Sunday, April 09, 2006

Book Club

In February, I picked up a brochure at the library and noticed they had a Book Club that met on Thursday afternoons once a month. I decided to attend and have found it to be enjoyable and stimulating. Most of the women are retired and some are also would-be writers. Interesting discussions and fun conversation. Here is the reading list for Spring:

February – Hosseini, Khaled, The Kite Runner
You must have heard of it my now. It was The Oregonian’s “Everybody Reads” choice of the year. About two boys growing up in Afghanistan in the 1970s.

March - Kidder, Tracey, Mountains beyond Mountains, The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World
The difference one man (with plenty of money) can make in impoverished Haiti.

April - Niffenegger, Audrey, The Time Traveler’s Wife
Some liked this time travel book. I found it awkward, disjointed and implausible.

May – Guinness, Alec – My Name Escapes Me
Waiting in line to be read. Memoirs of an actor.

After May, we break for the summer. Of course, I read other things as well and here are some of the books I’ve enjoyed lately:

Daniel, John, Rogue River Journal
Memoir of a solitary winter sojourn in an isolated cabin in southern Oregon. Mentions a connection with Osceola!

Frey, James, A Million Little Pieces
Surely you heard of the brouhaha on Oprah. Free wheeling stream-of-consciousness writing re the trials of drug rehab. Some parts proved not to be 100% true. So…is it a memoir?

Wiesel, Elie, Night
A slim but very powerful memoir of the Holocaust. Originally published in the 1970s, it is reissued with a new translation from the German.

Grandin, Temple, Animals in Translation
Tales from an incredible autistic woman who makes a difference in the lives of animals.

Meuer, Karsten, being caribou
Getting in the mood for my trip to Alaska.

Rabin, Jonathan, Waxwings
Currently on my bedside table. Set in Seattle and Puget Sound. Eugene Register-Guard’s “Book of the Month.” Half mystery, half English Lit course, some suspense.

Lappe, Frances Moore, Hope’s Edge
This author changed my life back in the 1970s. This book recounts some endeavors in other countries to make the world a better place.

Chambers, Paul, A Sheltered Life, The Unexpected History of the Giant Tortoise
More about Darwin, the Galapagos Islands, and some captivating tales of survival.

Yesterday, while I was writing this piece, the mailman knocked on my door with a box from Powell’s. My latest order. Why? you ask, when I live in Portland, do I order by mail. The answer is…it is pouring down rain and parking at Powell’s is tight and I am home with Buddy and too lazy to drive downtown. So I am also reading Mason-Dixon Knitting: The Curious Knitter’s Guide by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne (knitting bloggers and funny ladies).

I am on waiting lists at the library for the following:
Abu-Jaber, Diana, Crescent “Readin’ in the Rain” community reading program
Davis, Claire, Season of the Snake Oregonian’s Book of the Month
Dugoni, Robert, The Jury Master advertised in Time Magazine
Strayed, Cheryl, Torch good review in People Magazine

Let me know what you’ve been reading. Recommendations always welcome.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello. And Bye.

10:19 PM  

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