suggestions

1. amy mentioned a gore vidal book, deluth, at the winter break meeting. i'd really like to read that.

2. another one on my list is the botany of desire by michael pollan (i'm not making this up, his name is really pollan) which explores the coevolution of humans and plants (specifcally cannabis, tulips, apples, and potatoes). seems to touch on a lot of issues... like guns germs and steel but only 300 pages and with pot( or as some of you may call it "grass"). seems like a winner to me.

Book Vote!

Hey Book Club folks,

Tovah posted some suggestions for the next book on the blog. We'd like to choose ASAP, so please vote by Friday 3/2 for the next selection. If you'd like to suggest some different titles, go for it. OK. Peace Out!

CK

Book Recommendations

Just thought I would throw around some ideas:
I put the links of the books (on Barnes and Noble site) with the title of the book.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (people said that the book made them have a new perspective on life)
Wickett's Remedy by Myla Goldberg (same author as Bee Season)
Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

Okay.....

I thought the book was okay. I felt confused, especially at the end, I felt like I was missing something. I did like the use of her mother… “Mom will fix it”, this showed immaturity on Elaine’s part, though the mom was immature herself (is immaturity a family trait—can it be inherited?). The book, I felt, never seemed to complete itself and you were stuck wondering what it was you just read. It was almost as if the characters were stuck together as an afterthought. The author had a bunch of stories—Pat, the Montgomery’s, the children, Mrs. Hansen, etc. etc., with no real ending to any of them. I liked where most of the stories were going, it would have been nice if they were finished. What was with the hole in the ceiling and the thing about Elaine being a fountain when Paul smoked crack? These stories in the book seemed added to fill space. With that being said, the book wasn’t the worst thing I have read, but certainly not the best.

I loathe this book...

I hope I dont give anything away, I'll try not to. The characters although well flawed and disgusting human beings (which I enjoy in most fiction) are shallow but worse repetitious. The characters, especially Paul and Elaine feel too hollow, stereotypes and cliches I have seen before. I think the most important aspects of suburban life were left unexplored. Everything was easy to put together, so much so that I read on briskly to see if the characters would become more derranged, more pathetic than they were. I'll stop there. The most interesting characters, the children of the story, Sammy, Daniel, Nate, Willy, Jennifer and the 'Montgomery' kids were barely developed, used more as inanimate antagonists than real characters. I never felt overly depressed or empathetic with the books characters, Paul and Elaine annoyed me to no end, when characters like Pat and the old man offered a much more interesting story line that is briefly mentioned and then bypassed. Pats story would have been a great novel or at least novella in itself, but all we get is a brief physical and emotional release that goes unfulfilled. And what about Pats husband? He was interesting as well, he married Pat (which may seem irrelevant if you are early in the book) and had an odd relationship with the old man. I may have enjoyed this book better if I hadn't seen Alan Ball's American Beauty first. His characters were flawed in a far more empathetic manner than those in Music for Torching. I may be comepletely wrong of course, I have no point of reference, I am unmarried, unstuck and find no solace in suburbia's landscape.

Pat's house

I want to be a guest at Pat's house. Where's the lighter fluid? Does my shirt look a little wrinkled?

New Logo?

RRRRRROOOWWWW!!!!

new club name

i nominate "The Book Panthers, Rrrrrow!" but only on the condition that rrrrrow is included in the name.

just stopped by to say i'm not 20 pages in to music for torching and i want to stick my head in an oven. which i think is what homes intended? good?

also it's interesting that she goes by A. M. Homes, a genderless abbreviation. is this purposeful?
"i just assumed that nobody would be interested in a woman's point of view. besides, i didn't want to risk being called all the things women writers (even good women writers) are called: 'clever, witty, bright, touching, but lacks scope'. i wanted to write about the whole world. i wanted to write War and Peace or nothing. no 'lady writer' subjects for me." --Erica Jong

February Book

Hey Folks. We met in January to discuss EL Doctorow's The Book of Daniel. Those who read the book agreed that it was a fine piece of writing -- the author's use of perspective to signal the varying shades of Daniel's chaacter and mood was masterful. Seriously, though, we liked it.

So we also decided there on a new book for February: AM Homes' Music for Torching. I've ordered copies from the bookstore, but they are currently on backorder. So if you can find one at the lbrary, go for it -- or you can look for a cheap copy online (here's the amazon link $1.52: http://www.amazon.com/Music-Torching-M-Homes/dp/068817762X/sr=8-1/qid=1170441905/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-7153584-5467341?ie=UTF8&s=books )

Our next meeting is scheduled for Friday, Feb 23 in the Honors semnar room (were we always meet).
All right. We're also considering whether or not we should get a new name. Something with a little more flair. Something like, "The Book Panthers". Rrrrowww! So brng your ideas (or nominate mine -- Yeah you right!)

All right.
Peace out!
Carr