“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice
cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came
without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or
bags…then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas
doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little more.”
22 met at the home of Jane Shaw for Bookers’
Highlight Reel of Christmas Past, Present & Future, color coded candy-cane,
and presented by your chairperson, “moi” featuring a walk-through of Bookers’
Christmases from 2004 to present. As always, our members stepped up
volunteering to bring food and spirits to toast the season and our very special
group of ladies. Special thanks to Jane for opening her beautifully decorated
home for our celebration, to Bonnie Magee, our Food Czar Extraordinaire, for
coordinating our feast, to our elf, Barbara Creach, for directing the sock in a
sack exchange, and to our veteran Mimosa bartender who also worked “flute”
cleanup, Janet Noblitt, for keeping us hydrated and tidy! And, word of the
hoopla traveled fast as a bevy of migrating birds and white pelicans converged lakeside
to join in the sing-along of, We Wish You A Merry Christmas. A warm
welcome to our newest book lover, Karen Gallini, and we hope she becomes a
regular Booker. I’ll deliver the box of cards, a crystal angel that lights up,
and a warm and fuzzy pair of socks to our Sheri Green who needs some Bookers’
love and a spark of light.
After the Highlight Reel of Christmas Past and
Present, Christmas Future was presented, we ended our festivities with a reading of a short excerpt
from my work-in-progress novel, A Kind of Hush, a gripping family
drama detailing how life is seldom a tidy affair exploring if there is a gray
area between right and wrong. The Mackie family of four is enjoying a summer
outing when their life is once again upended. Are they victims of a tragic
accident or was it something more heinous – and if so whodunit and whydunit. We
begin in Buffalo, New York in the summer of 2012…
BOOKERS
HIGHLIGHT REEL OF CHRISTMAS PAST, PRESENT, & FUTURE
One of the most
timeless and universal themes, both poignant and simple highlighting the
essence of Christmas was the story of four young ladies’ march from childhood
to adulthood addressing the conflicts they met between family and personal
growth set within the background of the Civil War. The opening line of Little
Women by Louisa Mae Alcott is “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any
presents….”
I’ve got a present for
each of you that I hope you enjoy. It’s not wrapped in glittery foil paper and
tied up with an organza ribbon. Its only value is in the memories it shares and
the promise of honoring Christmas in our hearts so that it will last all year.
We always talk of books being our vision into worlds we’ve yet to discover and
characters we’ve yet to meet. They allow us to walk in other’s shoes by
expanding our minds and embracing thoughts and cultures beyond our comfort
zone. Many of you have been a Booker since our inception and some only a short
while, but the purpose of this little gift is to show everyone where we have
been by strolling through Bookers’ Christmases beginning in 2004. Enjoy the
journey!
Christmas 2004:
Skipping
Christmas,
John Grisham & The 5 People you Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom
Enter a frazzled super
Mom during the holidays juggling the kid’s activities, shopping for the perfect
gift, preparing the holiday meal while maintaining a smooth and orderly family
life. One day in frustration, she slammed the car door exclaiming, “Who ever
invented this holiday ought to be crucified.” From the back seat came a small
voice, “They have already done that.” The book points to what should be
celebrated rather than what is and what it means to be on the receiving end of
kindness and neighborly love.
Mitch Albom’s
powerful, thought-provoking book, The 5 People you Meet in Heaven,
encourages the reader to embrace this idea of heaven where he suggests there
are really no strangers in the world, only family we have yet to meet.
Christmas 2005:
The Life of Pi,
Yann Martel
This is one of those books that fosters discussion at
the drop of a hat – is it the kind of book that makes you believe in God or one
that makes you believe in the human need to tell stories in order to make sense
of our existence. How does a boy, a 450-pound Bengal tiger, an injured zebra,
and an orangutan on a 26-foot lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific survive 227
days at sea? The author tells us, “life is a story…isn’t one with an imaginative
overlay better.” God is shorthand for anything that is beyond material – he
asks us to cherish a story devoted to the powers beyond.
Christmas 2006:
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress,
Dai Sijie
The fable style book follows two young boys exiled to
a remote Chinese village for re-education during the Cultural Revolution,
however, it is not about politics or the evils of the regime, but a sweet,
humorous, touching story about first love, teenage relationships, and how fate
of empires can hinge on the education of their youth.
Christmas 2007:
Poetry Appreciation Month
Robert Frost says a “poem begins as a lump in the
throat; a sense of wrong; a homesickness; a lovesickness; it finds the thought
and the thought finds the words.” Bookers shared their favorites.
Christmas 2008:
Water for Elephants,
Sara Gruen
A story of survival, loyalty, adventure, love, and the
frailty of aging set in the world of a third-rate circus trying to make it in
the midst of the Great Depression. The story ended as it began when 22-year-old
Jacob escaped his circumstances and joined the traveling circus…and then 92-year
old Jacob did it again.
Christmas 2009:
Astrid & Veronica,
Linda Olsson
A record number, 36, Bookers attended this one. The
novel, acted out by Bernie Crudden and Patti Branco, is one of an unlikely
friendship between two women, four decades apart but bound by comparable
histories who find comfort and freedom in their shared stories. We learn how
the shards of loneliness can be shattered by the power of love.
Christmas 2010:
Not My Daughter,
Barbara Delinsky
Another record turnout, 37 Bookers with special guest,
MN’s sister Dianne, who by her own admission, “reads by osmosis” listening to
her sisters. We launched into a chorus of Christmas carols before our own
thespian, Bernie Crudden, who donned several hats in telling this story
displayed her professionalism in light of being “underwhelmed with the
character development and the happy-ever-after conclusion to an unlikely
story.”
Christmas 2011:
A Week in Winter,
Marcia Willett
29 Bookers plopped down in an English countryside and
into the lives of colorful characters telling a tale of love found and love
lost leaving us with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside an old family farmhouse that
was at the center of the story.
Christmas 2012:
The Young Wife,
Pam Lewis & Back When We Were Grownups, Anne Tyler
A common thread zigzagged throughout both novels and
the similarities of the book jackets highlighted the links between the two –
both were views from behind the two women, both looking off to the side, one
with an updo, the other with a ponytail…one at life’s sunrise, the other facing
twilight both reflecting on their decisions. They forced us to look back and
wonder, have I turned into the wrong person or am I just a different person than
I was.
Christmas 2013:
Ordinary Grace,
William Kent Krueger
A story about a boy standing at the door of manhood
trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. The
novel is about a “grace so ordinary there was no
reason at all to remember it.” A miracle happened that day of ordinary grace
within the sorrow of a family’s tragedy a simple prayer offered in perfect
speech was unexplainable but every word, unforgettable. The book struck a chord
as if a chapter was taken out of our own lives as we acknowledged that deep
faith in a power greater than ourselves is essential to reconciling tragedy.
The title of the book is so poignant because a miracle arrived in the steady
voice of a young man who conquered fear, and a mother who returned to her
family.
Christmas 2014:
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry,
Gabrielle Zevin
The book is a “love letter to the world of books”
about a thirty-nine-year-old grieving widow, the owner of a small bookstore on
a remote island off the coast of New England who overcomes depression and
bitterness to give his heart and name to an abandoned child and trust that love
deserves a second chance. Control of the meeting flew out the
window, when towards the end we had a lively discussion on “coupling” on the
first date. I’m speechless now as I must have been then!
Christmas 2015:
Our Souls at Night,
Kent Haruf
This novel is a touching, often humorous story of the
loneliness of a man and a woman, both “up in years” coming together to wrestle
with the events of their lives and their hopes for the imminent future. Their
stories were acted out in the bedroom of Jean & Lee Alexander – Addie was
played by MN and I was in the character of Louis. Addie’s final dialogue went
like this: I love having Louis staying over the night…I like the friendship…
hearing Louis breathe…I love the air, the country, the backyard, the gravel in
the back alley, the grass… the cool nights…lying in the bed and talking to
Louis in the dark…I was just so lonely especially at night.
Christmas 2016:
7 Women,
Eric Metaxas
Our purpose in selecting this book was to enlighten,
to learn, and appreciate the sacrifices these women endured in the name of
benevolent goodwill toward humanity. Strong faith played a significant role in
their resolve, but we also learned the secrets of what made these great women
greater. They were Joan of Arc, Susanna Wesley, Hannah More, Saint Maria of
Paris, Corrie Ten Boom, Rosa Parks, and Mother Teresa.
Christmas 2017:
The Trouble with Goats & Sheep,
Joanna Cannon
Unfortunately, this was an unpopular selection as only
four including me liked it. Some thought it was “much
to do about nothing…a waste of time.” It was a parable, a simple story to
illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson as told by Jesus in the Gospels. The
author used the parable of sheep and goats found in Matthew 25:31-46 where all
those on earth will be brought before the Lord and He will separate them as a
“as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” It points out the
difference between man redeemed and saved versus man condemned and lost.
Christmas 2018:
Mr. Dickens and His Carol,
Samantha Silva
Last year we rebounded as this selection was a
favorite, the author drawing on the truths of Mr. Dicken’s life at the time he
created “A Christmas Carol.” One of the great ironies of this classic was it
was written in six weeks because of his dire financial situation, but the
result was the clearest example of his vision of the world, not only at
Christmas but
for all time…we must be responsible for those who have less and generosity is
the only antidote for our selfishness, greed, and miserliness.
So, we’ve talked about Christmas Past having looked
at the 15 Christmases we’ve shared together and the common thread in all these
selections was the power of love, faith, kindness, knowledge, and trust in the
things we cannot explain. So, let’s look at Christmas Present – Christmas
2019 – we’re inundated with disturbing news feed from the world, our
State and country; a normal day for our school children is participating in
active shooter drills; trusted leaders of religious groups have fallen from
grace…and the list goes on. However, here we enjoy a continual spirit of giving
through our community’s philanthropic efforts and the increase of residents
calling Pinnacle “home” allowing us to grow our friend-base by meeting new
people.
Also, on the bright side beyond our little piece of
the world we find twenty drivers on a busy highway stopping to rescue a dog; we
see two young sisters raising money to provide Thanksgiving meals to those in
need in their area; thousands of winter coats are donated for children living
in public housing in Chicago; a single dad adopts five siblings, ages 5,4,3,2,
and 1so they could remain together; a Florida man paid off 400 student lunch
debts – all of this heartwarming news happened just in November of this year. All
these examples of the profoundness of Dr. Seuss who professed, “Christmas will
always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand.”
Now on to Bookers’ Christmas Future
– let’s look to 2020 when just maybe we might consider a new novel, a gripping
family drama detailing how life is seldom a tidy affair asking the question, is
there a gray area between right and wrong. The Mackie family of four is
enjoying a summer outing when their life is again upended. Are they victims of
a tragic accident or was it something more heinous…and if so whodunit and
whydunit. We begin in Buffalo, New York in the summer of 2012 with an excerpt
from my work-in-progress, A Kind of Hush.
As a side note, when the character profile of Gabe
appeared to me, I scribbled it down in the middle of the night, certain my next
endeavor had to include him. Why? I loved his curiosity and vulnerability
highlighted by his adeptness to be younger and older than his years. He has
become a part of me to the point that I think he is certain to be in my will.
To me, the others feed off his uniqueness and as he grows, so do they.
Thank you for being such a captive audience and aren’t
we fortunate to be here together to share in a season which engages the whole
world in a conspiracy of love where the world is softer and more beautiful.
Happy Holidays, and yes Virginia there is a Santa
Claus – if not, the eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be
extinguished.
On
the business side:
We received a card from Melba Holt which began, “No
Bookers…Boo Hoo!” She and Layton have moved into Belmont Village in Dallas, Texas. She will keep up
with Bookers through the minutes and is on a hunt for local fellow book lovers
in their community and I’m sure she’ll be successful! She would love a visit if
we’re in the neighborhood.
Our book selection committee has filled the May slot
(see below) and they are still working on our summer read. We’ll keep you
posted!
Kristin Hannah’s novel, The Nightingale,
is in movie production and real-life sisters, Dakota and Elle Fanning, have
been cast as the book sisters, Vianne and Isabelle.
Exciting
News:
BookTrib was created as a news source for people who
love books, want to find out what’s happening in the book world and love
learning about great authors of whom they may not have heard. Their mission is
to bring discerning readers and rising authors closer together in a big way
with more than 70,000 monthly website visitors and close to 50,000 views on
social media.
They have a book club network across the country
boasting 80,000 members. Bookers is now a part of that network!! We fit
their dynamic as we meet in person monthly, have a large membership base, and
enjoy finding reads not necessarily on the bestsellers’ lists.
BookTrib puts together a “Booster Box” every month of
four or five books (advanced reader copies and/or recently published books) and
send them to the member clubs. Our job is to listen to a short synopsis, give
away or raffle them off, take a photo of the “winners” and post on their
website and on social media (which I will do)…They of course would love our
opinion on the books. There’s a reason that publishers and authors pay
$1,500.00 monthly for this service – it gives them invaluable feedback on the
good, bad, and ugly, the reader dynamic, etc…During our summer months they will
send the books to me and I’m thinking of doing a “monthly summer email” about
them to see if anyone is interested in reading one of them…the bottom line is
we’ll be getting lots of free books and who knows some might just be the
treasures we are always looking for. Stay tuned!
COLOR
CODING SYSTEM
WHITE: LIGHT READ
PINK: MODERATELY
CHALLENGING
RED: CHALLENGING
January 14, 2020: The
Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni
Sam always saw the world
through different eyes, born with red pupils he was called “Devil Boy” by his
classmates: “God’s will” is what his mother called his ocular albinism. His
unique condition, his mother’s devout faith, coupled with his father’s
practical wisdom and his two other misfit friends makes for an entertaining
read.
PINK
Home
of Beverly Dossett
Discussion
Leader: Ann Ireland
February 11: Sold
on a Monday by Kristina McMorris
A scrawled sign peddling
young siblings on a farmhouse porch captures the desperation sweeping the
country in 1931. A struggling reporter snaps a photograph which changes his
life with consequences he never expected.
PINKISH RED
Home
of Daryl Daniels
Discussion
Leader: Rokhshie Malone
March 10: The
Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo
A debut novel set in a
house in an olive grove in Northern California, a touching story bringing to
life five generations of women, including an unforgettable 112 year-old
matriarch determined to break all Guinness longevity records – the secrets and
lies that divide them and the love that ultimately ties them together.
PINK
Home of Patty Evans
Discussion Leader:
Katherine McDonald
April 14: Beloved
by Toni Morrison
In honor of the late
Nobel Prize laureate’s finest achievement which stares unflinchingly into the
abyss of slavery transforming history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as
intimate as a lullaby…filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope.
RED
Home
of Jean Alexander
Discussion
Leader: TBD
May 12: The
One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood
One-hundred and four-year
old Ona tells the eleven-year-old unnamed boy who has been helping her out
every Saturday morning, “The story of your life never starts at the beginning.”
A heartwarming tale of love, loss, and friendship.
PINK
Evening
Wine & Cheese meeting
Home
of Melanie Prebis
Discussion
Leader: TBD
Summer read: TBD
Bookers is about friends walking in each other’s shoes
and a community never shy about offering hope and courage to those in need.
Bookers shared in the celebration of the Christmas spirit and spread good
wishes of health and happiness for the New Year. Many thanks from a humbled
author to all those who have been my cheerleaders for Bookers and in my writing
journey. I am a staunch believer in the wonderment of camaraderie among those
in love with the written word…we agree, we disagree, we respect the opinion of
others, and through reading we quench our thirst for knowledge as we stand
united as a group of “bookies.”
Merry Christmas and happy reading,
JoDee
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