Thursday, November 13, 2008
Quick poll about tha damn long book
I have an idea, but if you don't like it, I won't be offended.
Does anyone think we should split this monster of a book into two book club discussions? Discuss, say, pages 1 through 400 at our Christmas book club and then the rest of the tome at the January meeting??
On the upside, it would give us all more time because at this rate, NO ONE is gonna be done by Dec. 10. On the downside, that book will be in our lives for another month.
Let's discuss the pros and cons here. Leave a comment with your vote.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Who's reading?
This posting is also a good test to see if anyone is looking at the new book club blog...
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
"Anna Karenina" it is
Monday, October 20, 2008
BREAKING NEWS
It's WEDNESDAY, DEC. 10 at Bonnie's.
Mark it down.
Voting time
"Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Generations of readers young and old, male and female, have fallen in love with the March sisters of Louisa May Alcott’s most popular and enduring novel, Little Women. Here are talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War. It is no secret that Alcott based Little Women on her own early life. While her father, the freethinking reformer and abolitionist Bronson Alcott, hobnobbed with such eminent male authors as Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne, Louisa supported herself and her sisters with “woman’s work,” including sewing, doing laundry, and acting as a domestic servant. But she soon discovered she could make more money writing. Little Women brought her lasting fame and fortune, and far from being the “girl’s book” her publisher requested, it explores such timeless themes as love and death, war and peace, the conflict between personal ambition and family responsibilities, and the clash of cultures between Europe and America.
"Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds as Anna rejects her passionless marriage and must endure the hypocrisies of society. Set against a vast and richly textured canvas of nineteenth-century Russia, the novel's seven major characters create a dynamic imbalance, playing out the contrasts of city and country life and all the variations on love and family happiness.
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens
In his "Ghostly little book," Charles Dickens invents the modern concept of Christmas Spirit and offers one of the world’s most adapted and imitated stories. We know Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, not only as fictional characters, but also as icons of the true meaning of Christmas in a world still plagued with avarice and cynicism.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Welcome to the Book Club Blog
It's a work in progress, and I'm happy to take suggestions. But this is the Spirit Stick Book Club Blog.
I hope to use it to communicate practical info about our meetings, but I hope we also can have some fun with it.
Our meeting at the Arb was much fun. The light was so gorgeous, we all looked amazing, especially our hostess Robin (NOT a Mad Housewife), who amazingly started a camp fire against all odds.
I will create a post tomorrow about our next book. A few of you asked for more time to come up with nominees. Feel free to e-mail them to me at dneil@wichitaeagle.com. Or post them in the comments here.