As you know from last week's post, I am working my way through Pride and Prejudice. Last week's image shows my edition held together with rubber bands; I have progressed to duct tape - evidence to all of you who doubted that I have the tenacity to finish this book that I am indeed opening it. So far, so good...more to come next week.
Book group #1 met on Friday to discuss Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. This was Stephanie's choice and she was a little nervous about it. However, we had one of our best discussions ever and it got me thinking about the reading preferences of those in our group. Since it's summer, there has been a lot of casual reading, popular picks and mysteries. One member collects suggestions from friends and family and adds them to an impressively long Want-to-Read list. Preferences include dialogue over narrative, narrative over dialogue, unambiguous endings, reality over fantasy, gritty plot and character....I love that we're not on the same page, so to speak.
I have lost count on how many years this group has been together. It has taken a couple different formations, but we are now a stable group. Finally, in 2007, we began recording what we read. At each meeting, everyone jots a thought or two on our title in a notebook. Looking back, we have had many books that we all enjoyed. Sadly, there have been misses...books that have just tanked and have had more than one reader fuming over the perceived wasted time. Also sadly, many of the disliked books were my choices.
These are some of the books that haven't flown....*'d titles were my selections
- *West with the Night....I will forever be a champion of this book, Markham took me away with her storytelling
- The Art of Hearing Heartbeats...framed story, predictable
- *Vampires in the Lemon Grove....short stories each paying homage to a significant piece of literature ranging from To Kill a Mockingbird to The Communist Manifesto
- The Life List..pretty obvious book, hits you over the head with lessons
- *A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar..even I hated this one
- The Lonely Polygamist and The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint - introduced me to Brady Udall. Layered. Intense. Provocative...great characters and intelligent plots
- *The Life of Pi - maybe being a philosophy minor helped; first half was enlightening, the second half put all the ideas from part 1 into action. Captivating.
- *Valley of the Dolls - satisfying period piece
- *The Family Fang - dark comedy, could be helpful to understand theatre people
- Mennonite in a Little Black Dress
- *A Reliable Wife
- *Olive Kitteridge
- *Star Lake Saloon and Housekeeping Cottages
- *Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Thanks for stopping by.
