June 26 - Lock In
At our May 22 meeting, we had 9 members in attendance. The book we discussed was House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. Most members liked it and appreciated the continuity of style between Arthur Conan Doyle and Horowitz. We had donuts from Village Foods, Salted Caramel Gooey Bars from Colts (Nashville, TN), and jello with fruit.
Summary: "Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creating the largest medical crisis in history. And one percent find themselves "locked in"--fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. One per cent doesn't seem like a lot. But in the United States, that's 1.7 million people "locked in"...including the President's wife and daughter. Spurred by grief and the sheer magnitude of the suffering, America undertakes a massive scientific initiative. Nothing can restore the ability to control their own bodies to the locked in. But then two new technologies emerge. One is a virtual-reality environment, "The Agora," in which the locked-in can interact with other humans, both locked-in and not. The other is the discovery that a few rare individuals have brains that are receptive to being controlled by others, meaning that from time to time, those who are locked in can "ride" these people and use their bodies as if they were their own. This skill is quickly regulated, licensed, bonded, and controlled. Nothing can go wrong. Certainly nobody would be tempted to misuse it, for murder, for political power, or worse....John Scalzi's Lock In is a novel of our near future, from one of the most popular authors in modern science fiction"
May 22 - House of Silk
At our April 24th meeting, we discussed Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. Some of our group members liked the book and others did not. Those that did liked the ideas of ways to incorporate creativity and beauty into our everyday lives. Those that did not felt that the book was "for younger people." Personally, I think that people can experience "big magic" at any age. For refreshments, we had fruit and Raspberry-Rhurbarb Slab Pie.
Summary: For the first time in its one-hundred-and-twenty-five-year history, the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate has authorized a new Sherlock Holmes novel.
Once again, THE GAME'S AFOOT...
London, 1890. 221B Baker St. A fine art dealer named Edmund Carstairs visits Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson to beg for their help. He is being menaced by a strange man in a flat cap - a wanted criminal who seems to have followed him all the way from America. In the days that follow, his home is robbed, his family is threatened. And then the first murder takes place.
Almost unwillingly, Holmes and Watson find themselves being drawn ever deeper into an international conspiracy connected to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston, the gaslit streets of London, opium dens and much, much more. And as they dig, they begin to hear the whispered phrase-the House of Silk-a mysterious entity that connects the highest levels of government to the deepest depths of criminality. Holmes begins to fear that he has uncovered a conspiracy that threatens to tear apart the very fabric of society.
You are visitor:
