"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Monday, March 18, 2024

TTT: My Spring Reading List


Top Ten Tuesday: Spring Reading List. 
Below the line is how I did on my winter reading list.


Spring reading list:

Book Club Selections:

  1. Braiding Sweetgrass by Kimmerer (April, Group #1)
  2. West With Giraffes by Rutledge (April, Group #2)
  3. Klara and the Sun by Ishiguro (May, Group #1)
  4. The Vaster Wilds by Groff (May, Group #2)
  5. Plainsong by Haruf (June, Group #1)
  6. The River We Remember by Krueger (June, Group #2)

Challenge Books:

  1. Classics Club Spin Book TBA from this list -- Possibly The Iliad by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
  2. A Past Pulitzer Prize winner from list --  hopefully The Known World by Jones
  3. Printz Award winner or honor book from this list -- possibly The Collectors: Stories edited by A.S. King
  4. My One Big Book Challenge book -- Wolf Hall by Mantel
  5. April Poetry Month: -- possibly Mahogany by Erica Lewis

Books I've already started, recently acquired, and/or have on-hold at the library:

  1. My Brilliant Friend by Ferrante
  2. The Fraud by Zadie Smith
  3. The Bee Sting by Murray
  4. The Symphony of Secrets by Slocumb
  5. Suffering is Never for Nothing by Elisabeth Elliot 
  6. No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler
  7. Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright: Poems edited by Waters, et al


Update: How I did on my winter reading list.
Highlighted yellow: completed. 
Highlighted aqua: in progress or dnf
Highlighted green:  not completed



Winter reading list:

Book Club Selections:

  1. The Bride Test by Huong (Jan, Group #1)
  2.  The Covenant of Water by Verghese (Jan., Group #2)
  3. The Huntress by Quinn (Feb., Group #1)
  4. The Rabbit Hutch by Gunty (Feb, Group #2)
  5. The Egg and I by MacDonald (Mar., Group #1)
  6. Lady Tan's Circle of Women by See (Mar. Group #2)

Challenge Books:

  1. Classics Club Spin Book TBA from this list -- Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway
  2. A Past Pulitzer Prize winner from list -- See above -- Old Man and the Sea
  3. Printz Award winner or honor book from this list -- I did not read any of the Printz winners 
  4. My One Big Book Challenge book -- Wolf Hall by Mantel, I'm scheduled to start this book on 3/28/24

Books I've already started, recently acquired, and/or have on-hold at the library:

  1. My Brilliant Friend by Ferrante
  2. The News of the World by Jiles
  3. Babel by Kuang
  4. The Land of Lost Things by Connolly
  5. Tiny Habits by Fogg
  6. Nonfiction books as part of Cybils 2nd round judge responsibility. I read all 17 books for my category.


Analysis: I've been in a bit of reading slump since I completed reading for the Cybils in mid-February. I hope that an upcoming trip will jolt me into a better reading space since we will be in the car for hours and hours which should be good audiobook listening time.


-Anne

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Sunday Salon -- St. Patrick's Day 2024

Hilarious photo of our grandson doubling as a leprechaun wearing his Christmas PJs hovering above the solo-stove. You are welcome! (Photo by D. Adams, stickered by C. Bennett)

Weather: Gorgeous and warm. The family is outside playing corn hole. Yesterday we went for our first drive of the year in our convertible. We pruned the hydrangeas the day before. Today we got seeds at a seed exchange at church. Spring here we come.

Our street trees: Flowering plums. Photo: A. Bennett, 3/15/24


It's been three weeks since my last post. What's been happening:
  • Our youngest, Carly, bought a house and we've been helping her paint a few rooms and move in. She is still living here in our house with us until after our family vacation to Utah in a a few weeks. Yesterday we helped her hang pictures so it is really starting to feel like her home.
  • Her cats, Fred and George, have become a fixture around here, reminding us how much we like cats. In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday earlier this month, we've been working on rhymes involving these ginger-colored brothers. Like: "Fred is on the bed." and "Nothing rhymes is George except forge and gorge. How do we make a rhyme out of that?"
  • Don and I carried a picnic with us to enjoy at the end of our convertible ride. We stopped at Veterans' Park alongside South Prairie Creek and sat at a picnic table comfortably basking in the the end-of-winter weather.
Books, books, books: I am in a bit of a reading funk, but have managed to read and review a few books over the past three weeks:
  • The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. A reread for me. Last read in 8th grade. I liked it but it isn't quite the story I remember. Read for Classics Club spin.
  • The Rabbit Hutch by Gunty. A book club selection and a very quirky book, but I REALLY liked it. It is so well-written and thought provoking. We had a great discussion.
  • The River We Remember by Krueger. Another book club selection for a future meeting. It is a mystery so it won't be the usual discussion, based on the fact we'll all know the ending.
  • When Women Were Dragons by Barnhill. All women should read this book. Dragons are a metaphor for pent up feelings of anger for being treated as "less-than" for centuries.
  • Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See. Historical fiction based on a real female doctor who lived in the 15th century in China. Wow. 
  • Above Ground: Poems by Clint Smith. Smith, a new father, writes about parenthood, something we can all relate to even if we aren't parents. (Because we had parents!)
  • The Egg and I by McDonald. A classic memoir published in 1945. Humorous, interesting, and cringe-worthy. I am one chapter away from completion. Print. 95% complete.
  • The Vaster Wild by Groff. Alternative history. I started this book yesterday. Audio. 10% complete.
I had all these ideas of what to include in this post but the sunshine beckons. I'll leave off on a few funnies!







Time change got you? Give in to the urge to sleep in!

Skimble (left) and Sasha (right), our other ginger-colored grandcats, adjusting to the time change.


-Anne

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Review: LADY TAN'S CIRCLE OF WOMEN (+Friday56 sign-in)


Title: Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

Book Beginning quote:

Friday56 quote:
“I wish I were a giant gingko tree hundreds of years old, with the deep roots it takes to stand strong against mighty winds. Instead, I feel like a sapling in a typhoon, desperately trying to hang on.”
Summary: This historical novel is inspired by the true story of a female physician living during the 15th century in China, Lady Tan Yunxian. She was born into an elite family, was trained to be a female doctor by her grandmother who was also a doctor for women, was married into another elite family at age 15 where her mother-in-law didn't want her to practice her craft. Her first days in her new home, as a young bride, Yunxian was tremendously lonely and bored. She wanted to work, yet she was expected to embroider foot slippers for bound feet, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay within the confines of the family compound, The Garden of Fragrant Delights. Eventually she is allowed to practice medicine, but only for women. In breaking with tradition, she goes on to treat women and girls from all walks of society, writes a book, and develops treatments which are still used today. "Lady Tan's Circle of Women is a captivating story of women helping other women. It is also a triumphant reimagining of the life of a woman who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today" (Publisher).

Review: Lady Tan's Circle of Women is tremendously interesting and scrupulously researched. This is the third book I've read by Lisa See and I felt the same way about the other two books. I learned so much and had my eyes opened about aspects of history I knew nothing about.  The existence of women in the 15th century in China (and all around the world) was so bleak. They had few rights and were never thought of as equals with men. Yet, here is Lady Tan, an amazing woman and physician that defies all expectations and lives an important life, one that matters even today.

I can't even begin to tell you everything about this book, nor would I want to since I hope you will read it for yourself. But I want you to know about this incredible resource Lisa See has put together about the book Lady Tan's Circle of Women, Chinese medicine, foot-binding, and so much more. I think I could spend several days exploring all the resources she has put together for her readers. STEP INSIDE: THE WORLD OF LADY TAN . It is the best book resource I have ever encountered. Read the book. Visit the website. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. My one bummer, I will have to miss the book club where this book will be discussed.


Sign up for The Friday56 on the Inlinkz below. 

As many of you know Freda over at Freda's Voice hosted #Friday56 for many years. On September 7th she told us she was going through some personal stuff and could no longer host. I've attempted to reach her but have had no reply. So I will host The Friday56 until she comes back. Help me communicate with past participants so they can figure out where and how to find me, please post this post's URL on your blog. Don't forget to drop a comment on my post also! Thanks.

Also visit Book Beginnings on Friday hosted by Rose City Reader and First Line Friday hosted by Reading is My Super Power to share the beginning quote from your book.

RULES:

*Grab a book, any book
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader
(If you want to improvise, go ahead!)
*Find a snippet, but no spoilers!
*Post it to your blog and add your url to the Linky below. If you do not add the specific url for your post, we may miss it!


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
-Anne

Monday, March 11, 2024

TTT: Books I'm Worried Wouldn't Hold Up Under the Scrutiny of a Reread


Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'm worried wouldn't hold up under the scrutiny of a reread


I loved all of these books. I love them so much I don't want to reread them. I want them to remain beloved in my memory.

...

....

......


////////////


Nevermind. I just reviewed six or seven years of my reading lists and I couldn't find a single book I wouldn't consider rereading.

In light of that discovery I decided to think back on my childhood and name a few books I liked then that might be wrecked if I reread them now.

.....

.........

Ta-da!



What childhood favorites do you avoid reading as an adult?
 
Note: WordPress Users, for some reason my account and yours don't match. Though I have tried leaving comments some, but few, have gone through. Know I love you and appreciate you visiting here. I did visit your blogs but you'll never know. Sorry.

-Anne

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Review: WHEN WOMEN WERE DRAGONS


Title:
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Beginning quote: 
I was four years old when I first met a dragon. I never told my mother. I didn't think she'd understand.
Page 56 55 quote: 
Despite my mother's aversion to hard conversations, the nation went through a short, and only somewhat thorough, reckoning of what had occurred. This was difficult, given the assumed femininity of dragons, and the Mass Dragoning's accepted connection to something as private as motherhood.
Summary: In 1955 thousands of American women spontaneously transformed into dragons. This event destroyed everyone's notion of women and their place in the world. The government couldn't explain how or why it happened so instead of studying the large-scale dragoning they made it a forbidden topic that couldn't be mentioned in school let alone studied.

When Alex's Aunt Marla dragonned, her daughter, Beatrice, became her sister. When Alex's mom died from cancer, she was put in charge of Beatrice's care. But from a young age, Beatrice wanted to become a dragon herself. Alex feared she'd be left alone in a world she didn't understand.

Review: My daughter was the person who recommended this book to me. She knew I would love it and she was right. I adored this book with a look at feminism from a different angle. If you are thinking you don't like to read "fantasy" books, don't worry, this book is really a human story about all the indignities women have had to put up with over the ages. And it shows what happens when women rise up (literally) and the value is felt by everyone is society. I laughed, I cringed, I cried. This book really, really spoke to my heart and hey, the hero of the book is a librarian. What's not to love?

I love this book so much I bought a copy for my mother who is turning 95 later this month. In a lot of ways my mom has been a real dragon in my life and has done so much good for her community. I also hope my book club will consider this for a future meeting. Now I am recommending it to you.

(Source: Kirkus Reviews)



Sign up for The Friday56 on the Inlinkz below. 

As many of you know Freda over at Freda's Voice hosted #Friday56 for many years. On September 7th she told us she was going through some personal stuff and could no longer host. I've attempted to reach her but have had no reply. So I will host The Friday56 until she comes back. Help me communicate with past participants so they can figure out where and how to find me, please post this post's URL on your blog. Don't forget to drop a comment on my post also! Thanks.

Also visit Book Beginnings on Friday hosted by Rose City Reader and First Line Friday hosted by Reading is My Super Power to share the beginning quote from your book.

RULES:

*Grab a book, any book
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader
(If you want to improvise, go ahead!)
*Find a snippet, but no spoilers!
*Post it to your blog and add your url to the Linky below. If you do not add the specific url for your post, we may miss it!


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
-Anne

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Review: THE RIVER WE REMEMBER


Title:
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger

Beginning quote:


Friday56 quote:
“Even after the sun had set and the sky had gone from bruised purple to an indigo full of stars, they talked. There beside the silent flow of the Alabaster River, they split open the darkness inside both of them in which too many secrets had lain hidden”

My thoughts from Feb. 9th: I am finishing up my Cybils judging responsibilities this week and I can't publish any reviews for those books until after the winners are announced. So this week you get the benefit of quotes without a review of the book I am listening to now, since I haven't finished an adult books all week.

I really love this author, but I'm not sure what I feel about this one, his most recent book. It is a mystery with a whole town's worth of characters. Set in the 1950s. Relationships are sloppy and the specter of war haunts many folks. What do you think of the quotes? I think the first quote, though a bit boring, is a good way to introduce the setting, a small farming town in the Midwest. The Alabaster River witnesses all kinds of events as it flows through the community and the people's lives. 

Review on March 6th (Circling back after finishing the book): As I said above I really like this author but of the three books I've read by him I like this one the least. It was a good mystery with plenty of red herrings along the way to keep readers guessing but there were few moments of sheer surprise or delight.

I'll be very curious how the book club discussion will go. Mysteries are hard to discuss because by the end one knows the end of the mystery. (How's that for a circular sentence?) So I imagine we'll talk mostly about the characters and about the writing. Here are some discussion questions which seem pretty good. I do hope we focus part of our meeting on the book's themes, especially the theme and the role of the river in the plot. I usually try to locate the title of the book in the book and this one wasn't hard to find since the river is a central character really.

I finished this book on Feb. 13th, less than a month ago and already much of the plot and most of the characters have faded in my mind. I rated the book with 4 stars at the time but would likely rate it lower today knowing it is not a very memorable story. Sigh.



Sign up for The Friday56 on the Inlinkz below. 

As many of you know Freda over at Freda's Voice hosted #Friday56 for many years. On September 7th she told us she was going through some personal stuff and could no longer host. I've attempted to reach her but have had no reply. So I will host The Friday56 until she comes back. Help me communicate with past participants so they can figure out where and how to find me, please post this post's URL on your blog. Thanks.

Also visit Book Beginnings on Friday hosted by Rose City Reader and First Line Friday hosted by Reading is My Super Power to share the beginning quote from your book.

RULES:

*Grab a book, any book
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your e-reader
(If you want to improvise, go ahead!)
*Find a snippet, but no spoilers!
*Post it to your blog and add your url to the Linky below. If you do not add the specific url for your post, we may miss it!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

-Anne

Monday, March 4, 2024

TTT: A look back at a decade of March reads



Top Ten Tuesday: A look back at a decade of March reads.


I love the idea of today's proposed topic: to list queries to Google based on what I was reading. I do this all the time, often mid-book, however I just can't remember any of my searches right now. So I am off-the-board today with a look back at a decade of March reads. I've been listing my books on Goodreads for over ten years, so this task is doable right now.

Here is a list of books I was read in March, one per year, for the past decade, along with the rating I gave it at the time on Goodreads:


2024
Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
This is my current audiobook for an upcoming book club. The book is about the life of women in the 15th Century in China. Of special interest to me is the information about Chinese medicine of the day.
Not finished, no rating yet.

2023
Textbook by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
I learned about this wonderful, unique author earlier in 2023 and devoured everything by her that I could get my hands on. Textbook is a memoir, of sorts, and so fun and unique (there's that word again.) I went into a sort of funk around this time as I learned about her death in 2017 from ovarian cancer. I wanted more books like this one, and its predecessor, Encyclopedia of An Ordinary Life. Sigh.
Rated 5+ stars.

2022
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
March 2022 was a nightmare. My cousin's husband, a deputy sheriff officer, was killed in the line of duty. The whole family spiraled into almost unrecognizable grief and sorrow. I decided to reread Ordinary Grace at this time and it really helped me, and hopefully others as I shared what I gleaned from it. Check out my review if you want to learn more about the book and why it was helpful. (Title is hyperlinked.)
Rated: 5 stars

2021
Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang
The best graphic memoir I've ever read. Yang not only tells his own story but teaches us about basketball as he learns about it from his research and his students. Most of my reviews are read and ignored by about 50 people, I'd say. The review I wrote about Dragon Hoops gets thousands of views per year. If you get discouraged writing reviews for seemingly no one, keep this in mind. Every once in a while one of your reviews may take off. Stick with it.
Rated: 5 stars

2020
The Year of the Monkey by Patty Smith
Remember March 2020? How could anyone forget it? This is the month that the world shut down due to COVID. Just before that infamous event, I read this little gem of a diary/memoir by Smith, my first by this famous author/artist/musician.
Rated: 3 1/2 stars

2019
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
I am a huge Kingsolver fan but Unsheltered isn't my favorite by her. That said, I really appreciated the book and how it helped open up my thinking on topics oft in the news today.
Rated: 4 stars.

2018
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
A modern retelling of the Pride and Prejudice story by Jane Austen. I like the original classic MUCH better but this was fun especially trying to imagine the events of P&P happening today.
Rated: 3 stars.

2017
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rawley
I cried my way through the end of this short little book. It is about a dog and his owner.
Rated: 4 stars

2016
Quiet: The Power of Introverts In a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Ms. Cain pulls together all kinds of research on introversion/extroversion. This book gave me a lot of insights into my daughter and several of my past students who are introverts. It lent itself to an excellent book club discussion. Unfortunately, I never published a review of it.
Rated: 5

2015
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
 The Rosie Project was truly a publishing phenomenon, having been picked up by 38 publishers worldwide. It was called the "feel-good-book-of-2013" which was extended to 2014 and 2015 when I read and discussed it in both my book clubs.
Rated: 5 stars.

2014
Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
Oddly this is the only YA book on the list. I say that since I was a teen librarian until I retired in June of 2017. Rose Under Fire is the sequel to the much admired Code Name Verity by Weir and is the second book in a series of four novels by the author. I loved them all. Rose Under Fire is set in WWII and includes distressing information about the Polish women who were forced to be lab-rats for medical experiments.
Rated: 4 stars.

This was both a fun and an odd activity to complete. I tend to think of my life on a timeline littered with books. Can it really be ten years since I read The Rosie Project? And five years since I was reading The Year of the Monkey when all hell was breaking loose in the world because of COVID?


Do you keep records of the books you've read? What were you reading five years ago when COVID started? Ten years ago? Last year at this time?


-Anne

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Six Degrees of Separation: TOM LAKE to...


Six Degrees of Separation

We begin with --

 

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
The title of the book is the name of the summer stock theater company who performs plays every summer at a resort on Tom Lake in Michigan.


 

Our Town by Thornton Wilder
One of the plays the company performed that summer was "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder. And the main character of the play was also the narrator of the book.

 

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chkhov
Patchett clearly wants Tom Lake to be a paean to Our Town and to its playwright, Thornton Wilder. 
In addition, I'd say that Patchett snuck in quite an homage to Anton Chekhov, too. His last two plays were titled "Three Sisters" and "The Cherry Orchard". Hmm. A good deal of the story takes place in a cherry orchard and, of course, there are three sisters. One could almost feel Chekhov hovering nearby. Wilder may have been "driving the tractor" but Chekhov was certainly nearby lending his ideas for stage directions.

 

A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders
The subtitle of this book tells you what the book is about: In Which Four Russian Authors Give a Master Class on Writing. One of the four Russians that Saunders highlights is Anton Chekhov, though the work he highlighted wasn't "The Cherry Orchard."

 

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
This is the first book I read by Saunders. Read is a misnomer, as I actually listened to the audiobook. It has 166 unique voice actors reading the parts. Listening to this book was a transfixing experience for me. 

 

His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman
Another transfixing audiobook experience with a large cast of narrators, I immersed myself totally in the story and read all three books in rapid succession.  

 

The Book of Dust series by Philip Pullman
Another series by Philip Pullman where I found myself completely lost inside the story. The only problem, this series is incomplete. The 2nd book, The Secret Commonwealth, was published in 2019. And now I and other fans have to wait for the third book to be published and no publication date has been set. Sigh.


 

That brings us back around to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett.
I don't often pay attention to upcoming books, but I love Ann Patchett so much I am always eagerly await her new books. Thankfully she didn't make us wait five+ years for this book.

I made it full circle. Six degrees from Tom Lake and back again. How'd I do? Did you follow my logic?

-Anne



Saturday, March 2, 2024

Review and discussion questions for: THE RABBIT HUTCH by Tess Gunty


This month's book club selection was Tess Gunty's National Book Award winning novel The Rabbit Hutch. It was a unanimous choice at first but then as women started reading the book a few balked, thinking the book was too difficult and contained too many trigger topics. We decided to go ahead with our choice and, boy, am I glad we did.

The Rabbit Hutch weaves together the daily dramas of tenants in a run-down apartment complex in a run-down fictitious town named Vacca Vale, Indiana. The builders, trying to give the apartment complex an air of sophistication named it 'La Lapinière', but the residents just called it the Rabbit Hutch. (Lapinière is the French word for rabbit hutch.) We all are familiar with rabbit hutches but it is odd to think of humans living in one where "walls are so thin, you can hear everyone's lives progress like a radio play." The tenants are all living down-and-out lives in their down-and-out apartments in the #1 Dying City in America. "Set over one sweltering week in July and culminating in a bizarre act of violence that finally changes everything, The Rabbit Hutch is a savagely beautiful and bitingly funny snapshot of contemporary America, a gorgeous and provocative tale of loneliness and longing, entrapment and, ultimately, freedom" (Publisher).

As I read and listened to The Rabbit Hutch I couldn't help but think of the book Lolita by Nabokov. I've always thought of that classic book as the most beautifully written book about a depraved topic. The Rabbit Hutch is stuffed full of trigger worthy topics and themes: child abandonment, the foster care system and shortcomings, sexual abuse of a minors and predator behavior, animal sacrifices, poverty and loneliness. Think of a depraved topic, it is probably addressed in this book. But the writing is brilliant. BRILLIANT! Like Nabokov, Gunty has a beautiful command of the English language and inserts phrases and quips throughout the story which would catch me up so I'd have to stop and think about what was said and the deeper meaning. One gal at book club said the book made her think about herself and her life choices in the face of encountering similar problems with students and neighbors. A book is a wonderful thing if it causes us to stop and change directions toward a more positive future. All this depravity is broken up by humorous situations, which I suppose what made the book bearable.

I am not getting anywhere near to a good summary of the book. I hope you take the chance to read its review in the New York Times. Also take a minute to read the interview Gunty did with the editorial staff at Waterstone, an online magazine. The Rabbit Hutch won the first Waterstone Debut Fiction Award. Both of these sources helped fill out my appreciation of the book.

Now to our book club discussion. The publisher provided no discussion questions and the ones we were able to find online were very basic. I wrote several questions to augment what others were able to find and we ended up having a very robust discussion. To be clear, two of us loved the book, two hated the book, and the rest fell somewhere in the middle. Afterwards all admitted that we had a fantastic discussion, even those who didn't like the book. So don't be afraid to pick this book for your future club meetings.



The Rabbit Hutch Discussion Questions 

(Spoiler alert: Some details of the book will be revealed in the questions.)

  1. What did you think was revealed in the opening lines of the book  “On a hot night in Apartment C4, Blandine Watkins exits her body. She is only 18 years old, but she has spent most of her life wishing for this to happen.” And how did this affect your feelings about the book going forward?
  2. Why do you think Blandine, the 18-year-old, former foster care 'graduate', is obsessed with Catholic mystics even though she was not religious?
  3. Blandine never left Vacca Vale but her whole life she felt like an outsider. How does this happen? Have you ever known anyone in a similar situation? (Our group is made up of teachers, so we could reflect back on past students.)
  4. Talk about the characters: Blandine, Moses, Elsie, Joan, Todd/Malik/Jack, James, others. 
  5. The theme of "home" is a recurring one. Give some examples of how the characters felt about home.
  6. What aspect of "dying cities" have you been aware of where you live? What signs of resurgence?
  7. The book highlights how often there is a lack of societal responsibility by its members. Discuss examples of this from the book and in your own community/life.
  8. What aspects of the book did you find funny/humorous? (You might need to prompt the group with some you've thought of before the meeting. We found so many funny aspects but of course they were hidden in some awful circumstances. It took us a while to come up with some and then the flood gate was open and we couldn't stop finding new humorous quotes/quips/situations.)
  9. How did you react to the chapter of visual illustrations? Did it help you understand the unfolding scene better or not?
  10. Todd, Jack, and Malik start sacrificing animals at some point. How does this come to pass and why did they continue it?
  11. Late in the book Jack's chapters are written in 1st person. Why do you think the author switched that point-of-view and gave Jack a front row seat? Did you notice it? How did it impact the story?
  12. What are your favorite quotes/quips? Here are a few of my favorites:
    • "Her voice sounded like a communion wafer -- tasteless and light."
    • "He wears his testosterone like a strong cologne."
    • "You couldn't go anywhere in this town without bumping into God."
    • "It takes Blandine a long time to respond, and when she does, the words seem laborius for her. She lugs them in to the room as though they're pieces of furniture."
  13. On the last page of the book Joan wonders what comments people would make to fill the obituary guest book if Blandine died. What comments do you think people would make and who are these people? 
  14. What is your reaction to the last few lines of the book summed up as, "I'm awake. Are you?"
  15. What growth/positive movement did the characters make by the end of the book?
★Feel free to use these discussion questions for your book club discussion. If you publish the questions for your members or in any other publication, please give me credit. Thank you, Anne@HeadFullofBooks


-Anne