This week we chose our selections for the coming year. Always a very fun meeting - and we got a lot done!
The new list is show above. You can click on the title to see the Amazon listing.
Also, there are links on the right that will take you to the same lists that you can print out.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
This is an article that was sent to me - what to do if you haven't read the current month's book!
Book Club
by Ann Hodgman
May 25, 2009
Discussion points for members who have not read this month’s book:
1. Studying the cover of this month’s selection may provide hints to the reasons that Margy MacDougal chose this book for your group. What does the metallic font used for the title convey—pretension, or insecurity? Although the cover art is minimal, what tensions does it suggest are lurking under the superficially glossy surface of Margy’s relationship with her husband, Eric?
2. In your opinion, is this book fiction or nonfiction? Support your view with examples taken from the jacket copy.
3. Last year, Margy was in Costa Rica when the group discussed the book she had chosen. Why did she get to pick two books this season? Why were both of them so grim? Is there a subtext related to Margy’s daughter’s deferral from Colgate? Could next month’s book maybe be more cheerful, for once?
4. Book-club members who have actually read this book have called its plot “depressing,” “disgusting,” and “too much about poor people.” Does this suggest that you, as a reader, have a moral obligation to say that you liked the book?
5. Early in the prologue, we learn that lab animals will be mistreated as the story progresses. In literature, why is it so much sadder when an animal dies than when a person does? Why does God choose us to read horrible things like this?
6. Open the book to page 47 and slide a bookmark under it. How well can you see the Borders logo through the page? Can the quality of a book’s paper be used as a guide to its “worth”? When or when not?
7. On page 2, the author refers to “supper.” In books, food is often used as a symbol. Try to think of a time when food, or a particular meal, has been important to you. Then keep it to yourself.
8. A book’s setting is crucial to establishing mood. If this book had been set in Darfur instead of in Glen Burnie, would you be more likely to have read the whole thing by now? Why or why not?
9. Is there a way that, by quickly flipping through the pages as if in search of a particular passage, you might be able to glean more of the plot in case Margy calls on you? Why not turn to the last page?
10. What is in those little sandwiches on the piano? Are peanut allergies real?
11. Will the powder room have one of those wick-diffuser things in a bottle, or a scented candle? If such items were described in the book, would they be presented as symbols of vulgarity?
12. What do you think will happen next?
Book Club
by Ann Hodgman
May 25, 2009
Discussion points for members who have not read this month’s book:
1. Studying the cover of this month’s selection may provide hints to the reasons that Margy MacDougal chose this book for your group. What does the metallic font used for the title convey—pretension, or insecurity? Although the cover art is minimal, what tensions does it suggest are lurking under the superficially glossy surface of Margy’s relationship with her husband, Eric?
2. In your opinion, is this book fiction or nonfiction? Support your view with examples taken from the jacket copy.
3. Last year, Margy was in Costa Rica when the group discussed the book she had chosen. Why did she get to pick two books this season? Why were both of them so grim? Is there a subtext related to Margy’s daughter’s deferral from Colgate? Could next month’s book maybe be more cheerful, for once?
4. Book-club members who have actually read this book have called its plot “depressing,” “disgusting,” and “too much about poor people.” Does this suggest that you, as a reader, have a moral obligation to say that you liked the book?
5. Early in the prologue, we learn that lab animals will be mistreated as the story progresses. In literature, why is it so much sadder when an animal dies than when a person does? Why does God choose us to read horrible things like this?
6. Open the book to page 47 and slide a bookmark under it. How well can you see the Borders logo through the page? Can the quality of a book’s paper be used as a guide to its “worth”? When or when not?
7. On page 2, the author refers to “supper.” In books, food is often used as a symbol. Try to think of a time when food, or a particular meal, has been important to you. Then keep it to yourself.
8. A book’s setting is crucial to establishing mood. If this book had been set in Darfur instead of in Glen Burnie, would you be more likely to have read the whole thing by now? Why or why not?
9. Is there a way that, by quickly flipping through the pages as if in search of a particular passage, you might be able to glean more of the plot in case Margy calls on you? Why not turn to the last page?
10. What is in those little sandwiches on the piano? Are peanut allergies real?
11. Will the powder room have one of those wick-diffuser things in a bottle, or a scented candle? If such items were described in the book, would they be presented as symbols of vulgarity?
12. What do you think will happen next?
Sunday, January 11, 2009
We attended an "Afternoon with Stephanie Kallos" at WICA in Langley. She wrote Broken for You, which we read in 2006, and more recently Sing Them Home. They presented a play of part of Broken for You, which was great, then she was interviewed, and after that she read from Sing Them Home. It was very entertaining - she used to be an actress, and is very articulate.
Afterwards, we had dinner at the Edgecliff. Nancy Horan, who wrote Loving Frank, joined us. From left, front: Audrey, Candace, Nancy, Ginny. Back: Robin, Dayle, Madelyn, Karen, Jane, Louie.
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