January / February meetings

What can I say? The meeting at 'Down House"  Down House - in the Houston Heights on Yale St was just super! Our host for this month's meeting sprang for sever hungry readers in our very own party room.

In addition to the great variety of food, the wine, ambiance, and camaraderie were  definitely at all-time highs. We discussed "Every Patient Tells a Story" by Lisa Sanders, MD Learn More on Amazon  and the consensus was that it was a competent and enjoyable selection.

I loved the author's many anecdotes, and enjoyed her writing, though I think she got a little carried away by the topic of Lyme Disease.

This is the first meeting at which I've enjoyed shrimp and grits, tomato bisque, and bread pudding with a caramel topping.

I know we all had a great time, and will long remember it. I had intended to bring my camera, but forgot it and did not get away from work in time to go home and retrieve it. Great is the pity!


Next up on the 28th of February at Maison Louis, will be The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat . It deals with people with what may be termed "bizarre" behaviors that arise from neurological and other disorders. He deals with these fantastic perceptual and intellectual aberrations in this book, and I for one look forward to reading it.

Thanks, Drew for a wonderful January meeting, and for the January / February selection!

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.