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.

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.