Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Fifteen members were at Book Club this month to discuss Goldfinch.  As we went around the table with our answer to did we like the book, many said they hadn't finished it, some hadn't even started; the thoughts on this Pulitzer Prize Fiction 2014 winner were diverse not only for the dark subject matter but because of the length of the book.  At the end, with some of those comments, many said, "I'm glad I read it."

One member said she had a "love/hate relationship with the book.  She loved the author and her descriptions, life long friends, but hated the content, it was so dark, so heavy."  She did, though, love the goldfinch print and ordered a copy of it online.  Another person said "it was the longest, darkest, heaviest book she's read and didn't like drugs and language, not something we've experienced." This is one person that said, "glad I read it."  "Cheer up things can't get any worse and it did" one person said, "liked the author didn't like the book."  Someone said "I had the hardest time reading a book this long, other than Gone with the Wind. Like it or not?  I didn't like it; I can appreciate it."  Our leader for this book said she chose it because it received a Pulitzer Prize, but she said "I just wonder why it got it!  A lot needs to be chopped out."

"I liked it" a member said there were quirky characters. She had read it a year ago but couldn't read the whole book again, she couldn't finish it the second time.  "In the end, I did like it -- I found the plot interesting, the characters interesting, but wish they had cut out the big chunk.  I didn't need 20-50 more instances to know it was a problem."  One member said she "really liked the book, the length was a little 'off putting' but felt by the end of the book I knew who the people were.  I couldn't put it down."  Reading the book on a long trip, one person said she liked the actors that were reading the parts.  She said she had started reading but got into it more listening.  It was 27 disks, each one over an hour.

Discussion was about parts of the book like the engagement scene -- the cocktail party kept ramping up a level of tension and you knew something is going to happen, someone said.   Sometimes in order to convey emotion or tension, that was what was happening.  "It hit a nerve, he is feeling I was feeling."  Someone said they don't remember mother having emotional time.  Her love of the painting came when she was a child.  She use to just lay down and look at it for hours.  Discussed about the painting being a sham.

Leon Wieseltier said "But if a serious book really catches on, it may be less important that its strictly literary quality is not as great as one might have hoped and more important that it's touched a nerve, that it is driven by some deep human subject and some true human need."  I think it did that for many of the readers in our club.

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

The group of eleven book club members varied on whether they liked the book or were frustrated with it.  One member could not finish it .  One person said they liked "the author's descriptive writing style" and another said she liked "the short chapters and that the story was told from a variety of perspectives."  One person said "they had a hard time getting into the story, though she agreed that the writer was able to craft colorful descriptions of characters and settings."  One member found the cast of characters interesting, also and another said the strong female characters were appealing.  Some of the members said that they were disappointed with the ending, and another said she was frustrated with the lack of closure in the ending.  One member said was a good effort for a first time author.

There were three themes members noted through the story.  The first was the interweaving of tenderness and violence, cowardice and courage.  The second theme was the exploration of the difference between solitude and loneliness and the third was how traumatizing experiences early in life affect the remainder of one’s years.

One thing that some found frustrating was how the failure to communicate resulted in so many avoidable problems. For instance, Talmadge often withheld information from Angelene, supposedly to shelter her. But it ended up causing her far more angst than the truth would have had he been more forthcoming.

One member pointed out that the Nez Pearce Indians seemed accurately portrayed. They traditionally were very good with horses, and were partial to Appaloosas.

Thanks again to one member who brought apples, plums, and apliums (a cross between an apple and a plum) to share. Very much in keeping with the orchard theme of our book! Another also treated us to some of the harvest from her garden, in the form of delicious chocolate chip zucchini cookies.

A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

What a great discussion we had with this book.  It brought out the discussion of sex slavery which is prevalent all through out the world.  There were fourteen of us at book club, one person didn't read it, but all of us thought it was a good book to read and learn from.  It was very well written, someone shared and we agreed.

One person commented "How helpless the girls were, they  have no control over their future, lose faith."  The author could have been more graphic and he didn't go there; it is horrifying on it's own, it doesn't need help."  Another said that if it gets too graphic I'm not reading it, but she said the instant they lost their parents, wanted to find out what happened.  Someone said "I love books about India, colorful with foods & smells, do I want more description of the horrible things?"  

The question many of us had was "what can we do about this?"  "The girls are like commodities, they just keep on giving and in this book, they all came out ok."  This book raises awareness of the issue and we can talk and have conversations about it.  "You can get invested in it, and see from their heart that things need to change."  The women were also supporting each other a lot of times in this book.  

We liked the storyline with Thomas in it.  We talked about him not having control over his daughters death and then witnessing the kidnapping, but there was control in what he was doing with this search.  We liked that the author added the quote "Someone once asked Mother Teresa how she dealt with world poverty.  Do you know what she said?  'You do the thing that's in front of you."

We liked the blue lotus flower that Ahalya planted for Sita.  It means purity, rebirth, divinity, unstained and awakening to spiritual reality.  Ahalya gave her baby the name of the lotus flower.  We liked that Thomas had a bracelet, a daily reminder, a brother - to forge on to find Sita.   

The Cross Gardener by Jason F Wright

Park Grove Book Club's June evening was spent on the Mississippi River at one of our gracious members home.  Potluck goodies were shared with a few "apples" sprinkled among the feast.  Thirteen members attended and most liked the book (8) with some (5) rating it with a neutral review.

One member said "Didn't want to read it cause I lived that life, just started it and continued to read and wanted to see who the cross gardener was.  I read it in 24 hours."  Another "Glad I didn't read the cover, liked it until I read about the car accident and it felt like a movie at Hallmark Channel."  "I thought it was 'spiritual fluff' on grief and what to do.  Father wasn't paying attention to his daughter.  Wasn't in the mood for grieving." "Wanted to hear more about the characters in the story" another member said about the book.

Two of the wives of the orchardists left the farm.  We loved Emma Jane and glad she was a part of the orchard.  We talked about the women in the book.  "Women couldn't give life, the orchard was the giver of life, brings him back to life.  Also hard work centers yourself.  The cycle picks you up and carries you through." someone shared.

There were different ways people were shown grieving in the book.  Was interesting to see his in-laws at the cemetery.  He realized that he's not the only one.  "Grief is overwhelming, you can't see it."

We talked about the first part of the book, "life was too rosy I knew something was going to happen."  We wondered who the Cross Gardener was.  A couple people in the group had it all figured out, and most of us where wondering how they knew!  

It was a good discussion on grief, how we each grieve differently with our losses and the journey we take with it.

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

May brought us the end of the school days (well, almost) and a journey that would be an inspiration to those who read this month's book club book "Wild From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail."  Seventeen members attending this discussion at the Park Grove Branch Library (Washington County Library Book Club, in Cottage Grove, MN). Most everyone gave it a positive review, with a few "mixed."

"Well written, I hope I can achieve something like this in my life" one of our members said, and another added "Wish I was brave enough (to have an adventure like this) maybe when I was younger I would have, now I'm not in shape."  "Admire her perseverance through childhood and through the choices she made.  She made them and she owned them" another participant shared, adding "Would have liked to have heard more about nature."  Another added, about the choices made "Her choices weren't always good, but she was honest about them, I admire she stayed with her mother all that time."

"Last October saw Cheryl's talk at Concordia College in St. Paul, it was just like sitting down having a conversation with her, she's very warm and comfortable."  Another said "Saw Cheryl, saw movie, read book.  She is very open, she shared but wasn't in a shameful way.  It was like she was running way.  Have you ever tried to run away?  Did you have everything thought out ahead of time?"

A few members have been to the area where Cheryl walked, on the Pacific Coast Trail.  Another person said they backpacked the Rockies, "tied themselves together through the snow stuff."  Another took "Amtrak and stayed at hostels along the route from San Diego to Seattle.  It felt good to meet people and sharing.  I've done that, watching people eat, like Cheryl.  So hungry."  Another said she has hiked Glacier in bear country, "you need to talk and sing as you go.  It took courage for her to go by herself."

We talked about the point of view of walking and grief.  She was at such a low point in her life, she didn't need to go to the Boundary Waters, she needed to go to some place distant."  She was in "deep grief and had to do something."   "The world moves very fast, walking is slow, getting inside your head is good."  "The cure for grief is motion."  "She may have been different if she stayed at home."

One person said that about hiking by yourself, the hardest is the solitude and being by yourself, but how restorative it is to be in nature.  Another member shared "Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv reflects the different aspects of what loss of nature can give you -- insomnia, obesity, health issues with kids not getting outside in nature.  They are wired.  Excellent source as what is happening to our kids." Another said "there is a comfort of living with woods, connection to the land."

We talked at length about Cheryl's choices, "while remorseful she never felt ashamed."  We talked about the incident when she had to put her family's horse down.  She didn't have the money to do this.  Was it a sign of strength or character?  "It is what it is, I can own it and move on." someone said. "Buck up Buttercup" was a saying her mom use to tell her.

There was so much discussed about this book and the adventure Cheryl Wild had throughout her life so far.  Many members had read the book twice, some have heard Cheryl talk, and some have watched the movie.  We could have discussed this book for a couple of hours more.  I hope our members add their thoughts to this discussion below.

Tuesday, May 26 Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Please join us for discussion of Cheryl Strayed's book this month.  We are going to meet at a members house in June, you are welcomed to join us, but please contact the Park Grove Library for more information. 

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Thirteen members liked, loved or enjoyed the book this month.  They liked the love between two women in very different society. One member said she loved the "interplay between the characters Hetty and Sarah" and that it went over the course of their life as they grew and changed.

One member said half way through the book she had to look up the amazing facts based in the book and doesn't remember reading about abolishment in school.  Another said it jaded her because she didn't know a lot about slavery other than what we have read with books.  Hetty (Handful) and the other slaves were so bold and so strong.  One incident that struck a few members was when Charlotte refused to step out of the way for a white woman.

A former teacher in our group said that she enjoyed reading the book because it made the story fun, you were able to get the conversation.  One member said she found it interesting to read about the quilt made by Charlotte.  One member said she wasn't too fond of another book Kidd wrote, The Secret Life of Bees, but this one she couldn't put down.

Someone read this from page 96, Handful (Hetty)  in the hardcover novel second paragraph: "It was early in the springtime, and the tree buds were popping open while we sat there.  Those days I did a lot of fretting and fraying.  I was watching Miss Sarah in society, how she wore her finery and going whichever way she pleased.  She was wanting  to get a husband soon and leave.  The world was a Wilton carpet stretched out for her, and it seemed like the doors had shut on me, and that's not even right --the doors never had opened in the first place.  I was getting old enough to see they never would."  NEVER WOULD tough words to hear.

We talked about Sarah's struggle against her family, society, religion.  She wanted to read, to be a great attorney and then she couldn't read books.  We talked about how Hetty was free in her mind, but Sarah wasn't and she was in a different type of slavery.  Sarah was a product of society, wanted her family to succeed.  Charlotte and Hetty resisted slavery, but Sarah didn't do that (until later).  The Graveyard of failed hopes is an "all-female establishment," Sarah was quoted as she not only fought for abolition of slavery but for women's right.

We talked about "the myth" that people were happy to be slaves.  Do some people really believe that?  They were smiling, content, but some commented they were also filled with fear and they might be sold off.  We talked about 12 Years a Slave which some had seen.

We also talked about slavery is still around, sex slaves even in our area.  It is hard to make an impact.  What do you do?  Raise strong girls.

We could have talked a lot more about this book but we ran out of time.  Some of us mentioned the connection with Gee's Bends quilts which was a play some of us saw "Gee's Bend" a play at Park Square Theatre a few years ago.  To read more of why and what inspired her to write this books click HERE to go to the page.  To read more about the real story of the Grimke sisters click HERE   I also found this link interesting, click HERE