“When I read, I’m not alone. Books help me
see things differently, experience the world through someone else’s eyes.”
18 Bookers descended on the home of Donna
Walter for our evening “wine and cheese” meeting in celebration of the
conclusion of our 14th year of Bookers. To say it has been an
interesting year would be an understatement. Endings begin again in a new way, as
every exit line is an entry so our 15th year will start anew with a
revamped formula for selecting books. Pat Faherty volunteered to head up the
Bookers’ Book Selection Committee, which will read the recommendations submitted
by our members and select a book for each month of the 2018-2019 year. Our
September book will be our summer read as indicated below and Melanie Prebis
has volunteered to review A Prayer for Owen Meany by John
Irving for a month to be determined, so the committee will select 8 books and
present the slate to our members at the September meeting. We sincerely hope
this method proves successful. Going forward, please keep in mind we will be
asking for reviewers (Jean Alexander and Chris Batt have already spoken up) and
host homes (Lee McFarlane has offered) for the upcoming year.
Many thanks to Bonnie Magee for
coordinating our food again and to everyone who provided our delicious evening
fare for the end-of-the-year party, to Beverly Dossett for her insight into To
Everything a Season, and to all who joined in the lively discussion of
this novel. On a personal note, I was very touched by my card filled with love
and the beautiful flowers…sincerely a two-tissue event for me.
Beverly settled the group by playing “For
Good” from the Broadway musical, “Wicked,” which speaks to lasting friendships.
The novel takes you to Old Order Amish
country, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The detail in which the author describes the
everyday life and struggles of this community gives the reader a view of their
strengths and weaknesses. When the modern world and the Amish world collide one
June night on a dark country road, questions arise, decisions must be made, and
the characters in both worlds must exam their priorities. The author,
living in Philadelphia, treats us to a tour of the best of that city as well. To
Everything a Season is well researched and at the end, the reader can
write his or her own version of how it all turns out.
We
discussed if we are more than what we do for a living or what we are born
into…what price is too steep to pay to walk away from family expectations; the
impact the crash had on the characters, and the significance of the “tour of
religions.” Also, what brought the Amish adolescents back into the fold after experiencing
Rumspringa (their rite of passage) and how the title, possibly taken from
Ecclesiastes, identifies the universal theme of the novel – there is a time to
every purpose under heaven. “If only life was as simple as pixie dust.”
COLOR
CODING SYSTEM
WHITE: LIGHT READ
PINK: MODERATELY
CHALLENGING
RED: CHALLENGING
September 11 America’s
First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie
Home: Rokhshie Malone
Reviewer:
Katherine Maxwell-McDonald
Have a wonderful
summer relaxing and reading
You are all like “hand prints on my heart
and now whatever way our stories end I know you have rewritten mine by being my
friend.”
JoDee
