Friday, November 7, 2008
The Five People You Meet in Heaven Discussion
You can post comments here about The Five People You Meet in Heaven...
November Selections
Hi Guys!
Ok, I know this is really late in coming. I'm sorry about that. I've been really busy with various assorted things...This month is Tiana's choice. I suggest a short book:)
Here are Tiana's suggestions:
Rebecca
by Daphne Du Maurier
"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."
So begins the classic Rebecca, the unsurpassed modern masterpiece of romantic suspense -- one of the bestselling novels of all time! And so begins the remembrances of the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter, as she recalls the events that led her to the isolated gray stone manse on the windswept Cornish coast.
With a husband she barely knew, the young bride arrived at this immense estate, only to be inexorably drawn into the life of the first Mrs. de Winter, the beautiful Rebecca -- dead, but never forgotten; her suite of rooms never touched; her clothes still ready to be worn; and her servant, the sinister Mrs. Danvers, still royal.
And as an eerie presentiment of evil tightened around her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter began her search for the real fate of Rebecca -- and for the secrets of Manderley.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
“ I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.
Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.
Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.
The Last Lecture
by Randy Pausch
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
—Randy Pausch
A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come
Ok, I know this is really late in coming. I'm sorry about that. I've been really busy with various assorted things...This month is Tiana's choice. I suggest a short book:)
Here are Tiana's suggestions:
Rebecca
by Daphne Du Maurier
"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."
So begins the classic Rebecca, the unsurpassed modern masterpiece of romantic suspense -- one of the bestselling novels of all time! And so begins the remembrances of the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter, as she recalls the events that led her to the isolated gray stone manse on the windswept Cornish coast.
With a husband she barely knew, the young bride arrived at this immense estate, only to be inexorably drawn into the life of the first Mrs. de Winter, the beautiful Rebecca -- dead, but never forgotten; her suite of rooms never touched; her clothes still ready to be worn; and her servant, the sinister Mrs. Danvers, still royal.
And as an eerie presentiment of evil tightened around her heart, the second Mrs. de Winter began her search for the real fate of Rebecca -- and for the secrets of Manderley.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
“ I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.
Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.
Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.
The Last Lecture
by Randy Pausch
We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
—Randy Pausch
A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
October Book Selections for Voting
Hello All,
Welcome Back to October's edition. Ron has been added to our book club. We'd like to welcome him to our circle of the web. To give him a warm welcome, he is selecting our books to vote on for this month. They are:
Well-behaved Women Seldom Make History, by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich; made famous the title phrase; stories of 3 notable women with some other anecdotes thrown in. Should be a fun read.
Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish; story of Pa, told from a girl's perspective.
The Regency Underworld, by Donald A. Low; a description of the London criminal milieu in the early 1800s; supposed to be really good; informative, and a ready contrast to today and other times.
Ron Titus
Adjunct Director of Scholarly Reading
Wiley College
711 Wiley Ave.
Marshall, TX 75670
(903) 923-2462
rtitus@wileyc.edu
Thanks Ron! Everyone just put in your votes by posting a comment...Stay tuned for our discussion on The 5 People You Meet in Heaven!
Welcome Back to October's edition. Ron has been added to our book club. We'd like to welcome him to our circle of the web. To give him a warm welcome, he is selecting our books to vote on for this month. They are:
Well-behaved Women Seldom Make History, by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich; made famous the title phrase; stories of 3 notable women with some other anecdotes thrown in. Should be a fun read.
Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish; story of Pa, told from a girl's perspective.
The Regency Underworld, by Donald A. Low; a description of the London criminal milieu in the early 1800s; supposed to be really good; informative, and a ready contrast to today and other times.
Ron Titus
Adjunct Director of Scholarly Reading
Wiley College
711 Wiley Ave.
Marshall, TX 75670
(903) 923-2462
rtitus@wileyc.edu
Thanks Ron! Everyone just put in your votes by posting a comment...Stay tuned for our discussion on The 5 People You Meet in Heaven!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monthly Book Assignments
Hi All,
I'm posting this to inform you of our rotation. This way, when it's your turn to pick the book choices for the month, you won't be caught unaware.
September--JuliAnne
October--Ron
November--Tiana
December--Sharon
January--Coral
February--JuliAnne
March--Ron
April--Tiana
May--Sharon
June--Coral
July--JuliAnne
August--Ron
And So on. I've posted it for the year, but if you'd like to switch with someone, let us know by posting a comment on the most recent posting so we'll all see it. Also, I'll email everyone each other's email addresses if you'd like to keep in touch that way. Let me know if this style of book club is working for you, and if it isn't, what you'd like to see changed or improved.
Thanks!
Sharon
I'm posting this to inform you of our rotation. This way, when it's your turn to pick the book choices for the month, you won't be caught unaware.
September--JuliAnne
October--Ron
November--Tiana
December--Sharon
January--Coral
February--JuliAnne
March--Ron
April--Tiana
May--Sharon
June--Coral
July--JuliAnne
August--Ron
And So on. I've posted it for the year, but if you'd like to switch with someone, let us know by posting a comment on the most recent posting so we'll all see it. Also, I'll email everyone each other's email addresses if you'd like to keep in touch that way. Let me know if this style of book club is working for you, and if it isn't, what you'd like to see changed or improved.
Thanks!
Sharon
September Selections
Hello Again!
Back to school, Fall, the nights are getting longer and the days shorter. Boo...I hate to see the end of Summer, but with it comes a new season and that's exciting too. JulieAnne is in charge of September's picks and here they are:
Choice 1: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Synopsis
An epic on an intimate scale, Memoirs of a Geisha takes the reader behind the rice-paper screens of the geisha house to a vanished floating world of beauty and cruelty, from a poor fishing village in 1929 to the decadence of 1940s Kyoto, through the chaos of World War II to the towers of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where the gray-eyed geisha Sayuri unfolds the remarkable story of her life.
Choice 2: The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Synopsis
From the author of the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie, a novel that explores the unexpected connections of our lives, and the idea that heaven is more than a place; it's an answer.
Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "Why was I here?"
Choice 3: Women and Money by Suze Orman
Synopsis
Why is it that women, who are so competent in all other areas of their lives, cannot find the same competence when it comes to matters of money?
Suze Orman investigates the complicated, dysfunctional relationship women have with money in this groundbreaking new book. With her signature mix of insight, compassion, and soul-deep recognition, she equips women with the financial knowledge and emotional awareness to overcome the blocks that have kept them from making more out of the money they make. At the center of the book is The Save Yourself Plan—a streamlined, five-month program that delivers genuine long-term financial security. But what’s at stake is far bigger than money itself: It’s about every woman’s sense of who she is and what she deserves, and why it all begins with the decision to save yourself.
These seem like the perfect studious-type books to get us into the swing of September. Please post your votes by making comments to this post. Thanks! Happy Reading...
Back to school, Fall, the nights are getting longer and the days shorter. Boo...I hate to see the end of Summer, but with it comes a new season and that's exciting too. JulieAnne is in charge of September's picks and here they are:
Choice 1: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Synopsis
An epic on an intimate scale, Memoirs of a Geisha takes the reader behind the rice-paper screens of the geisha house to a vanished floating world of beauty and cruelty, from a poor fishing village in 1929 to the decadence of 1940s Kyoto, through the chaos of World War II to the towers of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where the gray-eyed geisha Sayuri unfolds the remarkable story of her life.
Choice 2: The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Synopsis
From the author of the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie, a novel that explores the unexpected connections of our lives, and the idea that heaven is more than a place; it's an answer.
Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "Why was I here?"
Choice 3: Women and Money by Suze Orman
Synopsis
Why is it that women, who are so competent in all other areas of their lives, cannot find the same competence when it comes to matters of money?
Suze Orman investigates the complicated, dysfunctional relationship women have with money in this groundbreaking new book. With her signature mix of insight, compassion, and soul-deep recognition, she equips women with the financial knowledge and emotional awareness to overcome the blocks that have kept them from making more out of the money they make. At the center of the book is The Save Yourself Plan—a streamlined, five-month program that delivers genuine long-term financial security. But what’s at stake is far bigger than money itself: It’s about every woman’s sense of who she is and what she deserves, and why it all begins with the decision to save yourself.
These seem like the perfect studious-type books to get us into the swing of September. Please post your votes by making comments to this post. Thanks! Happy Reading...
Friday, August 1, 2008
Queen of Babble Discussion
I also must confess I am not done with this book. So far it's a comedy of errors that hopefully has a deeper meaning? Does anyone have any thoughts on this book?
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