A small group of us met on Tuesday to discuss the book, The Florist's Daughter, by Patricia Hampl.
Opinions ranged from favorable to unfavorable. A couple of readers were disappointed, having had higher expectations set by the reputation of the book and its author. One person in the group lamented not having more of a story to the book, and others agreed that the book would be meaningful primarily to people with a great deal of interest in the city of St. Paul.
While the subject matter of the book did not bowl people over, many of us commented favorably on the writing style and prose. A few people were familiar with the author's reputation as a poet.
Patricia Hampl is currently a Regents Professor and McKnight Distinguished Professor at the University of Minnesota. She will be one of three featured speakers at a Memoir Writing Festival being held May 16th and 17th at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
More Items of Interest
Minnesota author Lorna Landvik, (whose book Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons was well received by our book reading club), will be visiting, in person, neighboring Woodbury on Saturday, April 4th.
She will be discussing her latest books: The View from Mount Joy, and Tis the Season.
Lorna's visit is co-sponsored by the Washington County-Stafford Library, in Woodbury, and she will be speaking at the Central Park Amphitheatre in Woodbury. The event is free and open to the public.
Our book club reading for April is by another Minnesota author, Patricia Hampl. Entitled The Florist's Daughter, the book is a biographical memoir of growing up in St. Paul. Annette will lead the discussion when we meet on April 28th at 6:30 p.m. in the library. See you there!
She will be discussing her latest books: The View from Mount Joy, and Tis the Season.
Lorna's visit is co-sponsored by the Washington County-Stafford Library, in Woodbury, and she will be speaking at the Central Park Amphitheatre in Woodbury. The event is free and open to the public.
Our book club reading for April is by another Minnesota author, Patricia Hampl. Entitled The Florist's Daughter, the book is a biographical memoir of growing up in St. Paul. Annette will lead the discussion when we meet on April 28th at 6:30 p.m. in the library. See you there!
March Meeting
Many thanks to Diane, who offered the following summary of our book club meeting in March:
Eight members of the Park Grove Library Book Club met (March 24th). We were led in a discussion of Choosing Civility, P.M. Forni, by Cora. Mostly the book was well received and everyone commented that they learned some new pointers or were reminded of courtesies they had forgotten. One comment was that the book would be just right to be used in schools to teach social expectations and the importance of considering others first. Some thought the book was textbookish and was "preaching to the choir."
The author will be at the Woodbury branch of the library on April 21 at 7 p.m. The event is free but requires a ticket, which must be picked up from the library prior to the event. Several members of our club plan to attend. The event is part of a county-wide initiative sponsored by the library. More information on the One County, One Book event is available at the library web site.
Read more about the Civility Project from the author's web site at John Hopkins University.
Eight members of the Park Grove Library Book Club met (March 24th). We were led in a discussion of Choosing Civility, P.M. Forni, by Cora. Mostly the book was well received and everyone commented that they learned some new pointers or were reminded of courtesies they had forgotten. One comment was that the book would be just right to be used in schools to teach social expectations and the importance of considering others first. Some thought the book was textbookish and was "preaching to the choir."
The author will be at the Woodbury branch of the library on April 21 at 7 p.m. The event is free but requires a ticket, which must be picked up from the library prior to the event. Several members of our club plan to attend. The event is part of a county-wide initiative sponsored by the library. More information on the One County, One Book event is available at the library web site.
Read more about the Civility Project from the author's web site at John Hopkins University.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
February Review
We were pleased to welcome two new members to our meeting on Tuesday. The ladies arrived prepared for discussion by having read our book choice for the month: The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs. Some of the more ambitious readers continued on with reading the sequel, Knit Two, and brought even more information about the characters and continuation of the story. Almost everyone enjoyed the story; it was the ending where we responded differently.
We had a pleasant time exchanging our perspectives on the book, comparing the story of women meeting regularly and building friendships around knitting to our own experience of meeting regularly to read and discuss the latest in best-selling novels.
More information about the author and the knitting series of books, (as well as tips and techniques on knitting, and online discussion with others who had similar reactions to the story) can be found at:
Next on our agenda is a specially selected book for March, Choosing Civility.
We had a pleasant time exchanging our perspectives on the book, comparing the story of women meeting regularly and building friendships around knitting to our own experience of meeting regularly to read and discuss the latest in best-selling novels.
More information about the author and the knitting series of books, (as well as tips and techniques on knitting, and online discussion with others who had similar reactions to the story) can be found at:
Next on our agenda is a specially selected book for March, Choosing Civility.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Library News
February is the month for Ground Hog's Day, Presidents' Day, and Valentine's Day. It is also a good month to check into the new programs at our library, specifically regarding winter reading.
Washington County Libraries are celebrating reading with WINTER JACKETS. This is a reader-reviewer program that allows you to let others know your opinion on a book you have recently read. More information is available on the library web site. (Including how to receive your goodie package with a coffee cup filled with info, reading suggestions, and a Dunn Bros. coffee card.)
While you are there be sure to look at the new web site features. These include book letters, a bio of Lake Wobegon's favorite librarian Grace Grady, book kits, and a place to sign up for a newsletter about books.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
January Meeting
A lot of discussion was sparked by the book, The Broken Cord, by Michael Dorris. There were eight of us in attendance, and the earlier meeting time worked out fine.
The book identified one of the tragedies of our society, the impact of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Our conversation bounced around the questions of what can be done about the problem?, whose rights should be protected?, how prevalent is the problem?, and, how much of an influence is heredity in continuing the problem?
We talked about the changes the book may or may not have brought about, by bringing the issue to public attention. Many of the group remember being told to drink a glass of wine or a beer during pregnancy in order to relax, by their doctors.
Several of the group had done some online research about the author, whose own life had a tragic ending. The information posed the question on, what are the real facts in these stories, and what are we to actually believe?
On a lighter note, our February meeting will be on Tuesday, the 24th. We will be reading The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs.
The book identified one of the tragedies of our society, the impact of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Our conversation bounced around the questions of what can be done about the problem?, whose rights should be protected?, how prevalent is the problem?, and, how much of an influence is heredity in continuing the problem?
We talked about the changes the book may or may not have brought about, by bringing the issue to public attention. Many of the group remember being told to drink a glass of wine or a beer during pregnancy in order to relax, by their doctors.
Several of the group had done some online research about the author, whose own life had a tragic ending. The information posed the question on, what are the real facts in these stories, and what are we to actually believe?
On a lighter note, our February meeting will be on Tuesday, the 24th. We will be reading The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Some Official Business
Happy New Year!!
As we begin this new calendar year of book club meetings, we are confronted with some changes. Due to budget cuts, the library hours have been revised, and for our Tuesday nights, the building will be closing at 8:00 p.m. instead of the 8:30 p.m. we have grown accustomed to.
So, our new meeting schedule will be:
Exceptions to this schedule might still occur, but we will have plenty of notice if that happens. Otherwise, we will be meeting on January 27th to discuss The Broken Cord, by Michael Dorris. See you then.
As we begin this new calendar year of book club meetings, we are confronted with some changes. Due to budget cuts, the library hours have been revised, and for our Tuesday nights, the building will be closing at 8:00 p.m. instead of the 8:30 p.m. we have grown accustomed to.
So, our new meeting schedule will be:
- The fourth Tuesday of each month,
- From 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Exceptions to this schedule might still occur, but we will have plenty of notice if that happens. Otherwise, we will be meeting on January 27th to discuss The Broken Cord, by Michael Dorris. See you then.
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