Blog (Page 8)

Nine of us met to discuss The Good Son by Michael Gruber, an entertaining adventure about Theo, a Pakistani-American son who mounts a spectacular in-country rescue of his wily, manipulative mother, Sonia, by manipulating the US government almost to the brink of war.  A pre-eminent psychologist and world traveler, Sonia is among a group of international dignitaries who are captive to an extremist group and being executed one by one. Read More →

Seven people met to discuss The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit. Not all readers were able to finish the book where admiration for her craft did not equal entertainment.  We agreed the author had a talent for visual imagery and storytelling in combination.  Her true-life essays evoke the Arabian Nights, with never-ending adventures to enthrall and distract.  It was a challenging read and an interesting one. What else are peopleRead More →

Ten of us met to discuss The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri in February. If you are looking for a beautifully written story and enjoy learning about how culture, history and family shape our lives, then you will enjoy this book. Other books our members are reading include: The Kurt Wallendar mysteries by Henning Mankell The Cork O’Connor mysteries by William Kent Krueger Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese Still AliceRead More →

Twelve of us met at A’mis in January to discuss our year of reading. Without further ado, here is list of books we recommend: Jo’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott Life After Life by Kate Atkinson Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian The Awakening by Kate Chopin (We’re reading this in May 2015) Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival and The Spymistress by Jennifer Chiaverini The Burning Room by Michael ConnellyRead More →

Seven of us met to discuss Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. It is a lovely book with humor, romance and some heartbreak. Not at all what you would expect from a book about assisted suicide. But that is being trite, probably. It was a great book to end the year, because you come away from it feeling satisfied. On January 13th from 6-8 pm we are going to meetRead More →

It is that time of the year when the world creates year-end favorite lists, so here are the books we read this year that we liked best: Andrew: Language from A to Z (The Teaching Company) The Southern Reach Trilogy (Jeff VanderMeer) The Iliad (Homer) S. (J. J. Abrams & Doug Dorst) Annie: Flora and Ulysses (Kate DiCamillo) Navigating Early (Clare Vanderpool) Rooftoppers (Katherine Rundell) The Dark Unwinding (Sharon Cameron)Read More →

When ten people come together to discuss Wild by Cheryl Strayed, how many will be glad to have read it? I’d say it was split down the middle. There were those who thought she was self- indulgent and who cares anyway. There were those who thought that her grief over losing her mother was justification for a spiral into drugs, infidelity and long distance trekking. Where will you fall inRead More →

In September, Ellen led the book club discussion of The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. We enjoyed the book, which delivered a bittersweet story about good people whose lives were affected by war, distance, betrayal, solitude and tragedy. Love and redemption were also on offer, but demanded a price with long-term consequences. A good read; we recommend it. We are also reading: Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by ChrisRead More →