Happy December! BOOKS OF THE MONTH

Happy December dear Readers,

I have done everything I could to avoid writing to you all this morning since I  had no real 'good' idea for the December  BOM.  Maria is currently reading Room and says it is awesome.  That is on my list but I don't want to select a book knowing that some of you have already consumed it.  Last year we read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and that was a struggle to read the old English and yet it was fun.  Last night we watched Family Man with Tea Leoni and Nicholas Cage and it reminded me how fun and touching remembering the importance of family and of being present in the moment.  So ... this month for our Book of the Month I suggest two books:


As you may have guessed, this year I have an affinity for children's books.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is written by another Barbara, although we have never met, her husband and mine worked together years ago.

The Polar Express has become a modern icon in the Christmas realm and yet I don't remember seeing it or reading it before.

Well, there it is dear readers, this month's selections.  During the month please chime in with your favorite Christmas books, movies, stories, or memories.  Tonight ELF is on one of the stations and we have our DVR set to record - how about you???  It is a wonderful story!

Until next time, keep reading!

Barbara

Happy Thanksgiving dear Readers!

I hope you are enjoying the beginning of the holiday season with your family and friends.  Ski season is upon us and we are so eager to be back on the slopes. 

I was very excited that Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult was a quick read since that freed me up to have the chance to read a couple additional books this month.  Since some of you may not have finished Lone Wolf  I will tell you about one of the books I read during November. 

These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

Best quotation in the book: ‘meet the world with hope in your heart’

The basis for this book is Safe Haven Laws where people can ‘drop off their infants’ at a safe place and not face criminal penalties.  In my opinion this book covers the perspective of those on the giving and receiving end of these laws (unwanted pregnancies, teenage angst, adults desperately wanting to be parents, and those incapable of parenting).  This was also a quick read and I enjoyed it.  I read The Weight of Silence by this author a few years ago and would recommend it also. 

Both books are a work of fiction and lighter than some of the things we've been reading all year although the subject matter is relevant and enlightening.  December’s BOM will also be lighter fare since I needed a break from the memoirs we have enjoyed this year. 

Til next time,

Barbara

Final Guest Post Angela's Ashes...Whew!

Good Day Fellow Readers!

Well it took me 7 days into November to finish our October selection, yikes.  I do not understand how or when I soured on this "Pulitzer Prize" winner but somewhere after the halfway point I felt like "enough already"!!  As I said in my first post, I really liked the connection I made with the American-Irish culture that surrounded me in my youth.  But perhaps it was my sister-in-law's observation that Frankie's dad, Malachy, was really just a bum that made me dread the rest of the book.  I have to say that the last half found me checking constantly on how many pages remained.  The ending in Poughkeepsie NY was really weird.  I had an Uncle that lived in Poughkeepsie that we visited when we were very young (my guess about 14 or 15 years after Frankie's boat docked there!).  It was a very dysfunctional family (my Uncles that is), and so it fit well with the theme of the entire book.

Speaking of the entire book I do have one major unanswered question.  I might well have missed it and I refuse to crack the cover open to try to find the answer.  Just what the heck does the title "Angela's Ashes" refer to?  I do not remember her being cremated, and while I remember references to Frankie's Ash Wednesday experience I cannot recall anything specific about his Mam and ashes.  Can any reader help out here?

Now on to my "food for thought" segment.

First, we just went through a major election, and I think one of the issues the election highlighted is "how much" and "from who" does society in general owe it's citizens in supporting basic needs. Our country seems almost 50/50 split on this issue, and as I read the story I could not help but make some connections to today's issues and Frankie's family life.  We would likely agree that Malachy neglected his paternal responsibility and Angela was a very dysfunctional mother.  As a result some of her children died (and yet two of her son's went on to become successful author's in fact I felt Frankie was strengthened by his hardships).  What struck me was the reluctance of Angela's family to step in and help.  While I understand that times were tough for everyone, and that Malachy and Angela made their own bed, it seemed strange to me that they were reluctant to help the children.  I remember how my father's family took everyone in during the depression and I was somewhat amazed that Angela's family's general attitude seemed to be go beg for help elsewhere, and in particular from the government.  I have always felt that this was a recent phenomena (i.e. how so many families let the government take care of their elderly parents for example) and this gave me pause to reflect that maybe times have not changed all that much.

The second issue for me was the role of the Catholic Church. I have always held a fascination with all things "Catholic" ever since I used to sneak into Mass at St Martins with my friend Danny Pease.  Danny came from an Irish Catholic family, and lived across the street from me with his grandmother, Lucy O'Donnell.  He stayed there most of the time, because his immediate family was in many ways just like Frankie's, an absentee father, dysfunctional mother who lived in public housing "on the dole". He attended parochial schools, with the assistance of the local parish.  While he used to regale us "publics" with tales of getting hit across the knuckles with rulers, switches etc. I always sensed that the Nun's, priests and teachers loved the kids....and genuinely worried about their souls.  While all this may seem quaint now I still believe it was (and remains)  the Catholic Church that most people never consider anymore. Another friend of mine, Joey Judge, was an Irish Catholic from the Kensington section of Philadelphia.  He loved his priests in high school and at one time wanted to be one.  I knew Joey very well and there was never anything "perverted" in his relationships with these men. While it has saddened me (like everyone) to hear of these scandals I remain convinced that the Catholic Church was essentially a force for good in society and I saw this in McCourt's recollections as well.

So readers feel free to add your thoughts (even if you have very different views!).  I have enjoyed sharing my reflections and look forward to my plane ride home from Denver so I can start November's book.

Keep reading!

Murray Rider

November Book of the Month

Hello dear readers,

Are you all enjoying Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.  Since I read it years ago,  I decided to just enjoying my month off from writing the blog and didn't attempt to reread the book.  I have been doing some lighter reading and getting pleasure from not thinking about what I am reading.  So much so that now I can't even remember what book I read without searching for it!  Goes to show you: the mind is a terrible thing to waste.  Maybe you should challenge yourself to write a paragraph or two into a reading journal about each book read to help you remember, think about and express your thoughts and feeling about the books you are reading and how they affect you.  Writing about these books each month had helped me to remember and recommend books to friends with clear distinction about each one and how stories from the same time period differ and are alike.  

I am ready to get started with the November Book of the Month.  DH and I will be leaving for a trip to Arizona and Colorado until mid November.  I have downloaded three books to my IPad and hope to read them all during the month.  I know, it is a imposing proposition and I will probably only finish one during the trip so I will only tell you one of them and maybe save one for December Book Club. 

All that and the book for November is:

LONE WOLF by Jodi Picoult

I have read many books by Jodi Picoult and have enjoyed them.  I am hoping this one is a thought provoking and interesting.  

Have a wonderful Halloween and catch up with you later.

Happy Reading,

Barbara

The Sandcastle Girls Part 3

This will be the last part of examining the Sandcastle Girls.  I welcome your comments and hope you are out there! 

What will the world become with recording on tape, disc, phones, computers and all the other systems of saving our memories?  Back in 1915 they had people’s memories (which we all know can be faulty) and photographic plates.  The world has changed a lot in the past century but now we have endless ways to capture history.  Now, at least in America, every person who is wronged by any thing can post it on YouTube and get satisfaction if you get enough people to view.  Can you relate to the German who preserved the photographic plates?  The jeopardy he placed himself in (I know it is fiction but think about if you would do it?).  In the end, isn’t this entire book about the adventures of these inanimate objects that tell a story? 

Chapter 12: History does matter. ‘There is a line connecting the Armenians and the Jews and the Cambodians, the Bosnians, and the Rwandans.’  There is a connecting line between all of us.  As I was reading this book I went to the nail salon and met an interesting young woman, Holly.   We discussed our recent books and I mentioned The Sandcastle Girls about the Armenian slaughter.  Well, it just so happened that she is Armenian and suggested I read: 

It will be on my short list as soon as I read some uplifting books. Anyway, as we were discussing the book and the heinous acts committed against the Armenians, she told me of Hitler’s comment when challenged about extinguishing the Jews.  Supposedly he said: ‘no one remembers the Armenians, they will also forget the Jews’.  Back to History – if we forget it we will soon relive it. 

Anyway, this entire subject is depressing me on the gloomy, rainy day I am writing it.  I will close the discussion of this excellent book with a quote used in this book and attributed to  Aldous Huxley who observed, ‘Every man’s memory is his private literature.’  Go out and create your own literature for your heirs to uncover.

Happy Reading,

Barbara 

PS:  Do you think the title of this book is appropriate?  What would you have named it?

Angela's Ashes Update

Good Day fellow Book Clubbers!

A cold, damp and rainy day here in Vermont and a perfect day for my promised first comments/entry on our book of the month.  I am about halfway through the book, and for those of you who have started reading Angela's Ashes you will know that such weather fits Limerick (no not where we used to live in Pennsylvania the original one) to a "Tea"(yes I know that is grammatically incorrect but it fits the Irish theme).

Speaking of Irish a couple of quick observations before our stimulating food for thought questions.

I grew up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood (filled with cops and firemen).  Granted they were mostly second generation Irish but I can certainly see some of their Irish cultural "traits" in McCourt's writing.  No doubt Irish men enjoyed a nip or pint often to excess.  Certainly my observation of our Irish friends and neighbors in Philadelphia was a genuine enjoyment in having a pint or a nip after a hard days work.  In addition as I read this I think often of a friend of ours who grew up in an Irish/American family in Philly (Kensington).  She described to us how her mother always asked for her medicine another term for a beer.  She also testified that gourmet cooking (or cooking much of anything but meat and potatoes) was not a part of Irish culture.  

Now  Frank's father, Malachy McCourt, is obviously a troubled man as respects his drinking and it's effect on his personal life, and for him at least the "curse of the Irish" is no myth.  Centuries of life in Ireland under English rule do not erase easily.  One can see in Malachy the sense of hopelessness he felt in coping with both holding a job and supporting a family.  His mantra to his children seems to revolve around dying for Ireland, and in an ironic way a few of them do.

Malachy is an extreme example (in my humble opinion). Those characters in the background reveal that most Irish men were able to cope while "enjoying the pint" in ways that did not preclude holding a steady job.  They did this despite the suffering that the Irish experienced in America and Ireland both before and during the Great Depression.  What I have found most interesting was even in the face extreme hardship the characters held to a strong sense that "begging" from others or taking what did not belong to you to survive was considered morally wrong.  Even Malachy had such pride, although it was OK for his wife to "beg" for help.  

OK enough with my overall impressions so far.  Now on to some specific questions to ponder:

1.  Early in the book Malachy enthralls Frank and his other children with tales of Cuchulain a mythical Irish hero.  He is described in one passage of having a bird or birds on his shoulder.  What type of bird where they?  Hint-I kept seeing a pirate with parrot, I was wrong!
2.  Within the Irish community there was a suspicion of those who "Drank the Soup".  This was symbolic of submission to who?
3.  The St Vincent De Paul Society played an important role in the community back in Limerick.  What is their modern day equivalent here in America? (Hint I am not looking for St Vincent De Paul of America).
4.  How many Chapters are their in the book? Added twist in your response please translate the Roman Numerals to binary code.
5.  The Irish are often thought of as the most "catholic" of all European countries.  For me this was humorously portrayed by Frankie's grandmother's  horror at his reaction to taking first communion.  What happened?

I will add this final comment and observation.  While I agree with Barbara's comments about reading Liberian slang I must interject that for me the Irish slang...forget about it!

Keep reading and I will touch base one more time before wrapping up!  Hopefully your responses will demonstrate your desire to have our real leader return to the bloggers seat!

Murray Rider

Sandcastle Girls Part 2

Hello Happy Readers,

I hope you are enjoying Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt.   I know Murray Rider is working diligently on some probing questions like what is the best Irish Whiskey!

To continue our discussion of The Sandcastle Girls by Christ Bohjalian I would like to interject a story that came from my mother.  Now I wish I had more details and could ask further questions about it.  For those of you who don’t know, my mother was of Greek ancestry.  Her story was that the Greeks and Turks hated each other for one reason or another (most likely religion – Christian vs. Muslim or land ownership).  Her father was orphaned at a young age.  The story follows that his mother or grandmother was killed by the Turks and that they had cut off her breasts.  So he had passed his hatred for the Turks to my mother and she also tried to pass that hatred along.  So my question to you is there reason to ethnically cleanse?  When you have a homogeneous group living together do they naturally develop a hatred of others?  Chapter Six begins with a wonderful statement:  ‘Ancestral bonds have a tendency to fray over time.  Our connections with the blood that once – generations past – was all that mattered become worn and snap.’

In Chapter 5, Silas Endicott states: ‘We came here to save these exotics, not romance them.’  ‘Exotics’ – defined is distant, foreign, outside the ordinary.  My though on reading this term used is that Silas thought he was saving some sort of flora or fauna. 

Diaspora – defined loosely as the dispersal of Jews initially from Babylon – is a word I had to look up while reading this book.  In most definitions it solely relates to Jews but Bohjalian uses it in relation to the Armenians and it can also be used in relation to the American slave trade.  Do you think we have read enough books dealing with diasporas in recent months????

Maria related that the beginning of this book was confusing without knowing what generation was speaking and the multitude of characters.  There were numerous characters to keep track of in this book and maybe a short diagram of them may have helped in the beginning – kind of a family tree.

For now I will close but I promise to be back in a short time. 

Happy reading,

Barbara