November book choices

Courtney's choices for November's meeting:

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (as a refresher before the movie comes out)

 J.R.R. Tolkien's own description for the original edition: "If you care for journeys there and back, out of the comfortable Western world, over the edge of the Wild, and home again, and can take an interest in a humble hero (blessed with a little wisdom and a little courage and considerable good luck), here is a record of such a journey and such a traveler. The period is the ancient time between the age of Faerie and the dominion of men, when the famous forest of Mirkwood was still standing, and the mountains were full of danger. In following the path of this humble adventurer, you will learn by the way (as he did) -- if you do not already know all about these things -- much about trolls, goblins, dwarves, and elves, and get some glimpses into the history and politics of a neglected but important period. For Mr. Bilbo Baggins visited various notable persons; conversed with the dragon, Smaug the Magnificent; and was present, rather unwillingly, at the Battle of the Five Armies. This is all the more remarkable, since he was a hobbit. Hobbits have hitherto been passed over in history and legend, perhaps because they as a rule preferred comfort to excitement. But this account, based on his personal memoirs, of the one exciting year in the otherwise quiet life of Mr. Baggins will give you a fair idea of the estimable people now (it is said) becoming rather rare. They do not like noise."

The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone--Especially Ourselves by Dan Ariely

The New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality returns with thought-provoking work to challenge our preconceptions about dishonesty and urge us to take an honest look at ourselves. Does the chance of getting caught affect how likely we are to cheat? How do companies pave the way for dishonesty? Does collaboration make us more honest or less so? Does religion improve our honesty? Most of us think of ourselves as honest, but, in fact, we all cheat. From Washington to Wall Street, the classroom to the workplace, unethical behavior is everywhere. None of us is immune, whether it's the white lie to head off trouble or padding our expense reports. In The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty , award-winning, bestselling author Dan Ariely turns his unique insight and innovative research to the question of dishonesty. Generally, we assume that cheating, like most other decisions, is based on a rational cost-benefit analysis. But Ariely argues, and then demonstrates, that it's actually the irrational forces that we don't take into account that often determine whether we behave ethically or not. For every Enron or political bribe, there are countless puffed résumés, hidden commissions, and knockoff purses. In The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty , Ariely shows why some things are easier to lie about; how getting caught matters less than we think; and how business practices pave the way for unethical behavior, both intentionally and unintentionally. Ariely explores how unethical behavior works in the personal, professional, and political worlds, and how it affects all of us, even as we think of ourselves as having high moral standards. But all is not lost. Ariely also identifies what keeps us honest, pointing the way for achieving higher ethics in our everyday lives. With compelling personal and academic findings, The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty will change the way we see ourselves, our actions, and others. 

Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx

A rousing call to arms whose influence is still felt today, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels' The Communist Manifesto is edited with an introduction by Gareth Stedman-Jones in Penguin Classics. Marx and Engels's revolutionary summons to the working classes, The Communist Manifesto is one of the most important political theories ever formulated. After four years of collaboration, they produced an incisive account of their idea of Communism, in which they envisage a society without classes, private property or a state, arguing that the exploitation of industrial workers will eventually lead to a revolution in which Capitalism is overthrown. This vision provided the theoretical basis of political systems in Russia, China, Cuba and Eastern Europe, affecting the lives of millions. The Communist Manifesto still remains a landmark text: a work that continues to influence and provoke debate on capitalism and class. Gareth Stedman Jones's extensive and scholarly introduction provides an unique assessment of the place of The Communist Manifesto in history, and its continuing relevance as a depiction of global capitalism. This edition reproduces Samuel Moore's translation of 1888 and contains a guide to further reading, notes and an index. Karl Marx (1818-1883) was born in Trier, Germany and studied law at Bonn and Berlin. He settled in London, where he studied economics and wrote the first volume of his major work, Das Kapital (1867, with two further volumes in 1884 and 1894). He is buried in Highgate Cemetery, London. Friedrich Engels (1820-1895), as well as his collaboration with Marx, was the author of The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845), based on personal observations and research. If you enjoyed The Communist Manifesto, you might like Marx's Capital, also available in Penguin Classics. 'The words of the Communist Manifesto flare like the fiery writing on the wall above the crumbling bastions of capitalist society: socialism or barbarism!

August gathering

Once again, we met in August to discuss what everyone's been reading over the summer!  Many thanks to everyone who came and shared.  It was a fun time.

Here are the results, by reader and genre:

Deb:

The Doll's House and other Short Stories, Katherine Mansfield

War Brides, Helen Bryan

Whose Body?, Dorothy Sayers

Henrietta's War, Joyce Dennys

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

YA:  Savvy, Ingrid Law (I forgot to mention this one last night.  Her writing is unique and the storyline was fun)

Children's:

Charlie Bone series (upper elem/middle school)

Dinosaur Cove (easy chapter)

Jillene:

 Maj Pettigrew's Last Stand

The Valley of Light, Terry Kay

The Emperor of All Maladies (on the history of cancer treatment)

Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream (cookbook)

YA/Children's:

The Goose Girl, Shannon Hale

The Chosen, Chaim Potok

The Willoughbys

Holes, Louis Sachar

Christina:

Midnight In Austenland, Shannon Hale

Jane Eyre

Edenbrook (LDSish historical fiction)

Jane Austen Marriage Manual (not recommended)

Children's/YA:

Fablehaven 

Book of a Thousand Days, Shannon Hale

Beverly Cleary!

Tessa:

The Last Lecture

The Once and Future King

The Best Advice I Ever Got, Katie Couric

Nurtureshock

Multiple Blessings, Kate Gosselin

Children's:

A Wrinkle in Time

Half Magic

Kenny and the Dragon

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznik

Mendy:

Night Circus

Heaven Is Here, Stephanie Nielsen

YA/Children's:

Island of the Aunts, Eva Ibbotson

Chime, Franny Billingsley

Maggie C:

The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova

The Hobbit

Ashley:

Kathy Reichs (forensic anthro series, better to start with the 3-4th novels to avoid the cursing)

Why We Get Fat, Gary Taubes

YA:

Tamora Pierce:  4 different series:

   Wild Magic 

   Alanna

   Protector of the Small

   Beka Cooper

Kirsten:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Alexander McCall Smith:

   No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series

   Corduroy Mansions series

YA/Children's:

The Alchemyst, Michael Scott (series)

Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick

Roald Dahl books

Corinne:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

The Winter Sea, Suzanna Kearsley

I, Robot, Azimov

The Secret Daughter, Shilpi Gowda

Anna Karenina, Tolstoy

YA/Children's:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Leilani Taylor

Touch of Power, Maria Snyder

Grave Mercy

Watership Down

Ok For Now and Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

Maggie R:

Meryl Streep Movie Club

Pleasant Valley series by Marta Perry (Amish romance)

Aubree:

Elizabeth the Queen, Sally Bedell Smith

YA/Children's:

Septimus Heap series

Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart

Peter and the Star-Catchers

A Tale Dark and Grimm

Missing series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

September's book choices

Jen J's choices for September:

1. "Imagine: How Creativity Works" by Jonah Lehrer

(From Amazon) "Did you know that the most creative companies have centralized bathrooms? That brainstorming meetings are a terrible idea? That the color blue can help you double your creative output?

From the New York Times best-selling author of How We Decide comes a sparkling and revelatory look at the new science of creativity. Shattering the myth of muses, higher powers, even creative “types,” Jonah Lehrer demonstrates that creativity is not a single gift possessed by the lucky few. It’s a variety of distinct thought processes that we can all learn to use more effectively."

2. "The Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton

This one is rather long, but so excellent. I got the audiobook, and the reader does a great job.

(From Amazon) "Like Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved classic The Secret Garden, Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden takes root in your imagination and grows into something enchanting--from a little girl with no memories left alone on a ship to Australia, to a fog-soaked London river bend where orphans comfort themselves with stories of Jack the Ripper, to a Cornish sea heaving against wind-whipped cliffs, crowned by an airless manor house where an overgrown hedge maze ends in the walled garden of a cottage left to rot. This hidden bit of earth revives barren hearts, while the mysterious Authoress's fairy tales (every bit as magical and sinister as Grimm's) whisper truths and ignite the imaginary lives of children. As Morton draws you through a thicket of secrets that spans generations, her story could cross into fairy tale territory if her characters weren't clothed in such complex flesh, their judgment blurred by the heady stench of emotions (envy, lust, pride, love) that furtively flourished in the glasshouse of Edwardian society. While most ache for a spotless mind's eternal sunshine, the Authoress meets the past as "a cruel mistress with whom we must all learn to dance," and her stories gift children with this vital muscle memory. --Mari Malcolm"

3. "Book of a Thousand Days" by Shannon Hale

(From Amazon) "When Dashti, a maid, and Lady Saren, her mistress, are shut in a tower for seven years for Saren’s refusal to marry a man she despises, the two prepare for a very long and dark imprisonment.

As food runs low and the days go from broiling hot to freezing cold, it is all Dashti can do to keep them fed and comfortable. But the arrival outside the tower of Saren’s two suitors—one welcome, and the other decidedly less so—brings both hope and great danger, and Dashti must make the desperate choices of a girl whose life is worth more than she knows.

With Shannon Hale’s lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes; it is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise."

June's choices

From Ashley:

The Color Purple by Alice Walker http://www.amazon.com/Color-Purple-Alice-Walker/dp/0156031825/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326954459&sr=1-1

Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Magic-Immortals-Tamora-Pierce/dp/067988288X

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Project-Morning-Aristotle-Generally/dp/0061583251

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult http://www.amazon.com/My-Sisters-Keeper-Jodi-Picoult/dp/0743454537/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329830555&sr=8-1

Choices for April's reading

Augustine, James O'Donnell -- a biography of the great 6th century religious thinker. Before you completely discount it, I haven't read this book, but I have read another by the same author and he's fantastic and very engaging. I've been wanting to read this one for a while.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte -- a fictional biography of a mid-19th century orphan who makes her own way in the world. Gothic, romantic, mysterious...

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua -- "An awe-inspiring, often hilarious, and unerringly honest story of one mother's exercise in extreme parenting, revealing the rewards-and the costs-of raising her children the Chinese way."

Book Choices for February, March and May

Christina selected The Mysterious Death of Miss Austen by Lindsay Ashford for February.

Maggie picked My Name Is Mary Sutter, by Robin Oliviera for our March discussion.

Julia chose Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher for May's reading.

Enjoy!

Options for January AND a change in schedule

PLEASE NOTE the change in schedule for the next few months. We will be discussing Cathy's choice, Outcasts United, in November, then Carolyn's in December. Unless someone can think of a conflict, we will change December's meeting to the 13th so we're not bumping up against Christmas.

Here are Jillene's choices for January's meeting:

Sister Of My Heart -- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni made an indelible impression on the literary world with her first novel, The Mistress of Spices, a magical tale of love and herbs. Sister of My Heart is less reliant on enchantment but no less enchanting as it tells the tale of two cousins born on the same day, their premature births brought on by a mysterious occurrence that claims the lives of both their fathers. Sudha is beautiful, Anju is not; yet the girls love each other as sisters, the bond between them so strong it seems nothing can break it. When both are pushed into arranged marriages, however, each discovers a devastating secret that changes their relationship forever. Sister of My Heart spans many years and zigzags between India and America as the cousins first grow apart and then eventually reunite. Divakaruni invests this domestic drama with poetry as she traces her heroines' lives from infancy to motherhood, but it is Sudha and Anju who give the story its backbone. Anju might speak for both when she says, "In spite of all my insecurities, in spite of the oceans that'll be between us soon and the men that are between us already, I can never stop loving Sudha. It's my habit, and it's my fate." Book lovers may well discover that reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is habit-forming as well. --Margaret Prior

Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card -- a sci-fi classic. Intense is the word for Ender's Game. Aliens have attacked Earth twice and almost destroyed the human species. To make sure humans win the next encounter, the world government has taken to breeding military geniuses -- and then training them in the arts of war... The early training, not surprisingly, takes the form of 'games'... Ender Wiggin is a genius among geniuses; he wins all the games... He is smart enough to know that time is running out. But is he smart enough to save the planet? (Amazon.com review)

The Chosen, Chaim Potok -- Few stories offer more warmth, wisdom, or generosity than this tale of two boys, their fathers, their friendship, and the chaotic times in which they live. Though on the surface it explores religious faith--the intellectually committed as well as the passionately observant--the struggles addressed in The Chosen are familiar to families of all faiths and in all nations. In 1940s Brooklyn, New York, an accident throws Reuven Malther and Danny Saunders together. Despite their differences (Reuven is a Modern Orthodox Jew with an intellectual, Zionist father; Danny is the brilliant son and rightful heir to a Hasidic rebbe), the young men form a deep, if unlikely, friendship. Together they negotiate adolescence, family conflicts, the crisis of faith engendered when Holocaust stories begin to emerge in the U.S., loss, love, and the journey to adulthood. The intellectual and spiritual clashes between fathers, between each son and his own father, and between the two young men, provide a unique backdrop for this exploration of fathers, sons, faith, loyalty, and, ultimately, the power of love. (Amazon.com review)