April 17 at Jacque’s

From Kathleen:

Had a lovely evening last night at Jacque’s with Jacque, Terry, Tui, Victoria & Robin.  Conversation, food and the book were yummy.

They all know I received a call that “we” at home had a problem which was that a mother duck with at least half a dozen ducklings was in our pool and the babies couldn’t get out of the pool.  Wish there was a video of what transpired during DR, but I’m reporting that tit commenced shortly after10pm when I remember “we” had ducklings in the pool and the first phase lasted just shy of an hour. After one false start when momma and the ones I’d managed to put out beside her all dove back into the pool with the ones that remained, I manage to scoop up the ducklings in the pool net, and after momma flew onto the golf course,  I carefully lowered the net to the ground and emptied “the contents” all the while standing on 1″ sized rocks in bare feet. Oops. It was too dark to see and I’d abandoned holding onto the flashlight earlier so I didn’t see the gathering and departure, but when I returned with the flashlight there wasn’t a duck or duckling to be seen.

Now for the rest of the story:  This morning I looked out towards our small pool and was surprised to see one small (palm-sized), lone dark duckling on the hose of the pool cleaner.  This little “guy or girl” turned out to be a smart one.  After putting on appropriate foot attire and clothes, I went out to complete DR. When it saw me it dove and swam three to four feet at a time and took to hiding way inside the pool skimmer mechanism to the point that if it the pool pump had been on it wouldn’t have been a pretty picture. Thankfully that wasn’t the case and the greens keeper happened to come by and he offered to check the pond on the other side of the fairway of the rinky dink course we live on. He came back and said he thought he’d spotted a likely family. So with difficulty I scooped up Jr., put a towel in the net and the three of us took off.  We started to drove not too far from where it looked like a momma was sitting on eggs, but when she got up, there were a bunch of ducklings like the ones that had been in the pool last night and everybody took off for the pond.  So I decided to put Jr. in the pond and by then there was about a 20′ distance.  Jr. swam towards the group making noises and we held our breath.  At about 5′ Jr started swimming faster and momma slowed and turned around and then appeared to acknowledge the duckling however ducks do that. Then the entire reunited group swam further across the pond together while we started breathing again and wished we’d taken video so others could have seen it too.

May 15 is next meeting —

From Tui:

I’ve chosen a book too!

Angelology, Danielle Trussoni. NY Times Bestselling Fiction List of 2010.

It looks like the Phoenix Library has 13 copies + audio and the Scottsdale Library has 2 copies + audio.

I haven’t read it but it sounds like an intriguing mystery starring a nun 🙂

Tui
 

March 20 at Terry’s

I loved our time together, and realized how much I miss y’all!  Present: Terry, Kathleen, Ann, Tui, Victoria, Robin, Nancy and me!  Terry served delicious Chicken Casablanca and a cake to “die for”…Lots of good munchies, too!  Good book discussion, which I had not finished reading, but liked the conversation.  We missed DRC.

Decided it was best to schedule monthly meetings for a while figuring the odds are better for increasing attendance!  Had a good time catching up on recent activities, reads, and movies.

Next month – April 17 at my house:

Book is Orphan Train, by Christina Baker Kline. Published in 2013 but most libraries have numerous copies…yay!

See as many as can attend next month!  Details and a reminder to follow.

December and looking ahead!

We will forego gathering in December due to everyone’s busy schedules and commitments, BUT will meet January 16.  We will be at Ann Marie’s home to discuss Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  She promises popcorn!  PPL has 26 copies, SPL 21, TPL at least 4… For the time being, we will meet at least every other month!  See Calendar of Meeting Hosts for Dates & Specifics.

I sense that the group is possibly transitioning to a new entity, the format and identity yet to be determined.  I don’t want to give up on us yet!  There are too many good times, good food, interesting books and movies to enjoy, and quality conversations yet to come.  However as Kathleen, Tui and others have noted, we are changing, individually, and as a group.  Some choices to consider, and possibly discuss in January, or via email:

1. Shall we meet bi-monthly for a while to see how to goes?
2. Shall we look for a better day and time?
3. Shall we continue considering thinking of friends to invite?
4. Shall we just consider it all OK for now?
5. Meanwhile when and if members are so inclined, we can call a meeting, set a date, and name a book anytime it is convenient.

I will look forward to seeing some of you before 2014, and definitely then!  Happy Holidays!!! 

November 21 Chez moi JDD)

Thanks a million to Tui, Terry, Shearon and Kathleen for coming to discuss Flight Behavior, Kingsolver’s latest.  I enjoyed it and heard from others enough that I resolve to re-read at least parts of it.  Kathleen was especially attentive at finding luscious quotes for us to re-enjoy.

I found this on her website:

Do you consider writing to be a form of activism? Do you think novelists have a duty to address political issues?

I think of “activism” as a simple action meant to secure a specific result: for this purpose I go to school board meetings, I vote, I donate money, and occasionally fire off an op-ed piece.  But that’s not what I do for a living.  Writing literature is so much more nuanced than these things, it’s like comparing chopping vegetables to neurosurgery.  Literature is one of the few kinds of writing in the world that does not tell you what to buy, want, see, be, or believe.  It’s more like conversation, raising new questions and inspiring you to answer them for yourself.

As a literary novelist I spend my days tasting the insides of words, breathing life into sentences that swim away under their own power, stringing together cables of poetry to hold up a narrative arc.  I hope also to be a fearless writer: examining the unexamined life, asking the unasked questions.  In most of the world, people call that literature.  For some reason, people in the U.S. are fond of putting me in a box labeled “political,” which could mean anything: “this is about the world,” or “this makes me uncomfortable.”  If it means “inclined to change people’s minds,” that seems ludicrous as a category because great literature will always do that.  Fiction cultivates empathy for a theoretical stranger by putting you inside his head, allowing you to experience life from his point of view.  It can broaden your view of gender, ethnicity, place and time, power and vulnerability, things that influence social interaction.  What could be more political than that?

I think the novelist’s duty is to own up to the power of the craft, and use it wisely.

A reader’s comment: (From GoodReads)

…The butterflies Dellarobia witnessed normally wintered in Mexico, but moved to her small town because of environmental changes and now the whole population of Monarch butterflies could be in danger of extinction. A lepidopterist comes to study them, and works with and teaches Dellarobia, highlighting her boredom with her husband and her desire for something bigger. Because of her rudimentary education, the reader receives both the scientific explanations for everything and the ‘country’ version, a cute little metaphor for everything that’s happening. This felt a bit insulting to me, as though this setting was chosen to allow for global warming to be explained in a simplified way that the stupid disbelievers could fathom. Prodigal Summer also dealt with the importance of taking care of the environment, but did not make me feel so lectured.

Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh, but I’m disappointed to have not enjoyed a book by one of my favorite authors. Her writing is still gorgeous, but the book is massive, slow, and filled with a lot of minutiae about Dellarobia’s life I could have done without. Surely others will appreciate this one (most of the reviews on Goodreads are highly flattering and NPR approves), but it fell flat with me…

October’s Intimate Gathering, November Books

Kathleen provided Terry and me with a great discussion and yummy food!!!  The Cornish Pasties were good and very apropos! We were also most grateful to have a short drive and such a nice place to meet!  Thanks!

Next month –  Chez moi.  Nancy’s book  from the August meeting —  Me Before You, Jo Jo Moyes….and if anyone read the Kingsolver’s  Flight Behavior, we can chat about that too…

Nov 21 – same time – will have Minnesota food!  Hope to see as many as   can attend.  Please feel free to invite guests, too! Let me know if you do!

June at Jacque’s, by Tui

Everyone was very welcoming to Madison, my niece who is staying with me this week. Madison said in the car on the way home that she had a really nice time and was surprised. She figured she would sit on the couch and text friends but instead she was welcomed and included in discussions. Thanks!

In attendance: Jacque, Shearon, Ann Marie, Kathleen, Donna Rae, Tui and Madison. Dinner was bangers and mash – appropriately British – with salad followed by yummy chocolate covered ice cream sticks. It was very tasty and fun!

Everyone enjoyed the book, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. The map in the front of at least some editions was a nice addition.

Several movies were mentioned as worth seeing:

• Moonrise Kingdom
• Now You See Me
• Before Midnight

Next Month: 

• Tui’s house   
• Thursday July 25    6:30 pm
• Book:  The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley.

By the Book, May 16, 2013, Chez Cintora

We read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks –the book’s website is here: http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/  It  includes lots of fascinating photos and more  information about the author and book.

DRC laid out a scrumptious meal including a yummy county chicken dish, delectable fresh salad, and two pies!  One was Ann’s pumpkin pie, and the other DRC’s famous sour cream raisin pie, a book club favorite!  We all enjoyed one slice of each and more! 

Updates all around

We had a great around-the-room-sharing, including Renee’s description of Tui’s daughter’s beautiful wedding, Renee’s travels, Donna Rae’s girls, Ann Marie’s girls, Kathleen’s job and Alan’s recent successes (yay), solar panels, and more.  I noted that my family is finally back in their home after a post-flood battle and renovation, Dillon and Kate have finished base-and t-ball season, and that I’m eagerly awaiting my June 30 retirement!   Can’t happen soon enough!

Great discussion

DRC lead with great questions about whether it  (her care and treatment) might have been different had Henrietta been a white woman, the ethics of patient care and Informed consent for tissues.  And money of course.  We thought she did a good job of balancing her story between the family side of things and their poverty, vs. the need of scientists to share knowledge and expertise, including collected tissue.  We also discussed the roles of hospitals in poor areas, like our own Maricopa Medical Center.

I forgot to ask whether Ismar had read it and what he thought.   Dang!  There was more to discuss, and we did! We were all very glad to have read it!

Last few meetings – late, late post! And addendum!

Too much time has passed… and I have no excuse!

Kathleen gave us a lovely meeting last month, with Shearon as co-host!  We discussed The Noticer: Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective by Andy Andrews, and concluded that it had some good messages and could maybe have been better as a straight self-help book rather than the only-semi-interesting parable it was…Belated thanks to Katleen and Shearon for a very nice evening!

Last night, Ann Marie and her lovely Mom, Marianne, gave us a meal out of Barbara Kingsolver’s Lacunae, with yummy comfort food (*for JDD anyway), beautiful decor, and two special guests, Sharon, Bruce’s aunt from Ohio, and Jennifer, a friend if AME, who amazed us with a Frida Kahlo persona! What fun! As always, Elizabeth entertained herself and us, as did Siena, the tiny new canine member of the family!  So thanks to Ann and Mary Ann for a great evening!

<Insert from Ann: Just a by the way, my mother’s name is spelled Marianne.  I mention this only because names are in the forefront of my attention at the moment:  Bruce went to pick up death certificates only to discover that his mother’s name was wrong!  (Her name is Sue:  they had Susan.)  Correcting it appears to require Herculean effort.  There were numerous other minor errors and correcting anything seems to involve a bureaucratic nightmare.  (Example:  deceased’s father’s name:  Louis Carney.  Is there a middle name?  Yes, Francis.  New form shows the name:  Francis Carney.  No!  Please correct.  New form shows the name:  Louis Francis.  NO!!!  Fourth attempt gets it right.  *sigh*)

 We so enjoyed having Jacque, Shearon, Kathleen, Terry and Tui join us and missed the rest, although we talked about you!  We also talked about the book.  The depictions of life’s transitions from one phase to another seemed an appropriate topic.  An aside:  on Saturday we went to a Celebration of Life party for our friend who died about a month ago.  It was a moving experience.  In particular, one of his sisters is a dancer.  She had a dance prepared that she spoke a poem/story to accompany.  It was so touching.  Another sister played a song on steel drums: beautiful.  I heard numerous people say “When I die, this is the kind of party I want!”  I have to agree.

Back to Thursday:  *Dinner was sour cream chicken enchiladas, garlic roasted new potatoes, sauteed green peppers and refried red beans.  We bought the empanadas and the other dessert treats at the Azteca Bakery on 7th Avenue just north of Van Buren.  Terry brought some wonderful decaf coffee to enjoy with the sweets.>

Next month we’ll be at Terry’s reading Albert of Adelaide!  Description from Amazon:

At once an old-fashioned-buddy-novel-shoot-’em-up and a work of deliciously imagined fantasy, Howard L. Anderson’s dazzling debut presents the haunting story of a world where something has gone horribly awry . . .Having escaped from Australia’s Adelaide Zoo, an orphaned platypus named Albert embarks on a journey through the outback in search of “Old Australia,” a rumored land of liberty, promise, and peace. What he will find there, however, away from the safe confinement of his enclosure for the first time since his earliest memories, proves to be a good deal more than he anticipated.  Alone in the outback, with an empty soft drink bottle as his sole possession, Albert stumbles upon pyromaniacal wombat Jack, and together they spend a night drinking and gambling in Ponsby Station, a rough-and-tumble mining town. Accused of burning down the local mercantile, the duo flees into menacing dingo territory and quickly go their separate ways-Albert to pursue his destiny in the wastelands, Jack to reconcile his past. Encountering a motley assortment of characters along the way-a pair of invariably drunk bandicoots, a militia of kangaroos, hordes of the mercurial dingoes, and a former prize-fighting Tasmanian devil-our unlikely hero will discover a strength and skill for survival he never suspected he possessed.  Told with equal parts wit and compassion, ALBERT OF ADELAIDE shows how it is often the unexpected route, and the most improbable companions, that lead us on the path to who we really are. Who you journey with, after all, is far more important than wherever it is you are going.

I’m looking forward to seeing y’all March 21st at Terry’s!

Why Do We Still Need Libraries?

Sep. 30, 2012, By Chels  Knorr

Chels Knorr lives in Southern California with her  husband, Tyler, and her dog, Goose. She works as an associate editor for two monthly health-care publications and is a student at the  Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. Check out her website at chelsknorr.com.
Read more at http://thoughtcatalog.com/author/chels-knorr/#eqc0RcvHbq5chob3.99

Earlier this year, the New York Public Library revealed its $1 billion plan  to update city branches and renovate its main Fifth Avenue flagship. With  constant funding cuts and changing publishing mediums, many met the announcement  with apprehension.

Even as a lifelong library rat, I have to ask myself, in an e-world with  nearly infinite reference material and entertaining reading available to us  anywhere we have a Wi-Fi connection, why go to a physical library? Why spend a  billion bucks on it?

I took a trip to my local branch seeking answers. I sat at the long wooden  tables. I watched kids sign up for their first libraries cards. I walked back  and forth in the aisles, held book after book, and I found sandwiched on the levels and the aisles,  in the stories and on the pages, a file of our lives.

In periodicals, against its yellowed box leans Life Magazine,  October 1988. Its pages are taped and ridged from years of moisture. The  obnoxious crinkle of pages draws all eyes on me in the quiet room. Page 32  boasts an ad for Salem cigarettes without a Surgeon General’s warning; back when  they used to preach a little smoke could be good for you, and in the back I turn  to an ad for the no-longer-existent Polaroid film.

Further down the shelf stands Atlantic Magazine, March 2011. The  cover article reads: “Artificial Intelligence — Why Machines will Never Beat the  Human Mind.” It is now 2012; just one year after, and I wonder if this is still  true.

Public Records hide in the back in four-inch thick binders with clipart  covers. Wide metal drawers hold maps and building blueprints. A whole wall of  dilapidated Yellow Pages spans from Alabama to Wyoming — do people use  phone books anymore?

On stacks and on shelves, in rows, in order, we put our ideas. We log our  past and our present.

The Oxford Book of Carols – Ref 782.28 — sits next to the third  edition of The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll – Ref  781.660 — so that a hundred years from now someone might still remember the  lyrics to “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentleman” and recall FCC violations before Janet  Jackson changed the game with her 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction.

September/October News

We took a break this month for a whole host of reasons…even took time to ponder the future of the group via email.  Probably a good idea, giving us time to consider our needs and wants.

Next meeting will be at Donna Rae’s on October 18, discussion of the Lotus Eaters, led by Nancy!

I have a library copy to share if anyone needs it!

Happy (almost) fall!