November 2019 - Great Alone
At our October book group meeting, we discussed The last castle : the epic story of love, loss, and American royalty in the nation's largest home by Denise Kiernan. Several of the book group members have visited the Biltmore mansion and were able to give first hand impressions of the experience. Most members enjoyed learning more about the Vanderbilt family and the mansion but felt the book focused a bit too much on the family and not enough on the contributions and benefits due to the construction. We had Biltmore's Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce which was excellent! We also spent a few minutes choosing books for next year. Watch for the list to be posted soon!
Book Summary:
"In 1974, a former Vietnam POW, suffering from flashbacks and nightmares, moves his family to Alaska to live off the grid in an attempt to find peace, restoration, and freedom. They will also face dangers, both internally and externally, as they face the ultimate test of the human spirit"-- Lenora Allbright is 13 when her father convinces her mother, Cora, to move from Seattle to Kaneq, AK. It's 1974, and the former Vietnam POW sees a better future away from the noise and nightmares that plague him. Having been left a homestead by a buddy who died in the war, Ernt is secure in his beliefs, but never was a family less prepared for the reality of Alaska, the long, cold winters and isolation. Locals want to help out, especially Lenora's classmate Matthew Walker. Yet the harsh conditions bring out the worst in Ernt, whose paranoia takes over their lives and exacerbates what Leni sees as the toxic relationship between her parents."
Thursday, October 31, 2019
|
Tags:
2019,
discussion sheets,
Great Alone,
Hannah,
Kiernan,
Last Castle,
recipes
|
- discussion sheets
- recipes
- 2015
- 2011
- 2014
- book clubs
- 2013
- 2012
- 2016
- 2017
- best
- 2010
- Benjamin
- 2009
- Backman
- Hannah
- Alice I have been
- Fowler
- Drop Dead Healthy
- GoodReads
- Home Front
- Martian
- McCullough
- Where We Belong
- Z
- ALA
- Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb
- BookBrowse
- Brown
- Coffee Chat
- Dead Wake
- Diffenbaugh
- Esquivel
- Genova
- Giffin
- Glass
- Grissom
- I See You Everywhere
- Jacobs
- Jen
- John Adams
- Kitchen God's Wife
- Kitchen House
- Language of Flowers
- Larson
- Like Water for Chocolate
- Lilac Girls
- Man Called Ove
- McDermott
- My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
- Picoult
- Pollan
- See
- Shoemaker's Wife
- Someone
- Still Alice
- Trigiani
- Weir
- Wild
- World and Town
- Bender
- Big Magic
- Black Count
- Book Club Central
- Book that Matters Most
- Britt-Marie Was Here
- Bryson
- Burgess Boys
- Caldwell
- Cassella
- Chevalier
- Crais
- Destiny of the Republic
- Doerr
- Dreams of Joy
- Duhigg
- Everything I Never Told You
- Feldman
- Founding Mothers
- Frank
- Gemini
- Gilbert
- Girl with the Pearl Earring
- Good Dream
- Gregory
- Grunt
- Guterson
- Hobbs
- Hoeg
- Home
- Hood
- Horowitz
- House of Silk
- Hurricane Sisters
- I am Having So Much Fun Here Without You
- Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
- Isay
- Kelly
- Kinsella
- Let's Take the Long Way Home
- Listening is an Act of Love
- Lock In
- Maum
- Morrison
- Next to Love
- Ng
- Omnivore's Dilemma
- One Summer
- Other Boylyn Girl
- Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
- Power of Habit
- Pride and Prejudice
- Reiss
- Roach
- Roberts
- Rules of Civility
- Scalzi
- Semple
- Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace
- Simsion
- Skloot
- Smiley
- Smilla's Sense of Snow
- Snow Falling on Cedars
- Some Luck
- Storied Life of AJ Fikry
- Storyteller
- Strayed
- Strout
- Suspect
- Swans of Fifth Avenue
- Tan
- Towles.
- Twenties Girl
- Weird Sisters
- What Alice Forgot
- Where'd you go Bernadette
- Wright Brothers
- Zevin
- online
- summer reading
- Age of Miracles
- All the Light We Cannot See
- Austen
- Becky Spratford
- Book Movement
- Book Thief
- Bossypants
- Boys in the Boat
- Camellia Network
- Century Trilogy
- Collins
- Colts
- Cuyahoga Co PL
- Donaghue
- Facebook Live
- Fever Tree
- Fey
- Golem and the Jinni
- Grace Eventually
- Great Depression
- Help
- Hoffman
- Hunger Games
- IMRF
- Infographic
- Invention of Wings
- Invisible Thread
- Just One Damned Thing After Another
- Kidd
- Killing Lincoln
- Lamott
- Lei
- Little Heathens
- Love Warrior
- Magicians
- Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
- Mary Higgins Clark award
- McLain
- Melton
- Millard
- Miller
- Mitchell
- Moriarty
- No One is Coming to Save Us
- O'Reilly
- One Eleven Coffee
- Oprah
- Paris Wife
- Peoria Public Library
- Red Velvet Cheesecake
- Rook
- Rosemary
- Rosie Effect
- Rosie Project
- Rosnay
- Salem Falls
- Sarah's Key
- Save Me
- Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
- Schroff
- Scottoline
- Simonson
- Slade House
- Smith
- Star for Mrs. Blake
- Stiletto
- Stockett
- Taylor
- Underground Railroad
- VanLiere
- Village Foods
- Walker
- Watts
- Whitehead
- Wonder
- book_to_movie
- social
- teachers
- technology
- traveling
1 comments:
Excellent book. One of my favorite by Kristin Hannah. Thanks to Beth for the first hand background material on Alaska. No one else had that information and it added to the book.
Post a Comment