New Year, New Reading

Here are the books we will be reading in the first few months of 2018. All meetings will be held in the library's Sivess room at 7pm. Feel free to join us for any or all of these discussions!

January 18: Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly

Summary: Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race, "Hidden Figures" follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden, four African American women who participated in some of NASA's greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades they faced challenges, forged alliances, and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country's future. [NONFICTION]

Year Published: 2016

Length: 346 pages

February 15: The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman

Summary: When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw--and the city's zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen "guests" hid inside the Zabinskis' villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants--otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes.With her exuberant prose and exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Diane Ackerman engages us viscerally in the lives of the zoo animals, their keepers, and their hidden visitors. She shows us how Antonina refused to give in to the penetrating fear of discovery, keeping alive an atmosphere of play and innocence even as Europe crumbled around her. [NONFICTION]

Year Published: 2007

Length: 368 pages

March 15: All the Stars in the Heavens by Adriana Trigiani

Summary: The movie business is booming in 1935 when twenty-one-year-old Loretta Young meets thirty-four-year-old Clark Gable on the set of The Call of the Wild. Though he's already married, Gable falls for the stunning and vivacious young actress instantly. Far from the glittering lights of Hollywood, Sister Alda Ducci has been forced to leave her convent and begin a new journey that leads her to Loretta. Becoming Miss Young's secretary, the innocent and pious young Alda must navigate the wild terrain of Hollywood with fierce determination and a moral code that derives from her Italian roots. Over the course of decades, she and Loretta encounter scandal and adventure, choose love and passion, and forge an enduring bond of love and loyalty that will be put to the test when they eventually face the greatest obstacle of their lives.

Year Published: 2015

Length: 453 pages

April 19:  Choose Your Own! Siblings Biographies

Once again, we'll be having a book discussion in which each group member chooses her or his own book to read and reports back to the group on it. In honor of National Siblings Day in April, the book should be a biography about siblings. You are free to choose any book you'd like, but here are some examples you could use if you wish.

• The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests To The Modern World by Jack Zipes 
• Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend by Ted Yeatman
• The Jacksons Legacy by Fred Bronson
• Monkey Business: The Lives and Legends of the Marx Brothers by Simon Louvish
• The Nine of Us: Growing Up Kennedy by Jean Kennedy Smith
• Sisters: The Story of Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine by Charles Higham
• Swing It!: The Andrews Sisters Story by John Sforza
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

Looking Ahead to a New Year

Please take a moment to help us pick our future book titles. Fill out our survey to decide which books we will read for January, February, and March of 2018. The survey is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YWTY8LG and will be open until November 30.

Who's Ready for Some Reading?

Here is an update on what we'll be reading this fall:

October 19 - With ComicCon rolling into New York City this month, we'll get in the spirit of things by reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. In this novel, Joe Kavalier, a young artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdini-esque escape, has just pulled off his greatest feat to date: smuggling himself out of Nazi-occupied Prague. His cousin, Brooklyn's own Sammy Clay, is looking for a collaborator to create the heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit the American dreamscape: the comic book.As the shadow of Hitler falls across Europe and the world, the Golden Age of comic books has begun.




November 16 -  In honor of National Native American Heritage Month, we'll be reading a novel from the vast catalog of books by Chippewa author Louise Erdrich. In The Plague of Doves, Erdrich writes about the unsolved murder of a farm family that haunts the small, white, off-reservation town of Pluto, North Dakota. The vengeance exacted for this crime and the subsequent distortions of truth transform the lives of Ojibwe living on the nearby reservation and shape the passions of both communities for the next generation.






December 21 - Winter is coming! We'll enter in the Winter Solstice by discussing The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon. In this paranormal novel, nineteen-year-old Ruthie begins a search for her agoraphobic mother and discovers the century-old diary of her farmhouse's long-ago resident, a grieving mother named Sara who died under mysterious circumstances. As Ruthie gets sucked deeper into the mystery of Sara's fate, she discovers that she's not the only person who's desperately looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.




All book discussion meetings begin at 7pm. Light refreshments will be served at each. Please feel free to join us for any or all of these upcoming discussions!

And in case you were wondering -- no, you did not miss a survey. This time around the books were chosen by the book group's moderator. Starting in the new year, we will go back to our more democratic selection process of suggesting and voting for books as a group.

Summer Reading

The results of our survey are in and here are the books we'll be reading this summer!

June 22 at 7pm: The Charm Bracelet by Viola Shipman

Summary: Through an heirloom charm bracelet three women will rediscover the importance of family, love, faith, friends, fun and a passion for living as the magic of each charm changes their lives.

Year Published: 2016

Length: 298 pages

July 20 at 7pm: The Rainbow Comes and Goes by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt

Summary: Though Anderson Cooper has always considered himself close to his mother, his intensely busy career as a journalist for CNN and CBS affords him little time to spend with her. After she suffers a brief but serious illness at the age of ninety-one, they resolve to change their relationship by beginning a year-long conversation unlike any they had ever had before. The result is a correspondence of surprising honesty and depth in which they discuss their lives, the things that matter to them, and what they still want to learn about each other. [NONFICTION]

Year Published: 2016

Length: 290 pages


August 17 at 7pm: The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

Summary: Spanning decades, generations, and America in the 1940s and today, this novel is a fun-loving mystery about an Alabama woman today, and five women who in 1943 worked in a Phillips 66 gas station, during the WWII years.

Year Published: 2013

Length: 347 pages



September 21 at 7pm: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Summary: Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells--taken without her knowledge in 1951--became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew. [NONFICTION]

Year Published: 2010

Length: 381 pages

What Are Your "Beach Reads"?

It's that time again! We have yet to decide on books for the rest of the summer. Please take the survey here to let your choices be known for our upcoming titles: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LD6NMTN

The top three books voted on will be our reads for July, August, and September.The survey will close on June 1st, so make sure to respond by then if you want a say in our next reads!

To Be Read...

UPDATED WITH NEW DATES (as of 4/3/17)

Your survey answers are in and thus our next few months' worth of reading is ready!

March 20 & 21: We will be comparing and contrasting a book and its movie adaptation. [NONFICTION]

On Monday, we'll be showing the movie version of Angela's Ashes at 6pm.

Then on Tuesday, we will gather together at 7pm to discuss both the book and its movie adaptation. Join us on either day or for both!

April 20 at 7pm: Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas J. Preston

Summary: A five-hundred-year-old legend. An ancient curse. A stunning medical mystery. And a pioneering journey into the unknown heart of the world's densest jungle. Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, "The Lost City of the Monkey God" is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century. [NONFICTION]

Year Published: 2017

Length: 326 pages

May 18 at 7pm: Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik

Summary: In 1995, Adam Gopnik and his family left their familiar home in New York City and headed to the glamorous, historically rich, and romantic city of Paris, France. Here, Gopnik presents a personal memoir about his time in the City of Light and what it was like to be an American family in Paris. [NONFICTION]

Year Published: 2000

Length: 338 pages

June 22 at 7pm: The Charm Bracelet by Viola Shipman

Summary: Through an heirloom charm bracelet three women will rediscover the importance of family, love, faith, friends, fun and a passion for living as the magic of each charm changes their lives.

Year Published: 2016

Length: 298 pages

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on these books at an upcoming meeting!

Love Is in the Air...

For February, book club members read biographies about famous couples in honor of this romantic month. Each person read a book of her or his choosing and reported back to the group. This way we all learned a lot about famous couples throughout history. We also found there was plenty of room for debate about historic figures and their thoughts and motivations. Books were passed around so that everyone could look at the photographs and other images included with each title.

While we discussed the books, members also enjoyed some festive refreshments with strawberry heart treats (made using the petit hearts pan from the library's new collection of circulating cake pans), European pastries, and tea. One member also made bookmarks for everyone decorated with hearts and proverbs.

Members chose to read the following books. Below each one are some takeaways from that title.

- The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes by Janet Malcolm (1994)

• This book provided a good framework for much of our discussion. The author muses on the meaning of biography and how unbiased a biographer can actual be. Fiction is arguably "truer" than nonfiction because everything exists in the author's imagination and is written as such, whereas with nonfiction we are beholden to various interpretations and opinions as to watch actually happened. With biographies of subjects who are gone, we have to question who has permission to speak for the dead and what is true versus what is speculation. With these particular subjects, we questioned Sylvia Plath's mental state and the idea of Ted Hughes being painted as the "bad guy" in the story.
• The New York Times book review of this title: http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/27/books/the-importance-of-being-biased.html?pagewanted=all

- Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair that Shaped a First Lady by Susan Quinn (2016)

• This is one of those "hidden histories" you don't learn about in your school textbook. This book uses published and unpublished memoirs/autobiographies and letters to explore the close relationship Eleanor Roosevelt had with reporter Lorena Hickok, a relationship that may have romantic. We listened to some snippets of the letters exchanged between the two to draw our own conclusions about the nature of that relationship. This book was interesting for also providing lots of historical context beyond the relationship between the two, including recovery from the Great Depression, the 1939 World's Fair, and life during World War II.
• The New York Times book review of this title: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/books/review/eleanor-and-hick-susan-quinn.html?_r=0

- No Ordinary Time, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin (1995)

• This book dovetailed nicely with the one above. Similarly, the book was not just about the couple's relationship but also filled with lots of historical detail, as is typical with this author loved by many. There is not one love letter included in this book for as the book makes clear, this relationship was not about love with "fireworks" (except perhaps in the very beginning). FDR's affairs (and some of Eleanor's side relationships as well) are explained, and it is apparent how the two lead separate lives. But they still had similar goals in their political lives and it becomes obvious how the two worked together to progress those goals, especially for social programs. 
• The New York Times book review of this title: http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/19/books/books-of-the-times-a-monumental-presidency-and-the-telling-details.html

- I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan by Nancy Reagan (2002)

• This is a quick and easy read that is a sweet love story. You don't need to like Ronald Reagan as a president to enjoy this title. The book mostly just contains love letters but there are also some facts for context, including those about Reagan's political life and about the public outreach/education the couple did related to illnesses they had (cancer and Alzheimer's disease). The book also includes photographs of the actual letters.
• The New York Times book review of this title: http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/10/22/bib/001022.rv104246.html

- The Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self, and Home on the Far Side of the World by Tracy Slater (2015)

• This memoir is about the author's unexpectedly finding love later in life after being independent and career-minded, someone who dated but wasn't interested in marriage. A professor at Boston University, she met a man who was visiting the U.S. from Japan to take one of her courses. The two fell in love and she began splitting her time between the U.S. and Japan. The book contains many observations about cultural differences between the two countries. It is an interesting read that is not heavy and nobody dies!
• The Boston Globe book review of this title: https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2015/07/17/book-review-the-good-shufu-finding-love-self-and-home-far-side-world-tracy-slater/VSVDF6x8JxXDKxoOIbNAbL/story.html

- The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming (2008)

• While technically considered a juvenile title, this book is appealing to an adult audience as well. It is rife with information, much of which are historical details you missed out on in school. The book contains many vignette-style individual stories with interesting factoids, and the many photographs were lovely to look at while reading. While many know a lot about Honest Abe, this book provided a great deal of information about Mary Todd as well that most of us hadn't known about before. This title provided plenty of fodder for book club members to discuss Mary's mental state at various points of her life and how history has potentially maligned her reputation.
• Kirkus Reviews book review of this title: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/candace-fleming/the-lincolns-2/

- James and Dolley Madison: America's First Power Couple by Bruce Chadwick (2014)

• Like with several other couples we learned about, these two were total opposites from their upbringings to their personalities. This book talked a lot about the social scene in Washington, D.C. at the time, which was still being developed. In particular, it described the elaborate parties thrown by the Madisons and how a person was considered one of the "right people to be" if he or she got an invite from the fashionable First Lady. This book helped highlight Dolley's role in promoting James Madison and making his political career successful. 
• Kirkus Reviews book review of this title: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/bruce-chadwick/james-and-dolley-madison/

- Victoria and Albert: Their Love and Their Tragedies by Richard Hough (1996)

• Again, we learned that this historic couple was sometimes at polar opposites from one another. The relationship started as one that appeared more as a political alliance than a great romance, but the pair grew to love each other deeply and after Albert's death, Victoria mourned him for the rest of her life. This book provides a lot of history about the monarchy in Europe at the time and shows how Victoria became the "grandmother of royalty."
• Kirkus Reviews book review of this title: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/richard-hough/victoria-and-albert/

- In This Together: My Story by Ann Romney (2015)

• It was interesting to read this book in Ann Romney's own words. It is a tender love story, where it becomes obvious the role she played in her husband's political campaigns. There are many details included here that didn't come out when Mitt Romney was on the national scene as a presidential candidate. For instance, we learned about Ann Romney's struggle with multiple sclerosis and the money donated by the couple for research on neurological disorders.
• The Boston Globe book review of this title: https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2015/09/30/ann-romney-book-photos-show-personal-life/PiuOCfuq8ATYx7WmH5J4lL/story.html

Have you read any of these or any other couples' biographies? What did you think of them?

Springing Ahead

While we have our book titles picked out for the next couple of months, we still need to decide on what to read in the spring. Select your top two book choices in this survey, and the ones with the most votes will be our next reads. Please complete the survey by Wednesday, February 1. Can't wait to find out what we'll be reading this spring!

Coming Soon!

Here's a reminder and an update about our upcoming winter titles and meetings.

December 20: We will be reading two books, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford.

We will be having a holiday cookie exchange at this meeting:

-  Please bring enough cookies to share with roughly 12 people and copies of the cookie recipe to distribute to everyone.

- Also bring a takeaway container so you can bring others’ cookies home with you.

January 17: We will be discussing The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. 

Light refreshments will be served.

February 21: Choose your own! 

In honor of Valentine’s Day, every one is asked to read a biography about a famous couple. You are welcome to pick whichever book you want that fits that criteria. However, here are some suggestions if you’re not sure what you want to read:

o   These Few Precious Days: The Final Year of Jack with Jackie by Christopher Anderson

o   The Obamas by Jodi Kantor

o   The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming

o   An Affair to Remember: The Remarkable Love Story of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy by Christopher Anderson

o   The Silent Woman: Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes by Janet Malcolm

o   Bonnie and Clyde: The Lives Behind the Legend by Paul Schneider

Light refreshments will be served at this meeting as well.

March 20 & 21: We will be comparing and contrasting a book and its movie adaptation. On Monday, we'll be showing the movie version of Angela's Ashes at 6pm. Then on Tuesday, we will gather together at 7pm to discuss both the book and its movie adaptation. Join us on either day or for both!

Light refreshments will be served at the Tuesday meeting. 

And the Winner Is...

Here's an update on the books and dates for the upcoming book discussion group meetings. Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey to help us select these!

September 20: The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. Please wear a baseball or sports jersey/shirt to get into the book's spirit. :)

October 18: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

November 15: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

December 20: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens *and* The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" Rescued His Career and Revived our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford. We will be having a holiday cookie exchange at this meeting.

January 17: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Copies of The Art of Fielding are already available behind the circulation desk, and Life After Life will be available shortly.

Fall into Reading...

It's time to get your vote in! No, not for the presidential election we're all sick of hearing about, but for our next reads. Please click on the link below to see what books titles are available as choices for October and November; then vote for your top two picks.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8ZFSGZ7

Stay tuned to find out the winners.

Summer Reading

Summer will soon be upon us, which hopefully means we'll have some extra time to vacation, relax, and of course read!

For the summer, our book choices are...

June 21 – The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

July 19 – A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

August 16 – The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

September 20 – The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

Please join us for any or all of these upcoming discussions. We will meet at 7pm in the library's Sivess meeting room. Light refreshments will be served.

If you have any questions, contact jen @ southriverlibrary.org.

Let Your Voice Be Heard!

It's that time again ... let your voice be heard for the next few months' book choices!

Please visit our survey to select your top three choices:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KRJHRXV

The three books with the most votes will be our reads for July, August, and September.

Springing Ahead...Book Choices for the Upcoming Months

Thank you everyone who voted in our survey! Based on your feedback, our upcoming book discussions will be:

March 15^th – The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

April 19^th – Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

May 17^th – Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

June 21^st - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

We will meet at 7pm in the library's Sivess meeting room.

If you need assistance placing a book on hold, please contact jen @ southriverlibrary.org. Limited copies of this month's book will be available at the circulation desk.

Rock the Vote: Spring 2016 Book Choices Survey

Please help us decide on the next books we will read. Click on the survey link below and choose THREE of the 10 titles that you'd like to read. The top three books voted on will be our book choices for March, April, and May.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K7WGK8P

This survey will close on Tuesday, February 23, so get your vote in before then!