Our Latest Pick

THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

If your book club has ever read a book where you struggled to find something to talk about, you will really appreciate THE SHADOW OF THE WIND.  There is so much to talk about with this book, I barely know where to begin.

From its Russian doll  – book within a book style to its use of religious imagery to the often parallel lives of two seemingly unconnected characters you will not run out of conversation.  I promise.

Our book, THE SHADOW OF THE WIND is about a book that Daniel Sempere finds in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books which is also called THE SHADOW OF THE WIND.  Uncovering the mystery surrounding the life and death of that book’s author Julian Carax becomes Daniel’s quest and is what our book is all about.

This one has been on my list for several years now, so I’m glad it finally made it to the top.   If you haven’t read it yet, give it a go for your book club.  If you have, feel free to leave a comment, and let me know what you thought.

Be sure to check our our Book Club Page for the synopsis, some interesting discussion questions and a delicious recipe for Baked Goat Cheese in Tomato Sauce from Whole Foods!

You can also catch the selections AND discuss the book here on the blog and on the new book club page.

Our Latest Pick

THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN by Garth Stein

I don’t mind a little crying over a good book if then end justifies the tears.  In this case, the ending and much of went on in the middle was predictable, but the book was ultimately worth the tears.

The story is told by Enzo the dog – who is nearly a human trapped in a dog’s body.  Frustrated by his lack of opposable thumbs and his inability to speak, he makes an interesting observer and sometimes participant to the life of race car driver Denny Swift.

I found his loyalty and love for his family to be both doglike and manlike at the same time.  The books deeper messages, couched in racing terms and dog thoughts were a bit like reading a novelization of The Secret.  But who couldn’t use a reminder not to give up and to believe “that which you manifest is before you’?

For some book club discussion questions and a tasty summer recipe, check out the new book club page and feel free to leave some comments and let me know what you thought of the book!

– Dana

You can also catch the selections AND discuss the book here on the blog.

Our Latest Pick

THE ACCIDENTAL BESTSELLER by Wendy Wax

Last month I promised you a great beach read for June…so here it is.  To me a beach read is not necessarily all lightness and fluff, but rather a page turner where you care about the characters and are left feeling upbeat or hopeful at the end.  Wendy Wax’s latest doesn’t disappoint.

The Accidental Bestseller does for (or to) publishing what The Devil Wears Prada did for fashion mags:  gives you an under the covers look into a world you wouldn’t otherwise get to see.

Wendy uses the backdrop of the publishing industry to explore friendship, marriage and career and introduces us to four unique women who struggle with all of it.

Here’s a couple of questions the book brought up for me:

Does you career define you?  What would you do if you woke up one morning and it was over?

Do your friends have to know everything about you in order for them to truly be your friends?

How much would you risk to help a friend?

And here’s some trivia for you…there’s a character named after me somewhere in the book.  The first person to comment here on the blog with the page number I appear on gets a $25 gift certificate!

For more discussion questions and a tasty summer recipe, check out the book club email and feel free to leave some comments and let me know what you thought of the book!

– Dana

You can also catch the selections AND discuss the book here on the blog.

Our Latest Pick

ELLA MINNOW PEA by Mark Dunn

I actually read Mark Dunn’s Ella Minnow Pea several years ago for a book club I was part of and it stuck with me, so now I want to share it with you.  While clearly a literary exercise (as letters fall off a statue – they are removed from the written and spoken vocabulary of an island community by its totalitarian government), it is also a really good story and a thought provoking political statement.

I have read other books that felt like literary exercises to me.  Some work and some don’t.  The one that pops into my mind first is Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.    The book was very highly acclaimed but I found myself distracted by some of his literary devices, and for me that took something away for the book.  I felt like it was a project for a graduate level writing class.  It would get an A for sure, but I want to feel the emotion and discover the plot rather than be cleverly deviced to death.

But back to Ella Minnow Pea.  In this book, the literary device framework does not distract.  Instead it lays a fantastical framework for character development and political observation.  Here are some of the questions the book brought up for me.

How silly are some of the things we worship or revere?

How long would you put up with rules or laws that made no sense to you?

Is there something other than language that we take for granted but couldn’t live happily without?

I could go on and on.  But I’ll let you discover the rest on your own.  If you haven’t already, check out the book club email.  It includes the discussion questions and a great recipe for Spiced Pecans from the Starwoodgal’s  Something’s Burning blog.

Let me know if you try the recipe, what you thought of the book and get ready for a great beach read next month!

– Dana

You can also catch the selections AND discuss the book here on the blog.

Our Latest Pick

HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford

As you can imagine, I love books and authors and love to do what I can to help promote them.  It’s not just my current and former life as a bookseller that makes me feel this way — I have always loved books.  So, when I come across a debut novel like this one, I am especially happy to be able to help get the word out.

Jamie Ford’s HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER & SWEET has officially become one of my new favorite books.  Ford paints a personal picture of race, culture, family, love and loyalty in the 1940s in America.  He shows us, through the eyes of children, a time we, as Americans, would rather forget; when Japanese Americans were rounded up and forced to live in internment camps.  It is a politically important story for sure, but it is the personal story that sweeps you up and makes you unable to stop turning pages.

I loved Henry, both as a child and as a man.  He is loyal, brave and young Henry seems wise beyond his years.  What did you think of his quiet disobedience of his father?  What about his father’s rule that he could only speak English at home when his parents only spoke Cantonese?  Keiko and her family were so very American and worldly and open.  Did they change the way you felt about the internment?

What did you think of the jazz in the book and the way it was woven throughout the story?

Anything else you want to chat about?

– Dana

You can also catch the selections AND discuss the book here on the blog.

Our Latest Pick

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

This is one of those books that I have been curious about for awhile.  It was somewhere on my list of books to read, but just had not risen to the top.  I think it finally jumped to the top of the pile after I saw Slumdog Millionaire, which is based on the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup.  Of course the main thing these two books have in common is that they take place in India, but after seeing the movie, I was interested in reading more about the country and the culture.

I actually really loved this book.  Though I have to say I am a bit surprised that I do.  In fact, the last book that I reviewed in which the main character was a murderer (we learn that very early on, so I’m not ruining anything for you) was Almost Moon by Alice Sebold which I struggled with a bit.  Aravind Adiga does an amazing job of creating the character of Balram who is morally questionable and yet loveable all at the same time.  In fact, most of the characters in the book are morally ambiguous, and yet you really only hate the ones that our hero hates.

It is also interesting to view the culture through the eyes of someone who starts out as the servant and ends up the master and who really has no regret about the murder he had to commit to get him there.

Ashok, the master who had spent time in America was quite an interesting character as well.  It’s like he knows the way things are is wrong, but he is powerless to change it, and in reality is too soft to really try.  He constantly refers to Balram as a member of the family, but then talks about how stupid he is right in front of him.

This one is worth reading and if you’re like me, you’ll want to talk about it.

Our Pick for February 2009

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

This month we’re talking about Loving Frank.  It’s a fictional account of Frank Lloyd Wright’s tragic love affair with Mamah Cheney. The book is very well researched but is fictionalized so that the author would have the freedom to invent the personal details of the relationship that will never be known.

I have always loved Frank Lloyd Wright’s design aesthetic and so that made me curious about the man.  The book does not paint him in the best light, but I think I tended to want to give him a pass because he’s Frank Lloyd Wright.   When my local book club discussed the book,  many of the women were very upset with Mamah for the way she handled (or didn’t) her children, but as a single mom with many career aspirations, I felt sort of sympathetic towards her as well.  Most of the time.  It’s a tragic story of course and interesting to think about how different it would have been if it were happening now.  What did you think of the book?

Book Club pick for January:

Run by Ann Patchett
“Since their mother’s death, Tip and Teddy Doyle have been raised by their loving, possessive and ambitious father. As the former Mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle wants to see his sons in politics, a dream the boys have never shared. But when an argument in a blinding New England snow storm inadvertently causes an accident that involves a stranger and her child, all Bernard Doyle cares about is his ability to keep his children, all his children, safe.

Set over a period of 24 hours, Run takes us from the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard to a home for retired Catholic priests in downtown Boston. It shows us how worlds of privilege and poverty can coexist only blocks apart from one another, and how family can include people you’ve never even met. As in her best selling novel, Bel Canto, Ann Patchett illustrates the humanity that connects disparate lives,weaving several stories into one surprising and endlessly moving narrative. Suspenseful and stunningly executed, Run is ultimately a novel about secrets, duty, responsibility, and the lengths we will go to protect our children.”

Discussion Questions:

1.The book begins with the story about the Virgin Mary Statue that resembles Bernadette. The issue of the statue and its ownership is woven throughout the book. Why is this important?

2. Is Teddy’s speech making just a personality quirk, or do the portions of famous speeches included in his own add to the deeper meaning of the story?

3. The story presents the idea of parents who can love his/her own child in addition to children who have come into their lives by circumstance.What is the author saying about these relationships? What do the characters learn about themselves through these relationships? Does DNA really matter? Should it?

4. Why did the author choose “Run” as the title? It clearly applies to Kenya, but discuss how the idea of running applies to each of the characters. Should they run? What are they running from, to, etc.?

5. What is the significance of religion and faith in the book? How does Father Sullivan impact the story? Is it important to know the older brother is named for him? Why is his connection to Tennessee important?

6.  How is Bernard Doyle’s political career impacting his son’s development and his feelings toward Kenya?

7. Is race a part of the story in order to make it clear the boys are adopted or is there more to the issue of race as it relates to the characters and how they see each other?

8.  How do you feel about the conclusion? Did each character grow in the ways you thought necessary?