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Saturday, May 19, 2018

MAY 2018 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, To Everything a Season by Sherri Schaeffer


“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

APRIL 2018 BOOKERS MINUTES & MUSINGS, The Uncertain Season by Ann Howard Creel


     “Paint with the purest and truest colors.”
16 Bookers took a short road trip to the home of Sandy Molander for this month’s meeting to discuss this novel set in Galveston in the aftermath of the 1900 hurricane that killed between six and ten-thousand people. Four-thousand were burned on the beach, the others buried where they were found, “so they’re under every block…when roadwork is done it’s common to find a femur or something else” to verify the tragedy.  There is a storm of betrayal brewing as the novel follows the lives of three women, one living a privileged life, her disgraced and flamboyant cousin, and an unnamed girl living on the streets. The book is a testament to how a few words can tilt your world in another direction.

Many of us just returned from our PWC overnight trip to Galveston so the selection was a timely addition. The majority read the novel, half liked it…of those who were not fans, a few were more vocal than others were. The book highlighted how difficult the Victorian era was for women, introduced class, and prejudice, painted Galveston with such vividness you could almost feel the oppressive summer heat, and offered a variety of characters to carry the story line.

                                  On the business side
Looking forward, please email me three books you would like to recommend for next year. A committee of three Bookers will evaluate the choices and present them to us at our September meeting.   
                                  COLOR CODING SYSTEM
                                 WHITE:          LIGHT READ
                                 PINK:             MODERATELY CHALLENGING
                                 RED:              CHALLENGING

May 15                                  
                                                Wine & Cheese Evening Meeting, 6:00 p.m.
To Everything A Season by Sherri Schaeffer
                                                Home of Donna Walter
                                                Reviewer: Beverly Dossett 

Summer Read:                      America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie

“Sometimes you have to sit in the skin you built for yourself.”

JoDee