The Goodbye Quilt by Susan Wiggs -Linda Davis's local fabric shop is a place where women gather to share their creations: wedding quilts, baby quilts, memorial quilts, each bound tight with dreams, hopes and yearnings.
Now, as her only child readies for college, Linda is torn between excitement for Molly and heartache for herself. Who will she be when she is no longer needed in her role as mom?
As mother and daughter embark on a cross-country road trip to move Molly into her dorm, Linda pieces together the scraps that make up Molly's young life—the hem of a christening gown, a snippet from a Halloween costume. And in the stitching of each bit of fabric, Linda discovers that the memories of a shared journey can come together in a way that will keep them both warm in the years to come…. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0778313220/ref=rdr_ext_tmb
Our Next Meeting is January 29th 2012 ...........Kelly Bell
Five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work. Link to bookon Amazon
Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.
Our next meeting is.....November 20th, 7pm
Our next hostess is..... Joanne Smith
Our next Book Club Selection is : The Room : a novel by Emma Donoghue
In her best-selling debut, Commencement, J. Courtney Sullivan explored the complicated and contradictory landscape of female
friendship.
Now, in her highly anticipated second novel, Sullivan takes
us into even richer territory, introducing four unforgettable women who
have nothing in common but the fact that, like it or not, they’re
family.
For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in
packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a
piano. Their beachfront property, won on a barroom bet after the war,
sits on three acres of sand and pine nestled between stretches of rocky
coast, with one tree bearing the initials “A.H.” Search inside this book
At the cottage, built
by Kelleher hands, cocktail hour follows morning mass, nosy
grandchildren snoop in drawers, and decades-old grudges simmer beneath
the surface. As three generations of Kelleher women descend on
the property one summer, each brings her own hopes and fears. Maggie is
thirty-two and pregnant, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her
imperfect boyfriend the news; Ann Marie, a Kelleher by marriage, is
channeling her domestic frustration into a dollhouse obsession and an
ill-advised crush; Kathleen, the black sheep, never wanted to set foot
in the cottage again; and Alice, the matriarch at the center of it all,
would trade every floorboard for a chance to undo the events of one
night, long ago. By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine
unveils the sibling rivalry, alcoholism, social climbing, and Catholic
guilt at the center of one family, along with the, often
irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and
to each other. Link and the authors blog
October 23rd .........Sue Torosian
In 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald announced his decision to write "something new--something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned." That extraordinary, beautiful, intricately patterned, and above all, simple novel became The Great Gatsby, arguably Fitzgerald's finest work and certainly the book for which he is best known. A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning--" Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.
It's also a love story, of sorts, the narrative of Gatsby's quixotic passion for Daisy Buchanan. The pair meet five years before the novel begins, when Daisy is a legendary young Louisville beauty and Gatsby an impoverished officer. They fall in love, but while Gatsby serves overseas, Daisy marries the brutal, bullying, but extremely rich Tom Buchanan. After the war, Gatsby devotes himself blindly to the pursuit of wealth by whatever means--and to the pursuit of Daisy, which amounts to the same thing. "Her voice is full of money," Gatsby says admiringly, in one of the novel's more famous descriptions. His millions made, Gatsby buys a mansion across Long Island Sound from Daisy's patrician East Egg address, throws lavish parties, and waits for her to appear. When she does, events unfold with all the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama, with detached, cynical neighbor Nick Carraway acting as chorus throughout. Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose, The Great Gatsby is as perfectly satisfying as the best kind of poem. Book Summary and Movie Trailer below
Jay (Robert Redford) and Daisy (Mia Farrow) reminisce.
This months book club is September 25th.....Joyce Charpentier
Upcoming:
October 23rd .........Sue Torosian
November 20th ....Joanne Smith
December is a Pass - Happy Holidays
Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer Check out this wonderful video of Nancy Thayer on Surfside beach which is featured in the novel
and as she reads from Beachcombers:
Reflections from Nancy.
Twenty-seven years ago, I’d been divorced for three years. I lived with my small son and daughter, our two cats and one dog, in a Massachusetts college town. I’d dated a bit, unsuccessfully, and I was feeling so pessimistic about romance that I decided I’d forget men and buy a horse. Seriously.
Then I came to Nantucket for the first time to visit a friend, and I met a friend of hers--a man named Charley, tall, blue-eyed, kind, who read books and owned a record store. We sat up all night talking, and now we’ve been married twenty-five years.
Since then I’ve believed in the healing power of this island. And also in the healing power of change. Of taking a chance. Of dragging ourselves out of our pity pit and trying something new.
Healing isn’t an easy process, and change isn’t easy either, as the sisters and Marina discover. The four women strive and dream and discover that life has surprises in store for them. It’s like beachcombing--you never can guess what’s going to be lying there, waiting for you. Or whether you’re going to be brave enough to take what life offers, or strong enough to take it all. Only seashells on the beach can be lifted away easily and free.
I’ve dedicated this book to my younger sister, Martha, who has always been so important in my life. I’m fascinated by sisters, and by families. It seems that those we struggle with are often the ones who also heal us--and who care that we are healed. There are many kinds of romantic and family love in Beachcombers, as in life.
This book was recommended by Fran Cooley.
The next book club is Sunday August 28th, 2011 - Hosted by: Mary Marotta
Watch the movie The Help before book club (here is the trailer and link to local times) so we can discuss the movie! The Help was our book club selection in January 2010.
Our book selection for the month of June is ..... Kiss the Girls by James Patterson Here is a quick review of the book from Amazon. Casanova is a collector of something rare
and beautiful....women. When he sees one he thinks is both beautiful and rare,
he takes them and keeps them in his personal collection. The problem comes when
he takes a family member of Alex Cross, a dectieve. Alex is soon on the case to
get back the one he loves. There are also murders across the coast on the
opposite side of the states. Could there be two serial killers wanting to out do
each other? Or are they working together? If so, how can Alex Cross stop them
both? I suggest that you read the book if you want to find out. Alex Cross is an interesting character. I liked how he had an instant bond
with Kate. It seems that Kate and Alex we're almost a mirror image of each
other. When it comes to fiction, it's important to have "good" good guys, but I feel
it's more important to have better bad guys. Patterson accomplishes this.
Cassanova and The Gentleman are *incredible* some of the things that Casanova
does is out right creepy. The style that Patterson writes in take a little getting used to. It's in
both first and third person. When you get used to that, it's a sinch to read. The chapters are quick and short.
Next Book Club is - June 26th @Fran Cooley's.
Other Recommendations this week
Julie recommends Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Albom’s first nonfiction book since Tuesdays with Morrie, Have A Little Faithbegins with an unusual request: an 82-year-old rabbi from Albom’s old hometown asks him to deliver his eulogy. Feeling unworthy, Albom insists on understanding the man better, which throws him back into a world of faith he’d left years ago. Meanwhile, closer to his current home, Albom becomes involved with a Detroit pastor – a reformed drug dealer and convict – who preaches to the poor and homeless in a decaying church with a hole in its roof.
Moving between their worlds, Christian and Jewish, African-American and white, impoverished and well-to-do, Mitch observes how these very different men employ faith similarly in fighting for survival: the older, suburban rabbi, embracing it as death approaches; the younger, inner-city pastor relying on it to keep himself and his church afloat.
As America struggles with hard times and people turn more to their beliefs, Mitch and the two men of God explore issues that perplex modern man: how to endure when difficult things happen; what heaven is; intermarriage; forgiveness; doubting God; and the importance of faith in trying times. Although the texts, prayers and histories are different, Albom begins to realize a striking unity between the two worlds - and indeed, between beliefs everywhere.
In the end, as the rabbi nears death and a harsh winter threatens the pastor’s wobbly church, Albom sadly fulfills the last request and writes the eulogy. And he finally understands what both men had been teaching all along: the profound comfort of believing in something bigger than yourself.
Have a Little Faith is a book about a life’s purpose; about losing belief and finding it again; about the divine spark inside us all. It is one man’s journey, but it is everyone’s story. Have A Little Faith debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. It was chosen by Oprah.com as the Best Nonfiction Book of 2009
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night -Time
Mark Haddon's bitterly funny debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a murder mystery of sorts--one told by an autistic version of Adrian Mole. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers.
Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to discover just who has murdered Wellington. He is encouraged by Siobhan, a social worker at his school, to write a book about his investigations, and the result--quirkily illustrated, with each chapter given its own prime number--is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Haddon's novel is a startling performance. This is the sort of book that could turn condescending, or exploitative, or overly sentimental, or grossly tasteless very easily, but Haddon navigates those dangers with a sureness of touch that is extremely rare among first-time novelists.
Next Meeting - March 27th .... Julie Bigelow's April's meeting will be May 1st......Elizabeth Raymond
I read this months selection The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night -Time on Joyce;s ipad. The book was only 120 pages and I was able to breeze through reading in no time. It was interesting to see firsthand how I could change the font size, highlight, take notes and hyperlink within the novel. Learn more about iBooks – A novel way to buy and read books. You’ll be even more well read once you get your hands on iBooks. Download the iBooks app from the App Store. Load up on books from the iBookstore. Take them to more places than you’d ever take a regular book. And right when you pull one out on your iPad, you’ll be pulled right in.
Learn more by watching
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Anyone else using a Kindle or a Nook for reading?
Joyce can you bring the ipad to show everyone on Sunday?
One rainy day in Brooklyn, Jennings Michael Burch's mother, too sick to care for him, left him at an orphanage, saying only, "I'll be right back." She never returned. Shuttled through a series of bleak foster homes and institutions, he never remained in any of them long enough to make a friend. Instead, Jennings clung to a tattered stuffed animal, his sole source of warmth in a frightening world. This is the poignant story of his lost childhood. But it is also the triumphant tale of a little boy who finally gained the courage to reach out for love-and found it waiting for him.
Now, as her only child readies for college, Linda is torn between excitement for Molly and heartache for herself. Who will she be when she is no longer needed in her role as mom?
