What We Are Reading In September

The group will meet on Monday, September 21 to read Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh . The book is about the opium trade set in 1838 and is the first of a trilogy of books featuring the ship Ibis. For a review of the book click here.

Ghosh is one of the most well known Indians writing in English today. He has won several literary prizes including: The Kiriyama for the Hungry Tide, the Prix Medici Etranger for The Circle of Reason, The Sahitya Akademi (India's most prestigious literary award) for The Shadow Lines, The Calcutta Chromosome won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1997, and the Glass Palace won the Grand Prize for Fiction at the Franfurt International e-book Awards in 2001. This information was taken from his blog and website. For more click here.

As I read this book, I find that a lot of the dialog is difficult to follow since so much of it is in the vernacular. Here is a web site that may be useful while reading: Hobson Jobson

What We Are Reading In August

Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin. I love it when authors have their own website. Check it out. It even has excerpts and reviews of her books. Join us August 17 at 7pm for our book discussion.

We Are Reading In July

Ms. Hempel Chronicles by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum. This book was a National Book Award finalist in 2004. Book Forum has a review of this book. Here is a website for the book. I love the section that includes music.

We Are Reading In June

Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith. I have found her website which provides her official biography, list of her publications, etc. The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County have provided an interview of Ms. Smith.

We Are Reading in May

Our May book is Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell. This is the third book by Russell the EBG has read. Our first was her debut novel The Sparrow and the sequel Children of God.
See Mostly Fiction Book Reviews for a bibliography, biography and review of this book

What we are reading in April

The Giver by Lois Lowry. This is the One Book One Community choice this year. For more information on the book and programs provided by ACLA, go the the One Book One Community website.

We Are Reading in March

We are reading What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn. Awarded the Costa First Novel Award and long listed for the Booker and the Orange Prize in 2007, this book is a mystery about a girl's disappearance. For a review of this book, see Vulpes Libris a literary blog. The reviewer describes it as, "splendid in so many ways. A page-turning, compelling story, as well as witty, touching, and altogether wonderful." Vulpes Libris also has an interview of the author.