MAY 2011 BOOKERS MINUTES

(The links to the books mentioned below are listed at the end of this post.)

An amazing aura, bordering on a phenomenon, hovered eerily over 106 Winward, the home of Melanie Prebis, as 31 Bookers gathered for the 4^th Annual Wine & Cheese evening meeting to celebrate and toast another successful year of Bookers.  Unbeknownst to those in attendance, a case study suggesting the amount of wine one consumes is directly proportional to a little-known condition known as Arm Restrictive Syndrome, or ARS, was being tested.  Those suffering from this are prevented from raising the arm in response to the question…Do we have any volunteers?  Miraculously, we can now confirm that when the body is exposed to the right dosage of alcohol, the arm freely and enthusiastically detaches from the side and can be held high over one’s head without pain! Glory be…who knew!

Thanks to freedom from ARS, we were able to fill next year’s calendar with host homes and book reviewers and (seriously) we thank each of you for answering the call.  Our 8^th year of Bookers will begin in September on an “organized” note.  We appreciate your support and these results almost guarantee the 5^th Annual Wine and Cheese Meeting a lock!  The following members have agreed to review books selected for the upcoming year:

Melba Holt, Janet Noblitt, Jean Alexander, Charlotte Pechacek, Jane Freer, Beverly Dossett, Linsey Garwacki (with a group), Patsy Dehn with Colleen Hinckley & Marsha Smith, and Melanie Prebis.  MN & I will review the April 2012 selection.

On the Business Side:

Thanks to Kay Robinson for bringing to our attention the book signing of local artist, Abby Rike, who has written her memoir, Working It Out, detailing the tragic loss of her husband and two children in a car crash and her climb out of that darkness with the help of family, friends, and faith.  She was a contestant on The Biggest Loser, and through the process of physical and emotional change, was able to gain inner strength, hope, and wisdom.  She will be signing this book (books available at the event) at 5:00 PM at Mabank High School, May 20^th.  Beverly Dossett and Jane Freer are coordinating the “caravan” from Pinnacle.  Please contact either Beverly or Jane for more details.  We hope the Pinnacle Women’s Club and Bookers will support this remarkable young lady.

Ann Hays’ Dallas book club, Literary Lions, provided us a list of their choices for the upcoming year.  There are 29 options, each with a summary, and you might find that special read to keep you happy and content during the summer months.  The list is attached to this e-mail.

I have read a debut novel, A Thread of Sky, by Deanna Fei and fell in love with the lyrical writing.  MN concurs but has only read a few pages so we are reluctant to recommend it for the group yet.  The June 14^th meeting will be held at the home of Bonnie Magee and co-hosted by Pam Davis. We are reading Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson, which was highly recommended by Gayle Robinson, MN & family and JoDee.  Barbara Creach has volunteered to lead the review of this selection.  We are on summer break until September 13^th, which will begin our 8^th year of Bookers.                                 

The inaugural Sip-A-Lot & Share (I renamed it again) kicked off by choosing a colored balloon, a group sing-a-long of the “La-La-La” chorus from Whoppi Goldberg’s Sister Act, the busting of the balloons revealing an order number, and the identification of one’s personality based on what color balloon was chosen…blues are soft, soothing, compassionate and caring and are admired for their steady character and wisdom, but with somewhat inflexible beliefs…teals are poised and attractive, sensitive, intellectual and refined, if not rather detached and capable and often refuse help or guidance…greens symbolize hope, renewal and peace and are generally frank, community-minded, fairly sociable, but prefer peace at any price…pinks are symbols of love and affection without passion, maternal and desire protection wanting to appear delicate and fragile…purples are highly individual, fastidious, witty with a strong desire to be different and could become aloof and sarcastic if misunderstood and usually achieve positions of authority…you might have to use your imagination to figure out who chose what color if you weren’t there. Then we got down to the nitty-gritty of talking about the books we wanted to share:

Marsha & Boyd Smith: North River by Pete Hamill.

Native New Yorkers call the Hudson the North River.  This book is set in “The City” during the Depression and is described as a heart-warming meat and potatoes love story,

New York style.  “Sometimes you need a book where there is a happy ending.”

Kay Robinson: Seeds by Dr. Sasha Vukelja.  A non-fiction book written by a well-

respected oncologist in Tyler detailing a mother-daughter journey from

Yugoslavia to the United States.  Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore

Pruitt Stewart published in letter form beginning in 1909 when the author claimed

a homestead of 160 acres in Wyoming.

Patsy Dehn:  Stigma, a debut thriller by Dr. Philip Hawley about a troubled doctor who

gets caught up in a global conspiracy after a mysteriously afflicted four-year-old

Guatemalan boy dies on his watch.

Donna Walter:  Decision Points by George W. Bush and Spoken From the Heart by

Laura Bush

Pam Davis:  Anything Danielle Steele, her new release is 44 Charles Street

Bernie Crudden:  Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler about a 40-year-old wife and mother

feeling unappreciated, unnoticed, and unnecessary who walks away from her

“normal” life and starts over in a new town.

Daryl Daniels:  Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, a non-fiction book about

building schools for the children of Pakistan.  His “facts” and “charitable

contributions” are now the center of an investigation, which is a shame as this

book is a lesson in how a real field of dreams comes into being, thus putting a

noble goal in jeopardy.

Janet Noblitt:  Split Second by David Baldacci details two Presidential secret service

agents.

Charlotte Pechacek:  First Family by David Baldacci about a birthday party held at

Camp David ending with a daring kidnapping and immediately turning into a

 national security nightmare.

MN:  The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery was first published in 1943,

 narrated by a downed pilot in the Sahara Desert frantically trying to repair his

 wrecked plane.  This is a fable of love and loneliness…a timeless lesson of what

 is really important. A Painted House by John Grisham (with Stanky family ties)

 is not your typical Grisham suspense novel venturing into true-blue literary

 fiction.  Narrated by a seven-year-old boy growing up in a farming community in

 Arkansas in 1952. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher is a family saga set

 in World War II with rich layers of description and engagingly flawed characters.

A Week in Winter by Marcia Willett (“the new Rosamunde Pilcher”) sets you in an English countryside chocked full of characters with an old family farmhouse at the center of the story.

Beverly Dossett:  David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, I Feel Bad About My Neck by

 Nora Ephron who wrote the screenplays for When Harry Met Sally & Sleepless in

 Seattle, tells us the honest truth… that it is sad to be over 60.  This is detailed in

 15 essays covering only 160 pages and is a thoughtful concession to pre and post-

 menopausal women. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, a historical non-fiction that

 incorporates the horse’s racing career into the context of the era…a true escape

 for those who were suffering from the depths of the Great Depression.  The Killer

 Angels by Michael Shaara, a historical Civil War novel of the Battle of

 Gettysburg.

Bonnie Magee:  The Jack Reacher series by Lee Child.  Reacher is an ex-military

 cop…the perfect anti-hero – tough as nails but with a brain and conscience to

 match. The series is described as “pure escapist gold.”

Jane Freer:  Caleb’s Crossing by Pulitzer Prize winner, Geraldine Brooks, is narrated by

 a minister’s daughter who secretly befriends the son of a young American Indian

 chieftain. Set in the tiny settlement of Martha’s Vineyard it follows the

 educational process and “crossing of cultures” as Caleb becomes the first and only

 American Indian to graduate from Harvard.

Cherry Fugitt & Family:  The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club by Laurie Notaro is a

 collection of columns detailing the author’s daring exploits and comical mishaps

 as she matures from a wild teenager to a disheveled adult…these are “true tales

from a magnificent and clumsy life”…a laugh-out-loud fun read.          

Lee Durso, Alison Crawford, Beverly Dossett, Jane Freer, Melanie Prebis, Jean

 McSpadden (by earlier vote): Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese is a

 wonderful story set in India about conjoined twin boys born to a nursing nun who

 dies in childbirth and the presumed father, Thomas Stone, disappears into the

 night.  I was “medically challenged” as the story, for me, bogged down

 with the detail, but again, it is an incredible tale, will make a wonderful movie,

 and is “loved” by so many of our Bookers, it has been selected for our March

 book and will be reviewed by Lee Durso.

Linsey Garwacki:  Spoken From The Heart by Laura Bush, and from husband, Steve,

“Sail” by James Patterson.  This is an epic tale of the Dunne family who find

 themselves trapped in paradise fighting for their lives.

Madelyn Chubb:  The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly.  The movie version stars

Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car…for him it is not a question of guilt or innocence…it’s about negotiation and manipulation…and sometimes even justice. Andersonville by MacKinley Kantor won the 1955 Pulitzer Prize for this story about the infamous Civil War prison in which tens of thousands of Northerners were inhumanely confined under obscene conditions.

Rosemary Farmer:  Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy is like settling in for a cozy chat

 with an old friend…this time set in a snug Dublin neighborhood when a young

 alcoholic learns he has fathered a child with a dying woman and must assume the

 role of father, protector, and provider to his infant daughter.

Sandy Molander:  Authors, Harlan Coben, Michael Connally and Robert Crais

Colleen Hinckley:  The Earth Children’s Series by Jean M. Aul, the first written 30

 years ago and the 6^th and final book in the series, The Land of Painted Cave

concludes the journey of 19 year old heroine, Ayla.

Melba Holt:  The Magdalene Line series, The Expected One, Book of Love, and The

Poet Prince by Kathleen McGowan, a fictional account whereby the author

attempts to prove Christ was married to Mary Magdalen.

As the evening wound down, we all made it home without incident and no one wrecked havoc with the outside of Melanie’s house.  And she has volunteered again for next year’s “meeting”… yikes!

Thanks to all the hot air and nimble fingers responsible for the balloon blowing on our patio…we couldn’t have burst them without you…and No, Gene Robinson, we are never going to grow up!

Happy Reading

JoDee

Working It Out

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

A Thread of Sky
North River
Seeds: A Memoir
Letters of a Woman Homesteader
Stigma by Philip Hawley
Decision Points

Spoken From The Heart
44 Charles Street
Ladder of Years
Three Cups of Tea
Split Second
First Family
The Little Prince
A Painted House
The Shell Seekers

A Week In Winter
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
I Feel Bad About My Neck
Seabiscuit
The Killer Angels
The Jack Reacher series
Caleb's Crossing
The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club
Cutting For Stone
The Lincoln Lawyer
Andersonville
Minding Frankie
The Earth Children's Series
The Expected One
Magdalene Series Book of Love
The Poet Prince

ROOM author Emma Donoghue's comments

ROOM author, Emma Donoghue, commented on our review and photographs of her novel, as follows:

utterly fascinating! I know book clubs who have held their meeting in a taped-off 11-by-11-foot space, but none who have actually recreated Room or dramatised bits of it like you guys... Thanks so much for letting me know, and for engaging so passionately with Jack and Ma's story!

best wishes

Emma

www.emmadonoghue.com

APRIL 2011 BOOKERS MINUTES ROOM by Emma Donoghue

                    ROOM by Emma Donoghue

Are we not all prisoners in some sense?  Whether prejudices, emotional baggage, physical challenges, identity crisis, a spiritual search...An open mind, an open heart, and a willingness to recognize our boundaries are the keys to unlocking the deadbolt that is keeping us inside ourselves.

106 St. Annes Drive, Mabank, Texas is ROOM today for the regular meeting of Bookers.  As 36 members arrived, flashing lights from a security vehicle blocked the escape of a pickup truck parked in the driveway.  In the bed of the truck, a five-year old child pretending to be dead is rolled up in a rug, his long braid the only thing visible out of one end.  He was on his way to the freedom he had never experienced and to save his Ma, for the second time in his young life.  The stage was set for the two-act play presented by MN and JoDee in review of this month’s selection.

                                                                       ACT I

The group seated in MN’s living room overhears a conversation between a visibly shaken JoDee and MN.  They are discussing a story from Austria several years ago where a father confessed to kidnapping and incest of his eighteen-year old daughter.  He kept her in a windowless 860 square foot cellar for twenty-four years, fathered seven children, and even admitted to burning one of them in the building’s furnace when the baby died.  And in the US, eleven year old Jaycee Dugard was forced into a car on her way to school and for eighteen years lived in her kidnapper’s backyard with her two children, the first born when she was only fourteen.  Both cases are upsetting, but JoDee has found an article in paper that is so disturbing she asks MN to put her errands on hold and let her read it to her:

             HOPE FOR BONSAI BOY

“He is ‘Miracle Jack’ to the staff at the exclusive Cumberland Clinic, who has already lost their hearts to the pint-sized hero who awakened Saturday night to a brave new world.  The haunting, longhaired Little Prince is the product of his beautiful young mother’s serial abuse at the hands of the Garden-shed Ogre (captured by State troopers in a dramatic standoff Sunday at 2:00 AM.)  He was born in captivity and for five years lived, sealed up in an 11x11 foot rotting cork-lined dungeon.  The only world he knew was what was inside this 121 square feet until he escaped and led the authorities to where his mother was being held.  The experts cannot yet say what kind or degree of long-term developmental retardation he will suffer, but for now, this little boy, with his unblemished view of the world, seems to be feeling his way through with a mixture of fear, awe, and youthful curiosity.  Our exclusive interview with both the mother and son tells a harrowing story of kidnap, rape, isolation, survival, and the ferocity of a mother’s love.  In exchange for their story, we have agreed to an undisclosed sum of money to be set aside in a college trust fund for Jack.  It all began seven years ago when a young college student was kidnapped from her campus…”

MN interrupts to ask why they call him bonsai boy to whom JoDee replies, “I guess it’s because a bonsai is a tiny tree that is kept indoors in pots and cut daily so it will stay all curled up….like Jack.  All these cases are sickening, but this one is too close to home for me because of my little grandsons.  Why does it seem so easy to victimize the innocent?  Someone should write a book!”

ACT II

The second act begins with everyone being escorted out through the front door.  The garage door is opened and when each member is seated, the walls of ROOM are removed to reveal a recreation of the space in which Ma and Jack resided.  JoDee, standing in the middle of this space, leads the review as follows:

                                                            In My Words:

“Well, someone did write a book – unfortunately, it wasn’t me…but Irish author Emma

Donoghue.  Admittedly, she based ROOM, ‘loosely,’ in her words, on the Austrian case of Joseph Fritzl and his daughter, Elizabeth.  A published author (this is her 7^th) she has written historical fiction novels, short stories, fairy tales, contemporary fiction, stage plays for radio and screen in addition to editing anthologies of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.  She says this one is the least factual of anything she has written, although it remains permanently linked to the notorious crimes of Fritzl.  Her goal was to focus on freedom versus imprisonment and deliberately kept the captor’s story at arm’s length, as Ma did in ROOM.  ‘I wanted them to enter into the magic kingdom Jack and Ma manage to create in the middle of the underworld…I wanted this to be Jack’s story of childhood.’  By successfully capturing kid-speak she was able to show us how a child views the world and by writing on several levels, she challenged us to decide what the book was about – an imprisoned boy, a story of kidnapping, or simply a celebration of motherhood?  ROOM has garnered unprecedented attention, of which she is overjoyed, however she describes its’ success like ‘when you get a new haircut and suddenly all your friends are going…Oh I am so relieved you’ve got this haircut…it is ten times better than your hideous hair…it’s a compliment, but you are mildly insulted that everyone hated your previous haircut.’  She is currently writing the film script for ROOM and beginning her next novel, set in San Francisco in the 1870’s.”

“Each time I read this book.  I closed my eyes trying to visualize this room.  In my mind I would take 3-1/2 giant steps north, south, east and west making a square...the perimeter of the area…then I added a bed, dresser, wardrobe, clothes horse, stove, refrigerator, bathtub, toilet, sink and mirror, a table with two folding chairs, a lamp, a rocker, a shelf, a TV with rabbit ears, and an area rug.  The only natural light source – a skylight, and the only portal to the outside – a heavy-metal-keyed-security door.  Add a teenager kidnapped, abused, and a mother all before her 22^nd birthday – and you have this…an 11x11 dungeon – home to Jack, prison to his Ma.  By recreating the room, we wanted to give you have a birds-eye view of the reality of their existence.  As we walk through the story, please focus on the power of love – what a young mother did for her son.”

“As disturbing as the horrific circumstances of kidnapping and imprisonment inflicted upon a young girl are, this book transcends a tale of abuse, and centers on survival, the importance of freedom, strength of love in face of adversity, and fierce maternal instincts.  It shows us that you really don’t ever want to cross hairs with Mama Bear when it comes to her cubs.  ROOM is described as a ‘claustrophobic read in that you feel as though you are gasping for freedom.’  We invariably ask what makes a particular book a Bookers’ book.  The benchmarks are generally the same… is it well written, are the characters developed enough to make you have an opinion about them, and does the story have substance and therefore generates discussion.  Yes, Yes, and Yes.  However, this book, not unlike Little Bee, took an extremely difficult storyline and put it in the hands of an innocent five-year old, which made it not a victim’s story, but a testament to the bonds between a mother and child.  With the combination of pureness and wisdom tied together with a little humor, we saw the world through the eyes of someone who has never known freedom.  This is why it works and why it took hold of me from the first page and hasn’t released me yet.”

“Everything in ROOM is normal to Jack, even Old Nick.  He doesn’t particularly like him, but not any more

or less than his distaste for broccoli or green beans.  Ma created a world for Jack in which only what was inside ROOM was real…anything outside was outer space, everything on television was nothing more than other planets, colors, and pretend people.  She did this because she couldn’t tell him there was a whole fun world out there, but he couldn’t be in it.  For two years, she tried desperately to free herself from her kidnapper and witnessed first-hand how ill or evil he was as he stood by and did nothing while her newborn daughter suffocated as the umbilical cord strangled the life from her.  Jack saved Ma’s life when he was born and she was determined to keep him out of harm’s way even if it meant pacifying Old Nick to insure his safety.  Jack was not a by-product of anything more than Old Nick’s sperm finding Ma’s egg – he was the biological donor – but never his father.  We often talk of walking in other’s shoes before we pass judgment on their actions.  This story clearly addresses those issues and opens up discussion for – What would you do?”

“We meet Jack on the dawn of his fifth birthday.  As he tells us about a normal day in their lives, we realize the only freedom they enjoy is in the company of each other.  We have to applaud this young mother’s imagination, perseverance, sacrifices, and faith.  Jack says ‘we have a thousand things to do every day.’  She developed a daily routine just like any ‘outside’ normal young family.  Rise and shine, breakfast, brush teeth, take vitamins, get dressed for the day, except they had nowhere to go.  Mondays were laundry days, Tuesday a cleaning day, Wednesday they washed their hair, Fridays more cleaning, flipping the mattress, and making a grocery list.  She could have relied heavily on TV to fill their days, but instead she used what was available to emulate what he might be doing if not confined to this room, although Jack was allowed to watch his favorite Dora The Explorer and an occasional other show.  Instead of Lego’s, Lincoln logs, paints, play dough, musical instruments, and most other typical toys, Jack was just as happy with his homemade versions – a fort made out of empty cans and vitamin bottles, a maze made from toilet roll holders taped together, a grocery bag filled with crumpled paper used as a bowling ball, beet juice for paint, and vocabulary lessons to practice taken from words on milk cartons.  The orchestra fired up as they used everything imaginable to bang out musical tones – the table, legs of the bed, lid of the trash can, and his favorite, Twang, made out of an empty cereal box covered with catalogue pictures and tied in the middle with three rubber bands.  Each had a few books to read.  Jack had My Big Book of Nursery Rhymes with Alice in Wonderland, Dylan the Digger, The Runaway Bunny, and Pop-Up Airport.  Ma’s library consisted of The Shack, Twilight, The Guardian, Bittersweet Love, The DaVinci Code. Prints from Monet, and Picasso from oatmeal boxes hung side-by-side Jack’s octopus painting with his favorite from Leonardo da Vinci, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and John The Baptist. In his own words, ‘Baby Jesus is playing with John The Baptist, his friend and big cousin…Mary’s there too cuddled in her Ma’s lap…and what started Baby Jesus growing in Mary’s tummy was a really cool angel with feathers zoomed down…and when Baby Jesus popped out of her vagina on Christmas Day, she put him in the manger but not for the cows to chew, only to warm him up with their blowing because he was magic.’  Just as Jack saw ‘God’s face through the skylight every day,’ he viewed devotion in the faces of a mother and child in this painting.  They said the ‘daily bread prayer’ and the ‘shepherd’s prayer about green pastures’ before each meal.  Each day was timed so Jack would be hidden away in wardrobe by 9:00 PM in case Old Nick came.  If they were lucky enough not to hear the beep, beep of the security door, Jack would crawl into Ma’s bed and she would begin switching the lamp off and on in hopes of someone seeing her SOS call for help.  Except for the weekends, they would climb on the table to be closer to the skylight, and do ‘scream,’ even though they knew the room was soundproofed and no one could hear their cries.  With few variations, this routine repeated itself during their 1,825 days of hopelessness.”

“Ma’s desperation and Jack’s curiosity was building and she knew this room could not contain them any longer, so she devised a plan to escape.  This sequence was probably the most harrowing part of the book as it detailed their path to freedom.  When the doors finally opened, each faced a new world.  Jack’s, of course, was very confusing as suddenly everything he knew to be true was not…there were other people in the world…outside was more than a dream sequence.  He had never talked with anyone except Ma, and now he was conversing with strangers and his world had expanded to include grandparents, an aunt, uncle, and a cousin.  Vending machines were spaceships with bags of chips and chocolates locked up inside like a jail, he was afraid the blue dinner plates were going to bleed color onto his food, and the automatic toilet flushers was met with distrust; ‘I don’t like a clever toilet looking at our butts,’ he said.  He was like a newborn despite his remarkably accelerated literacy.”

“Ma faced her own struggles to reacquaint herself to the world she was taken from seven years ago.  Her journey was both joyful and frightening as she became aware of the changes that had occurred during her absence.  Her individual freedom was tied to Jack’s dependency and it proved a difficult transition for her to balance the two.  On one hand, she felt a strong need to have some time to herself.  It was finally over…she had raised her son, kept him safe, and engineered freedom for them both.  Now what?  She was forced to defend how she raised Jack from confining his world to just the room, to breast-feeding, to questions about whether or not she ever considered asking her captor to take Jack away so he could have a normal life.  She was faced with her own freedom and trying to balance this against separation from Jack.  She was seen as a beacon of hope but she says ‘all I did was survive and did a pretty good job of raising Jack...we are not the only ones who ever lived through something terrible.’  As overwhelmed as Jack was with his new world, Ma finally let her guard down…she needed to rest…to heal…to let someone else take the responsibilities for just a little while.  She was an ‘inner Jack trapped in her own personal room.’  Her overdose, whether accidental or not, highlighted how strength can crumble when it is not necessary anymore.  Jack thought she was just too tired to play any longer and was in a hurry to get to heaven, but wondered, ‘Why didn’t she wait for me?’”

“Jack asks to go back to Room, just one more time and although Ma hesitated, she knows in order to move forward you have to close the door on the past.  Jack doesn’t believe this is the same place…it is smaller, and emptier, and it smells.  He says, ‘I guess this was Room at one time, but not anymore and asks:  ‘Can we say goodnight when it’s not night,” to which Ma answers, ‘I think it would be good-bye.’  Jack finds the picture Ma drew for his birthday still hanging in Wardrobe and as he zipped it into his jacket he proceeds to slam the door on his old world…good-bye wall, good-bye floor, good-bye roof, good-bye skylight, good-bye room.”

“GOOD-BYE BONSAI BOY….Night night, sleep tight, don’t let the bugs bite.”

MN and I want to thank each of you for enthusiastically embracing ROOM and allowing us to share our thoughts on this book.  You give us the avenue to do what is so close to our hearts and your support and appreciation is why, for us, every Bookers’ gathering is a special occasion!

JoDee

                                                On The Business Side:

Janet Noblitt’s son, Mark, and granddaughter, Sarah wrote a sincere note of appreciation to Bookers for our generosity in contributing to Sarah’s college fund.  Hopefully within the tragedy of her mother’s passing, the dream of going to college will provide the light to guide Sarah through the darkness.  Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the family.

Incoming PWC President, Marlene Ungarean, asked MN & I to continue with Bookers and we have accepted to lead our group into their eighth season beginning in September.  Time flies when you are having a good time!

The Tyler Community Band with our own Leslie Mullins will perform a concert on Tuesday, April 19^th, 7:30 PM at the UT Cowan Center in Tyler.  Admission is free and the doors open at 7:00 PM.  If you need directions, please contact Leslie at 903-451-3951 or lesliermullins@msn.com.

Jean Alexander, at home and recovering from knee replacement surgery sent her love saying she really wanted to be with us today, as she loved this book.  Jean, we missed you and hope for a speedy recovery.  Mind your physical therapist…that’s from all of your “Bookers’mothers.” 

COLOR CODING SYSTEM:

WHITE:                        Light read

PINK:                           Moderately challenging

RED:                             Challenging

May 10^th:                     4^th annual Wine and Cheese Evening Meeting

                                    WHITE or RED or PINK (wine, that is…your choice)

                                    1^st annual “Book Share & Chat”

                                    6:00 PM @ the home of Melanie Prebis

            Pick one of your favorite books; give a brief synopsis

                        and offer to share your copy

Bonnie Magee, food czar.  Please contact her directly @ bonniemagee@embarqmail.com to sign up to bring food

                       

June 14^th:                      Bonus Summer meeting

                                    Book: TBA

                                    Home: TBA

                                    Reviewer: TBA

July/August:                  Summer Break

                                    Summer Read TBA

September 13^th:     8^th year of Bookers resumes

Our heartfelt appreciation goes to all of those who made ROOM a reality for us.  It could not have been done without you and we appreciate your willingness to indulge our  “craziness.”

Elaine Bownes, our honorary Booker, who wore too many hats to mention each one

Mickey Neathery, for his cameo role and listening to ROOM details for several months

Mike Stanky, for desperately trying to understand what in the world we were doing

Antiques on Royall for loaning Jack’s “Wardrobe”

The Pinnacle Club for the security truck and “wall” panels

Paula, the ironing lady, for not throwing away the bathtub before MN could rescue it

The unidentified lady, whose toilet was there for the taking

Kim Hand, for Jack’s clothing

Gayle Robinson for loaning us The Da Vinci Code

Kathy Mueller for her hostess skills and chairs 

Cherry Fugitt and Charlotte Pechacek for their chairs

Thanks to all…happy reading!

JoDee

MARCH 2011 BOOKERS MINUTES - Still Alice by Lisa Genova

 “Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things.”

                       Cicero

32 met at the home of Jane Freer to discuss this month’s selection, Still Alice, a debut novel by Lisa Genova, who holds a Ph.D in neuroscience from Harvard and is the online columnist for the National Alzheimer’s Association.  March 1^st was a significant day on several levels including the start of the rebuilding process of MN’s Alabama beach house, the return of tee markers and flags to the Pinnacle golf course, and last, but not least, Leslie Mullins’ birthday!  We also offered our condolences to Madelyn Chubb on the loss of her sister, and gave the floor to Janet Noblitt, who thanked everyone for their love and support during her daughter-in-law’s battle with cancer and for our generosity in contributing to her granddaughter’s college scholarship fund.  We welcomed new members, Janet Erwin and Karen Fernald and were delighted to see Linda Hoff, Kathy Mueller, Donna Walter, Judy Lee, and Ann Hays back at Bookers…you have been missed!

We are grateful to Jane Freer for suggesting an honor table paying tribute to loved ones who have suffered from Alzheimer’s.  Jane’s grandmother’s white crocheted tablecloth covered with photos, journals, and articles told the story of adoration blended with heartbreak.  Camellias, the petals reflecting the spirit of a lady…the stem, the strength of a man, were scattered among the faces alongside a vase of white roses, the sign of honor and spiritual love.  The morning got off to an emotional start as we remembered:

Cherry’s father                                 WILLIAM MAURICE HOLLON

Jane’s mother                                   RUTH CLINE           

MN’s mother                                    AGNES SPAFFORD

Bonnie’s father                                 GEORGE PATON

Janet Noblitt’s father                       OBIE HERL

Marlene’s father                              BILLY HIGDON

Barbara Creach’s mother                LUCILLE BARRETT    

Pam Davis’ mother                          MILDRED WALTER

Donna Walter’s mother-in-law        MILDRED WALTER

Melanie Prebis’ mother-in-law        AGNES PREBIS

PWC Member                                   BJ VOLLMER

Leslie Mullins' close friend              MARGIT NILSSEN

Daryl Daniels' close friend               DR. DAVID HILDEBRAND

This is one of those selections that met the criteria for a Bookers’ book, not for the literary value, but for the story it tells and its’ informational message that encourages a proactive approach to early on-set Alzheimer’s.  Our thanks to Kim Hand for convincing us we must address this issue and for taking on the challenge of reviewing the book.  Great job of summarizing the story, providing the documentation for testing and knowing the signs of the disease (copies attached.)  Additional information is available on the web site: http://www.alz.org/ including seventeen slides detailing what the brain is doing during the various stages of this disease.

 Although a work of fiction, the author uses her expertise to accurately write of the “white emptiness” created by Alzheimer’s.  Fifty-year old Dr. Alice Howland is a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard, a world-renowned expert in linguistics whose job it was to “understand the mind, to know the mechanisms driving human behavior and language, emotion and appetite.”  She is the wife of a cancer cell biologist, and the mother of three grown children and through her voice, the symptoms, treatments, consequences, frustrations, and rapid decline over a two-year period are painstakingly vivid from her point of view.  Genova not only chronicles Alice’s experiences, but also shows how differently the family reacts and handles the diagnosis. 

In the beginning, Alice made excuses for her behavior…multitasking, being too busy, age, and menopause, but as the memory disturbances became more frequent, she began the diagnostic process.  Her MRI showed no abnormalities, no cerebral vascular disease, no evidence of stroke, no hydrocephalus or masses – her blood work and lumbar puncture were negative, no HIV, no cancer, vitamin deficiency, mitochondrial disease or other rare conditions – and her recent memory impairment was out of proportion with her age.  She had early on-set Alzheimer’s disease.  It has a stronger genetic linkage and manifests itself much earlier and her children have a 50% chance of inheriting the mutation, which has a 100% chance of causing the disease. 

 Most of us were critical of how Alice’s husband, John, handled the news, but as quick we were to judge, we were reminded that he too “lost his future.”  Perhaps the only way he could deal with that was to throw himself into his work and obsession on finding an acceptable treatment and/or cure for “his Alice’s Alzheimer’s.”  A pre-symptomatic test is available for early on-set…if you were one of the children, would you want to know?  The eldest daughter, Anna, and her husband were trying to have a child…she tested positive.  The middle child, Tom, was negative, and the youngest, Lydia, opted not to know.  Alice said she would rather have cancer than this disease because those with cancer could expect community support whereas she “expected to be an outcast…even the well-intentioned and educated tended to keep a fearful distance from the mentally ill.”  Alice wanted to “live to hold her grandbaby, to see Lydia act in something she was proud of, to see Tom fall in love, to have one more sabbatical year with John, to read every book she could before she could no longer read…to have more sunny seventy-degree days and ice cream cones, and when the burden of the disease exceeded the pleasure of that ice cream, she wanted to die.”

The group shared a part of their lives with us.  We walked in each other’s shoes with both heartache and humor and always with love and respect for the human spirit.  We learned about patience, about placing blame and judging too quickly, about regretting not recognizing the frustrations that ruled the simplest tasks of their daily lives and sorrow for not dealing with the situation with more empathy.  This novel could be re-titled, Still William, Still Ruth, Still Agnes, Still George, Still Obie, Still Billy, Still Lucille, Still Mildred, Still Agnes, Still BJ, Still Margit, or Still David as each would most likely echo Alice’s message as she addressed the Dementia Care Conference:

“We are not utterly incompetent, we are not without language or opinions, yet we are not competent enough to be trusted with any of the demands of our former lives – we are neither here or there – like some crazy Dr. Seuss character in a bizarre land – it is a very lonely and frustrating place to be.  I’m losing my yesterdays – I might guess a few things…I’m an excellent guesser… but I have no control over which memories I keep and which ones I lose.  I fear tomorrow…I am a wife, a mother, a friend, soon to be grandmother…I still feel, understand and am worthy of love and joy in those relationships, and am still an active part of society although my brain no longer works.  I use my ears for unconditional listening, my shoulders for crying on, my arms for hugging others with dementia.  I am not someone dying; I am someone living with Alzheimer’s.  Don’t write us off.  Look directly in the eye, talk directly to us, don’t panic or take it personally if we make mistakes, misplace things, forget your names.  Empower us, not limit us…work with us, help us develop tools to function around our memory loss, language, and cognition.  If my yesterdays are disappearing and my tomorrows are uncertain, what do I live for…each day, each moment.”

In the lighter moments we are hear Cherry’s Dad telling her to “Dance to Life.”  Bonnie’s instructing her to “Buy the boys in the band a drink.”  We are told of Barbara’s Mom eating the “panhandle” of a Texas Independence Day cake, Pam’s announcing she was having her period, and MN’s Mom stating her memory was “just fine, but her husband’s was horrible.”  We know that everyone traveled a similar road but no one lacked the tender care that accompanied the long journey.  They were loved and on some level, they knew it.

       Recommended Reading List:

We always embrace suggestions for extra reading.  Lee Durso shared Labor Day by Joyce Maynard.  It is written through the eyes of a 13-year old boy living with his long-divorced mother and deals with the range of emotions and circumstances that go along with adolescence.  MN & I both read it and liked it…very interesting story.

 We love it when our men care about books enough to recommend their favorites as John Magee did.  He shared his passion for historical novels by suggesting the Aubrey/Maturin series of naval adventure novels about an English sea captain in the Royal Navy and a physician who sails with him during the Napoleonic wars.  The author, Patrick O’Brian, has been compared to Jane Austen and Homer (pretty good company) and this series includes twenty novels listed in order as follows and are available in paperback at Half Price Books among other places.

Master and Commander  

Post Captain

H.M.S. Surprise

The Mauritius Command

Desolation Island

The Fortune of War

The Surgeon's Mate

The Ionian Mission

Treason's Harbour

The Far Side of the World

The Reverse of the Medal

The Letter of Marque

The Thirteen Gun Salute

The Nutmeg of Consolation

The Truelove

The Wine-dark Sea

The Commodore

The Yellow Admiral

The Hundred Days

Blue at the Mizzen

Bonnie mentioned The Invisible Wall: The Mystery of the Germans and the Jews by Michael Blumenthal, which Aulsine’s other book club is reading, as a possible choice for anyone wanting to hear the story from another point of view.

 

                                                               On the business side:

Leslie read an update on movie version of Water for Elephants scheduled for release on April 15^th starring Reese Witherspoon and Hal Holbrook.

COLOR CODING SYSTEM:

WHITE:                        Light read

PINK:                           Moderately challenging

RED:                             Challenging

April 12^th:                     Room by Emma Donoghue

                                    PINK

                                    Recommended by MN & JoDee

                                    Home of MN Stanky.

                                    Reviewers: MN & JoDee

May 10^th:                     4^th annual Wine and Cheese Evening Meeting

                                    WHITE or RED or PINK (wine, that is…your choice)

                                    1^st annual “Book Share & Chat”

                                    6:00 PM @ the home of Melanie Prebis

            Pick one of your favorite books; give a brief synopsis

                        and offer to share your copy

                                    Bonnie Magee, food czar.  Please contact her directly to sign up

                                                to bring something.

June 14^th:                      Summer meeting added

                                    Book: TBA

                                    Home: TBA

                                    Reviewer: TBA

July/August:                  Summer Break

                                    Summer Read TBA

September 13^th:            Bookers resumes

We assume our loved ones will remain indelible canvases protected within the layers of our memories.  Sadly, there might be a time when we stare into the hollow eyes of the person who gave us life and we must face the reality that they are seeing a stranger with a kind face…nothing more.  Cherish your time together.

Happy Reading,

JoDee

FEBRUARY 2011 BOOKERS MINUTES - The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

“The human race is unimportant.  It is the self that must not be betrayed.  I suppose I could say that Hitler did not betray himself.  You are right, he did not.  But millions of Germans did betray their selves.  That was the tragedy.  Not that one man had the courage to be evil.  But that millions had not the courage to be good.”

                                           John Fowles from The Magus

‘I have never been popular, but aptly was voted most likely to succeed by my peers.  We don’t need to be formally introduced.  I’m called a lot of things, though none are to my liking – they all sound so…dreary for lack of a better word – so, if you don’t mind, could you just call me Omega.  Think of me as the black crow to your white dove, the Ace of Spades to your Queen of Hearts, the second trump over the first, the box end to Alpha.  I understand none of you want to meet me on Main Street or in the produce aisle of Wal-Mart, but you all will shake my hand at some time.  My hope is that it is on your terms, not mine and you feel a gentler touch than you imagined possible.  I’m seen by some as both an ending and a metamorphosis…the conclusion of one phase leading into the existence of another path.  Marcus Zusak wrote The Book Thief using my voice to try to make sense out of the horrors of World War II.  He narrates a story about a young German girl, whose book-stealing and story-telling talents helped sustain her family, neighbors, and the Jewish man they were hiding.  19 of you met at the home of Jean Alexander to discuss this work of literature and Melanie Prebis, in her first review, did an excellent job of reviewing this story, especially since the novel was color- coded “RED,” and for good reason.  Speaking of colors, I see the world through the colors of the sky and today looks very gray, like Europe.’

We are delighted to have new member, Gail Fankhauser, joining us and adding to the growing number of educators we have in our group…Welcome Gail!  Our collective hearts mourn alongside Janet Noblitt and her family and hope healing soon begins to overtake grief.  You are in our thoughts and prayers.

The majority of Bookers at the meeting were singing praises for this novel with comments like, “best book I have ever read…one I would have never picked up on my own, but so glad I did…should be required reading…had to finish it…loved it.”  We are aware some of our members struggled with it and we certainly understand.  We were asked to close our eyes and try to picture death…to some (he) took on a human form, some pictured (him) with a long black robe but no facial features, others only a vapor, while a few heard a voice rather than forming a mental picture.  It is difficult to put (him) in an abstract form when the author humanized the character.  We all have our cups of tea and that’s what makes Bookers Bookers.

 

We are told this is a book about many things, “It’s a small story really, about, among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery.”  Our group unanimously agreed what this book was NOT about was the Holocaust.  Granted, it is set in the background of war in Nazi Germany in the midst of the tragic events surrounding this era, but the story is about survival, the human spirit, love and unbreakable friendships, decency, trust, and the power of words.  Hitler launched his war with words as depicted in The Word Shaker…  “I will never fire a gun,” he said.  “I will not have to.”  The author sees nine-year old Liesel Meminger as metaphorically stealing words and freedom back from him.  “He is destroying people with words, but she is stealing books and rewriting history.”  Zusak’s unique style personified in his use of short chapters, short sentences, his all-knowing narrator, artistic renderings, the use of foretelling previewing “what’s next” in bold print created a personal look at the characters of this historic period rather than a textbook outlining the minutiae of the era.  His words, saturated with heartache and expectation, allows us to reside inside the souls of the story’s stars.  Even the book jacket typifies how even the most carefully planned endeavor can collapse with the touch of the hand.

A young mother is forced to give up her children in order to save them.  A foster family opens their hearts to give a young girl, who has already witnessed war’s tragedies, the safety of their home.  The boy next door and the young girl forge a life-long friendship, marked by stealing, the game of soccer, and the promise of a kiss.  A soldier pledges the impossible – to harbor “a man who was despised by his homeland even though he was born in it.”  The mayor’s wife, a mother bearing the loss of her only child, finds solace in becoming a secret angel of books for the young girl.  The young girl recognizes the power of words to calm, to distract, to entertain, to transport, and to open doors and shares her gift of reading with those huddled in fear.  The young foster child with her family, the boy next door, and the Jew hiding in their basement live on Himmel Street, which ironically means “heaven.”  To them it probably was.  And in the end, the narrator says, “I have seen a great many things in the world…I attend the greatest disasters and work for the greatest villains…but there are other moments…like giving Liesel The Book Thief rescued from the ashes of disaster…I am haunted by humans.”

There has been much discussion as to the prudence of young adults reading this novel.  A recent outing of Malakoff Middle School Gifted and Talented classes and English Language Arts students visited the Dallas Holocaust Museum to hear survivor, Mike Jacobs, relate his story.  The following are a few comments taken from thank you notes written to Mr. Jacobs by these students.  You can judge for yourselves.

            “You are one of my heroes.  This is my promise to you.  I will be an UPSTANDER and

            help the people who need someone to stand up for them.”

            “You’ve opened a door inside of me that’s never been opened.”

            “I hope our generation will stomp out bullying.  Sticks and stone might break my bones,

            but words will never hurt me isn’t true.  That’s how everything starts, with words.”

The author says that young adults will have to “step up” to read and understand his book.  These middle school students seem ready to take on any challenge.

On the business side:

As you know, our next meeting has been moved up a week to March 1^st.  The book, Still Alice, chronicles the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease of a fifty year-old psychology professor at Harvard.  Jane Freer suggested anyone who has a loved one affected by this disease to bring a photo of them to display at the meeting.  She will have an “honor” table set aside for this purpose, which will include her mother’s photo.  The reality of this horrible disease is in the faces of its victims…and their families.  We thank Jane for thinking of this fitting tribute.

Normally our “year” ends with the May meeting, but by popular demand, we are going into June this year.  Also, MN and I were asked to continue in our roles with Bookers.  We graciously accept and appreciate your continued support entering our 8^th season in September.

If you need a good book for winter weather reading, we suggest trying Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah that asks the question…how can a woman know herself, if she doesn’t really know her mother?  Two estranged sisters are “forced” into discovering the answer to this question when they begin to unravel their mother’s past. 

.

COLOR CODING SYSTEM:

WHITE:                        Light read

PINK:                                    Moderately challenging

RED:                                    Challenging

MARCH 1^ST:             NOTE CHANGE OF DATE

                                    Still Alice by Lisa Genova

                                    PINK

                                    Recommended by Kim, MN & JoDee

                                    Home of Jane Freer

                                    Reviewer: Kim Hand

April 12^th:                     Room by Emma Donoghue

                                    PINK

                                    Recommended by MN & JoDee

                                    Will probably be at MN’s house..  we’ll keep you posted as this is still a

                                                work in progress.

                                    Reviewers: MN & JoDee

May 10^th:                     4^th annual Wine and Cheese Evening Meeting

                                    WHITE or RED (wine, that is…your choice)

                                    1^st annual “Book Share & Chat”

                                    6:00 PM @ the home of Melanie Prebis

            Pick one of your favorite books, give a brief synopsis at the meeting, and

                         offer to share your copy

                                    Bonnie Magee, food czar.  Please contact her directly if you would like to

                                                bring something.

June 14^th:                      Summer meeting

                                    Details to be determined.

At times, we should ask ourselves…do I have the courage to be good?  Would I hide a Jew in my basement in Nazi Germany?  It’s a tough one to answer while staring into the faces of our loved ones.

 

Happy Reading

JoDee