caroline Wardlaw: “This book was really good when the characters were searching for the historical Dracula and using clues found in archives to piece together the mystery of the location of the tomb, but when people started being bitten I began to be disappointed.”
This novel is a fictionalized telling of the journey Louis and Clark tookacross America. The title comes from the letter from Lewis asking Clark to join him on the expedition. Jane Brown: “This was good two-thirds of the way through, but the journey back just went on and on and on for far too long.”
Jane Brown: “This book was utterly forgettable, but it was fun and a great beach read.”
Set in Washington D. C. in the 1950’s these ten short stories explore the childhood of a young man realizing he is gay. His diplomat father and unhappy mother (whose clothes he like to try on) play a significant role in this work of semi-autobiographical fiction. Janey Hermann: “The beautiful cover caught my eye, but the beautifully written prose is what really stuck with me.”
Mum’s the Word by Kate Collins The first in a new mystery series that has a flower shop owner Abby Knight as the sleuth. A local boy is killed and Abby thinks she spots the getaway car, so she and ex-cop and potential beau Marco begin to track down the killer. Caroline Wardlaw: “Easy to read, but completely forgettable. There is much better fluff out there.”
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz; translated by William M. Hutchins and Olive E. Kenny Jane Brown: “I was excited to read the first book of this series set in Egypt, but it didn’t live up to the hype. The characters didn’t grab me, I was annoyed by the treatment of women, and I just wasn’t compelling.”
Purple Cane Road by James Lee Burke This is good detective fiction; it’s set in Louisiana and the author creates a whole community in New Iberia. Jane Brown: “Burke is a good writer, and this book was timely since it is set in a real town in Louisiana – I wondered how it fared during Hurricane Katrina.”
Hannah is one of the two wives of Elkanah in this fictionalized story of Biblical characters. The two wives alternate as narrators of each chapter and give an effective portrayal of a woman’s life in that time. Lucia Acosta: “I really loved The Red Tent, and I was hoping this book would be similar, but it was only a silly love story. If the author said they had a VCR in the house I wouldn’t have been surprised.”
The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra, translated by John Cullen This novel is set in Afghanistan during the Taliban rule and focuses on two couples whose very different lives intersect. The narrative if formal and there is less character development than in Western literature. Sue Roth: “This novel is unrelenting grim in its description of life in Afghanistan; it conveys the terrible drought the people suffered through in addition to the economic and social difficulties. Although it doesn’t compare to The Kite Runner, I do recommend it but with the warning that it is an upsetting book.
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Acqua Alta by Donna Leon
Babar by Laurent de Brunhoff
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
Enigma by Robert Harris
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
I Should Be Extremely Happy in Your Company by Brian Hall
Killer Smile by Lisa Scottoline
Mother of Sorrows by Richard McCann
The Song of Hannah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy
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