DECEMBER 2018 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, Mr. Dickens and His Carol, by Samantha Silva

           Aren’t we all angels in training…just waiting to spread our wings and fly?

25 Bookers joined together to celebrate the holidays at the home of Bonnie Magee in her dual role of hostess and food czar extraordinaire. Many thanks to her for coordinating our fare and to all those who brought yummy sustenance to soak up the spirits as we toasted the season of joy and good tidings. If there was a Bah Humbug among us a Mimosa took care of it.

As we’ve done in the past, our community rallies when one of our “own” needs to be lifted by the warmth of our caring arms. Sheri Green is participating in clinical trials and will undergo a CT scan on December 17 to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment. On my front porch (315 St. Andrews Drive) is a “Boost Sheri Christmas Tin” and we are asking that you please add a note of encouragement; a poem; a quote; a prayer; or simply that you wanted her to know you are thinking of her…anything that might put a smile on her face. Also, if you prefer, email me and I’ll print out your message and include it in the tin, which will be placed on her front porch the morning of the 17^th. Thank you for your compassion.

Everyone had either read Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” or had seen one of the movies or plays of this classic. He changed the way we see Christmas forever by featuring how the Ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future showed a crotchety old miser the error of his ways reminding Mr. Scrooge what it means to have love in his heart.

In her novel, Samantha Silva details how she imagined Charles Dickens came to write this timeless classic. Charles is not in the spirit of the season. His latest book is a flop, the critics have turned against him, and his relatives hound him for money while his wife is planning a lavish holiday party. He doesn’t have “sugar plums dancing in his head” …only visions of the poor house as his publishers try to blackmail him into writing a Christmas book to save them all from financial ruin, which he refuses. To make matters worse, he has lost his muse, his great palace of thinking, the city of London, has forsaken him, and he’s experiencing a serious bout with writer’s block.

Within the context of the novel not only did the author detail how she imagined Charles Dickens came to write “A Christmas Carol,” she shared the secret to storytelling and the challenges every author no matter their credentials face at some time or another…insecurities, writer’s block, self-worth dictated by reader loyalty, self-doubt coupled with criticism, especially from peers. A “shank” in golf and a “block” in writing have the same DNA as they saturate your subconscious with negativity. Victor Hugo increased his caffeine intake threefold and stripped naked instructing his staff not to return his clothes until he met his deadline. On the practice tee one day I saw the “shank” in person as my hubby, a pretty decent golfer in his own right, hit an entire bag of balls dead right. I innocently asked if he was doing this on purpose. His response was not G-rated. Both dilemmas require burying the words deeply hoping they never resurface.

Ms. Silva drew on the truths of Mr. Dickens’ life as his celebrity had faded, he was deeply in debt, his fifth child was on the way, and his publishers threatened to deduct monthly from his paycheck, which would have ruined him at the time. One of the great ironies of his creation of “A Christmas Carol” is that it was created and written in six weeks because of his 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. Interestingly, because he wanted it priced so people could afford to buy it, even offering to pay for it himself, he didn’t make money on this novel.

Rebecca Brisendine did an excellent job of leading the discussion of this month’s selection using Dickens’ reflections on his past, present, and future to compare with our own. In addressing the significance of the City of London to Dickens’ life and livelihood, we reflected on the influences of our own stomping grounds…are we products of where we grew up? We talked about the usages of clocks in the novel and how each one signaled a different meaning. We spoke of Dickens’ view of his past filled with social injustice, his present producing an ever-enlarging world, his future filled with uncertainty. We wished our actress, Bernie Crudden, had been there to give us some insight into an actor’s role in character development. Most were shocked at the ending to find Eleanor was indeed a ghost although several “tells” were planted by the author to suggest this…her payroll records and that she left no footprints. We asked who dressed him in his disguise if she wasn’t really there and marveled at the detail used in describing the chemistry between the two…and what was the purpose of the “ghost” factor – maybe to make the relationship between Eleanor and Charles more acceptable given he was married and a father of five. Several had issues that it seemingly took so long to name his newborn. The author says, “a biography tells the truth of a person, whereby a story tells the truth about us.”

                               Look inside and you will find an abundant of blessings.

    On the business side:

Great news…a new independent bookstore opened nearby…Athens Alley Books & Boutique is stocked and ready for shoppers. It is located at 408 North Prairieville, a couple of blocks north of the square.

COLOR CODING SYSTEM

WHITE:         LIGHT READ

PINK:             MODERATELY CHALLENGING

RED:              CHALLENGING

Jan. 8, 2019:    The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Set in Alaska in 1974. The ultimate test of survival for a family in crisis.

                        RED

                        Discussion Leader: Patty Evans

Home of Daryl Daniels

February 12:   The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor

Set in 1917 England and based on a true story, two young cousins somehow convince the world that the magic exists.

                        PALE PINK

                        Discussion Leader: Daryl Daniels

                        Home of Beverly Dossett

March 12:        Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles

Set in East Texas during the depression, a story of hardship, sacrifice, and strength.

                        PINK

                        Discussion Leader: Ann Ireland

                        Home of Melanie Prebis

April 9:          Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen, Sarah Bird

A forgotten part of history detailing the hidden story of Cathy Williams, a former slave and the only woman to ever serve with the legendary Buffalo Soldiers.

PINKISH RED

Discussion Leader: TBD

                        Home of Aulsine DeLoach

May 14:           Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens

Set in the 1950’s in very rural North Carolina revolving around a young woman named Kya Clark – celebrating strength through tragedy and the resourcefulness of a child left to fend for herself in the swamp.

PINK

Discussion Leader: Jean Alexander

                        Evening Wine & Cheese Meeting at the home of TBD        

Summer Read: Book TB

                      He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.

Happy Reading,

JoDee

NOVEMBER 2018 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

      “…any good book is always in motion…”

20 Bookers braved a blustery north wind, cloudy skies, and temperatures in the low 30’s to the home of Katherine McDonald for this month’s meeting. When we selected November for our discussion of A Prayer for Owen Meany it was unlikely it would be colder in our neck of the woods than in New Hampshire, the setting of the novel. We were wrong. We observed a moment of silence for the destruction of property and lives lost in the California fires and for the shooting victims and their families in an all too familiar scene played out across our country.

Our list of “injured reserve” seems to grow with the passing of each day and we are sending our healing thoughts on a bullet train to Melba Holt, Lee McFarlane, and Sheri Green. It was wonderful that Ann Ireland felt well enough to be here today, Melanie Prebis’ arm is improving, and Tanya Holstead shared some positive news on her Dad…welcome reports all around.

The majority of the group read and finished this month’s selection. In terms of loves/likes/dislikes/and ughs…we were a divided group, and although it was not everyone’s cup of tea, (and what book is…maybe Cinderella?), the general consensus was there were laugh-out-loud funny moments; political tirades; promiscuous behavior; sexual content a little beyond innuendo; and an exploration of faith…all the while throwing a few conventional religions under the bus. Many thanks to Melanie for her insights into this complex novel. If we had even touched on every aspect of this book, most would have missed bridge, canasta, not to mention the cocktail hour and dinner.

Writers are both devotees and prisoners of their childhoods and often write to explain their lives to themselves. John Irving typifies that statement. His mother was not married when he was born, and she never told him who his father was. In his 1978 novel, The World According to Garp, he narrates a story of a man born out of wedlock to a feminist nurse, Garp growing up to be a writer. In his 1985 novel, The Cider House Rules, the protagonist grows up in an orphanage, never knowing who his biological father was. John Irving is often referred to as the modern Charles Dickens with his use of humor, tragedy, humanity, and a great deal of the absurd in his characters and situations. This novel was no exception with the stuttering Revered Lewis Merrill who doubted his faith and was identified as John’s biological father; Owen Meany, “the second virgin birth,” tiny and rodent-like with a wretched voice who spoke in all caps, knew he was the instrument of God, and accidently killed his best friend’s mother; John Wheelwright, the narrator, the result of his mother’s “little fling,” Owen’s best friend, and still a virgin at 45; Dan Needham, the good guy; Tabby, a babe, John’s mother, but lead two lives, one as a homebody, the other a nightclub singer; Hester (the Molester)…no need to explain further; Harriet Wheelwright, old-school, old money, WASP who could trace her roots to the Mayflower, and loved Liberace. Mr. Irving….bow to Mr. Dickens.

In the epigraph of “Meany” there is a question from Frederick Buechner (who is a writer of fifty books in a variety of genres, a theologian, and an ordained Presbyterian minister) he asks, “how could God reveal himself in a way that would leave no room for doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me.” How could not the entire novel not be an exploration of doubt with this quote in the beginning?

The first sentence of the novel contains “the whole novel.” “I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice – not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God.” Irving never writes the first sentence until he knows all the important things that happen in the story, especially the ending. “The idea that Owen Meany is God’s instrument or that he believes he is and so does the narrator, is specifically connected not only to his diminutive size but to the illusion of his weightlessness.” In the beginning the children lift Owen over their heads in Sunday school and at the end his weightlessness is interpreted that he was always in God’s hands.”

A Prayer for Owen Meany, published in 1989, is a classic by one of America’s most prolific novelists and screenwriters relating a story of friendship between the first-person narrator (coincidentally or not named John) Wheelwright and the diminutive Owen Meany. The story is told from a present-day Wheelwright looking back on his New Hampshire childhood and youth from his self-imposed Canadian exile. Structurally, the narration skips from memory to memory and scene to scene concurrently with important events in America history. The book starts with a bang as Owen Meany, a member of a baseball team who is never allowed to bat because pitchers cannot find the strike zone because he is so small, is given the green light to swing away. His efforts result in an errant foul ball killing his best friend’s mother.  

Irving learned the art of turning names into themes from Charles Dickens whose cruel schoolmaster in Hard Times is named Mr. M’Choakumchild. The town named Gravesend could be interpreted as Grave’s End (resurrection and rebirth) or Grave Send (death & fate). Meany denotes Owen’s commonness and littleness. Tabby, a cat’s name, is often described as cat-like. Sawyer Depot refers to the rustic wildness of Tom Sawyer and the outpost quality of a train station – also is the home of John’s unruly cousins.

A strong theme of the book is religious faith and the struggle to find it and maintain it through tough circumstances. The novel explores how doubt and faith working in tandem are sentinels of our devoutness to a power greater than our own. John Irving made a generation relive the Vietnam war concentrating on the emotional and physical devastation on both sides of the world with Owen stating, “the only way you can get Americans to notice anything is to tax them, draft them, or kill them.” The symbolism of armlessness and amputation represents helplessness of people against the injustice of fate and the pain caused by that injustice; the loss of relations or possessions; and most telling, the surrender of the individual to God – in a sense using one’s arms as his instruments – as when Owen swings the fatal bat. Irving leaves it up to the reader to decide about fate and free will and explores how it is possible for friends to survive a friendship when one friend kills the other friend’s mother – John and Owen did because each one needed something from the other – a real test of friendship. 

So much for our rule to avoid books about politics or religion. For argument’s sake, let’s say this one was a character study in the spiritual condition of humankind and a look at the dynamics of a divided nation embroiled in an unpopular war.

On the business side:

Bookers selection committee has added two more books to round out our year as indicated below and are considering our summer read. Stay tuned.

Bonnie again has volunteered to coordinate our fare for our annual party in December. She will be sending out a list of suggestions and ask that you respond directly to her.

Jane Shaw, who volunteered to host April, will be experiencing construction issues so we will need to find another host home. Please let me know if you can help.

Sandy Molander is again coordinating CASA Christmas, and if you haven’t already notified her and want to participate in making the holidays bright for these children, please contact Sandy directly.

For all of the fans of Elizabeth Strout of Olive Kitteridge fame, (you know how I feel) she will be releasing, Olive, Again September 3, 2019. Her comment, “Guess Olive wasn’t through with me or I with her.”

                        COLOR CODING SYSTEM

WHITE:         LIGHT READ

PINK:             MODERATELY CHALLENGING

RED:              CHALLENGING

December 11:  Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

                        Bookers annual holiday party coordinated by Bonnie Magee.

Charming and poignant about the creation of the most famous Christmas tale ever written.

                        PINKISH WHITE

                        Discussion Leader: Rebecca Brisendine

Home of Bonnie Magee

Jan. 8, 2019:    The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Set in Alaska in 1974. The ultimate test of survival for a family in crisis.

                        RED

                        Discussion Leader: Patty Evans

Home of Daryl Daniels

February 12:   The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor

Set in 1917 England and based on a true story, two young cousins somehow convince the world that the magic exists.

                        PALE PINK

                        Discussion Leader: Daryl Daniels

                        Home of Beverly Dossett

March 12:        Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles

Set in East Texas during the depression, a story of hardship, sacrifice, and strength.

                        PINK

                        Discussion Leader: Ann Ireland

                        Home of Mary Wensel

April 9:          Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen, Sarah Bird

A forgotten part of history detailing the hidden story of Cathy Williams, a former slave and the only woman to ever serve with the legendary Buffalo Soldiers.

PINKISH RED

Discussion Leader: TBD

                        Home of Aulsine DeLoach

May 14:           Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens

Set in the 1950’s in very rural North Carolina revolving around a young woman named Kya Clark – celebrating strength through tragedy and the resourcefulness of a child left to fend for herself in the swamp.

PINK

Discussion Leader: Pam Davis (with a little arm twisting)

                        Evening Wine & Cheese Meeting @ home of Jean Alexander        

Summer Read: Book TBD

“Faith can be based on many things, ignorance among them being the worst.”

Happy Reading,

JoDee

OCTOBER 2018 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, The Rent Collector, Cameron Wright

There is one major thing that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom, and that’s language.

18 met at the home of Melba Holt to discuss this month’s selection led by Beverly Dossett. Many thanks to Melba for her hospitality and to Beverly for her insights into this novel. Most of our group read and liked the story, although a few admitted reluctances to read a book about a family living in a temporary hut inside a municipal dump in Cambodia where residents build a life from what others throw away. The setting is shortly after the decline of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970’s. The regime claimed the lives of two million people as their Marxist leader mandated the population to return to communal farms creating an agrarian utopia, killing those of intellect, some who wore glasses, and spoke a foreign language.

The Rent Collector is fiction, although the inspiration for the book came from the author’s son who produced a documentary film, “River of Victory.” Sang Ly, her husband, and their very ill infant make their home in a filthy and dangerous environment, similar to a gang dominant ghetto. Surprisingly the message throughout the novel is one of hope, determination, and redemption. Sang Ly is convinced for her son to have a chance at a better life, the key is learning to read, although it won’t heal his body, but reading will give him something to look forward to, a reason to fight, and fill him with courage. The person rising up to the task is none other than the old, crotchety, often tipsy landlord referred to as the Cow who was a college literature teacher before she was a rent collector. You might ask how this educated person ends up in the dump. You’ll have to read this well-written, poignant story to find out.

The role of literature in the novel is universal in that, to understand it, you must read it with your head, but interpret it with your heart. Literature always includes a telling lesson with words linked together with emotion and purpose. It gives us somewhere to go when we must stay where we are. Education brings us to an understanding of our place in the world… “we are literature…our lives, our hopes, our desire, our despairs, our passions, our strengths, and weaknesses.”

Those present today deserve a gold star for their insightful comments, shared stories, questions, and answers. We defined what hope means to us; talked about the role of luck in our lives; who might have been “Lucky Fat’s” benefactor; the significance of a broken clock; shelters, both literally and figuratively; the threat of change; dreams; and the significance of the reading of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Phoenix Bird.

The ones who were unable to make the meeting missed the reason Bookers is still going strong after fifteen-years.

                                                On the business side:

Our “crack” committee is still reading selections for the three slots we have yet to fill. We’ll keep you posted.

COLOR CODING SYSTEM

WHITE:         LIGHT READ

PINK:             MODERATELY CHALLENGING

RED:              CHALLENGING

November 13:  A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Published in 1989, it tells the story of two best friends growing up in a small New Hampshire town during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

                        PINK

                        Discussion Leader: Melanie Prebis                           

Home of Katherine Maxwell-McDonald

December 11:  Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

Charming and poignant about the creation of the most famous Christmas tale ever written.

                        PINKISH WHITE

                        Discussion Leader: Rebecca Brisendine

Home of Bonnie Magee

Jan. 8, 2019:    The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Set in Alaska in 1974. The ultimate test of survival for a family in crisis.

                        RED

                        Discussion Leader: Patty Evans

Home of Daryl Daniels

February 12:   The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor

Set in 1917 England and based on a true story, two young cousins somehow convince the world that the magic exists.

                        PALE PINK

                        Discussion Leader: Daryl Daniels

                        Home of Beverly Dossett

March 12:        Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles

Set in East Texas during the depression, a story of hardship, sacrifice, and strength.

                        PINK

                        Discussion Leader: Ann Ireland

                        Home of Mary Wensel

April 9:            Book TBD                             

Home of Jane Shaw

May 14:           Book TBD

                        Evening Wine & Cheese Meeting @ home of Jean Alexander        

Summer Read: Book TBD

“The most difficult battles in life are those we fight within.” Buddha

Happy Reading,

JoDee

SEPTEMBER 2018 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, America's First Daughter, by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

“Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and father of the University of Virginia.” He penned this message for inscription on his tombstone. Note – he omitted his service as the President of the United States.

23 Bookers reunited after our summer break at the home of Rokhshie Malone on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on our country. Burned into the fabric of our lives is this day and to celebrate the birth of our nation with this month’s selection, America’s First Daughter, solidifies the resolve of our people that in the face of tragedy, grace, and dignity unites us.

Welcome new members, Jane Shaw, and Tanya Holstead to the beginning of our 15^th year of Bookers. We hope you will join us again! Many thanks to Rokhshie for hosting and to Katherine Maxwell-McDonald for her thorough and informative discussion of our summer read. You’ve got a permanent job if you want it!!

The majority of Bookers read and liked the selection, as did I, but something nagged me while reading it, so I researched more. With over three thousand reviews, only 236 were critical and that is where I found the answer. The common thread among them was the story seemed soap-operaish, overwritten, and over-dramatic…like a romance novel set in colonial times. Both authors enjoy stellar credentials in background and writing accolades, but Laura Kamoie has written thirty-five erotic romance novels under the pen name Laura Kaye. Her “other life” might have added credibility to some of that criticism. 

The conventional definition of the historical fiction genre is a novel that is set fifty or more years in the past and one in which the author is writing from research rather than personal experience. It relies on the author getting inside the head, heart, and era of historical figures. Readers demand authenticity when telling the story from the character’s perspective even though our modern day values likely clash with their principles. Steeped in this story is inequality, incest, slavery, adultery, violence against both sexes, dirty politics, betrayal, forced choices, parental bonds, commitment to family and expectations, deathbed demands, fierce loyalty, and forbidden romances…all wrapped up in the birth of our nation with the contradiction of these words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.”

Katherine passed around photographs of the “main players” in the novel and pulled a nickel out of her pocket to show Thomas Jefferson’s portrait. The authors extrapolated a few items to add interest to the book. In a blog entitled, “Five lies we told in America’s First Daughter and How we got away with it,” they point out Patsy wasn’t actually at her mother’s bedside when she died; we said things happened where they didn’t happen; we made one of the Randolph sisters into a killer; made Colonel Randolph into a nasty villain; and there is no proof William Short and Patsy were romantically involved. We discussed if our opinion of one of our founding fathers changed after the revelation that Thomas and Sally Hemings were a “couple.” We talked about whether she was a willing participant in the “affair” in order to protect her interests and secure the future of “their children.” We spoke of the roles of “First Daughters” then and now; how much time the entourage spent in France while the war raged on in America; why did Patsy feel the need to protect her father – his health, his legacy, his emotional state? Presidential scandals are nothing new – from Buchanan’s Miss Nancy and Aunt Fancy to Harding’s trysts in the White House closet – but they were covered up until the Nixon era, tarnishing the office of the President. We discussed the oxymoron of the slavery issue in light of the words in the Declaration, the role of the indentured especially on a plantation in the south – they had shelter, food, clothing…with freedom what would they do? The ending troubled some, as it seemed impossible for Patsy to promise her abusive/alcoholic husband, she would never marry again…she did grow to love him and fathered their twelve children…but still.

The authors visited both the Randolph’s Tuckahoe and Jefferson’s Monticello digesting the stark differences in the plantations as evidenced in their descriptions. Tuckahoe had a dark, heavy, sad, troubled feeling in the décor of the main house and more telling was the cemetery –   laying within a totally enclosed brick wall – no gate or door and not a single grave marked with a headstone. Monticello on the other hand sits atop a mountain, one with nature, with a fifty-mile view of the countryside. The presence of slavery is evident on both plantations, and on one tour a guide was asked by a nine-year old African-American boy, what his life would have been like to be a slave at Monticello, prompting a young white boy of the same age to ask how a man like Jefferson could have written, “all men are created equal.” This is a positive sign of the awareness of our younger generation and points to the commonality we all wrestle with – the discrepancies of our nation’s founding.

On the business side:

Thanks to the quick response to our email requesting host homes for our meeting. Note the October meeting has been changed to Melba Holt’s home. And, without threats or violence, you have enthusiastically waved your hands in the air to volunteer to be a “discussion leader.” All joking aside, my heart is full with appreciation.

There are 86,400 seconds in every day and I’d like to use a few of them to express my appreciation to our 2018-2019 Bookers’ Book Selection committee, Pat Faherty, Melanie Prebis, and Katherine Maxwell-McDonald for their willingness to take on this project. I personally know how much time is involved in this and I hope none of them required a visit to the ophthalmologist in order to narrow the list to the choices listed below. Because of their diligence, Bookers will begin the year with a fresh approach and all of us are eternally grateful for their commitment. It’s important to remember we all have our reading preferences…not all books fall into the our cup of tea, but these were selected with the group in mind. Bookers’ is all about the books and we hope for some lively but respectful conversations.

Member Joanne Bara passed along a new book some might be interested in by noted historian and political biographer, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Leadership: In Turbulent Times – how Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and LBJ found “their footing” on the job.

COLOR CODING SYSTEM

WHITE:         LIGHT READ

PINK:             MODERATELY CHALLENGING

RED:              CHALLENGING

October 2:       The Rent Collector by Cameron Wright

A young mother struggles to survive by picking through garbage in Cambodia’s largest municipal dump.

                        PINKISH RED

                        Discussion Leader: Beverly Dossett

Home of Melba Holt

November 13:  A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Published in 1989, it tells the story of two best friends growing up in a small New Hampshire town during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

                        PINK

                        Discussion Leader: Melanie Prebis                           

Home of Katherine Maxwell-McDonald

December 11:  Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva

Charming and poignant about the creation of the most famous Christmas tale ever written.

                        PINKISH WHITE

                        Discussion Leader: Rebecca Brisendine

Home of Bonnie Magee

Jan. 8, 2019:    The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Set in Alaska in 1974. The ultimate test of survival for a family in crisis.

                        RED

                        Discussion Leader: Patty Evans

Home of Daryl Daniels

February 12:   The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor

Set in 1917 England and based on a true story, two young cousins somehow convince the world that the magic exists.

                        PALE PINK

                        Discussion Leader: Daryl Daniels

                        Home of Beverly Dossett

March 12:        Stormy Weather by Paulette Jiles

Set in East Texas during the depression, a story of hardship, sacrifice, and strength.

                        PINK

                        Discussion Leader: Ann Ireland

                        Home of Mary Wensel

April 9:            Book TBD

                        Discussion Leader:

Home of Jane Shaw

May 14:           Book TBD

                        Evening Wine & Cheese Meeting @ home of Jean Alexander        

Summer Read: Book TBD

John Adams once said, “1 useless man is a shame; 2 is a law firm, and 3 or more is a congress.”

Happy Reading

JoDee