Optional August Book Choice

We usually take August off but this year a few of us decided to journey up to Seattle to visit with Beehive founder Beth...so we picked a Seattle centered novel
Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

 San Jose Mercury News Review-

"Where'd You Go, Bernadette," a novel by Maria Semple, is a challenging book to review -- or describe. It can be referred to as an epistolary novel (the story is told through e-mails, letters and notes); it can be described as a window into Seattle, where Microsoft, rain, coffee and obligation of community involvement permeate lives like the fog above Mount Rainer. But neither of those descriptions captures the delightful cleverness of the story.

The simple version of the plotline is: Bernadette Fox is missing. She is the mother of Balakrishna, "Bee" Branch and the wife of Elgin Branch, a Microsoft rock star. Bernadette is also an eccentric, creative genius who neither fits in with the Seattle vibe, nor the parents of her daughter's classmates. When Bee learns of her mother's disappearance, she reviews all documentation relating to Bernadette for clues. The novel is a compilation of those letters, e-mails, and reports unfolding the story of events which led to Bernadette fleeing Seattle. Any more detail divulges too much.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life Death and hope in Mumbai Undercity

We had a lovely evening at the Hasting household at the end of August to discuss Behind the Beautiful Forever's.  Several members of the group were absent due to vacations and other summer activities so we were a bit of a small group.  But a lively discussion was had.  We ate dinner out back until we  heard the  spray planes and headed inside for cover.   We discussed the characters of this non-fiction book and how unbelievable their living conditions were.  Some of us found the book a bit depressing but some found it inspiring that people can survive anywhere.  The day to day survival of these people was more then most of us could even imagine- living in trash, seeing dead bodies and people lighting themselves on fire.  Everyone agreed it was well written and read like fiction. Like all good books, we were introduced to new places and new experiences. 

The food was a mix of Indian cuisine, vegetables , rice, salad and a dump cake (they lived in a dump) plus an interesting after- dinner tea.  Overall a good read, great food  and a good gathering.

Next month we are reading And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini.  The meeting will be at Molly's house on September 26th. 

August Book Choice 2014

Our late summer reading choice is "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" here is what the NY Times had to say about this powerful story...

Katherine Boo writes in “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” her exquisitely accomplished first book. Novelists dream of defining characters this swiftly and beautifully, but Ms. Boo is not a novelist. She is one of those rare, deep-digging journalists who can make truth surpass fiction, a documentarian with a superb sense of human drama. She makes it very easy to forget that this book is the work of a reporter.
Half an acre. 335 huts. 3,000 people. And a concrete wall that is supposed to hide them from view: this is Annawadi, the Mumbai slum that comes vibrantly to life in this book’s pages. Ms. Boo says that she chose Annawadi because the scale of this “sumpy plug of slum” bordering a lake of sewage was small, and its location was fraught with possibilities. Annawadi sits beside the road to the Mumbai airport, on “a stretch where new India and old India collided and made new India late.” In 2008, at the time the events in the book unfolded, scavenging and trash sorting were the children of Annawadi’s most promising career choices.
Without condescending to her subjects in the slightest, Ms. Boo explains that dreams of upward mobility are just barely possible in Annawadi. And Zehrunisa’s family has set out to renovate the kitchen of the hut in which they live. The book takes its peculiar title from sunshine-yellow ads for ceramic tile that are painted on the concrete wall that hides Annawadi: the ad series repeats the words “Beautiful” and “Forever.” Behind those “beautiful forevers,” Zehrunisa wants some of that tile for her own.
The book’s cover, with an image of abject squalor, does not do justice to its agile prose, wry tone and surprisingly upbeat theatrics. Comparison to Dickens is not unwarranted.

August Bookgroup Dinner

Our end of summer group meeting was held at Lori's book-filled villa, a grand jolly time was had by one and all. The book made for interesting discussions regarding surgery, body parts and how much of "us" belongs to us? What about the needs of the scientific community and humanity? Is one persons freedom to much to sacrifice for the better of many?

August meeting

We held our 2nd meeting on Friday August 28th to discuss Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. 10 members showed up and we had a delicious assortment of Chinese food. The table include long beans, shrimp fried rice, soup, crab wontons, walnut chicken and dim sum. Plus, fortune cookies and black rice pudding for dessert. We ate with chopsticks provided by Suzi and sat outside and enjoyed the warm summer evening all while swatting at the pesky mosquito's.
Deborah was the host for the evening and everyone seemed to enjoy her book selection. It generated a lot of great conversation. Could we have survived that life? Would we put our daughters through foot binding if it meant a better life for them? Are we still held back by societies expectations of beauty? All members agreed that the book was beautifully written and showed us something about a time in history that we knew little about. Some people felt it was a little depressing and we disagreed on the likability of the main character. Jane brought photo's of foot binding and Beth bought fans and wrote Chinese proverbs on them for each member.
Overall it was a fun evening and a really interesting discussion.
Rory is hosting the next book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society. Jane has added a calendar to the blog (see the right hand column). We also choose the October book, Pride & Prejudice & the Zombies. It seemed like the perfect book for the month of Halloween. Suzi will host that meeting. More to come on that next month.
For members who missed the last meeting, we hope to see you at the next one. Read on!
Beth