At our October 28th meeting, we discussed The Wager by David Grann. Even though this book is not very long, there is a lot of information packed into it. It was a bit difficult to follow at times due to the number of ships and events. We felt it would have been helpful to have a listing of statistics about each ship in the squadron, their officers and crew, etc. However, many members felt they gained a better understanding of the perils and hardships of sailors in this era.

Our next meeting will be Monday, November 25th at 3pm at the LME Library. Copies of the book, The Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley, are available for pickup at the front desk. Discussion sheets can also be picked up or are available here.  

At our September 30 book club meeting, we discussed Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Some readers weren't sure they were going to like it, but everyone enjoyed the book. One participant said that it was her favorite read with book club so far.

The book club will meet again on October 28 at 3pm in the library's large meeting room. We will be discussing the non-fiction book, Wager by David Grann. Copies can be picked up from the front desk and discussion sheets are available.

Summary: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z, a mesmerizing story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty's Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as "the prize of all the oceans," it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing 2500 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes. But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they had a very different story to tell. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes - they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous captain and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death-for whomever the court found guilty could hang. The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers.

At our April meeting, we discussed the book, Killers of the Flower Moon.  It was very well received by the group and everyone felt that there hasn't been enough of Native American history taught at school.  We had cookies and turnovers from Frosted.

At our March 26th meeting, we discussed Beartown by Fredrik Backman.  The book club has read two other of Bachman's novels including A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. For Beartown, most readers felt the book had a slow start but overall was extremely well written.  Many of us thought it would be about hockey, but it's not.  If you like well defined characters, books about topical issues, or community dynamics, this book will not disappoint.  The second book in the series, Us Against You, will be coming out in June 2018.  For refreshments, we had cookies and cupcakes from Frosted Bakery.