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.

We are reading in February

We are reading Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan. O'Nan, born in Pittsburgh has won several literary awards including the Drue Heinz Prize for Literature, 1993. Recently, O'Nan was interviewed in the Hot Metal Bridge, the literary magazine of the University of Pittsburgh, which publishes fiction, poetry, nonfiction, criticism, and art twice yearly (fall and spring). A review for February's book can be found in BookForum

Discussion: Everybody liked the book about a guy's last day at the Red Lobster Restaurant. I was surprised since some of the critics were bored with the level of detail provided on running a restaurant. The story is poignant and the main character is lovingly drawn: Manny is doing his best to make the last day at the Red Lobster a success inspite of a Christmas season snowstorm, bitter employees, and his own demotion. Manny maintains his dignity throughout.

We Are Reading for January

Join us January 19 for a discussion of Anne Enright's The Gathering. A winner of the Man Booker Prize in 2007, this is not a book for the faint of heart. Given the technical term a "weepy", the book deals with some depressing material, but is beautifully written. For more information on the Man Booker prize and past winners, click here.
The Discussion:
Not many readers liked this book. Many found it unrelentingly grim., but found the discussion useful to understand it better. Critics say this book is excruciatingly Irish, and readers found her writing difficult to follow. She does jump around a bit. She reminds me of other short story writers.

We are Reading for December

In honor of the the 250 Anniversary of the City of Pittsburgh, we are reading In Sunlight, In a Beautiful Garden by Kathleen Cambor. This is a fictionalized account of the Johnstown Flood. This is a beautifully written novelization of the town and occupants of Johnstown. The author effortlessly wove the true events and people together with fictionalized characters and storylines. For more information about the 1889 flood, check the website of the Johnstown Flood Museum. In addition, check out other materials about the flood from the library. The library has a copy of David McCullough's book The Johnstown Flood , as well as the documentary dvd by the same title and narrated by Richard Dreyfuss.

We are Reading for November

For November we read The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta. Perrotta is also the author of the book Little Children that was made into a film in 2006 and nominated for three oscars.

To find links to reviews, and more information about the author, click here for the author's web site.

Many issues were covered in this little book concerning sexual mores. Many of the book group members did not like the characters and could not relate to them. However, I was impressed by the way the author made the characters engaging in spite of how flawed they were.

I have been seeing as a theme in contemporary books lately, is that middle aged women who say something daring, outrageous, or impertinent are the catalyst for the rising action in the story-line. I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this.