January 2012 Meeting - at Barbara's (remodeling permitting)

Tent Life in Siberia - Amazon.com's description. The selection for December/January is 'Tent Life in Siberia" by George Kennan with Larry McMurtry.

Our discussion of December 20, 2011 at the lady Jessica's house was a fun Christmas-season meeting, with all in attendance. We ate a superb Chicken Breast Parmesan, accompanied by steamed Asparagus, squash, and a divine bread fit for Brennan's.We discussed the book we'd just read -- "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The consensus was that this is a great book, and a good selection for the book club.

The gift exchange was great too, with a genuine  Orrefors crystal gift (Orrefors crystal is sold in Tiffany and Co. stores). I receive a free admission to see the King Tut exhibit. I've seen the Egyptian treasures in the British Museum, but  there are many pieces on tour that haven't been in the British museum.

Only 700 pages left in "Jonathan and Mr Norrell" by Susanna Clarke, then to start the book club selection which is only about 400 pages.
Cheers until next Month!  Louis ( -=Louis Hemmi=- )

Next December 21, 2011 we discuss One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

Our second selection on the topic of Russia is Alexander Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Our meeting on November 30 at John's was congenial, and the book Snowdrops met generally with favor, but it's not any blockbuster, either.

We look forward to Drew coming back in the very near future, and have welcomed the Norwegian digeratus Sylvia back into our midst.

As an aside, I just finished Tom Rob Smith's book "Agent 6" and give it five out of five stars. At 600 pages, it actually was about right. I've come to appreciate longer books. I've found that my unwillingness to read books greater than 300 pages has not served me well. The longer books are often worth the trouble! SO, I'm removing book length as a criterion for my selections.

11/30/2011 is next meeting to discuss AD Miller's "Snowdrops"

I selected this month's book on the new topic of "Russia."  This was written by author AD Miller, and is about modern-day Russia. It was short listed (along with five other books) for the Man-Booker prize, and is about 300 pages.

The discussion of "Pillars of the Earth" with Sylvia Sundqvist back with us, went quite well. Though we all liked the book, we still had a lot to say about it, with a few disagreements, but that's what makes the conversation interesting :)

I look forward to next month, and hope I like this book.

10/27/2011 - Next Meeting is at Louis's house to discuss:

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is the official selection of the bookclub. Linda chose this weighty tome, so we are assured of quality (she doesn't pick them by whether they are on sale). This is also a miniseries on the Starz cable company.

9/15 - meet at Linda's to discuss "Crossing to Safety" by Wallace Stegner

We'll also discuss a new topic for the next round of selections. An idea we kicked around at the Thursday, August 15, 2011 was "books of Russia."  We phrased it this way because some really good books about Russia have been written by non-Russians. I can think of Massey's "Nicholas and Alexandra," as well as Tom Rob Smith's books "Child 44," "the Secret Speech," and the new "Agent 6." Nabokov, Chekov, Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy, Ayn Rand, etc all come to mind.

The next meeting is scheduled for 8/18/2011 at Buddy's (Barbara's) house

We'll discuss this month's selection on the topic of Historical fiction "The Giant, O'Brien" by celebrated Booker-award winning author Hilary Mantel. See more about it  on Description of the book and reviews on Amazon.com.

7/14/2011 meeting: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. John R to host.

Jessica selected Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. This parody is fan fiction. Once all copyrights have expired, people are free to use the characters and plots of dead authors. 

Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austen
Without having read the original or the parody, it's hard to say much more. Stay tuned. 

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies - Book Trailer

Regency England has never looked like this...Jane Austen's classic text (well...85% classic text) with some added zombie mayhem - including a plague of undea...

The May 19, 2011 meeting: Discuss "The Egyptian" by Mika Waltari

This was selected by Louis. We'll meet at Jessica's where there may be a mystery guest (not sure). The Egyptian was published in the US in 1949 and is 512 pages long. Its author is Finland's best-known writer, and so  this selection qualifies as belonging  to the previous topic of "books by Scandinavian Authors" , as well as the current topic of  "Historical Fiction".

"Waltari successfully combine[s] research, imagination, and the cunning of a good tale-teller in bringing the generation of Akhnaton to life.” —New York Herald Tribune

"A grand immersion into an epic tale." —Philadelphia Inquirer

Unfortunately, there is no Kindle edition :( 

The March Meeting - scheduled for 4/7/2011

It will be at Louis's house, and there we'll discuss the last book on the topic of "Scandinavian Writers." This book is "Italian Shoes" by Henning Mankell. Mankell continues to write literary fiction in addition to his popular crime series starring Swedish policeman Kurt Wallander.

In this book, an elderly ex-surgeon has all the time in the world to ponder his failing health, wasted training, lack of empathy, potency and company. After amputating the wrong arm of a woman with bone cancer, he has spent the last 12 years alone on an island in the Baltic. Still, he cannot escape illness.

Our next topic is "Historical Fiction."  There's sure a lot to choose from, but so much out of print, and few in Kindle format. 

Happy Birthday, Louis - 12 April

The February Meeting is now scheduled & rescheduled for Thu 24-Feb-2011

The book was long, but not that long :) We will discuss "The Long Ships" by Frans Bengtsson. This is on the current topic "Scandinavian Authors."  It is a work depicting Vikings in the tenth century and could be described as an epic tale of adventure! I wish I'd read this as a boy, as it fits right in with the Arabian Nights and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.