Happy Bookworms Book Club

November 2010 Selection

2010-10-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett

This was going to be the next selection, but as of October 21, 2010 the book club is now defunct.

October 2010 Selection

2010-09-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

I know why the caged bird sings, by Maya Angelou

This is an autobiographical novel. Angelou was challenged by a friend and her editor to write a biography that was also literature. The book chronicles her experience from ages three to seventeen in Arkansas. Maya and her brother Bailey are abandoned by their parents and are raised by their grandparents. Even though "Momma" is relatively wealthy - she owns a general store- the family is still subjected to extreme racism.
When Maya is eight her father reappears and takes the children with him, only to drop them off at their mothers. At this point Maya is raped by her mother's new boyfriend.
After struggling with many difficulties the novel ends ends with seventeen year old Maya giving birth. This book is the first in a series of six books.

September 2010 Selection

2010-08-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

We were the Mulvaneys, by Joyce Carol Oates

The Mulvaney family is the envy of their farming community in upstate New York. Parents Corinne and Michael have four children, Marianne, Michael, Patrick and Judd.
The harmonious family life comes to a crashing halt the day Marianne is raped by the son of a local business man, who is also a friend of Michael Sr. Marianne refuses to press charges against her attacker - an act her father simply cannot understand. In fact, Michael is so appalled by Marianne's decision that he finds himself unable to look at his his daughter the same way, and so sends her to live with a distant relative.
The family as a whole collapses when Michael's drinking forces him to lose his business and declare bankruptcy. The farm is lost, the parents divorce and the family members scatter to the winds, until many years later they reunite to deal with their past.

August 2010 Selection

2010-07-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

A Jest Of God, by Margaret Laurence

Rachel Cameron lives in a small town in Manitoba in the mid 60's and is trapped by convention, her family and the times. Rachel works as a teacher and lives with a domineering mother. In her job she follows the rules while inwardly rebelling at the narrow confines allowed her for personal expression while doing her job. At home Rachel's mother uses guilt to control her daughter. When Rachel meets a young man and has a brief relationship, culminating in a suspected pregnancy, she is forced to re-evaluate her life.
On top of all these constraints is Rachel's own character, which feels compelled to evaluate every action she does, and always clamps down on any behaviour that might demonstrate a lack of control on her part.
The heroine Laurence has created here is not a likable one, but making her so makes the reader become even more aware of the rigidity of circumstance which were so stifling to women in the 1960's.

Learn more about the book here.

Request a copy at FVRL.

July 2010 Selection

2010-06-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines

The woeful tale of racial oppression of black people in 1940's United States. Grant Wiggins has escaped the plantation by going to school and getting an education. Simple Jefferson, on the other hand, does not have the opportunity, and so lives a life very close to that of his slave ancestors. One day Jefferson is in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnesses the murder of a white person for which he is ultimately wrongfully convicted. While on death row Grant is pressured to visit Jefferson. The time they spend together shows Grant that Jefferson is actually a freer man than he is, because he is ultimately able to throw off the shackles of oppression and meet his end with his head held high. This is a freedom that will always elude Grant.
The author drew heavily on his own life experience, as he was born on a plantation but managed to escape through school.

Lean more about the book here.

Request a copy at FVRL.

June 2010 Selection

2010-05-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels

Two parts divide this book. In the first part Michaels tells the story of Jakob Beer who survives the holocaust by hiding in a wall. He is subsequently rescued by Greek Anthropologist Athos, who takes him to Greece, where a whole new life begins for Jakob. Jakob's life is haunted by his sister Bella's disappearance. All his actions subsequently are ruled by sisters' absence.
Part 2 is narrated by Ben, a Canadian Professor who is a big fan of Jakob's poetry.
The book is as much poetry as it is a work of fiction. Michaels won several awards for the book.

Learn more about the book here

Request a copy at FVRL

May 2010 Selection

2010-04-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Marrying Mozart, by Stephanie Cowell.

Before Mozart settled down with Constanze Weber he actually courted her older sister, Aloysia. The novel chornicles Mozart's involvement with the Weber family. Besides Constanze and Aloysia there was also Josefa and Sophie. All four sisters had an impact on Mozart, albeit in ways as varied as their personalities. While the novel is really about the Weber sisters, the reader is also shown the young Mozart who was in a time of transition when he was courting, as he was no longer the famed child prodigy and as an adult had not yet been able to make his way as an adult composer of Operas.

Learn more about the book here

Request a copy at FVRL

April 2010 Selection

2010-03-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime, by Mark Haddon.

Fifteen year old Christopher Boone is not your average teenager. Christopher is autistic, and the novel gives you a brilliant glimpse into what it must be like to have an autistic child. Routine is imperative to such children, and even the smallest details are paid attention to. For example, Christopher knows it is going to be a bad day if there are several yellow cars in a row encountered on the way to school.
The novel follows Christopher as he tries to solve the murder of his neighbours dog's death; poor Wellington was killed by a garden fork. As he follows the clues, Christopher's routine life begins to slowly unravel with serious consequences for him and his family.
A remarkable story told in a very genuine and realistic way.

Learn more about the book here

Request a copy at FVRL

Announcing a new book club for the Walnut Grove Library

2010-03-09T12:15:00.000-08:00

The Walnut Grove Library now has a new adult book club. We are called the Happy Bookworms and will meet on the third Thursday of every month at 7 pm in the library. The first meeting will be on April 22, 2010.
We are at 8889 Walnut Grove Drive in Langley, BC. Everyone is welcome.
Registration is required. Please call 604-882-0410 or visit us in the branch.

For reading suggestions view the Walnut Grove Library Book Club Blog by clicking here.

Happy reading!