July 15, 2010

#36 - Nautical Novels

Summer-Fall 2010
Nautical Novels is set of island-hopping sea adventures.

"Sylvia Townsend Warner's novel, "Mr. Fortune's Maggot" is a portrait of an odd colonizer who becomes enraptured with his South Seas post. "Lord Jim" is another dark novel by Joseph Conrad; "Lord Jim" is told by the narrator Marlow and readers become entranced with deciphering the truth of Jim--"It is when we try to grapple with another man's intimate need that we perceive how incomprehensible, wavering, and misty are the beings that share with us the sight of the stars and the warmth of the sun." Erskine Childer's is credited with the first true spy novel. Set for the German Frisian islands in a yachting adventure with characters Davies and Carruthers , we are taken on an cruise of intrigue and transported to a time often forgotten. No sea-faring adventure is complete without two major authors: Melville and Hemmingway. Melville's portrait of sailor Billy Budd is a plot steeped in the battle between good and evil. Hemingway in "Old Man in the Sean" recounts the epic battle of wills and fight for honor in a modern world." ~ Kami Hancock

August 19 7pm - Ann G
Mr. Fortune's Maggot by Sylvia Townsend Warner
(no Kindle edition)

Saturday, September 11 7pm - "Guy Thing" at Jerry's
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
(several editions including for Kindle)

October 21 7pm - Georgia (exact location TBA)
The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers
(including Kindle edition)

CHANGED TO Lord Jim, see above

November 18 7pm - Sharon
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
(lots of editions, including for the Kindle)


AND

Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
(lots of editions including an expensive one for the Kindle)


CHANGED TO The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers
(including Kindle edition)


December 16 7pm - Kathy
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

January 20, 2011 ----> February 17, 2011 7pm - Ann A
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
(lots of editions, including for the Kindle)

AND

Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
(lots of editions including an expensive one for the Kindle)

March 22, 2010

#35 Defining Home

#35 Defining Home
Spring-Summer 2010
"Is it the places from which we come, or the soil where we plant our roots that defines who we are becoming? These novels offer insight into the human condition–its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires."


"In Stockett's The Help, we transition from the previous series of antebellum literature to a portrait of the Civil Rights era South. Ms. Phelan struggles to define herself against a background of silent conformity. Jordan's Mudbound places readers in rural Mississippi after WWII to witness the struggles of the McAllen family. Love and home are ties that bind, and allow the characters in each of these novels to grow where they are planted. In Home, Robinson's follow-up to Gilead, she returns readers to the life of Rev. Ames, and allows us to ruminate on the adult relationships and revelations between parents and children, and siblings. Olive Kitteridge depicts the life of a retired school teacher in Crosby, Maine. Through Strout's eyes, this larger than life character in a one-horse town is in essence the whole world, and the lives that are lived there are filled with all of the grand human drama–desire, despair, jealousy, hope, and love. The last novel in the series, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, is presented from the perspective of a young man with autism. When every memory is fractured and every moment is keenly felt one young man sorts through the puzzle. Haddon's readers are able to go beyond the limits of fiction to entertain and become aware of perspective in this novel. What if you could remember as Christopher does? "My memory is like a film….And when people ask me to remember something I can simply press Rewind and Fast Forward and Pause like on a video recorder….If someone says to me, 'Christopher, tell me what your mother was like,' I can rewind to lots of different scenes and say what she was like in those scenes." ~ Kami Hancock

March 25 - Ann A
The Help
by Kathryn Stockett
(including Kindle editions)

April 22 - Mary
Mudbound
by Hillary Jordan
(including Kindle edition)

May 20 - Alanna
Home: A Novel
by Marilynne Robinson (including Kindle editions)

June 17 - Kathy
Olive Kitteridge: Fiction
by Elizabeth Strout
(including Kindle editions)

Thursday, July 15 WEDNESDAY, July 14 - Marty
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by Mark Haddon
(including Kindle editions)

February 19, 2010

2010 Dates & Hosts

March 25 - Ann A
The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Several editions, including audio and Kindle versions.

April 22 - Author - Mary

May 20 - Author - Alanna

June 17 - Author - Kathy

July 15 - Author - Marty

August 19 - Author - Ann G

Saturday, September 11 - Author - "Guy Thing" at Jerry's though I should check to make sure it's okay!

October 21 - Author - Georgia (exact location TBA)

November 18 - Author - Sharon

December 16 - Author - Kathy

January 20 - Author - Ann A