Summer Reading List

Oh Ladies, 

My apologies!!  I know it has taken me over a week to get the new book club selections out to you!!  It is because I have been selfishly getting tipsy on Pina Coladas, while a handsome cabana boy fans me down with a palm and feeds me chocolates, as I tan myself on a white sandy beach in the Keys...  

Almost...

Well, now that I have returned from the great unknown, it's time to get back to business.  We picked two books to challenge ourselves with this summer.  Room by Emma Donoghue, which has been on the BWBMYKSBC suggestion list before.  It should be a pretty easy one to get through, which is why we made another selection, One Second After by William Forstchen.  Both should prove for some interesting discussions and sound extremely interesting.  Since I literally ran out of Julie's place because it was going on 11 o'clock and I still hadn't finished packing, we never came up with a time frame to gather again.  Last year, we worked with the end of August/beginning of September, so let me know what works for everyone.   I will definitely send out a reminder once we see summer start to draw to a close :( so you have some time to think about it.  Happy summering (totally a word), happy sunning and most of all... HAPPY READING!!! 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

REMINDER!!!

I know Julie beat me to it but I already had the reminder typed up so I figured I would send it out anyway... I can't let what I do in class go to waste people :) It's not fair to the kids :)

It is time to gather one last time before we break for summer vacation!!  I know this is a sad moment for all but don't fret, summer will be over before we know it and we will be gathering to insightfully discuss books amongst the changing leaves of Fall in no time.  Yuck.  No offense but I want summer to stay around for as long as possible...so, I hope we won't be getting together for what seems like a good-long-while!!  Again, no offense :)

Hopefully, you all can make it to Julie's this Friday, June 10 at 8pm.  This is going to be a book club extravaganza because we will also be celebrating...
* Suz's belated birthday
* Burke's early birthday
* Certain teachers' last days of school
* My imminent departure into a world of no showers/bathrooms
* And whatever else we desire to toast to!!

Again, hope you all can make it!!  Please leave a comment if you will be attending, so we can make sure to have enough White Liquor and Squirrel meat :)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Why do you think The Hunger Games series is a bestseller? What about these books appeal to so many people – young and old?
2. Which character in The Hunger Games is your favorite? Why?
3. Why are the tributes given stylists and dressed so elaborately for the opening ceremony? How much of an impact does personal appearance play into the games and why do you think there is such an emphasis on being “prepped” before going on TV, both before and after the Games? 
4. What did you think of Haymitch’s strategy for Katniss and Peeta during the Hunger Games?   Given the information presented in the first book, how do you think he (Haymitch) won the Games back when he was a tribute?
5. Before the Games start, Peeta tells Katniss, “…I want to die as myself…I don’t want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I’m not.” What does this tell you about Peeta? What does he fear more than death? Is he able to stay true to himself during the Games?
6. Katniss and Peeta are both skilled in their own unique way.  What do you think were their most important skills for staying alive? Do you think either would have survived if they were unable to rely on each other?
7. Why does Peeta join with the Career Tributes in the beginning of the Games and why do they, in return, accept him? Why do groups form in the beginning when they know only one of them will be able to survive?
8. Discuss the ways in which the Gamemakers control the environment and “entertainment” value of the Games. How does it affect the tributes to know they are being manipulated to make the Games more exciting for the gamblers and viewers? Does knowing that she is constantly on live TV make Katniss behave differently than she would otherwise?
9. What do you think is the cruelest part of the Hunger Games? What kind of people would devise this spectacle for the entertainment of their populace? Can you see parallels between these Games and the society that condones them? Are there other related events and cultures in the history of the world that are comparable? 
10. In 1848, Karl Marx wrote in The Communist Manifesto, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Discuss this statement as it applies to the society and government of Panem. Do you believe there is any chance to eradicate class struggles in the future?
11. There has been a tremendous growth of Reality TV in the 21^st Century, with a fair number being in the area of competitive and survival shows. Discuss this phenomenon with respect to The Hunger Games?  What other aspects of our popular culture do you see reflected in this story? 
12. In your opinion, does a tribute ever really win the Hunger Games? Why or why not?
13. Katniss is obviously conflicted when it comes to the topic of love.  Who do you think she belongs with, romantically, Peeta or Gale?  Why? 
14. Which children were the worst off? The ones in the Districts where the children were raised to think that competing to kill other children and possibly die themselves was honorable as in Districts 1 & 2? Or the outlying districts which were so poor that the inhabitants had to forage for the smallest portions of food and signed up for tesserea out of necessity. 
15. For those of you who haven’t read it, what are your predictions for Katniss, Peeta, Gale and the other characters in Catching Fire (the second installment in The Hunger Games Trilogy)?  How do you think the story of Panem and its inhabitants develops?

Date Selected

June 10th seems to work for everyone, in one way or another, so mark your calenders.  We will have our last gathering before summer vacation begins!!  On another note, this will be my last night in town.  I leave for the Boundary Waters on Saturday morning and the chances of me getting eaten by a bear getting left behind by Jamie are pretty high, so this may be your last chance to see me... I'm just saying. 

Date Selection

This is our last meeting before summer vacation :)  Please let me know (either through email or just leave a comment below), whether you would be able to attend Friday, June 3 or Friday June 10. 

Trilogy Part Deux

'Ello Govna!!  Thanks to all the ladies who stopped by on Friday for the joint Royal Wedding Watch/Freedom Book Club discussion.  It was the perfect combination of wedding gushing, book conversing, Pippa bashing (I mean honestly, whoever flawlessly pulls off a white silk dress should not be allowed in public, it just isn't fair to the rest of us) and delicious food consumption.  We decided to squeeze in one more meeting before we break for summer and went with a book that should be a fairly quick read.  Next on the docket: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.   Our host, Julie, is double checking on possible dates to make sure they work but we are aiming to get together at the end of May or beginning of June.  I just wanted to get the next selection out there so everyone can get started.  Happy reading!!

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

REMINDER!!!!!

Hello Book Clubbers!  I just wanted to send out a reminder and get a quick head count for our meeting this Friday, April 29 at 8pm.  I am hosting, so shoot me an email if you need directions to my lovely and spacious apartment.  As always, apps and wine are always welcome.  For those concerned, I will DEFINITELY be recording the royal wedding so we can watch it during any intermissions... bring your tissues ladies!!  Discussion questions are below, can't wait to see you Friday!!  

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Jonathan Franzen refers to freedom throughout the novel, including the freedom of Iraqis to become capitalists, Joey's parents attempt to give him an unencumbered life, an inscription on a building at Jessica s college that reads USE WELL THY FREEDOM, and alcoholic Mitch, who is a free man. How do the characters spend their freedom? Is it a liberating or destructive force for them? Which characters are the least free?
2. Freedom contains almost cinematic descriptions of the characters dwelling places, from the house in St. Paul to Abigail's eclectic Manhattan apartment. How do the homes in Freedom reflect the personalities of their occupants? Where do Walter and Patty feel most at home? Which of your homes has been most significant in your life?
3. As a young woman, Patty is phenomenally strong on the basketball court yet vulnerable in relationships, especially with her workaholic parents, her friend Eliza, and the conflicted duo of Richard and Walter. What did her rapist, Ethan Post, teach her about vulnerability? After the rape, what did her father and the coaches attempt to teach her about strength?
4. What feeds Richard and Walter's lifelong cycle of competition and collaboration? If you were Patty, would you have made the road trip with Richard? What does Freedom say about the repercussions of college, not only for Walter and Patty but also for their children?
5. How would you characterize Patty's writing? How does her storytelling style compare to the narrator s voice in the rest of the novel? If Walter had written a memoir, what might he have said about his victories, and his suffering?
6. Which tragicomic passages in Freedom made you laugh? Which characters elicited continual sadness and sympathy in you? How does Franzen balance poignant moments with absurdity?
7. Discuss the nature of attraction, both in the novel and in your own experience. What does it take to be desirable in Freedom? In the novel, how do couples sustain intense attraction for each other over many phases of their lives?
8. Does history repeat itself throughout Walter's ancestry, with his Swedish grandfather, Einar, who built roads, loathed communism and slow drivers, and was cruel to his wife; his father, Gene, a war hero with fantasies of success in the motel business; and his mother, Dorothy, whose cosmopolitan family was Walter s salvation? What do all the characters in the novel want from their parents? How do their relationships with their parents affect their relationships with lovers?
9. After her father s death, Patty asks her mother why she ignored Patty s success in sports, even though Joyce was a driven woman who might have relished her daughter's achievements. She doesn't get a satisfactory answer; Joyce vaguely says that she wasn't into sports. Why do you think Patty did not garner as much attention as her sisters did? How did your opinion of Veronica and Abigail shift throughout the novel? Does Patty treat Jessica the same way her parents treated her?
10. How is Lalitha different from the other characters in the novel? How does her motivation for working with the Cerulean Mountain Trust compare to Walter's? Does Walter relate to the cerulean warbler on some level?
11. What accounts for the differences between Joey and Jessica? Is it simply a matter of genes and temperament, or does gender matter in their situation?
12. What does Joey want and get from Jenna and Connie? What do they want and get from him?
13. Did Carol and Blake evolve as parents? What sort of life do you predict for their twin daughters?
14. Near the end of the novel, Franzen describes Walter s relationship with Bobby the cat as a sort of troubled marriage. Was their divorce inevitable? When Patty is eventually able to serve as neighborhood peacemaker, even negotiating a truce with Linda Hoffbauer, what does this say about her role in Walter's life? Does she dilute his sense of purpose and principle, or does she keep him grounded in reality?
15. How would you answer the essential question raised by Walter's deal with the Texas rancher Vin Haven: What is the best way to achieve environmental conservation?
16. Consider the novel s epigraph, taken from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale. The lines are spoken by Paulina in the final act, after she learns the fate of her dead husband. She receives the news while surrounded by happy endings for the other characters. The most obvious parallel is to Walter, but who else might be reflected in these lines?
17. What unique truths emerge in Freedom? In what ways does this novel enhance themes (such as love and commitment, family angst, the intensity of adolescence, and the individual against the giant corporate, governmental, and otherwise) featured in Franzen's previous works, including his nonfiction?

It's Settled...

SORRY to those who can't fit this date into their schedule!!  I will host the next book club, fingers crossed for nice weather :)