The Good Lord Bird Discussion

The book club met yesterday morning to talk about The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. The discussion was spirited and far-reaching, including discussions of current events as well as the historical realities of John Brown’s time.

One of the most interesting parts of the discussion revolved around comparisons to Huckleberry Finn, which many reviews have noted. Some of the book clubbers thought this was a valid comparison, given the dialect, the humor, and the satire, but some didn’t quite see it.

One book club member brought a biography of John Brown in order to talk about the accuracy of the book’s portrayal of Brown. Most of the broad strokes of Brown’s life were true to all accounts, but some of the specific actions of secondary characters were embellished or completely created by McBride.

Because this book was based on real events and real people, we also discussed some of the additional secondary characters, such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Douglass does not get a particularly positive treatment in the book, but we discovered no basis in reality for these descriptions. 

MCL Book Club Selection for July: The Good Lord Bird

Join us on Wednesday, July 15 at 10AM for a discussion of The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

Mistaken for a girl on account of his curly hair, delicate features, and sackcloth smock, 12-year-old slave Henry Shackleford realizes that his accidental disguise affords him greater safety and decides to remain female. Dubbed “Little Onion” by his liberator, abolitionist John Brown, Henry accompanies the increasingly fanatical Brown on his crusade to end slavery — a picaresque journey that takes them from Bloody Kansas to Rochester, New York, where they attempt to enlist the support of such notables as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman before embarking on the infamous, ill-fated 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. — from NoveList

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MCL Book Club Selection for June: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Join us on Wednesday, June 17 at 10AM for a discussion of We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Spending the summers on her family’s private island off the coast of Massachusetts with her cousins and a special boy named Gat, teenaged Cadence struggles to remember what happened during her fifteenth summer – from Novelist

 

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Book Club Discussion on Kindred

Today we met at the Morris County Library to discuss the sci-fi classic Kindred by Octavia Butler. We had several new Book Clubbers, and it was a really fascinating hour and a half. We started by talking about why Butler chose to take a modern (well, modern in the 1970s) woman and transport her back to the Antebellum south, instead of just writing a more straightforward slave narrative. Some people didn’t feel like that worked for them; they didn’t like the time travel because it wasn’t realistic. Once we discovered how she came up with the idea of this novel, however, most of the book club members appreciated her reasoning, even if they still didn’t necessarily think it worked. As she stated in an interview:

I wanted to take a character, when I did Kindred, back in time to some of the things our ancestors had to go through, and see if that character survived so very well with the knowledge of the present in her head.

MCL Book Club Selection for May: Kindred by Octavia Butler

Join us on Wednesday, May 20 at 10AM for a discussion of Kindred by Octavia Butler.

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana’s life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.   — from Goodreads

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Someone Discussion

This morning we had a very interesting discussion on the book Someone by Alice McDermott. Many of our regular Book Clubbers found it a great read. Even those who thought it somewhat disjointed gave it three stars (out of five), but for the first time, we had more than one person rating it a five star book! So congratulations, Ms. McDermott. Rave reviews!

A lot of the discussion revolved around the meaning of vision and sight. Marie has had problems with her eyesight her entire life. This lack of ability to see clearly is echoed in the many relationships Marie has – including her brother Gabe, her parents, and Walter, among others.

On a related note, we talked about the meaning of people falling throughout the book. Not only does the book begin and end with the story of Pegeen and her fatal fall, but several other characters take serious tumbles throughout the novel.

Book Club This Week!

Don’t forget to stop by the Morris County Book Club this Wednesday, April 15, at 10:00 am. We’ll be talking about Alice McDermott’s Someone.

This book has won a lot of awards, among them:

• Publishers Weekly Best Fiction Book of the Year
• Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2013
• New York Times Notable Book of 2013
• Washington Post Notable Fiction Book of 2013
• NPR Best Book of 2013

It’s going to be a great discussion. Once your taxes are done (they are done, aren’t they?), spend a little quality time talking with all of us about this extraordinary book about an ordinary woman.

MCL Book Club Selection for April: Someone by Alice McDermott

Join us on Wednesday, April 15 at 10AM for a discussion of Someone by Alice McDermott. 

We first meet Marie at age seven, when she’s sitting on the stoop in her tight-knit, Irish-Catholic Brooklyn neighborhood, waiting for her father to come home from work. Down the street, boys play stickball, consulting with dapper Billy, their blind umpire, an injured WWI vet. Tragedies and scandals surge through the enclave, providing rough initiations into sex and death. Gabe (Marie’s older brother) becomes a priest. Marie works at a funeral home as a “consoling angel,” acquiring cryptic clues to the mysteries of life via teatime gossip sessions with the director’s wise mother and a circle of wryly knowing nuns. Eventually Marie finds joy as a wife and mother, while Gabe struggles with his faith and sexuality. A marvel of subtle modulations, McDermott’s keenly observed, fluently humane, quietly enthralling novel of conformity and selfhood, of “lace-curtain pretensions” as shield and camouflage, celebrates family, community, and “the grace of a shared past.” – from Booklist 

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 Links to Reviews:

• New York Times Book Review of Someone
• NPR Book Review of Someone
• The Washington Post Review of Someone

Quiet: The Power of Introverts Discussion

Today we had a thoroughly engaging discussion of the nonfiction book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. Our discussion reached beyond the bounds of introverts and extroverts – we discussed education, politics (politely!), and parenting as well. All our discussions touched on the introversion/extroversion scale, however, as we considered the implications of being more introverted in a world that typically promotes extroversion.

We discussed how a good pairing of an introvert and extrovert can lead to amazing things – whether it’s Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, or a marriage between compatible types. We talked about some of our own experiences feeling introverted at times, but also how we pushed through to success. We also discussed some of our own career choices, and how they were influenced – consciously or unconsciously – by our level of extroversion.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts Book Trailer

On March 18, we are discussing Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. Check out the book trailer for this amazing book that all the introverts are talking about. And then take a look at the TED Talk in our previous post for a more in-depth look at this book.

We can’t wait for the discussion on this book. See you there!