Welcome to the new year. I'm really excited to see where our little group goes in 2012. I'm not going to lie...I was a little nervous about the book club at the beginning of last year. We were struggling to have meetings with more than 4 people but things have really improved of late. We have had many new members join us and our group size is increasing again. Speaking of new members, I am happy to welcome Sabra to the group. This month was her first meeting with us and we have already put her to work bringing the book choices for February. I also wanted to thank Sarah for her amazing dinner. We were really sad that she wasn't able to make it but the soup she sent over was fantastic. Seriously, Sarah. I need the recipe! Also, thanks for Ashlee for the brownies. Those are always a hit!
Our meeting this month was really fun. We were discussing the book Unbroken and it gave us a lot of good discussion points. I think a lot of girls learned a lot about Japanese culture and mindset during the WWII time period. For those that don't know, Unbroken is true story about an american soldier who is captured by the Japanese and sent to POW camps in Japan for 3 years. The book describes the horrible conditions the POW's had to endure in the camps: starvation, beatings, dysentery, freezing temperatures, etc. It is a book that really makes you think about the ability that humans have to mistreat and hate others. It was an intense book but all who finished reading it rated it between 4 and 5 stars.
For our next book we ended up choosing yet another book dealing with WWII. It is called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
The Washington Post gave the following review of the novel:
“Traditional without seeming stale, and romantic without being naïve” (San Francisco Chronicle), this epistolary novel, based on Mary Ann Shaffer’s painstaking, lifelong research, is a homage to booklovers and a nostalgic portrayal of an era. As her quirky, loveable characters cite the works of Shakespeare, Austen, and the Brontës, Shaffer subtly weaves those writers’ themes into her own narrative. However, it is the tragic stories of life under Nazi occupation that animate the novel and give it its urgency; furthermore, the novel explores the darker side of human nature without becoming maudlin. The Rocky Mountain News criticized the novel’s lighthearted tone and characterizations, but most critics agreed that, with its humor and optimism, Guernsey “affirms the power of books to nourish people during hard times”
I've been wanting to read this book for quite a while. I think I was first drawn to the strange title. I am really excited and glad that Sarah thought to include it in her book choices this month.
I hope all of you have a great month and Happy Valentines Day!
Happy Reading,
Carly
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