December 19 holiday book club at my house

December 19, we will will discuss the Reeducation of Cherry Troung by Aimee Phan at my house at 1284 West Keats Avenue northwest corner of Palm and Shaw.  You are welcomed to bring a treat or something to drink or not.

August 15 we are meeting at the Fig Garden Library at Bullard and Marks

We are going to try out a new location for the Fresno State Book Club: The Fig Garden Library.  As always it's third Thursday at 7 pm.

February: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole is an American comic masterpiece. His story bursts with wholly original character, denizens of New Orleans’ lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures. (Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times)

March: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown is Dee Brown’s classic, eloquent, meticulously documented account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian, depicting the series of battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them and their people demoralized and decimated. A unique and disturbing narrative told with force and clarity changed forever our vision of how the West was won, and lost. It tells a story that should not be forgotten, and so must be retold from time to time. 

April: The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri is a finely wrought, deeply moving family drama that illuminates this acclaimed author's signature themes: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the tangled ties between generations. The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans.

May: The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston. A Chinese American woman tells of the Chinese myths, family stories and events of her California childhood that have shaped her identity.

June: Molokai by O. A. Bushnell.  The story of Molokai are about Kalaupapa, accessible only from the sea, was "The Given Grave," where victims of the dreaded disease were sent to die, exiled in a desperate attempt to halt the spread of this horror newly come to the islands. There was no hope--until the coming of Father Damien, who fought to bring a measure of human dignity to the suffering.

No meeting in July

August: The Round House by Louise Erdrich.  Written with undeniable urgency, and illuminating the harsh realities of contemporary life in a community where Ojibwe and white live uneasily together, The Round House is a brilliant and entertaining novel, a masterpiece of literary fiction. Louise Erdrich embraces tragedy, the comic, a spirit world very much present in the lives of her all-too-human characters, and a tale of injustice that is, unfortunately, an authentic reflection of what happens in our own world today.

September: Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns is the undeniably entertaining and extraordinarily moving account of small-town Southern life in a bygone era. Brimming with characters who are wise and loony, unimpeachably pious and deliciously irreverent, Olive Ann Burns’s classic bestseller is a timeless, funny, and resplendent treasure.

October:   The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam by Bao Ninh, a former North Vietnamese soldier, provides a strikingly honest look at how the Vietnam War forever changed his life, his country, and the people who live there. Originaly published against government wishes in Vietnam because of its nonheroic, non-ideological tone.

November: Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino.  Imaginary conversations between Marco Polo and his host, the Chinese ruler Kublai Khan, conjure up cities of magical times.

December: The Reeducation of Cherry Truong by Aimee Phan is the sweeping story of two spirited and unforgettable families---the Truongs and the Vos---and their yearning for reconciliation, redemption, and a place to call home.

January:   King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild is the haunting account of a megalomaniac of monstrous proportions, a man as cunning, charming, and cruel as any of the great Shakespearean villains. Adam Hochschild brings this largely untold story alive with the wit and skill. With great power and compassion, King Leopold's Ghost will brand the tragedy of the Congo--too long forgotten--onto the conscience of the West.

Criteria for selection: Glenn DeVoogd picks the books with input from book club members.  Almost all books get a 4 star (out of 5) rating.  Most books are adult fiction tending toward those with a historical or set in faraway places to give the readers a better sense for the range of who we are as people now and in the past.  To a certain degree, in our book selections, we try to reeducate our understanding of history with a bias toward the poor and marginalized.

Fall Books 2012
September - Pillars of the Earth
October - Little Bee by Chris Cleave
November - The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
December - The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

Pillars of the Earth for September 20 at 7 pm

I still have to put together the books for next year, but let's skip August book club meeting and just meet September 20 at 7:00 at Petunias Bookstore (Bullard and Palm) to discuss Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Let me know if I'm the only one who hasn't read this book. It's big but according to Amazon: Ken Follett has 90 million readers worldwide. The Pillars of the Earth is his bestselling book of all time. Suzanne "the book snob" Cross calls it, "An IMMENSELY satisfying read." Tom Builder's dream is to build a cathedral, but in the meantime, he must scrounge about to find a lord that will hire him. His search pulls him and his family into the politics of 12th-century England, as different lords vie to gain control of the throne in the wake of the recently deceased king. Prior Phillip, a man raised in the monastery since childhood, also finds himself drafted into the brewing storm as he must protect the interests of a declining church. Richard E. Grant seduces readers early on with a soft and deliberate voice that is like a loud whisper. However, his full range quickly reveals itself as he delves into characters with animated voices that exert their true essence. Even throughout the narrative, Grant musters a lively voice that imbues energy into the story.

Thursday February 16

We will read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel by Helen Simonson on Thursday, February 16 and we will not read the Paris Wife.