October’s book is now at the Main Library Circ desk – please email me if you need a copy sent to another branch!
October Chick Lit Book Choice September 30, 2008
Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus with a Will of Its Own by Doreen Orion
A pampered Long Island princess hits the road in a converted bus with her wilderness-loving husband, travels the country for one year, and brings it all hilariously to life in this offbeat and romantic memoir.
Doreen and Tim are married psychiatrists with a twist: She’s a self-proclaimed Long Island princess, grouchy couch potato, and shoe addict. He’s an affable, though driven, outdoorsman. When Tim suggests “chucking it all” to travel cross-country in a converted bus, Doreen asks, “Why can’t you be like a normal husband in a midlife crisis and have an affair or buy a Corvette?” But she soon shocks them both, agreeing to set forth with their sixty-pound dog, two querulous cats—and no agenda—in a 340-square-foot bus.
Queen of the Road is Doreen’s offbeat and romantic tale about refusing to settle; about choosing the unconventional road with all the misadventures it brings (fire, flood, armed robbery, and finding themselves in a nudist RV park, to name just a few). The marvelous places they visit and delightful people they encounter have a life-changing effect on all the travelers, as Doreen grows to appreciate the simple life, Tim mellows, and even the pets pull together. Best of all, readers get to go along for the ride through forty-seven states in this often hilarious and always entertaining memoir, in which a boisterous marriage of polar opposites becomes stronger than ever.
Discussion Questions for Garcia Girls… September 23, 2008
Discussion questions
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
Note to readers: These questions are meant to get your conversations about the book started. But remember, it’s a discussion, not a test!
- How does the story of the Garcia Girls relate to your own experience, either as an immigrant or someone with friends and neighbors from other countries?
- The story is about how the daughters adjusted to American life. What’s your impression of how the parents adapted and changed as Americans? [e.g. relationships to and expectations of their daughters]
- What did you think of the structure of the book, starting in the present and working backward in time? If you were to tell your own story of, e.g. coming to Cambridge, where would start? (e.g. present, immediate past, childhood?)
- What impact did the Trujillo dictatorship have on the girls while they were in the Dominican Republic? [E.g. how aware were they, how frightened, did they accept the situation as normal?]
- Who is telling the story of the Garcia Girls? [Voices change from first to third person, subheads identify the person whose story is being told, but who in your opinion is telling the story?]
- What are some of the customs of the Dominican Republic that are different from American customs? [e.g. parental roles, expectations for marriage, degree of freedom of expression, etc.?]
- Which stories in the book did you feel were the most interesting takes on American society, and why? [E.g. school, dating, respect for [parents, sisterhood, etc.]
- What are your thoughts, based on the book, about how Dominican and Haitian people differ? [e.g., religion, politics, oppression, class structure]
- What are your general impressions of the four sisters? [How would you characterize them? Who changed the most in America?]
- Two of the daughters in the story spent some time in mental hospitals. Do you think the move to American was in some way the cause of their dysfunction?
- What is the significance of the last story in the book- Yolanda’s encounter with the kitten and the ghost cat?)
Books delivered right to your inbox? September 17, 2008
Daily Lit promises to do that. Essentially, you could be reading a work email but secretly finishing the Chick Lit Book Group monthly selection. Some selections are free and some cost money.
Let me know if anyone tries it…
Happy Birthday Aggie! September 17, 2008
September 15th is Agatha Christie’s birthday. We don’t normally read Agatha Christie as a group, no, but she is a chick and she is pretty famous, so I thought we should all celebrate! Check out her biography here!
Nights in Rodanthe September 11, 2008
I was watching some previews at the Capital Movie Theater in Arlington when one came on for Nights at Rodanthe, starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. The previews looked so good that I knew (and yes, I may be the last to know) it had to be a book first. Nicholas Sparks is the author which should come to not surprise. I don’t want to give away any plot here, but it looks decent in that Nicholas Sparks sappy way – and I admit I loved the Notebook. A lot. Anyone read it? Any good?
Fun Blogs for Reading September 8, 2008
Okay – not exactly about books, but about food which is almost as nice as a fine book.
Right now I am obsessed with the Very Good Taste Blog and there Omnivore’s 100 – the top things you should eat in your lifetime. I am curious to see what others have eaten, so I will post my response here. The pink items are items I have tried…I actually think I should come up with my own list, because this one was way too easy.
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah September 4, 2008
Audrey recommended Firefly Lane as a “better” Summer Sisters. Of course I had to read it immediately to correct her, but as it turns out, I really liked this book. The beginning was a little iffy, I thought it started out slow, but by the last half of the book I couldn’t put it down. I really wanted to know what happened to Kate and Tully and their friendship. Plus, the book made me cry like a baby. It’s the story about an old friendship and discerning what you want from your life, what others want for you, and being happy with what you are handed (or create for yourself). I don’t want to give too much away – the story is in the details:)
