Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: A Novel by Ben Fountain

Our next book for discussion is Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: A Novel by Ben Fountain. 

We will meet on Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles is. Charlene Sivyer will lead the discussion. Thanks, Charlene!

Book Description: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: A Novel by Ben Fountain. (2012); 307 pages, 4.1 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com; 12 copies available through the Cafe library system. Also available for 15% from Martha Merrell's/Cuddles.

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and a finalist for the National Book Award!

Amazon Best Books of the Month, May 2012: Billy Lynn and his Bravo squad mates have become heroes thanks to an embedded Fox News crew’s footage of their firefight against Iraqi insurgents. During one day of their bizarre Victory Tour, set mostly at a Thanksgiving Day football game at Texas Stadium, they’re wooed by Hollywood producers, smitten by Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, and share a stage at halftime with Beyonce. Guzzling Jack and Cokes and scuffling with fans, the Bravos are conflicted soldiers. “Okay, so maybe they aren’t the greatest generation,” writes debut author (!) Ben Fountain, who manages a sly feat: giving us a maddening and believable cast of characters who make us feel what it must be like to go to war. Veering from euphoria to dread to hope, Billy Lynn is a propulsive story that feels real and true. With fierce and fearless writing, Fountain is a writer worth every accolade about to come his way. --Neal Thompson --

Here is a link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Billy-Lynns-Long-Halftime-Walk/dp/0060885610/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365454517&sr=8-1&keywords=Billy+Lynn%27s+Long+Halftime+Walk%3A+A+Novel+by+Ben+Fountain

There is a reading group guide to the book at: http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/13-fiction/8923-billy-lynns-long-halftime-walk-fountain

                                                                                                                                                                         May you enjoy this 26.46 minute video interview with Ben Fountain. http://video.unctv.org/video/2258864914/

Looking forward!

The Island: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand

Our next book will transport us to summertime when we read The Island: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand. We will meet on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles. Chris Unger and Ann Sawyer will lead the discussion. Thanks, Ann and Chris!

Book Description

The Island: A Novel, Elin Hilderbrand (2010); Fiction; 401 pages; 4.1 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com; 15 copies in the CAFÉ library system and available for 15% off at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles.                                                                                                                                                                

Birdie Cousins has thrown herself into the details of her daughter Chess's lavish wedding, from the floating dance floor in her Connecticut back yard to the color of the cocktail napkins. Like any mother of a bride-to-be, she is weathering the storms of excitement and chaos, tears and joy. But Birdie, a woman who prides herself on preparing for every possibility, could never have predicted the late-night phone call from Chess, abruptly announcing that she's cancelled her engagement. 

It's only the first hint of what will be a summer of upheavals and revelations. Before the dust has even begun to settle, far worse news arrives, sending Chess into a tailspin of despair. Reluctantly taking a break from the first new romance she's embarked on since the recent end of her 30-year marriage, Birdie circles the wagons and enlists the help of her younger daughter Tate and her own sister India. Soon all four are headed for beautiful, rustic Tuckernuck Island, off the coast of Nantucket, where their family has summered for generations. No phones, no television, no grocery store - a place without distractions where they can escape their troubles.

But throw sisters, daughters, ex-lovers, and long-kept secrets onto a remote island, and what might sound like a peaceful getaway becomes much more. Before summer has ended, dramatic truths are uncovered, old loves are rekindled, and new loves make themselves known. It's a summertime story only Elin Hilderbrand can tell, filled with the heartache, laughter, and surprises that have made her page-turning, bestselling novels as much a part of summer as a long afternoon on a sunny beach.

http://www.amazon.com/Island-Novel-Elin-Hilderbrand/dp/B005CDTX6C/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318988695&sr=1-1

About the Author

Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, PA, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her eight previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of JohnsHopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.

May you enjoy this 2:27 minute video featuring Elin Hilderbrand as she introduces her book:

Elin Hilderbrand's facebook page is at: https://www.facebook.com/ElinHilderbrand

The Hachette Book Group has discussion questions at: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/_b2c/media/assets/titles/d40469c4-0cc8-49d0-bad0-73a065750053/ARG_9780316043878.pdf

Looking forward!

Reading My Father: A Memoir by Alexandra Styron

Our next book is Reading My Father: A Memoir by Alexandra Styron, (2011, 285 pages; 4.2 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com.)

We will meet on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 6:30 p.m. - 8: 00 p.m. at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles. Ed Vojtik will lead the discussion. Thanks, Ed!

Book Description:

Release date: April 19, 2011

PART MEMOIR AND PART ELEGY, READING MY FATHER IS THE STORY OF A DAUGHTER COMING TO KNOW HER FATHER AT LAST— A GIANT AMONG TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN NOVELISTS AND A MAN WHOSE DEVASTATING DEPRESSION DARKENED THE FAMILY LANDSCAPE. In Reading My Father, William Styron’s youngest child explores the life of a fascinating and difficult man whose own memoir, Darkness Visible, so searingly chronicled his battle with major depression. Alexandra Styron’s parents—the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Sophie’s Choice and his political activist wife, Rose—were, for half a century, leading players on the world’s cultural stage. Alexandra was raised under both the halo of her father’s brilliance and the long shadow of his troubled mind.
A drinker, a carouser, and above all “a high priest at the altar of fiction,” Styron helped define the concept of The Big Male Writer that gave so much of twentieth-century American fiction a muscular, glamorous aura. In constant pursuit of The Great Novel, he and his work were the dominant force in his family’s life, his turbulent moods the weather in their ecosystem.
From Styron’s Tidewater, Virginia, youth and precocious literary debut to the triumphs of his best-known books and on through his spiral into depression, Reading My Father portrays the epic sweep of an American artist’s life, offering a ringside seat on a great literary generation’s friendships and their dramas. It is also a tale of filial love, beautifully written, with humor, compassion, and grace.  

Alexandra Styron's website is at:  http://www.alexandrastyron.com/

For discussion questions and an author interview, please see:  http://books.simonandschuster.com/Reading-My-Father/Alexandra-Styron/9781416591795/reading_group_guide

There is a 2.51 minute You Tube video featuring Alexandra Styron at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbE-4MRkpes

If you want to plan ahead, our future books are:

Wednesday, April 10, 2013, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles: The Island: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand. Chris Unger and Ann Sawyer will lead the discussion.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles:
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: A Novel by Ben Fountain. Charlene Sivyer will lead the discussion.

Thanks to Karen Vaklyes for editing this blog!

Looking forward!

Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams

Our next book for discussion is: Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time by Mark Adams. We will meet on Wednesday, February 13, 2013, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Martha Merrell’s/Cuddles.

Here is information about the book: Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time, Mark Adams (2011); Nonfiction; 352 pages; 4.6/5 stars on Amazon.com; one copy at WPL; 10 copies in Café system; available in paperback. 
       
Book Description:  What happens when an unadventurous adventure writer tries to re-create the original expedition to Machu Picchu? In 1911, Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and “discovered” Machu Picchu. While history has recast Bingham as a villain who stole both priceless artifacts and credit for finding the great archeological site, Mark Adams set out to retrace the explorer’s perilous path in search of the truth—except he’d written about adventure far more than he’d actually lived it. In fact, he’d never even slept in a tent. Turn Right at Machu Picchu is Adams’ fascinating and funny account of his journey through some of the world’s most majestic, historic, and remote landscapes guided only by a hard-as-nails Australian survivalist and one nagging question: Just what was Machu Picchu?  http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Right-Machu-Picchu-Rediscovering/dp/0452297982/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341712653&sr=1-1&keywords=turn+right+at+machu+picchu+rediscovering+the+lost+city+one+step+at+a+time

Mark Adams' website that includes his biography is at: http://markadamsbooks.com/index.htm 

Mark Adams' book trailer can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6c5m_wl6Rc

May you enjoy this NPR interview with Mark Adams: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=138603939&m=138653350

Thanks to Karen for editing this e-newsletter!

Looking forward!

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund de Waal

We had an interesting discussion tonight and welcomed a new visitor, Renee, who recently moved here from Madison. We hope you come back to enjoy future discussions as an Oasis Reader, Renee!

We have other exciting news. Mary Jo Balistreri's newly released book of poems, Gathering the Harvest, will be featured on the radio! To hear Mary Jo's interview with Stephanie Lecci on "Lake Effect," tune into WUWM, 89.7 FM, on Thursday, December 20, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. Congratulations Mary Jo! We can't wait to hear you on the radio!

Our next book is The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund de Waal. We will meet on Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles. Would anyone like to lead the discussion?

Here is a book description:

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance (2010); Nonfiction; 354 pages; 4.3/5 stars on Amazon.com; one copy at WPL; seven copies in Café system; available in paperback for 15% off at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles.

                                                                                                                              

Book Description: An Economist Book of the Year. Costa Book Award Winner for Biography. Galaxy National Book Award Winner (New Writer of the Year Award) Edmund de Waal is a world-famous ceramicist. Having spent thirty years making beautiful pots—which are then sold, collected, and handed on—he has a particular sense of the secret lives of objects. When he inherited a collection of 264 tiny Japanese wood and ivory carvings, called netsuke, he wanted to know who had touched and held them, and how the collection had managed to survive. And so begins this extraordinarily moving memoir and detective story as de Waal discovers both the story of the netsuke and of his family, the Ephrussis, over five generations. A nineteenth-century banking dynasty in Paris and Vienna, the Ephrussis were as rich and respected as the Rothchilds. Yet by the end of the World War II, when the netsuke were hidden from the Nazis in Vienna, this collection of very small carvings was all that remained of their vast empire. http://www.amazon.com/Hare-Amber-Eyes-Hidden-Inheritance/dp/0312569378/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341711715&sr=1-1&keywords=the+hare+with+amber+eyes+by+edmund+de+waal+paperback

There is a reading group guide with discussion questions, a one-minute author interview and another 3.5 minute video where de Waal shows and talks about the netsuke carvings. They are fascinating!

http://us.macmillan.com/theharewithambereyes/EdmunddeWaal 

Edmund de Waal's official website is at: http://www.edmunddewaal.com/

It is comprehensive and it has another author interview and and discussion questions.

Here is an intriguing four-minute film by Dapper Films, where potter Edmund de Waal creates pots for his new exhibition, "A Thousand Hours." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraphtv/9581318/Watch-Edmund-de-Waal-transform-clay-into-beautiful-works-of-art.html  

Looking forward to discussing this intriguing book!

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Our next book is The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes (2011); Fiction; 176 pages; 4.0/5 stars on Amazon.com; one copy and one large print copy at WPL – checked out; 13 copies in Café system – all checked out; On the New York Times Best Seller List for 30% off at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles ($11.00).

We will meet on Wednesday, December 12, 2012, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.; Martha Merrell’s/Cuddles. One of our new Oasis Readers,  Ed Vojtik, offered to lead the discussion. Thanks, Ed!

Here is the book description for The Sense of an Ending:

Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize; A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning new chapter in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. This intense novel follows Tony Webster, a middle-aged man, as he contends with a past he never thought much about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. Tony thought he left this all behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

“Elegant, playful, and remarkable.” —The New Yorker

 “A page-turner, and when you finish you will return immediately to the beginning.” —San Francisco Chronicle 

http://www.amazon.com/Sense-Ending-Deckle-Vintage-International/dp/0307947726/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341715149&sr=1-1&keywords=the+sense+of+an+ending

Here is the link to Julian Barnes' web site: http://www.julianbarnes.com/

Discussion questions can be found at: 

http://www.princetonbookreview.com/book_pages/discussion/sense-of-an-ending.php 

http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/13-fiction/8626-sense-of-an-ending-barnes 

http://www.randomhouse.com/book/214847/the-sense-of-an-ending-by-julian-barnes 

May you enjoy this short You Tube video featuring Julian Barnes on receiving the Booker Prize: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBtZN7UJn6o  

Looking forward to our next discussion!

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Our next book for discussion is Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (2012). Nonfiction, 352 pages, 4.4 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com; 4 copies and one large print edition at Waukesha Public Library - all checked out; 13 copies in Cafe system but it is possible to reserve a copy; in hardcover and available for 15% off at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles.
 

We will meet on Wednesday, November 14, 2012, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles.
 

Susan Cain's website has a reader's guide, a "quiet quiz," resources, and her 2012 TED.com video where she speaks about the power of introverts: http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html

May you also enjoy an Amazon.com author interview with Susan Cain: http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Power-Introverts-World-Talking/dp/0307352145

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, January 2012: How many introverts do you know? The real answer will probably surprise you. In our culture, which emphasizes group work from elementary school through the business world, everything seems geared toward extroverts. Luckily, introverts everywhere have a new spokesperson: Susan Cain, a self-proclaimed introvert who’s taken it upon herself to better understand the place of introverts in culture and society. With Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Cain explores introversion through psychological research old and new, personal experiences, and even brain chemistry, in an engaging and highly-readable fashion. By delving into introversion, Cain also seeks to find ways for introverts and extroverts to better understand one another--and for introverts to understand their own contradictions, such as the ability to act like extroverts in certain situations. Highly accessible and uplifting for any introvert--and any extrovert who knows an introvert (and over one-third of us are introverts)--Quiet has the potential to revolutionize the “extrovert ideal.” –Malissa Kent

Looking forward to our discussion on November 14th at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles!

1984 by George Orwell

Our next book for discussion is the Waukesha Reads pick, 1984 by George Orwell. We will meet on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. in the Waukesha Public Library Community Room.

The book discussion is open to all and will take place after a scholar panel discussion from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Here is information about the library program:

Food for Thought, Snacks and Scholars: Politics, Philosophy and Propaganda in George Orwell’s Work 

When: Wed, October 10, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Where: Waukesha Public Library, 321 Wisconsin Avenue, Waukesha (map)

Description: Enjoy refreshments (sandwiches, chips, fruit & beverage) and an intriguing discussion with local scholars:

Barb Reinhart (UW-Waukesha, Art) and Tim Dunn (UW-Waukesha, Philosophy): "Exploring the Space Between Art and Propaganda"

Dean Kowalski (UW-Waukesha, Philosophy): "Objectivity and Realism in Orwell’s 1984: The Elusive Quest for Truth"

Kevin Guilfoy (Carroll University, Philosophy): "Fascism is Hard Work: Human Nature and Social Control in 1984"

Details: 262-524-3682

Here is a book description for 1984:
"Written in 1948, 1984 was George Orwell’s chilling prophecy about the future. And while 1984 has come and gone, Orwell’s narrative is timelier than ever. "The novel can be summed up in its most famous quote, “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” - from the Waukehsa Reads website.

Fasten your seat belts, because Waukesha Reads will soon kick-off a month-long series of lectures, tours, book discussions, and other fun activities about 1984, such as "Dinner and a Movie" ($20) at the Majestic Theater. Please pick up your free book, reading guide, and calendar of community-wide events at Waukesha Public Library and check out the Waukesha Reads website at: http://www.waukeshareads.org/

The kick-off events for Waukesha Reads are at Freeman Friday Night Live, Friday, September 28, 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. and Saturday, September 29, 8:00 a.m. - 12 Noon, Waukesha Farmers' Market. Get you free George Orwell button that the Waukesha Public Library teen group made for you!

Please also help with the Waukesha Reads Service project, "Children's Books for Hope Center" by dropping off new or gently used children's board books, picture books with words, and chapter books for grades 2- 5 at Martha Merrell's and at other Waukesha Reads events.

Looking forward to a great month of Waukesha Reads events and activities!

Destiny of the Republic: Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

Our next book for discussion is Destiny of the Republic: Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, Candice Millard (2011); Nonfiction; 352 pages; 4.7/5 stars on Amazon.com; 3 copies and one large print copy at WPL – all checked out; 13 copies in Café system; available in paperback. Available for 30% off at Martha Merrell's - on the New York Times Bestsellers list.

We will meet on Wednesday, September 12, 2012; 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.; Martha Merrell’s/Cuddles. David Brostrom, former Waukesha  Public Library Deputy Director, will lead the discussion. We might possibly Skype with the author, Candice Millard!

Book Description: A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK of 2011. James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born into abject poverty, he rose to become a wunderkind scholar, a Civil War hero, and a renowned and admired reformist congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he engaged in a fierce battle with the corrupt political establishment. But four months after his inauguration, a deranged office seeker tracked Garfield down and shot him in the back.
But the shot didn’t kill Garfield. The drama of what hap­pened subsequently is a powerful story of a nation in tur­moil. The unhinged assassin’s half-delivered strike shattered the fragile national mood of a country so recently fractured by civil war, and left the wounded president as the object of a bitter behind-the-scenes struggle for power—over his administration, over the nation’s future, and, hauntingly, over his medical care. A team of physicians administered shockingly archaic treatments, to disastrous effect. As his con­dition worsened, Garfield received help: Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, worked around the clock to invent a new device capable of finding the bullet. http://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President/dp/0767929713/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344481326&sr=1-1&keywords=destiny+of+the+republic

Candice Millard has a great web site with book reviews, a video book preview, author inteviews and more at: http://www.candicemillard.com/index.html

There is a reading group guide at:  http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/14-non-fiction/8301-destiny-of-the-republic-millard

Looking forward!

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

  

Our next book for discussion is Travels with Charley in Search of America, John Steinbeck (1962); Memoir; 224 pages; 10-12 copies available in CAFÉ system with different printing dates and versions.

We will meet on Wednesday, August 8, 2012, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles. Chris offered to present the author's bio. and lead the discussion. Attached are discussion questions that Chris developed and found, as well as Steinbeck's biography. Thanks, Chris!

Book Description
In September 1960, John Steinbeckand his poodle, Charley, embarked on a journey across America. A picaresque tale, this chronicle of their trip meanders through scenic backroads and speeds along anonymous superhighways, moving from small towns to growing cities to glorious wilderness oases. Travels with Charley in Search of America is animated by Steinbeck’s attention to the specific details of the natural world and his sense of how the lives of people are intimately connected to the rhythms of nature—to weather, geography, the cycle of the seasons. His keen ear for the transactions among people is evident, too, as he records the interests and obsessions that preoccupy the Americans he encounters along the way.
Travels with Charley in Search of America, originally published in 1962, provides an intimate and personal look at one of America’s most beloved writers in the later years of his life—a self-portrait of a man who never wrote an explicit autobiography. It was written during a time of upheaval and racial tension in the South—which Steinbeck witnessed firsthand—and is a stunning evocation of America on the eve of a tumultuous decade. http://www.amazon.com/Travels-Charley-Search-America-Centennial/dp/0142000701/ref=dp_return_1?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books Show More Show Less

Looking forward!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Our next book for discussion is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. We will meet on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Martha Merrell's and Cuddles. Judy will present the author's bio. and lead the discussion. Thanks, Judy!

Here is a book description:
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (2009); Fiction; 384 pages; 4.6 out or 5 stars on Amazon.com; Movie Tie-In

From Booklist
*Starred Review* This is a grand-opening salvo in a new series by the author of the Underland Chronicles. Sixteen-year-old Katniss poaches food for her widowed mother and little sister from the forest outside the legal perimeter of District 12, the poorest of the dozen districts constituting Panem, the North American dystopic state that has replaced the U.S. in the not-too-distant future. Her hunting and tracking skills serve her well when she is then cast into the nation's annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death where contestants must battle harsh terrain, artificially concocted weather conditions, and two teenaged contestants from each of Panem's districts. District 12's second "tribute" is Peeta, the baker's son, who has been in love with Katniss since he was five. Each new plot twist ratchets up the tension, moving the story forward and keeping the reader on edge. Although Katniss may be skilled with a bow and arrow and adept at analyzing her opponents' next moves, she has much to learn about personal sentiments, especially her own. Populated by three-dimensional characters, this is a superb tale of physical adventure, political suspense, and romance. Grades 9-12. --Francisca Goldsmith
http://www.amazon.com/Hunger-Games-Movie-Tie-/dp/0545425115/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1330138847&sr=1-1

May you enjoy Collins' web site that includes her biography and an interview at: http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com/

There is a discussion guide at: http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_h/the_hunger_games1.aspm 

There are several author interviews and video trailers on You Tube.

Looking forward!

The Covenant by Naomi Ragen





Our next book for discussion is The Covenant by Naomi Ragan. We will meet on Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles. We need someone to present the author's biography and lead the discussion. Please contact me if you would like to help. Thanks!

Here is a description of The Covenant: 
The Covenant, Naomi Ragen (2004); Fiction; 276 pages; 4.2 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com; 3 copies in CAFÉ system; one large-print copy; accessible from the library; available in paperback for 15% off at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles.

From Publishers Weekly
Ragen, an American writer who's lived in Israel for more than 30 years, blends tragedies of the past with headline news of today in her gripping, emotionally charged sixth novel. It's 2002, and the Margulies family—oncologist Jonathan; his pregnant, American-born wife, Elise; and their daughter, Ilana—are contentedly living in a Jerusalem settlement, until one day, on their way home, Jonathan and Ilana are kidnapped by Hamas. Elise's frantic call to her Bubbee Leah in Brooklyn reunites four women—now grandmas and great-grandmas—who, as girls, made the titular covenant: if they survived Auschwitz, they would become "one person, risking everything, giving everything, to help each other live in happiness all the days of our lives." Leah gathers up fellow New Yorker Esther, now a cosmetics millionaire; Paris nightclub owner Ariana; and Polish political activist Maria to help find the kidnap victims. It's a race against time, as the women wield their considerable influence and the Israeli army desperately tries to intercede with the kidnappers before the captives are killed. Ragen weaves in deeper, more serious undertones than the thriller plot suggests, touching on the stubborn pride and the serious purpose that keeps Israelis fighting (or, in some cases, not fighting) for their fragile country, "the land that God promised to the Jewish people in his Covenant to Abraham."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.amazon.com/Covenant-Naomi-Ragen/dp/product-description/0312335067/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&qid=1330133542&sr=1-1

A reading group guide with discussion questions for The Covenant is at: http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/covenant1.asp

Naomi Ragen's web site is at: http://www.naomiragen.com/  and a Wikipedia article about her is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Ragen
 
                                                                 Looking forward!

Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr



Our next book to discuss is Wingshooters by Nina Revoyr. We will meet on Wednesday, May 9, 2012, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles. Edna offered to present the author's biography. Anyone is welcome to lead the discussion.

Below, is information about the book:
 
Wingshooters, Nina Revoyr (2011); Fiction; 230 pages; 4.4 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com; 12 copies in CAFÉ system, nearly all checked out but no waiting list; in paperback; 15% off at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles.

Summary
Michelle LeBeau, the child of a white American father and a Japanese mother, lives with her grandparents in Deerhorn, Wisconsin—a small town that had been entirely white before her arrival. Rejected and bullied, Michelle spends her time reading, avoiding fights, and roaming the countryside with her English Springer Spaniel, Brett. She idolizes her grandfather, Charlie LeBeau, an expert hunter and former minor league baseball player who is one of the town’s most respected men. Charlie strongly disapproved of his son’s marriage to Michelle’s mother but dotes on his only grandchild, whom he calls Mikey.
This fragile peace is threatened when the expansion of the local clinic leads to the arrival of the Garretts, a young black couple from Chicago. Betty Garrett is hired as a nurse, and her husband, Joe, works as a substitute teacher at the elementary school. The Garretts’ presence deeply upsets most of the residents of Deerfield—especially when Mr. Garrett makes a controversial accusation against one of the town leaders, who is also Charlie LeBeau’s best friend.
In the tradition of To Kill a Mockingbird, A River Runs Through It, and Snow Falling on Cedars, Nina Revoyr’s new novel examines the effects of change on a small, isolated town, the strengths and limits of community, and the sometimes conflicting loyalties of family and justice. Set in the expansive countryside of Central Wisconsin, against the backdrop of Vietnam and the post-Civil Rights era, Wingshooters explores both connection and loss as well as the complex but enduring bonds of family. http://www.amazon.com/Wingshooters-Nina-Revoyr/dp/1936070715/ref=dp_return_1?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=book

There is a reading group guide for Wingshooters at: http://www.ninarevoyr.com/books/wingshooters/reading_guide.php

Nina Revoyr's web site is at: http://www.ninarevoyr.com/books/wingshooters/

May you enjoy the author interviews: Part 1 at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGozsgeWIuQ
(15 minutes - Spoiler alert)

Part 2 at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FCJCfS7OVI&feature=relmfu  (13 minutes - Spoiler alert)

Looking forward!

Wicked River: The Mississippi River When it Last Ran Wild by Lee Sandlin

Our next book to discuss is Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild, Lee Sandlin. We will meet on Wednesday, April 11, 2012, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles.

Here is a book description:

Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild, Lee Sandlin (2010); Nonfiction; 368 pages; 4.9 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com; 15% off at Martha Merrell's; 9 copies in CAFÉ system.       

Book Description:  A riveting narrative look at one of the most colorful, dangerous, and peculiar places in America's historical landscape: the strange, wonderful, and mysterious Mississippi River of the 19th century.

Beginning in the early 1800s and climaxing with the siege of Vicksburg in 1863, Wicked Riverbrings to life a place where river pirates brushed elbows with future presidents and religious visionaries shared passage with thieves. Here is a minute-by-minute account of Natchez being flattened by a tornado; the St. Louis harbor being crushed by a massive ice floe; hidden, nefarious celebrations of Mardi Gras; and the sinking of the Sultana, the worst naval disaster in American history. Here, too, is the Mississippi itself: gorgeous, perilous, and unpredictable. Masterfully told, Wicked River is an exuberant work of Americana that portrays a forgotten society on the edge of revolutionary change. http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-River-Mississippi-When-Vintage/dp/0307473570/ref=pd_sim_b_1

A book review from Kirkus:
“Raucous, fascinating and fun... Sandlin debuts with a rollicking history of the Mississippi Valley before commerce and technology tamed it. ... Sandlin seems to have adopted some of Twain’s technique in Life On the Mississippi— i.e., disappearing for pages into long narratives/legends/rumors associated with the valley and its denizens. ... Sandlin provides some John McPhee-like detail about geology and riverine history, and also examines the human history of the region. ... Apart from his generous offering of surprising facts, it’s obvious that Sandlin loves the lore of the river, its narratives, legends and lies. ... Readers will delight in stories about Annie Christmas (who wrote tales about prostitutes), Marie Laveau (the Voodoo Queen), the Crow’s Nest pirates and John Murrell and his so-called “Mystic Clan. ...Gorgeous.”

Here is 4.5 minute author interview on You Tube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHlAwOx8csw

Lee Sandlin's web site is at:  http://leesandlin.com/

Looking forward!

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

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Our next book for discussion is Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. We will meet on Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Martha Merrell's/Cuddles.

Karen and Ned will present the author's biography and lead the discussion. Thanks Karen and Ned! This will be a special discussion because we are expecting more men to attend who have a keen interest in military history.

There is a reading group guide for Unbroken at: http://www.bookbrowse.com/reading_guides/detail/index.cfm/book_number/2506/unbroken

Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2010: From Laura Hillenbrand, the bestselling author of Seabiscuit, comes Unbroken, the inspiring true story of a man who lived through a series of catastrophes almost too incredible to be believed. In evocative, immediate descriptions, Hillenbrand unfurls the story of Louie Zamperini--a juvenile delinquent-turned-Olympic runner-turned-Army hero. During a routine search mission over the Pacific, Louie’s plane crashed into the ocean, and what happened to him over the next three years of his life is a story that will keep you glued to the pages, eagerly awaiting the next turn in the story and fearing it at the same time. You’ll cheer for the man who somehow maintained his selfhood and humanity despite the monumental degradations he suffered, and you’ll want to share this book with everyone you know. --Juliet Disparte

Here is a two-minute video introduction to the book,including author comments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjfGxiE2UzI

Here is a four-minute video featuring army hero, Louie Zamperini: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjfGxiE2UzI

Looking forward!