June Selections for Voting!

Hi All,

This month, for June, it is Tiana's turn to select the book. Without further adieu...

Here are my suggestions:

Personal Days
by Ed Park
In an unnamed New York-based company, the employees are getting restless as everything around them unravels. There’s Pru, the former grad student turned spreadsheet drone; Laars, the hysteric whose work anxiety stalks him in his tooth-grinding dreams; and Jack II, who distributes unwanted backrubs–aka “jackrubs”–to his co-workers.

On a Sunday, one of them is called at home. And the Firings begin.
Rich with Orwellian doublespeak, filled with sabotage and romance, this astonishing literary debut is at once a comic delight and a narrative tour de force. It’s a novel for anyone who has ever worked in an office and wondered: “Where does the time go? Where does the life go? And whose banana is in the fridge?”

Child 44
by Tom Rob Smith
A gripping novel about one man's dogged pursuit of a serial killer against the opposition of Stalinist state security forces, Child 44 is at once suspenseful and provocative. Tom Rob Smith's remarkable debut thriller powerfully dramatizes the human cost of loyalty, integrity, and love in the face of totalitarian terror.

A decorated war hero driven by dedication to his country and faith in the superiority of Communist ideals, Leo Demidov has built a successful career in the Soviet security network, suppressing ideological crimes and threats against the state with unquestioning efficiency. When a fellow officer's son is killed, Leo is ordered to stop the family from spreading the notion that their child was murdered. For in the official version of Stalin's worker's paradise, such a senseless crime is impossible — an affront to the Revolution. But Leo knows better: a murderer is at large, cruelly targeting children, and the collective power of the Soviet government is denying his existence.

Leo's doubt sets in motion a chain of events that changes his understanding of everything he had previously believed. Smith's deftly crafted plot delivers twist after chilling twist, as it lays bare the deceit of the regime that enveloped an impoverished people in paranoia. In a shocking effort to test Leo's loyalty, his wife, Raisa, is accused of being a spy. Leo's refusal to denounce her costs him his rank, and the couple is banished from Moscow. Humiliated, renounced by his enemies, and deserted by everyone save Raisa, Leo realizes that his redemption rests on finding the vicious serial killer who is eviscerating innocent children and leaving them to die in the bleak Russian woods.

The Moonstone
By Wilkie Collins
Alongside Edgar Allan Poe in America, Britain’s Wilkie Collins stands as the inventor of the modern detective story. The Moonstone introduces all the ingredients: a homey, English country setting, and a colorfully exotic background in colonial India; the theft of a fabulous diamond from the lovely heroine; a bloody murder and a tragic suicide; a poor hero in love with the heroine but suspected of the crime, who can’t remember anything about the night the jewel was stolen; assorted friends, relatives, servants, a lawyer, a doctor, a sea captain—suspects, all; and, most essentially, a bumbling local policeman and a brilliant if eccentric London detective. Adding spice to the recipe are unexpected twists, a bit of dark satire, a dash of social comment, and an unusual but effective narrative structure—eleven different voices relate parts of the tale, each revealing as much about himself (and, in one case, herself) as about the mystery of the missing Moonstone.

**Remember to have your votes in by this weekend!**

The Other Boleyn Girl Discussion

Ok, so who's read this yet? I know JuliAnne and I have. I thought it was great. She really gets you involved. The whole book it seemed to me was an interesting look at sibling rivalry. I couldn't believe some of the outrageous things that happened all in the name of family and ambition. It seemed like that was all they had. And if you think about it, in modern society, that's all we live for anymore: just to protect what is ours at all costs. And we're told that "anyone can be President", the sky's the limit to your ambition. I have lots of friends that are like that and you see that they aren't happy by just living for their monetary gain, but they don't know anything else. They don't have anything else to ground them...like values. They'll sacrifice anything and everything for some goal that they don't see the forest for the trees--just like Anne. It's interesting to see the vast contrast in happiness between the two sisters based on their personalities. They come from the same family, same background and circumstances, and the things they want that make them happy are so different.

May Selections for Voting...

Hello Ladies of Lit!

Here are my (Sharon's) selections for our May reading:

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky--novel set in WWII France, written by a French/Jewish woman who died in Aushwitctz. Recently translated into the English.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory--novel about a 14 year old girl competing for the love of Henry the VIII.

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley--classic novel that's actually a bit of a love story and a study of character.

All of these books can be found at the library and at Barnes and Noble. If you want more complete descriptions, go to bn.com. Remember, you may vote by posting comments.

Sharon

April discussion

So have any of you finished The Gift of Fear yet?? I haven't quite finished it, but am close. I really liked the chapters on dating violence and how to spot it and on assasins. I found it useful and fascinating. I know I'm never going to come face to face with an assasin or anything, but it's just interesting to know the psychology behind crime. Any thoughts?

New Selections and Processes

Hi All,

The non-fiction seems to be an unpopular choice with some people who shall remain nameless (ahem!)...So it seems to me that we need to come up with a book selection process. We could come up with a selection pool of books and then vote on some. We could assign a person to choose and alternate each month on who chooses. We could select both a fiction and non-fiction book to read each month...but then that makes it pressing on those of us who have little time to sit down and read. Let me know your ideas for choosing books each month and which ones you'd like to read and what you'd like to discuss. Happy Reading!

Sharon

April Selection

Hi All!

JuliAnne and I were at Barnes and Noble on Saturday on settled on the April selection for our book club. The title is The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker. It's an incredible book. It's been on Jewelz's list to read for a few months. You may recall that this book was featured on Oprah, but not as a book club selection. Oprah calls him the nation's leading expert on violent behavior. The book is a national bestseller and tells you how to save your own life, that of your spouse and children from violence through survival instincts. "True fear is a gift. Unwarranted fear is a curse. Learn how to tell the difference."

As some of you know, I was recently involved with a boyfriend that took a turn for the crazy. This book tells how to spot that kind of behavior. And spot even subtle signs of danger. So far I'm on chapter 3 and it's really riveting. Even if you've never felt threatened before and that idea is totally foreign to you, this book is STILL worth the read and I highly encourage you to read it. It's already very empowering. And everyone needs to be informed on this subject.

Love,
Sharon

Finished!

So I meant to write this quite a while ago, but didn't...I finished Silent in the Grave. A few weeks ago. I really liked it. Kept my attention. There were a couple of times I was afraid it would be a bodice-ripper and was about to be disappointed, but I wasn't. I hate it when books do that. This wasn't the type of book that would make sex pertinent to it. But the themes were very modern to the time period. I was surprised to find out that I could actually relate a bit to the heroine. At least at the beginning of the book. She talks about how she sort of lost herself in her relationship with her husband. Like she didn't know who she was anymore. I think I've done that a time or two with various relationships. And then it's nice to come out of the cocoon and transform yourself and rediscover yourself and your talents. You discover and fall in love with yourself all over again and that can be really thrilling and exciting. I guess that's one of the perks and fun things about living the life of the single girl!