Monday, September 21, 2009
For 3 Years
Reeves
Monday, May 18, 2009

Monday, April 06, 2009
Mother Night

Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Title: Mother Night
Genre: Fiction
Original Language: English
Setting: Contemporary (1961)
Meeting: Anne's home. Wonderful book discussion while enjoying German fare.
Read Score: 8
Discussion Score: 10
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
March 6, 2009 HAPPY 3rd BRITHDAY LLOEW! A Thousand Splendid Suns

Author: Khaled Hosseini
Title: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Genre: Fiction
Original Language: English
Setting: Contemporary Afghanistan
Meeting: Maryanne's home. Wonderful book discussion while enjoying a lavish feast of Indian food.
Read Score: 10
Discussion Score: 10
About This Book -- B&N Synopsis
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years — from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding — that puts the violence, fear, hope and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives — the struggle to survive, raise a family, find happiness — are inextricable from the history playing out around them.
Propelled by the same storytelling instinct that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a striking, heartwrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love — a stunning accomplishment.
January 2009 The Alchemist

Author: Paulo Coelho
Title: The Alchemist
Genre: Allegory
Original Language: Portugese (Brazil)
Setting: Spain and Northern Africa
Meeting: Dayna's
Read Score: 7
Discussion Score: 7
About This Book -- B&N Synopsis
Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its simplicity and wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an Alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a meditation on the treasures found within. Lush, evocative, and deeply humane, the story of Santiago is art eternal testament to the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts.
December 2008 Eat, Pray, Love

Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Title: Eat, Pray, Love
Genre: Memoir
Original Language: English
Setting: Contemporary Italy, India, Indonesia
Meeting: Jackie's Xmas wonderland!
About this book -- B&N Synopsis
Oddly but aptly titled, Eat, Pray, Love is an experience to be savored: This spiritual memoir brims with humor, grace, and scorching honesty. After a messy divorce and other personal missteps, Elizabeth Gilbert confronts the "twin goons" of depression and loneliness by traveling to three countries that she intuited had something she was seeking. First, in Italy, she seeks to master the art of pleasure by indulging her senses. Then, in an Indian ashram, she learns the rigors and liberation of mind-exalting hours of meditation. Her final destination is Bali, where she achieves a precarious, yet precious equilibrium. Gilbert's original voice and unforced wit lend an unpretentious air to her expansive spiritual journey.
October 2008 Loving Frank

Author: Nancy Horan
Title: Loving Frank
Genre: Fiction
Original Language: English
Setting: early 1900's America
Meeting: October 2009. Reeve's meeting at Jackie's house.
Read Score: 9
Discussion Score: 7
About This Book -- B&N Synopsis
"I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current."
So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives.
In this ambitious debut novel, fact and fiction blend together brilliantly. While scholars have largely relegated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America’s greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full weight to their dramatic love story and illuminates Cheney’s profound influence on Wright.
Drawing on years of research, Horan weaves little-known facts into a compelling narrative, vividly portraying the conflicts and struggles of a woman forced to choose between the roles of mother, wife, lover, and intellectual. Horan’s Mamah is a woman seeking to find her own place, her own creative calling in the world. Mamah’s is an unforgettable journey marked by choices that reshape her notions of love and responsibility, leading inexorably ultimately lead to this novel’s stunning conclusion.Elegantly written and remarkably rich in detail, Loving Frank is a fitting tribute to a courageous woman, a national icon, and their timeless love story.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Loving Frank Background


Cheny divorce as reported in the Chicago Tribune.
To read this clipping click here


September 2008

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Whiskey Rebels -- Early review for Librarything.com and Random House

18th century America is not my favorite period in historical fiction, but colonial Philadelphia and the factors leading up to the Whiskey Rebellion would have grabbed my attention. Freshman Pennsylvania history in high-school and Colonial history II in college (both in Pennsylvania) came flooding back to me, this time, in a good way.
Liss' has wonderfully built period atmosphere, compelling characters, and an intriguing story full of suspense, all of which is enhanced by flawless research. He's also hit everything I look for in historical fiction -- a story based on history I know little about (or have forgotten) that I can get lost in! I hit the jackpot with The Whiskey Rebels and am really looking forward to reading his earlier works. 4 stars
Thursday, July 10, 2008
June Meeting aka FEET ON THE DASH BOARD SUMMER BLAST Road Trip

Title: The Memory Keeper's Daughter
Genre: Fiction
Setting: 1964 to present
Meeting: June 6, 2008 on Anne's Patio with hoagies galore!
Read Score: 5
Discussion Score: 7
About this book --
from Publisher's Weekly:
Edwards's assured but schematic debut novel (after her collection, The Secrets of a Fire King) hinges on the birth of fraternal twins, a healthy boy and a girl with Down syndrome, resulting in the father's disavowal of his newborn daughter. A snowstorm immobilizes Lexington, Ky., in 1964, and when young Norah Henry goes into labor, her husband, orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Henry, must deliver their babies himself, aided only by a nurse. Seeing his daughter's handicap, he instructs the nurse, Caroline Gill, to take her to a home and later tells Norah, who was drugged during labor, that their son Paul's twin died at birth. Instead of institutionalizing Phoebe, Caroline absconds with her to Pittsburgh. David's deception becomes the defining moment of the main characters' lives, and Phoebe's absence corrodes her birth family's core over the course of the next 25 years. David's undetected lie warps his marriage; he grapples with guilt; Norah mourns her lost child; and Paul not only deals with his parents' icy relationship but with his own yearnings for his sister as well. Though the impact of Phoebe's loss makes sense, Edwards's redundant handling of the trope robs it of credibility. This neatly structured story is a little too moist with compassion. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.