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!

Click the link below
We now have a Facebook Group - Join Now!

Lots more of our history, pictures and books on

Our WEB Page - all books we've read since 1991

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.

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.