September Book Choice 2019

We chose a very curious novel for our September read- the novel Little by Edward Carey. Here is just a bit about this historically based "fairytale" from the NPR book review 2018:

"Madame Tussaud is a familiar name — you may have visited one of her wax museums. But chances are, you don't know a thing about the life of the real Marie Tussaud. For example, she was tiny, which is why writer and artist Edward Carey has called his new novel about her Little.
She seemed like a character from a fairy tale, he says. A small woman, she fled the French Revolution, arrived in England with the wax heads of many of the famous people who had lost theirs under the guillotine, and set up a museum that became wildly successful. "It's a strange fairy tale but I feel it is the most extraordinary fairy tale. And it is a fairy tale about this little person and history."
Fiction, it turns out, was a good way to capture her — because Madame Tussaud is an enigma. No one is sure how much of what she said about her life is true. And, Carey says, "Nobody ever took a photograph of her, which seems to me perfect. Not her medium. She was wax."

We all agreed to meet at Obo's and enjoy a book group gathering out and about!

September 2015 Book Club dinner

Our September book choice was Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius an autobiographical account of his childhood illness and the misdiagnosis. Here is a part of the book review  

"In January 1988 Martin Pistorius, aged twelve, fell inexplicably sick. First he lost his voice and stopped eating. Then he slept constantly and shunned human contact. Doctors were mystified. Within eighteen months he was mute and wheelchair-bound. Martin's parents were told an unknown degenerative disease left him with the mind of a baby and less than two years to live.

Martin was moved to care centers for severely disabled children. The stress and heartache shook his

parents’ marriage and their family to the core. Their boy was gone. Or so they thought.

Ghost Boy is the heart-wrenching story of one boy’s return to life through the power of love and faith. In these pages, readers see a parent’s resilience, the consequences of misdiagnosis, abuse at the hands of cruel caretakers, and the unthinkable duration of Martin’s mental alertness betrayed by his lifeless body."

September Book Choice

Our September Book Choice is a true story called "Ghost Boy" by

here is an overview of the story:


Martin Pistorius was a happy, healthy boy – until at the age of 12 a mystery illness left him in a virtual coma. Doctors never found the cause of his condition – even his mother gave up hope.

Yet in 1992, when Martin was 16, a miracle happened: he started to regain consciousness. But he was still trapped in his broken body, unable to communicate.

Slowly, however, he regained some control of his head and arms, and began to use a computer to write messages and operate a synthetic voice. Here, Martin tells the story of his remarkable recovery – and how he came to find love, a home and a job in England...

And the Mountains Echoed September Book Dinner

Our September book club dinner was held at Molly's elegant abode with lots of delicious treats both savory and sweet. This book allowed for a lot of discussion regarding how our lives connect and influence each other-stories building on stories. People had favorite characters and characters that they found to be just awful. Interesting twists and turns. The structure of the book almost reads like a series of short stories but they we all connected in global setting.

September Book Choice

We took a vote and picked our next 6 books taking us through the fall of 2014 and into early spring 2015.
Our September book is And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. 

In this tale revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. 





2013 Goodreads choice for Fiction of the year.
Paris Review best of 2013

September 2012 Book Club Meeting

Molly hosted our September gathering at her elegant and charmingly eclectic home. Most members had not completed/started/purchased the book choice so the literary discussion was limited yet we still had hours of conversation.

Judy shared stories from Italy, Beth from Seattle and Rory her journey home. The rest of us had humorous tales of family/work adventures from the summer and the food was varied and as delicious as the talk!

September 2012 book choice

September's Book Choice

"The World to Come"

by Dara Horn

Entertainment Weekly Editor's Choice

New York Times Editor's Choice

A Book-of-the Month Club Smart Readers Selection

A Book Sense Top 20 Pick

Winner of the 2006 National Jewish Book Award for Fiction

Winner of the 2007 Harold U. Ribalow Prize

Best of Young American Novelists 2007 - Granta



Prize-winning author Dara Horn interweaves mystery, romance, folklore, theology, history, and scripture into a spellbinding modern tale. She brings us on a breathtaking collision course of past, present, and future -- revealing both the ordinariness and the beauty of "the world to come." Nestling stories within stories, this is a novel of remarkable clarity and deep inner meaning.