October Book of the Month

Hey everybody!

Here at the Ladysmith branch, we are now publishing our calendar of events a full month in advance, so I had to make an executive decision on the book we'll be reading for October (and yes, I know I chose the books for the summer. Sorry). But its one I think everyone will like:

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.

(From Goodreads): "It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement."

This book has won over hundreds of critics and will even be a movie in the coming months. It seems right up our alley, so I hope everyone enjoys it.

At our September meeting, we'll decide which book to read for the month of November and maybe even settle on a choosing order, rather than trying to remember whose turn it is to pick each month. :)

Ebooks

Hey ladies! I understand (boy do I) how hard it is to find some of our books in a hard copy. Especially 1984. Animal Farm is everywhere, but no 1984.

So, have some free digital versions to make life that much easier.

1984 (you can download this as an EPUB for Kindle direct from the website)

The Catcher in the Rye (a PDF, which should be readable on all e-readers, or converted into an ebook format)

To Kill a Mockingbird (same as with Catcher)

And just in case you need it, here is a link to an online converter. You simply upload the PDF and hit "convert file". This is a great site - I've used it before for a number of different conversions. So have fun!

I probably should have done this earlier in the summer, but better late than never! Thanks to Diana for reminding me. :)

Mockingbird Discussion

To Kill a MockingbirdReader's Guide - Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think Harper Lee chose as her novel's epigraph this quote from Charles Lamb: "Lawyers, I suppose, were children once"?
2. Why does the adult Scout begin her narrative with Jem's broken arm and a brief family history?
3. How does Boo Radley 's past history of violence foreshadow his method of protecting Jem and Scout? Does this aggression make him more, or less, of a sympathetic character?
4. How does the town of Maycomb function as a character with its own personality, rather than merely as a backdrop for the novel's events?
5. Atticus teaches Scout that compromise is not bending the law, but "an agreement reached by mutual consent." Does Scout apply or reject this definition of compromise? What are examples of her obedience to and defiance of this principle?
6. The novel takes place during the Great Depression. How do class divisions and family quarrels highlight racial tensions in Maycomb?
7. Atticus believes that to understand life from someone else's perspective, we must "walk in his or her shoes." From what other perspectives does Scout see her fellow townspeople?
8. How does Atticus quietly protest Jim Crow laws even before Tom Robinson's trial?
9. What does Jem learn when Atticus forces him to read to Mrs. Dubose as a punishment? Why does the lawyer regard this woman as the "bravest person" he ever knew?
10. Since their mother is dead, several women-Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, and Aunt Alexandra- function as mother figures to Scout and Jem. Discuss the ways these three women influence Scout's growing understanding of what it means to be a Southern "lady."
11. Why does Atticus Finch risk his reputation, his friendships, and his career to take Tom Robinson's case? Do you think he risks too much by putting his children in harm's way?
12. What elements of this novel did you find funny, memorable, or inspiring? Are there any characters whose beliefs or actions impressed or surprised you? Did any events lead you to revisit childhood memories or see them in a new light?
13. Adult readers may focus so much on the novel's politics that they may neglect the coming-of-age story. What does Scout learn, and how does she change in the course of her narrative? 

Comment below to start a discussion!

Mockingbird Wrap-Up

So by this time, most of us should have finished at least one of the three books on our summer list. For me, it's To Kill a Mockingbird, which I found inspirational beyond words. Just to sort of keep things live on this here blog, I've put together a few goodies:

Firstly, a quiz. Not for wussies.

Secondly, a pinboard:

It's a little small for now, but might get bigger. Pinterest is a horrible addiction for those of us brave enough to start it.

And lastly, I'm going to create a discussion board (or at least attempt to) so that we may have a forum to discuss Mockingbird while it's still fresh in our brilliant minds.

Loves,
Jessica

Summer Break

Everyone truly enjoyed Big Stone Gap; the quirky characters and rural dialect left the book feeling very familiar and nostalgic for just about every member of our little club. Trigiani’s mention  of Sanka and use of words like “feriner” (meaning “foreigner” in mountain-Virginian) left everyone laughing. The plot, however, had a few holes that could stand to be filled. Not all of the legality of the story made perfect sense – but then, it doesn’t necessarily have to. Big Stone Gap was exactly what it was supposed to be: a charming, small-town romance with a taste for adventure.

In the coming months, the Ladysmith Book Club will be taking a summer holiday. We will not meet again until September 14^th, when everyone’s busy schedules allow more time for things like book club meetings. This blog, however, will be active and I hope everyone takes a little time this summer to let us all know how they’re doing, in regards to all things life and literature.

This summer, to fill the rare empty hours that need filling, we will be reading three books: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 1984 (or Nineteen Eighty-Four, depending on the bookseller) by George Orwell, and Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. None of these books are particularly long, but all fall under the category “I should have read this decades ago”. Just for my own ease and sanity, I’ll be reading the books one at a time and in the order listed above, but feel free to read in any order. We’ll discuss all three at September’s meeting.

Have a wonderful summer, everyone!

Drumroll please....

This month, Heidi selected the book Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani. Trigiani, herself a native of Virginia, writes about small-town life in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As members of a small community, we should have a lot to relate to when it comes to the eccentricities of rural life. The Goodreads synopsis reads, "Ave Maria Mulligan is the town's self-proclaimed spinster, a thirty-five year old pharmacist with a "mountain girl's body and a flat behind." She lives an amiable life with good friends and lots of hobbies until the fateful day in 1978 when she suddenly discovers that she's not who she always thought she was. Before she can blink, Ave's fielding marriage proposals, fighting off greedy family members, organizing a celebration for visiting celebrities, and planning the trip of a lifetime—a trip that could change her view of the world and her own place in it forever." Trigiani has received an abundance of praise for her books and the club is excited to become a part of her fanbase.

Our next meeting will be on 8 June 2013 from 1-3 PM in the Ladysmith branch meeting room.

Divergent

For the most part, club members agreed that Kill Me if You Can was a little too “adult”, with scenes of sexuality and incest that made this particular book an uncomfortable read.

The good news is that we read two books for May, and the second title, Divergent, was absolutely fantastic. Everyone loved Divergent and a few members have already started reading the second installment, Insurgent. **Warning: here be spoilers** Even with all of the enthusiasm, Divergent still only earned about 4 out of 5 stars; there were some moments when Beatrice (or Tris) acted a little dense. At times, it was obvious to the reader that her love interest, Four, was trying to protect her. Tris had a hard time seeing the “big picture” politically-speaking, that to be Divergent and have enough brain power to manipulate simulations is a dangerous notion to a government that wants to turn the Dauntless into mindless drones. Pride kept Tris striving to be at the head of the pack, when common sense dictates that she ought to feign a bit more weakness and compliance. Still, Divergent proved great discussion-fodder, bringing out the conspiracy-theorist in all of us. The romance was also just right, enough to relieve the tension but not so much as to make anyone uncomfortable, always ending with some fiery kisses and imaginings about a shirtless Four on the part of the reader. **Spoilers over**

After the third of Roth’s books, Allegiant, is released, it might be worth dedicating another meeting to discussing the completed trilogy. And if you haven’t already, take the Faction quiz on the official Divergent facebook page. It’s fun to have something to really get into again, rather like The Hunger Games.

And our next book is....

Actually, this month, we have two.

At the request of our youngest member, we will be reading Kill me if you Can by James Patterson and Marshall Karp. Matthew Bannon, a poor art student living in New York City, finds a duffel bag filled with diamonds during a chaotic attack at Grand Central Station. Plans for a worry-free life with his stunning girlfriend Katherine fill his thoughts--until he realizes that he is being hunted, and that whoever is after him won't stop until they have reclaimed the diamonds and exacted their revenge.
In addition to Kill Me, we will also be reading Divergent, the first in a new trilogy by Veronica Roth. In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.Both books promise exciting plots and have gotten very good ratings on Goodreads. Our next meeting will be on Saturday, May 18th at the Ladysmith branch from 1-3PM.

The Casual Vacancy

The general consensus of last Saturday's meeting was that The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling was only "okay". While Heidi felt that the book got more easy to understand as the story went on, the whole group agreed that the story got off to a very slow start. There were simply too many characters to keep track of, the British slang got confusing, and some of the adult themes seemed just a bit too - well - adult.

We felt that Rowling was trying far too hard to sound like an adult writer, to break away from the sort of young adult, fantasy, family-friendly writing that she had done with the Harry Potter series. Her depictions of sex, violence, drug use, and language seemed mostly unnecessary; like Kyra said, "It's like someone trying to sound smart by using a bunch of big words they just looked up." And actually, it seemed as though Rowling had done a bit of that, too.

Overall, the book was probably a solid C-. It had a story that eventually got resolved and a few interesting moments and characters, but the ins and outs of English small-town politics were little more than a complicated distraction around Rowling's (somewhat poorly organized) depictions of suburban duplicity. What she managed to capture in the very first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (the two-faced nature of a nosey neighbor, trying to hide their dirty laundry) took Rowling an entire novel to accomplish this go-round, and it was still only so-so.

However, those of us who have read the Harry Potter series all agreed that nothing could ever really make us think less of good ol' Jo. We'll just have to remember her for the good times.

Passing the Torch

Hey y'all!

Most of the members already know me, but for those who don't - I'm Jessica and I am now the library liaison for the Book Club. Megan recently got a promotion, which is good news for her, but sad news for all of us who love her, as it means all of her time will be occupied at the Bowling Green branch from now on. Hopefully, she will still have the time to attend our meetings as a member and maybe enjoy it even more, now that the responsibilities have been passed to another.

And on that note, I'll give you a little bit about myself: I'm a student at the University of Mary Washington, slated to graduate this May. I'll earn my BA in English and am planning to go on to graduate school to become a fully-fledged librarian. I plan to be at Caroline Library, Inc. for a very long time. I like fantasy novels (Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings), science fiction, Doctor Who, and most sub-genres of Young Adult fiction. I love travel and crafts and sweet tea and, of course, books.

I hope that the book club can continue to be as awesome as Megan always made it, but we've got such a good group of readers that I have very few reservations about how things will progress.

Our Next Book is...

Next month, we'll be reading The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling.  Her first book for adults, this is a very different story than Rowling's previous books- the eternally popular Harry Potter series.  Instead of magic, The Casual Vacancy is more about real life in a small English town.  We'll be meeting to discuss the book on Saturday, April 13th from 1-3pm at the Ladysmith Branch Meeting Room.  I'll be posting the review and discussion questions online the same day.  Hope you all enjoy this book and happy reading!

Zen and the Art of Vampires Review and Discussion Questions

When we meet Pia Thomason in Zen and the Art of Vampires by Katie MacAlister, she's about to turn 40, alone, and taking a singles tour of Europe.  Challenged by one of her tour mates to approach two hot guys, she chickens out at the last minute and ducks into a book store.  From that moment on, her life is never the same- filled with vampires known as Dark Ones, a cult devoted to wiping out the Dark Ones, and a whole village's worth of ghosts tagging along behind her.  Zen is a fun, guilty pleasure sort of book with plenty of steamy sex scenes and hot guys.  However, anyone who expects the happily-ever-after ending will be disappointed.  Although most of MacAlister's previous books in the Dark Ones series were stand alone novels, Zen and the Art of Vampires is the first in a two-part miniseries.  Other than that, I think that it is a good novel for those who are into the paranormal romance genre.  It's not too cheesy and the heroine thinks for herself, even if her brain sometimes lands her in trouble.

Reminder- Zen and the Art of Vampires is THIS SATURDAY!

You cannot believe how hard it is to find a photo that's appropriate!

Just wanted to send out a quick reminder that our in-person meeting for Zen and the Art of Vampires is THIS SATURDAY from 1-3pm at the Ladysmith Branch Library!  I will also be posting the review and discussion questions online at the same time.  Hope to see everyone there or online!

Library Business- Are You Feelin' Crafty?

She doesn't really have anything to do with the project; I just think she's cute!

Hello everyone! I hope you all are enjoying Zen and the Art of Vampires!  Carolyn, the Branch Manager at Ladysmith, has asked if any of us would be interested in helping out the Library by doing some crafts for Ladysmith Day.  She had originally planned for the Teen Club to do these crafts, but attendance for that group has dropped off and she is opening it up to anyone who wants to help out.  I don't really have too much information at this point, but this is not going to be a part of our meeting, so if you don't want to help out, you don't have to.  If anyone's interested, please let me know and I'll pass it on to Carolyn.  I'll also try and get some more information if anyone is on the fence.  Thanks!

Our Next Book is...

We're going for a walk on the dark side this March and reading Zen and the Art of Vampires by Katie MacAlister.  It is the sixth book in MacAlister's "Dark Ones" series.  You can check out the GoodReads page for the book here and a list of all the books in the series here.

I will post the review and discussion questions for this book on Saturday, March 9th.  That will also be the day of our in-person meeting, held from 1 to 3pm at the Ladysmith Library.  Hope to see you all there and online!  Happy reading!

The Lucky One Review and Discussion Questions

February is the month for romance and our book club pick- The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks- definitely fits that bill!  It weaves together the stories of Logan Thibault, Beth Green, and Keith Clayton.  Thibault, an Iraq war veteran, finds a picture of a girl while in Iraq and it changes his luck for the better.  He starts winning at poker and it saves his life on more than one occassion.  Once he gets back to the States, he sets out to find the girl in the photo.  She turns out to be Beth Green, a divorced elementary school teacher living in Hampton, North Carolina.  Beth's ex-husband is Keith Clayon.  Clayton is from the family that runs Hampton and is definitely sleazy.  He follows Beth around and has run off any man that dates her.  He's also not a very good father to their son, Ben.  When Thibault comes into town, he starts working at Beth's family kennel and slowly he and Beth fall in love.

Reminder- The Lucky One is THIS Saturday!

Oh Zac Efron, don't worry if you haven't finished reading yet!

Just wanted to send out a quick reminder that our meeting for The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks is THIS SATURDAY from 1 - 3pm at the Ladysmith Branch Library's meeting room.  I know that it is a super-quick turn-around from our last meeting, so please still plan on attending even if you haven't finished the book.  Hope to see everyone there!

Our Next Book Is...

For the month of February, we'll be getting romantic and reading The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.  It's probably a good thing that this book is too long, since our meeting will be next Saturday, February 9th from 1 - 3pm (going back to our normal meeting dates of the 2nd Saturday of the month).  I will also be posting the online review and discussion questions on the 9th.  Hopefully this will be a quick read for everyone, but don't worry if you don't finish it.  We'll still have plenty of good food and great discussion.  Hope to see you there and happy reading!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Review and Discussion Questions

It's a small review this month.  Please enjoy and feel free to add your own feelings on the book or answer any of the discussion questions in the comments section below.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about the freshman year of a boy named Charlie.  Over the course of that year, he makes new friends, experiments with drugs, experiences literature and film, gains and loses a girlfriend, and most importantly, learns about himself.  It's a deeply touching book.  Since everyone has been a teenager, you can relate in some way to Charlie's story.

I'm also adding this article from A.V. Club about how Perks holds up with adult readers.  I think it's well written, although with a little salty language, and does a much better job with the review than I could.

Our Meeting is Saturday!

Sorry for the late notice, but in case you've forgotten- our meeting for The Perks of Being a Wallflower is THIS SATURDAY from 1-3pm at the Ladysmith Branch Meeting Room.  I hope to see you all there!

Our Next Book is...

Hope that everyone enjoyed the holiday season!  The Library was on a weird schedule for two weeks, but now we're back to normal and I can update the blog!

For this month, we're going to be reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.  I recommend checking out its GoodReads page here.  I suppose it goes with our trend of picking books that are movies too.  We'll be meeting on January 26th, from 1-3pm, to talk about the book and eat some delicious foods.  That is the same date that I'll be posting the review and discussion questions here on the blog.  Happy reading!