Next Month--The Invention of Wings

At our February 23 book group, we discussed Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss. Even though the author did a lot of research, we felt that the book lacked rhythm, the dates and history were confusing at times, and the exploits of the Black Count were mired in too much historical detail. This book was not well liked by the group. Our refreshments were cheese & crackers and fresh fruit.

Our next book is The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd on March 30th at 3pm in the Turner Room. Books are available at the library desk and the discussion sheet can be picked up or is avialable online. All are welcome--please join us!

Summary: "The story follows Hetty 'Handful' Grimke, a Charleston slave, and Sarah, the daughter of the wealthy Grimke family. The novel begins on Sarah's eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership over Handful, who is to be her handmaid. "The Invention of Wings" follows the next thirty-five years of their lives. Inspired in part by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke (a feminist, suffragist and, importantly, an abolitionist), Kidd allows herself to go beyond the record to flesh out the inner lives of all the characters, both real and imagined"

January 26th meeting notes

The book group meet on January 26, 2015 to discuss The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and all the members reporting in LOVED this book! Why did we like it so much? It was a variety of things--the characters, the location, the idea of a complete life, the quirky and clever ways the author catered to the reader--everything. This may be our favorite for the year and it's only January! For refreshments, we had gluten-free brownies and fresh fruit.

Next Month we will be reading Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo a biography by Tom Reiss. Discussion will take place on February 23 at 3pm in the Turner Room. All are welcome! Copies of the book are available at the LME Library circulation desk and the discussion sheets can be viewed online.

Summary:
Explores the life and career of Thomas Alexandre Dumas, a man almost unknown today, but whose swashbuckling exploits appear in The three musketeers and whose trials and triumphs inspired The count of Monte Cristo.

December 15--Coffee Chat

We had our Coffee Chat yesterday and many of our regular members attended. Some of our favorites from the 2014 book selections included:

Drop Dead Healthy	Jacobs, A.J.
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald	Fowler, Therese Anne
Home Front	Hannah, Kristin
Good Dream	VanLiere, Donna
Wild	Strayed, Cheryl
Where We Belong	Giffin, Emily

Some of the books we didn't read for book group but were recommended by members included:

The Book Thief	Zusak, Markus
Century Trilogy	Follett, Ken
Fever Tree	McVeigh, Jennifer
Lei Crime series (on order @ LME Library)	Neal, Toby
The Martian	Weir, Andy

Our next book group meeting will be January 26, 2015 at 3pm in the Turner Room. All are welcome! We will be discussing The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin.

Summary: When his most prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, is stolen, bookstore owner A. J. Fikry begins isolating himself from his friends, family and associates before receiving a mysterious package that compels him to remake his life. Books are available at the LME Library desk. Discussion sheets can be picked up from the library or are avialable online.

November 24th meeting

At our November 24th meeting, we discussed Where We Belong by Emily Giffin. Refreshments included pecan pie, iced pumpkin coffee cake, and cream cheese filled pumpkin snickerdoodles. We also choose the rest of our books for next year (please see 2015 Titles post).

2015 Titles

At our last two meetings, we worked through selecting our titles for 2015 and here they are:

“Talk About a Good Book” Book Club Discussion Group

Usually meets last Monday of the month at 3 pm in Turner Room

2015 (Our 12^th year!)

January 26	The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry	Zevin, Gabrielle
February 23	Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo	Reiss, Tom
March 30	Invention of Wings	Kidd, Sue Monk
April 27	A Man Called Ove	Backman, Fredrik
May 18*	Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics	Brown, Daniel James
June 29	Rosie Project	Simsion, Graeme
July 27	Gemini	Cassella, Carol
August 31	The Hurricane Sisters	Frank, Dorothea Benton
September 28	One Summer: America, 1927	Bryson, Bill
October 26	I am Having So Much Fun Here Without You	Maum, Courtney
November 23	A Star for Mrs. Blake	Smith, April
December 14^th @ 3pm —Coffee Chat about your favorite books of 2015

*Please note: Due to a holiday, our May meeting will be a week earlier than usual.

The bookgroup is open to all adults so feel free to join us! Books are available a month before the meeting and discussion sheets can be picked up in the library or are available online before the meeting.