Gather Together in My Name

Maya Angelou is one of the most special writers because of her ability to combine honesty with amazingly eloquent language.  "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" is the novel that she is best known for and rightly so it truly is a masterpiece.  I read it in Grad School and fell in love with her novel and poetry.  Now, given the gift of time, I finally got around to reading another one of her novels: "Gather Together in My Name" which is equally amazing.  Shorter in length,but similar honest telling of the difficulties she has faced.


Her difficulties made me remember that without those tough times people aren't able to appreciate life the same, or to be able to objectively self reflect, or to understand that life has more to offer then the material possessions people like to fill it with.  Maya's honesty is refreshing because so many people like to "sugar coat" their lives and convince themselves that they are content with their life.  It is only when you are completely honest with yourself that you can truly learn who you are and in turn find true happiness.  She was a young mother attempting to raise a baby during a time that many had to turn to prostitution to survive financially.  Maya does not cover up her naive nature that allowed her to succumb to a very unflattering lifestyle, she lays everything out for her readers to see that life isn't always glamorous and that you have to through some bad to appreciate the good.


If you've never read anything by Maya Angelou, this novel would be a great place to start.


Toni :)

The Help

The book club selection for the month of June is "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. Although Toni and I were both disappointed that this book isn't yet out in paperback, we were looking forward to reading it because of the many good things we've heard about the book.

I'll admit, because I heard so many good things about the book, I was setting myself up for disappointment. With the New York Times Bestseller list littered with not-so-great books, I am always wondering whether I will actually like a book that so many others do.

Believe me when I say that "The Help" did not disappoint. I loved it!

The book is set in Mississippi in the early 1960's and is told from the perspectives of three characters:
- Aibeliene, a black woman in her 50s who has worked as a maid since she was a teen. After the death of her only son several years earlier, she relishes the relationship she builds with her employer's young children, raising them as her own.
- Minny, a black woman in her 30s with an abusive husband and a houseful of children at home. She's been a maid for much of her life as well, but her attitude and propensity to speak her mind have made it difficult for her to keep a job.
- Skeeter, a white woman in her early 20s who has just graduated college. While all of her childhood girlfriends are getting married, having children, and chairing social league events and fundraisers, Skeeter has ambitions to become a writer, a fact that is not looked highly upon by anyone in her life.

This book fully engaged me from page 1. Stockett uses a southern dialect for the maids that is extremely authentic, without taking away from the novel. She integrates the history of the time period very well. Jackson, Mississippi was probably one of the most volatile places in America in the 1960's, and Stockett successfully pulls the reader into that feeling of fear and uncertainty. She really makes us understand the extreme racial hatred that still existed there.

I think was Stockett does best is to build her characters. The reader can't help but fall in love with Aibilene, Minny, and Skeeter. We can't help but laugh out loud at Minny's comments, or feel Aibilene's loneliness as she sits in her apartment alone each night, thinking about her son's death. And we can't help but feel for Skeeter when her loved ones aren't supportive of her ambitions. The characters feel extremely real, and Stockett jumps back and forth between their perspectives flawlessly.

Stockett is also extremely skillful in her building of the story. While I wouldn't say there is one "climax" of the book, she weaves together the plot lines extremely well, building tension in various points in the book to make us want to keep reading.

This book is one of the few I've read recently that I really feel will withstand the test of time. It makes me feel good to know that so many people are reading it, because it is a smart and worthwhile read. I can't wait to discuss it at book club!

---Emily

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Last summer, I read the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. For those of you who've been living in a cave for the past few years and aren't familiar with Twilight, it's a 4-book series popular with teenagers, and it's about a human girl who falls in love with a vampire. What first spurred my desire to read the series was that, when I was teaching Sophomore honors English a couple years ago, I looked out at my class one day, and there were no less than 6 copies of the final book in the series, "Breaking Dawn", staring back at me from the hands of my students. I really wanted to know what it was about this series that had so many people talking.

I'll admit, I read all four books ("Twilight", "New Moon", "Eclipse", and "Breaking Dawn", respectively) in rapid succession. And although they are by no means great literature, I enjoyed them for what they were. Stephenie Meyer may not be the next Shakespeare, but she does smartly write a Romeo & Juliet-esque tale that readers, especially teens, are bound to fall for. And there's enough fantasy creatures and blood and gore to engage an even wider audience.

When I found out that Meyer was releasing a short novella called "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner", I was interested. The book is about one of the "newborn"vampires who battle with Edward Cullen (vampire heartthrob) and his family in the book "Eclipse" (the movie version of which comes out this week. Coincidence? I think not). I thought this might be interesting. Thus far, we've only been able to see the events of the series from Bella's perspective. It might be cool to learn more about their adversaries.

So I read the book. It was short, only 150 pages (brief in comparison to the 400-500 page novels in the series). Reading "...Bree Tanner" made me see the faults in Meyer's writing that I had somehow been able to look past while reading the other novels. It was clumsy, and didn't flow well. It wasn't divided into chapters but rather was one continuous piece from beginning to end, which didn't do it any favors. I think it also exposed the fact that Meyer is not adept at writing concisely... she needs those 400-500 pages to tell her story.

I think her goal in writing this book (besides perhaps publicity for the upcoming film) was to show that sometimes even the enemy can have a heart, and sometimes we should stop and take a second look at what makes people act the way they do. But the main character in this novella, Bree, did not seem believable... the whole book just seemed contrived and even kind of desperate.

I'm sure there are some die-hard Twilight fans out there who adored this book, but I wish Meyer had just stopped after the 4th book in the series and started a new project.

Betty Smith You Did It AGAIN

Betty Smith has to be the most amazing author not talked about.  Prior to my Book Club, I had never even heard of her.  I first read "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" which I loved and thought nothing could hold a candle to its eloquence and genuineness...then I read "Joy in the Morning."  This novel should be read by everyone, especially those in a committed relationship or just starting a relationship--it touched my heart like a good novel should.  Smith's ease of beautiful language has been forgotten in a lot of modern literature.  It seems like nowadays authors pump out a new novel every couple months and their lack of plot and character development is quite clear.  Writing a novel should be a process of creative thinking, not a process of profit making.

It is very evident that Smith put an immense amount of thought into her characters because her characters come to life in a way I didn't think was possible.  After reading her novels I literally miss her characters, first Francie and now Annie.  Annie is one of my favorite characters for so many reasons: her sweetness, her independence, her passion for learning and reading, I could go on.  Annie and Carl's relationship can easily be related to by everyone--their sweet beginning--their bouts with difficulties--their proof that true love can accomplish anything.

-Toni

Between the Tides

If you're looking for a good beach read, anything by Patti Callahan Henry would be a great choice. Sure, she's probably not the next Shakespeare, but her writing is definitely a few steps up from the highly overrated Nicholas Sparks or Jodi Picoult.

I was first introduced to this author a couple years ago when I picked up her novel "The Art of Keeping Secrets" and read it on my honeymoon in August of '08. At the time, I found it to be the perfect airplane/poolside/beach read. So when I saw another of her books on a recent trip to the Book Barn, I decided to pick it up.

I finished this book in just a couple days; it was a very quick read. Just like the last book I read by this author, "Between the Tides" takes place in the Coastal Carolinas, presumably where the author is from. The landscape figures prominently in the novel (I always seem to notice when this is the case). The book is about 30 year old Catherine, who is at a point in her life where she seems to be looking for answers. Her beloved father, a literature professor at a local university, has recently passed away, and her boyfriend, with whom she's been for 4 years, doesn't seem to be in any hurry to pop the question. 

Catherine's father's dying wish was to have his daughter scatter his ashes over the water in the town of Seaboro, where she grew up. The only problem is that Catherine has not stepped foot in Seaboro since she was 12 years old, when a tragic event forced her family to move. This tragic event has haunted Catherine ever since, and she does not want to return to town. But after some prodding by Forrest, her father's assistant professor and protege (and also Catherine's ex boyfriend), she decides to go back to Seaboro to honor her father's last wish. 

What ensues is a journey of self-discovery. Catherine encounters people and places from her past and is forced to think about a painful time in her life that she had kept buried for a long time. The author skillfully switches back and forth between present and past tense throughout the book, allowing us to understand more and more about Catherine's past. 

So if you're looking for a book to read by the pool or at the beach this summer, check out Patti Callahan Henry. Not exactly great American Literature at its finest, but a vast improvement over a lot of the junk that's out there now.

--- Emily

Bel Canto

"Bel Canto" was our book club pick for the month of June. A few months ago, Karen, a member of our book club, pitched the book to us as a suggestion for a future month. I immediately became interested in the book and happily, we voted on it for June.

The book is about a group of wealthy and prominent people from all over the world who are gathered in a South American country for an upscale event. The main attraction of the event is a performance by one of the world's most famous and talented opera singers. The event quickly takes a dramatic turn when a group of terrorists takes the entire group of guests hostage. Although what initially ensues is a tense, hostile situation, eventually Patchett begins to blur the lines between hostage and terrorist. As days turn to months in captivity, the way in which the characters view one another, as well as their situation, changes. The characters (as well as the reader) begins to forget that ultimately, something must happen-- that the characters can't live like this forever... 

This book definitely proved that Patchett is a skilled writer. Her writing style is fluid and beautiful. Although character development is slow going at first, by the end of the book the reader has a full appreciation and understanding of many of the characters in the book. Most impressive is Patchett's ability to bring together characters from many cultures and backgrounds and portray their interactions in a realistic way. She ties together the threads of culture, language, music, and love beautifully.

My only real criticism of of the book is that Patchett's use of foreshadowing is a little heavy-handed at times. She must assume that her readers can't draw the necessary conclusions on their own. I think that she could have done without much of that foreshadowing, and it would have actually made for a better book. My only other complaint was the epilogue. Without giving too much away, I thought that the epilogue was completely out of left field and didn't do justice to the rest of the book. I wish that she had just let the book end where it did and let the reader draw his or her own conclusions about what may have happened next.

Overall, this was a very good read that I would recommend to anyone, especially anyone who loves music or foreign languages, as both figure prominently in the book. I'm looking forward to discussing this book in book club!

---Emily

Olive Kitteridge

On my first trip to the Book Barn, a copy of "Olive Kitteridge" by Elizabeth Strout caught my eye. A little notation on the cover said that the book was the winner of a Pulitzer prize, so I decided that it would be worth reading.

The book is written as a series of short stories (13 in all). Each story centers around a character in a small town in Maine. However, the title character, Olive Kitteridge, makes an appearance in all of the stories, though she figures more prominently in some than in others. Although this is a formula that other authors have probably used before, what is interesting is that each story takes place in a different time... some in the past, some in the present. As the book goes on, these little vignettes allow us to piece together what we know about Olive from many perspectives-- her own, as well as that of her husband, her son, her friends, former students, and even people in town who don't know her very well. By the end of the book, we can see Olive from nearly every angle possible.

Since I have been reading a lot of current bestsellers and popular literature lately, I can definitely say that Strout's writing stands out above most of the authors out there today. She does an amazing job developing her characters, but even ore impressive is the way that she incorporates the landscape of rural Maine, which she describes beautifully.

Love, loss, aging, and change are all major themes in the novel. Although it can be a bit dark and depressing at times, it is true and honest. Strout does not skim over the low, sad points of life, but confronts them head on. And while death and loss do figure prominently in the book, there is also a great deal of hope and happiness as well. Ultimately, there is a good balance... just like real life.

Overall, I would definitely recommend the book. It's clear that Strout deserved to win the Pulitzer prize for this novel, and it's certainly worth reading. I think most readers will be impressed with Strout's writing style, which reminded me a bit of Steinbeck. The one frustration about the book, for me, was that  in the short stories, we're introduced to some very interesting characters who never end up resurfacing after their one story. This gives the novel a bit of a disjointed feel that is very much unlike reading a typical novel. However, this format is also part of the uniqueness and appeal of the book. I think the key to reading is to realize that Olive Kitteridge is the main character, and that each story is meant to portray something about her. 

---Emily