December/January Meetings

On January 24, we'll meet to discuss a selection on our active topic of "Medicine." "Every Patient Tells a Story:Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis" by Lisa Sanders was selected by Sylvia and we'll meet at Drew's.

A riveting exploration of the most difficult and important part of what doctors do, by Yale School of Medicine physician Dr. Lisa Sanders, author of the monthly New York Times Magazine column "Diagnosis," the inspiration for the hit Fox TV series House, M.D.


Every Patient Tells a Story on Amazon.com



At our December meeting we discussed "Complications:A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science" by Atul Gawande, published in 2003. Linda selected this book, and we met at Sylvia's.

Atul writes as a surgical resident, and shares his experiences including some of his more interesting cases.

In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel’s edge. Complications lays bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is—uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human.

Complications is a 2002 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction.

October discussion/November's Upcoming Meeting

We met at Barbara's tastefully-renovated home to discuss the previous selection on the topic of medicine, "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach. MARY ROACH is the author of "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers," "Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife," "Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex," and "Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void." She lives in Oakland, California.

The discussion was lively, and the Mexican food fresh and flavorful (from that authentic eatery "El Tiempo")! The consensus was that the book was a good selection, and an enjoyable read overall. One criticism was that sometimes the author's humor was a little flat. However, her writing brought the subject of dead bodies to life.

Next month, we'll discuss Barbara's selection "Mash: A Novel of Three Army Doctors" written by Richard Hooker. This will be Monday, November 5, 2012. We've never met on a Monday, but Tuesday is the election, and different members couldn't make it on Wednesday or Thursday.

Before the movie, this is the novel that gave life to Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper John, Hot Lips Houlihan, Frank Burns, Radar O'Reilly, and the rest of the gang that made the 4077th MASH like no other place in Korea or on earth.

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I've never seen an episode of MASH, but I did see the movie. I might get hooked on it after reading this on my new Kindle Paperwhite.

Click here for Amazon's MASH listing

Until next month, Louis Hemmi www.Hemmi.US  www.HoustonBookClub.com


Louis at HoustonBookClub.com    (written this way to lessen visibility to Spammers!)

9/6/2012 we discuss "The Dress Lodger" by Sheri Holman

Thursday, September 6, 2012, we'll meet at Jessica's to discuss the "The Dress Lodger" by Sheri Holman. This is the second choice on the topic of "medicine."

On Wednesday, 8/1/12 we'll meet to discuss this first selection in the topic "Medicine." The book is "Breakthrough!: How the 10 Greatest Discoveries in Medicine Saved Millions and Changed Our View of the World" by Jon Queijo (pronounced "kee-zho") selected by Louis Latimer Hemmi meet where: John's

Bilinguals see the world in a different way, study suggests

Bilinguals see the world in a different way, study suggests

The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy

We will meet on June 21 at Louis's house in Westchase to discuss David E Hoffman's book "The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy "

We held May's meeting in the new house in the Heights that Drew just bought. It's a very old neighborhood that has undergone gentrification. The house deserves a post all its own :) 

 

Dinner was a good offering of standard Texas barbecue.

 

Our discussion of "The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them" was not particularly spirited because the book is not controversial, and we generally enjoyed the writing. The book is more a travel log than anything else, and it did give us some minimal exposure to Russian authors and a little about their literature.

This was most definitely a good selection, Sylvia.

The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them

We will meet on May 10, 2012 at Drew's bungalow in the Heights to discuss The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, and is another selection in our series of books  on the topic of "Russia."

We held April's meeting at Sylvia's home in the clouds, in the fashionable Kirby district. The Norwegian beauty demonstrated the superlative graciousness that comes so naturally to her. Dinner was resplendent with a salmon that could easily feed about ten people or so. I found the creamy salmon sauce with its subtle hint of citrus flavoring especially inspired.

We all liked Lawrence Scott Sheets book "8 Pieces of Empire" which chronicles the twenty years following the breakup of the Soviet Union. I think most of us found his writing to be very good, and his courage in the conduct of his job was praiseworthy. This was most definitely a great selection. John R. opined that it was one of the best selections that we've ever had. 

Spasibo, y'all!

April 3 meeting to be at Sylvia's - Discuss 8 Pieces of Empire by Sheets

February's meeting at Linda's swankyienda was especially good with premium victuals of the Indian variety. Shelby the Fierce was subdued, since she was recovering from a surgical procedure.

We discussed Ivan Turgenev's "Spring Torrents" and Jessica and I found that we both had downloaded our copies from Project Gutenberg. The book was well liked by most, so once again, there wasn't a lot of controversy. We discussed possible future topics including "psychology, medicine, self help (motivational, the Middle East, Islam), but we did not take a vote on any topic, so we'll probably spend some time at the next meeting discussing this. 

Drew is still in Colorado, but says he'll be here for the next meeting which will be at Sylvia's new highrise digs in a fashionable district.

This month's book is by Lawrence Scott Sheets, and is called "8 Pieces of Empire." We're still on the topic of "Russia" and this book deals with the 20 years that have elapsed since the collapse of the USSR, presided over by Mikhail Gorbachev.

I'm atingle with anticipation!

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Feb 23,2012 - Discuss "Spring Torrents" by Ivan Turgenev

January's meeting at the lovely home of Barbara B featured catering by El Tiempo, and was enjoyed by all (especially Louis). She's getting ready to remodel, so we had to meet a bit early.

We discussed "Tent Life in Siberia" by George Kennan. We all liked the book, so the discussion was fairly brief. It's when there is controversy and disagreement that we  have longer spirited discussions.

We briefly discussed the Facebook page, and I recommended we open it up to whoever wants to join. Right now, it's a closed group. I think the Facebook page might let people find reading groups, or get people connected with others who like the same kinds of reading they do.

The new book is pretty short, and looks like an easy read. The story is about a young Russian man of 22 who falls in love with a girl who lives in Frankfurt. He falls for her in an extreme way, and even moves to be near her.

The author, Ivan Turgenev, was born in Russia in 1818. Barbara chose this book.