Wednesday, February 16, 2011
www.goodreads.com
Ok, we are officially on GoodReads.com!! Go to the website via your email invite I sent you, then verify your email address and you are in! Check out the discussions and suggest what book(s) you would like to read for the club. See you on there!
Should we move to Goodreads.com?
So I have been the biggest slacker ever and I didn't even finish The Historian. LAME-O!
But I wanted to pose a question...do you all want to move our book club to goodreads.com? I may just pull books from there, but I needed to know what you all thought...
Also, are you guys ready for the February book??
But I wanted to pose a question...do you all want to move our book club to goodreads.com? I may just pull books from there, but I needed to know what you all thought...
Also, are you guys ready for the February book??
Monday, May 10, 2010
May/June Book
The next book in our awesome club will be one that came out in 2005. It is a book that Wendy has recommended to me a few times that I keep forgetting I want to read, so this will give me no excuse to forget again!
It's a vampire book...no not Twilight...but I hear still phenomenal just the same. Here you are ladies!
This book is 656 pages and I thought I would give us 2 months again to finish it. I think 2 months will work well because not all of us a) read lightning fast or b) have oodles of time. Not knocking those of us who do... ;) Anyway, here is the Amazon.com review! ENJOY!!
"If your pulse flutters at the thought of castle ruins and descents into crypts by moonlight, you will savor every creepy page of Elizabeth Kostova's long but beautifully structured thriller The Historian. The story opens in Amsterdam in 1972, when a teenage girl discovers a medieval book and a cache of yellowed letters in her diplomat father's library. The pages of the book are empty except for a woodcut of a dragon. The letters are addressed to: "My dear and unfortunate successor." When the girl confronts her father, he reluctantly confesses an unsettling story: his involvement, twenty years earlier, in a search for his graduate school mentor, who disappeared from his office only moments after confiding to Paul his certainty that Dracula--Vlad the Impaler, an inventively cruel ruler of Wallachia in the mid-15th century--was still alive. The story turns out to concern our narrator directly because Paul's collaborator in the search was a fellow student named Helen Rossi (the unacknowledged daughter of his mentor) and our narrator's long-dead mother, about whom she knows almost nothing. And then her father, leaving just a note, disappears also.
As well as numerous settings, both in and out of the East Bloc, Kostova has three basic story lines to keep straight--one from 1930, when Professor Bartolomew Rossi begins his dangerous research into Dracula, one from 1950, when Professor Rossi's student Paul takes up the scent, and the main narrative from 1972. The criss-crossing story lines mirror the political advances, retreats, triumphs, and losses that shaped Dracula's beleaguered homeland--sometimes with the Byzantines on top, sometimes the Ottomans, sometimes the rag-tag local tribes, or the Orthodox church, and sometimes a fresh conqueror like the Soviet Union.
Although the book is appropriately suspenseful and a delight to read--even the minor characters are distinctive and vividly seen--its most powerful moments are those that describe real horrors. Our narrator recalls that after reading descriptions of Vlad burning young boys or impaling "a large family," she tried to forget the words: "For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth." The reader, although given a satisfying ending, gets a strong enough dose of European history to temper the usual comforts of the closing words. --Regina Marler"
It's a vampire book...no not Twilight...but I hear still phenomenal just the same. Here you are ladies!
This book is 656 pages and I thought I would give us 2 months again to finish it. I think 2 months will work well because not all of us a) read lightning fast or b) have oodles of time. Not knocking those of us who do... ;) Anyway, here is the Amazon.com review! ENJOY!!
"If your pulse flutters at the thought of castle ruins and descents into crypts by moonlight, you will savor every creepy page of Elizabeth Kostova's long but beautifully structured thriller The Historian. The story opens in Amsterdam in 1972, when a teenage girl discovers a medieval book and a cache of yellowed letters in her diplomat father's library. The pages of the book are empty except for a woodcut of a dragon. The letters are addressed to: "My dear and unfortunate successor." When the girl confronts her father, he reluctantly confesses an unsettling story: his involvement, twenty years earlier, in a search for his graduate school mentor, who disappeared from his office only moments after confiding to Paul his certainty that Dracula--Vlad the Impaler, an inventively cruel ruler of Wallachia in the mid-15th century--was still alive. The story turns out to concern our narrator directly because Paul's collaborator in the search was a fellow student named Helen Rossi (the unacknowledged daughter of his mentor) and our narrator's long-dead mother, about whom she knows almost nothing. And then her father, leaving just a note, disappears also.
As well as numerous settings, both in and out of the East Bloc, Kostova has three basic story lines to keep straight--one from 1930, when Professor Bartolomew Rossi begins his dangerous research into Dracula, one from 1950, when Professor Rossi's student Paul takes up the scent, and the main narrative from 1972. The criss-crossing story lines mirror the political advances, retreats, triumphs, and losses that shaped Dracula's beleaguered homeland--sometimes with the Byzantines on top, sometimes the Ottomans, sometimes the rag-tag local tribes, or the Orthodox church, and sometimes a fresh conqueror like the Soviet Union.
Although the book is appropriately suspenseful and a delight to read--even the minor characters are distinctive and vividly seen--its most powerful moments are those that describe real horrors. Our narrator recalls that after reading descriptions of Vlad burning young boys or impaling "a large family," she tried to forget the words: "For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth." The reader, although given a satisfying ending, gets a strong enough dose of European history to temper the usual comforts of the closing words. --Regina Marler"
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Discussion
Here are some discussion points for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Graham-Smith that I found at the end of the book. They were great topics that really make you look at the text critically. Feel free to choose one to discuss or all of them, your choice!
1. Many critics have addressed the dual nature of Elizabeth's personality. On one hand, she can be a savage, remorseless killer, as we see in her vanquishing of Lady Catherine's ninjas. And on the other hand, she can be tender and merciful, as in her relationship with Jane, Charlotte, and the young bucks that roam her family's estate. In your opinion, which of these "halves" best represents the real Elizabeth at the beginning-and the end of the novel?
2. Is Mr. Collins merely too fat and stupid to notice his wife's gradual transformation into a zombie, or could there be another explanation for his failure to acknowledge the problem? If so, what might that explanation be? How might his occupation (as a pastor) relate to his denial of the obvious, or his decision to hang himself?
3. The strange plague has been the scourage of England for "five-and-fifty years". Why do the English stay and fight, rather than retreat to the safety of eastern Europe or Africa?
4. Who receives the sorrier fate: Wickham, left paralyzed in a seminary for the lame, forever soiling himself and studying ankle-high books of scripture? Or Lydia, removed from her family, married to an invalid, and childless, yet forever changing filthy diapers?
5. Due to her fierce independence, devotion to exercise, and penchant for boots, some critics have called Elizabeth Bennett "the first literary lesbian." Do you think the authors intended her to be gay? And if so, how would this Sapphic twist serve to explain her relationships with Darcy, Jane, Charlotte, Lady Catherine, and Wickham?
6. Some critics have suggested that the zombies represent the authors' views toward marriage-an endless curse that sucks the life out of you and just won't die. Do you agree, or do you have another opinion about the symbolism of the unmentionables?
7. Does Mrs. Bennett have a single redeeming quality?
8. Vomit plays an important role in this book. Mrs. Bennett frequently vomits when she is nervous, coachmen vomit in disgust when they witness zombies feasting on corpses, even the steady Elizabeth can't help but vomit at the sight of Charlotte lapping up her own bloody pus. Do the authors mean for this regurgitation to symbolize something greater, or is it a cheap device to get laughs?
9. Is Lady Catherine's objection to Elizabeth (as a bride for her nephew) merely a matter of Elizabeth's inferior wealth and rank? Or could there be another explanation? Could she be intimidated by Elizabeth's fighting skills? Is she herself in love with Darcy? Or is she bitter about the shortcomings of her own daughter?
These are difinitely just a device to get you thinking about the book and possibly to come up with your own points of dicussion. So, let's discuss!
1. Many critics have addressed the dual nature of Elizabeth's personality. On one hand, she can be a savage, remorseless killer, as we see in her vanquishing of Lady Catherine's ninjas. And on the other hand, she can be tender and merciful, as in her relationship with Jane, Charlotte, and the young bucks that roam her family's estate. In your opinion, which of these "halves" best represents the real Elizabeth at the beginning-and the end of the novel?
2. Is Mr. Collins merely too fat and stupid to notice his wife's gradual transformation into a zombie, or could there be another explanation for his failure to acknowledge the problem? If so, what might that explanation be? How might his occupation (as a pastor) relate to his denial of the obvious, or his decision to hang himself?
3. The strange plague has been the scourage of England for "five-and-fifty years". Why do the English stay and fight, rather than retreat to the safety of eastern Europe or Africa?
4. Who receives the sorrier fate: Wickham, left paralyzed in a seminary for the lame, forever soiling himself and studying ankle-high books of scripture? Or Lydia, removed from her family, married to an invalid, and childless, yet forever changing filthy diapers?
5. Due to her fierce independence, devotion to exercise, and penchant for boots, some critics have called Elizabeth Bennett "the first literary lesbian." Do you think the authors intended her to be gay? And if so, how would this Sapphic twist serve to explain her relationships with Darcy, Jane, Charlotte, Lady Catherine, and Wickham?
6. Some critics have suggested that the zombies represent the authors' views toward marriage-an endless curse that sucks the life out of you and just won't die. Do you agree, or do you have another opinion about the symbolism of the unmentionables?
7. Does Mrs. Bennett have a single redeeming quality?
8. Vomit plays an important role in this book. Mrs. Bennett frequently vomits when she is nervous, coachmen vomit in disgust when they witness zombies feasting on corpses, even the steady Elizabeth can't help but vomit at the sight of Charlotte lapping up her own bloody pus. Do the authors mean for this regurgitation to symbolize something greater, or is it a cheap device to get laughs?
9. Is Lady Catherine's objection to Elizabeth (as a bride for her nephew) merely a matter of Elizabeth's inferior wealth and rank? Or could there be another explanation? Could she be intimidated by Elizabeth's fighting skills? Is she herself in love with Darcy? Or is she bitter about the shortcomings of her own daughter?
These are difinitely just a device to get you thinking about the book and possibly to come up with your own points of dicussion. So, let's discuss!
Monday, March 8, 2010
March/April Book
I know we are all crazy busy, so I decided to give us 2 months to read the next book. This one I think will be a fun one. I have never read the original Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice. Shocking, I know! A former English major. It's shameful, so I think this is a good pick. Now, if you are a die hard Austen fan, I have been told that you need to read this book and take it for the humor it is imposing on this classic. So friends, without further adeux,
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahme-Smith.
"This may be the most wacky by-product of the busy Jane Austen fan-fiction industry—at least among the spin-offs and pastiches that have made it into print. In what’s described as an “expanded edition” of Pride and Prejudice, 85 percent of the original text has been preserved but fused with “ultraviolent zombie mayhem.” For more than 50 years, we learn, England has been overrun by zombies, prompting people like the Bennets to send their daughters away to China for training in the art of deadly combat, and prompting others, like Lady Catherine de Bourgh, to employ armies of ninjas. Added to the familiar plot turns that bring Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy together is the fact that both are highly skilled killers, gleefully slaying zombies on the way to their happy ending. Is nothing sacred? Well, no, and mash-ups using literary classics that are freely available on the Web may become a whole new genre. What’s next? Wuthering Heights and Werewolves?" --Mary Ellen Quinn
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahme-Smith.
"This may be the most wacky by-product of the busy Jane Austen fan-fiction industry—at least among the spin-offs and pastiches that have made it into print. In what’s described as an “expanded edition” of Pride and Prejudice, 85 percent of the original text has been preserved but fused with “ultraviolent zombie mayhem.” For more than 50 years, we learn, England has been overrun by zombies, prompting people like the Bennets to send their daughters away to China for training in the art of deadly combat, and prompting others, like Lady Catherine de Bourgh, to employ armies of ninjas. Added to the familiar plot turns that bring Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy together is the fact that both are highly skilled killers, gleefully slaying zombies on the way to their happy ending. Is nothing sacred? Well, no, and mash-ups using literary classics that are freely available on the Web may become a whole new genre. What’s next? Wuthering Heights and Werewolves?" --Mary Ellen Quinn
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Lovely Bones Discussion
NOTE: I have enabled comments from non-members, so if you don't want to login, you don't have to, but make sure that you put down your name so we know who we are talking to :D Thanks!
Here are some discussion points for our February book, The Lovely Bones:
1) How does the family deal with their grief? Do you agree with the way they handle the realization that their daughter is not coming home?
2)Is there a character that you identify with? Why? Is there one that you dislike? Why?
3)Was it easy to read the omnipresent/first person point of view? Meaning the way that Susie narrated the story, she was everywhere and spoke in 3rd person when she was watching Earth, but in 1st person when she was in her Heaven or recalling the past details of her life.
4)Did you agree with the end of the book? Why or why not?
5)Would you recommend the book?
6)Will you see the movie?
Feel free to discuss anything you like about the book. Anything goes!
Here are some discussion points for our February book, The Lovely Bones:
1) How does the family deal with their grief? Do you agree with the way they handle the realization that their daughter is not coming home?
2)Is there a character that you identify with? Why? Is there one that you dislike? Why?
3)Was it easy to read the omnipresent/first person point of view? Meaning the way that Susie narrated the story, she was everywhere and spoke in 3rd person when she was watching Earth, but in 1st person when she was in her Heaven or recalling the past details of her life.
4)Did you agree with the end of the book? Why or why not?
5)Would you recommend the book?
6)Will you see the movie?
Feel free to discuss anything you like about the book. Anything goes!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Book 1 - The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Mystery/True Crime wins! Here is the Summary of The Lovely Bones.
You can buy the paperback on Amazon.com for $8.47, Kindle for $4.99, Library for free but there is a wait...ebooks.com for $9.99.
Our deadline will be March 5th. We will discuss and I will have another selection ready for March. If you guys want, throw out some suggestions of books you'd like to read and we'll line 'em up! :)
SUMMARY:
On her way home from school on a snowy December day in 1973, 14-year-old Susie Salmon ("like the fish") is lured into a makeshift underground den in a cornfield and brutally raped and murdered, the latest victim of a serial killer--the man she knew as her neighbor, Mr. Harvey.
Alice Sebold's haunting and heartbreaking debut novel, The Lovely Bones, unfolds from heaven, where "life is a perpetual yesterday" and where Susie narrates and keeps watch over her grieving family and friends, as well as her brazen killer and the sad detective working on her case. As Sebold fashions it, everyone has his or her own version of heaven. Susie's resembles the athletic fields and landscape of a suburban high school: a heaven of her "simplest dreams," where "there were no teachers.... We never had to go inside except for art class.... The boys did not pinch our backsides or tell us we smelled; our textbooks were Seventeen and Glamour and Vogue."
The Lovely Bones works as an odd yet affecting coming-of-age story. Susie struggles to accept her death while still clinging to the lost world of the living, following her family's dramas over the years like an episode of My So-Called Afterlife. Her family disintegrates in their grief: her father becomes determined to find her killer, her mother withdraws, her little brother Buckley attempts to make sense of the new hole in his family, and her younger sister Lindsey moves through the milestone events of her teenage and young adult years with Susie riding spiritual shotgun. Random acts and missed opportunities run throughout the book--Susie recalls her sole kiss with a boy on Earth as "like an accident--a beautiful gasoline rainbow." Though sentimental at times, The Lovely Bones is a moving exploration of loss and mourning that ultimately puts its faith in the living and that is made even more powerful by a cast of convincing characters. Sebold orchestrates a big finish, and though things tend to wrap up a little too well for everyone in the end, one can only imagine (or hope) that heaven is indeed a place filled with such happy endings. --Brad Thomas Parsons
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