Wolf Hall, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, The Lotus Eaters, The Glass Castle (and Half Broke Horses), We Need to Talk about Kevin, Sons and Lovers, TheTiger's Wife, When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present, The Elegance of the Hedgehog
That is the list of books we voted to read and discuss this past year, and it contained an unusual number of stories about dysfunctional people, families and societies. This was definitely not our intention but we are going to make an effort to read more "cheery" books next year, and it was suggested that we try to read and discuss one book per year from the list of The One Hundred Best Novels of the Twentieth Century.
Our annual BOOK and EAT planning meeting is scheduled for Friday, September 28th to choose the list of books we'll discuss next year, and everyone is welcome to attend, but please sign up so we know how many places to set for the pot luck luncheon (books first, eat after the meeting). We will surely keep our annual seasonal readings and afternoon tea session on the calendar for December.
Some of us also went to see a couple of films made from books we had discussed or were planning to discuss. We saw The Help and We Need to Talk about Kevin. We also had an all-day film marathon at Rosie's to watch the BBC series Pride and Prejudice, with a break for another delicious pot luck luncheon.
In fact, film outings are fun, and the films don't have to be based on books the group has read, so if anyone wants to suggest an outing, please do. The more members we can get involved in group activities, the better.
AWG proposed a "booster" for each sub-group last September, and we used our booster to purchase four books at LeBookshop, where we hold our monthly meetings. We voted on the books at our planning meeting. Two were on this year's reading list (When Everything Changed and Last Night in Twisted River), one was a book the group had discussed in the past (Truman), and the fourth was a book which was recommended but not chosen for discussion (Wench). We try to keep costs down for members by sharing and circulating books. After the discussions, some books are donated to our lending library, which is available to all members of AWG. If you want a list of the books (we have more than 40), just send me an e-mail.
Our next book is Last Night in Twisted River, by John Irving, for our September 14th meeting, and we have already chosen the book for October as well (Old School, by Tobias Wolff), since the planning meeting would be too late. Next year's list will be posted on the website after our planning meeting.
The comment is made again and again at our meetings that our group proposes books that one would never think to read otherwise, and the reactions are generally positive – although not unanimous, which also makes for interesting discussions. So we must be doing something right.
Have a good summer, read lots of books, and join us in September.
12 July 2012
