Susan's comments (member since Feb 14, 2009)

Susan's comments from the You'll love this one...!! A book club & more group.

Emma wrote: "
That said as far as I can tell I'm the world who loves Catch-22. "

Emma,
It's been a long, long, time but I adored Catch-22. Laugh out loud funny in some parts but with a strong message about the absurdity of war. I'll have to reread it one of these days.

Allhug wrote: "...ooh and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe - a FANTASTIC book about the Salem SWitch Trials.

(...published as The Lost Book of Salem in the UK!
..."

Your enthusiasm has caused me to add this to my "to read" shelf!!!!

Sense and Sensibility
The Right Stuff
The Philadelphia Story (an oldie but a goodie!!)
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Little Women (the one with Winona Ryder & Susan Sarandon)

I love audio books. I can download them for free through our local library. Beading is a hobby of mine that I spend quite a bit of time on, and I can listen at the same time. Also, if I am taking a long driving trip by myself, they help me pass the time and stay awake. Some types of books I prefer to read - if the writing is truly exquisite, I would much rather savor the reading experience. Or a favorite author that I just want to spend some time with. I tend to listen to books that have fast-paced plots - suspense novels are good ones for this. Also, the narrator is so critical. I think sometimes I have not liked an audio book and it is really the narrator I didn't like.

Heather wrote: "sorry for suggesting it guys. I had hoped it would bring about a bit more discussion than this."
No need to apologize Heather - I haven't contributed to the discussion yet because I read it a few years ago and was going to reread it and just haven't yet. When I read it, I thought it was really clever - I'll never forget turning the page to the one that repeated "Pack one dozen liquor jugs in a box" (I'm doing this from memory because I'm out of town and don't have the book with me so I hope that is the exact sentence) and just giggling a little. It is called an epistolary fable - think about what fables are -simple stories that contain a lesson. So it shouldn't be deep or profound. I just enjoyed his use of language and words, especially as choices got more limited.

It still is very early in June, I'm sure there will be more discussion.

(I would give it 4 stars.)

Heather wrote: "Oh dear....can someone give me pointers on how to lead this?? I didn't actually think my book was going to win....oy"

Here's a link to a reading group guide for Ella Minnow Pea- maybe it will give you some ideas - http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides...

I just ordered another copy as I lent mine to someone about four years ago and never got it back - :( - It was on a reading list for incoming freshmen at our local high school to read over the summer.

I'm reading So Brave, Young and Handsome A Novel by Leif Enger because I really liked Peace Like a River by the same author. When I finish this, I'm going to start Duma Key by Stephen King because it has been a long time since I've ready anything by him - some of his I have loved, others I didn't even finish. This one has some pretty good reviews, so I've got high hopes.

Molly wrote: "Over in the Random Chat, Heather commented that she was a bit shocked by the pace and level of deaths at the end of Storm In June. If you haven't finished that section yet - ***SPOILER ALERT***

..."

I wondered if the children would have attacked Philipe if he hadn't felt such disdain for them??? It was almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. The thing that surprised me about this book is that it really is not about the French and the Germans during the occupation but about the French and the French. The author seems to have a pretty intense dislike of the middle and upper classes. Given that she was a Russian expatriate, I wonder if she even like living in France. I finished Dolce last night. The Germans pretty much got a pass for any of their behavior - "after all it's war, what can you expect", was expressed more than once. It is really an incredible book, but I find myself thinking more about Irene Nemirovsky and what the story says about her than about the story itself.

I just finished Storm in June and might take a quick break with another book before I start Dolce. Beautifully written, but what is Nemirovsky telling us? Here is a quote from page 167 that sums up what I see as the primary theme: "Important events - whether serious, happy or unfortunate - do not change a man's soul, they merely bring it into relief, just as a strong gust of wind reveals the true shape of a trea when it blows off all its leaves." Nemirovksy's wind sure did not reveal too many admirable souls. Thank goodness for the Michauds, as they were the only likable characters I found. After the first 20 pages or so, I didn't think I was going to like the book at all because of this, but by page 50 I was engrossed in the story of the exodus, rather than any one individual character. Fascininating book, but a rather dark and cynical view of human nature. It will be interesting to see how Dolce develops.

Mary wrote: "Hey Susan,

Since you are a librarian - wanted to get your opinion, thoughts and recommendations - what are kids, ranging from ages 6-10 reading. I know that once the kids turn 8 - they start reading more sophistated books. But in your opinion - excluding the alex ryder stuff - is there anything out there that the kids are begging for? AND since you are in the know - so to speak - what are the older kids begging form - 12-15 year olds - besides the Twilight series....

Any help you can give me is a huge help - I am in Swtizerland and am starting up a reading group. So, if you can give me the top 7-10 recommendations for those age groups - I will be eternally in your debt..."

Hi Mary,
Sorry - I just saw this or I would have answered sooner. Our 7-8-9 year olds love the Magic Tree House series. Goosebumps will ALWAYS be popular! The better readers are liking the Warriors books and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I have a bunch of girls reading Ann Martin's Doll People (there are three books now). Anything Star Wars is extremely popular with the boys. Also, more for the 10-12 year group : Gordon Korman's On the Run and Kidnapped series, Margaret Peterson Haddix Shadow Children series and her new series with just the first book out so far, Found. Secrets of Droon or DragonSlayers Academt are good series for kids who want to read fantasy but aren't ready yet for Harry Potter. As far as picture books, all the kids, regardless of age, like Skippyjon Jones, and the girls get a kick out of Fancy Nancy. For beginning readers, take a look at Kat DiCamillo's Mercy Watson books (Mercy is a pig - a porcine wonder!) I don't work with any kids above 5th grade so I can't help you out with the older kids. If you'd like to add me to your friends list, please do and as I think of more, I will let you know.
Susan

Mine is ordered. Even though I nominated Cold Comfort Farm, this sounds really good and I don't have to lead the discussion :)

C F S R wrote: "Reading how power drives some of the boys to extreme bullying and violence, was anyone else reminded of Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiments and Milgram’s obedience (teaching with pain) experimen..."

I think there is a similarity in that these experiments and what happens in Lord of the Flies both deal with the darker side of human nature. In the experiments, people are assigned a role. However, in Lord of the Flies, the boys have a choice - follow Ralph, who has the conch, which symbolizes order, or Jack, whose group regresses to a primitive state. The savagery in the book suggests that Golding believes that we could easily lose all progress we have made as a civilized society.

I've read 39, but I feel guilty about counting some of them that I read so many years ago, I can't even remember the plot (I read Thomas Hardy, and some of the great Russian novels my junior/senior year in high school, which would have been 1967-68 - no wonder I can't remember!!!) Also, the Harry Potter books are counted as 1 instead of 7, as are some other series. There are some on the list though, that I want to read, and some that, even while I recognize they are great books, have no appeal for me.

C F S R wrote: "The target audience is an interesting question. Whilst "young adult lit" has become a headline genre for publishers only recently, it existed for a considerable time before that; the Victorians wro..."

Here is a definition of young adult literature that I copied from a univeristy YA lit course syllabus:
Definition of a Young Adult Literature: Literature written for and marketed to young adults. Young adult literature is usually given the birth date of 1968 with the advent of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders. Other forms of literature prior to this date may have had young adult protagonists (such as Huck Finn), but it was usually intended for an adult audience. (http://www.public.iastate.edu/~dniday/39...)

Just for fun, I took a look at several online public library catalogs to see what section they had shelved LOTF - I found it in both YA and adult, but more frequently in adult. The wikipedia article defining young adult literature mentions LOTF and Catcher in the Rye as books with great young adult appeal that were originally published for adults.

Anyway - it doesn't really make a lot of difference, as it is book that is read by young adults today - I wonder though, if it is primarily read as a school assignment, as opposed to current popular YA titles where teens can identify with the protagonists.

Although it is commonly studied in high schools, I don't believe it was originally published as a children's book. I think we fall into the habit of thinking any book that has children as protagonists is a children's book. When this was published, young adult literature didn't really exist. There were children's books and adult books. I'm pretty sure this was considered an adult book. I think the key issue is what is it that keeps us civilized? We see Ralph trying to maintain order (ie government or authority) and Jack and the choir devolving into savages. I think it is interesting that Golding chose Jack's group to be "choirboys" as that makes their change even more radical.

My nomination is:
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Review
Winner of the 1933 Femina Vie Heureuse Prize, Cold Comfort Farm is a witty, irreverent parody of the works of Thomas Hardy and D.H. Lawrence. Flora Poste, left an orphan at the end of her "expensive, athletic, and prolonged" education, sets off for her relatives at Cold Comfort Farm, despite dire warnings of doom and damnation. Once there she encounters Seth, full of rampant sexuality; Elfine, who flits in and out in a cloak that is decidedly the wrong color; Meriam, the hired girl who gets pregnant every year when the "sukebind is in bloom;" and Aunt Ada Doom, the aging, reclusive matriarch who once "saw something nasty in the woodshed." Flora decides to "tidy up life at Cold Comfort Farm." Mocking Hardy's and Lawrence's melodrama, sensuality, and use of symbolism, Stella Gibbons has Flora, with her no-nonsense attitude, give Elfine a good haircut, teach Meriam some elementary lessons in birth control and send various morose, rural relatives off to happier fates. Cold Comfort Farm is funny even without a background in Hardy or Lawrence, but for those readers who have been frustrated attempting to find exactly where in Tess of the D'Urbervilles Tess is "seduced," or who have plowed through the intensity of Sons and Lovers, Cold Comfort Farm is sweet, hilarious revenge. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister

I am willing to lead the discussion - I've wanted to read this book ever since I saw the movie some years ago and haven't gotten around to it. Who can forget the line "I saw something nasty in the woodshed."!!!!!

(and this might also work as the humorous book choice - although I think "witty" might be a more appropriate word.)

Kipahni wrote: "I totally found the first half of the book confusing, like was it all boys on the plane? what happend to the plane? was it shot down or what? "

I just started rereading this and have probably read it two other times over the past 40 years (yikes! - am I really that old!!!!). I don't find it confusing, but that's probably because I am so familiar with the story. The plane crashed with no adult survivors - that is just kind of inferred, not stated out right. They were being evacuated because of an impending atomic attack and they are all British school boys.

Here is a good article on dog books from Abebooks:
The Dog and the Novel:Loyal Companions
http://www.abebooks.com/books/famous-dog...

Welcome Caroline - just scout around this site and pretty soon you'll have a list so long you'll never get them read!!!
Susan

I read this years ago and am looking forward to revisiting it. It has been made into a movie twice that I know of - first being in 1963. That followed the book closely and was so well done, there was no need to try another remake, whcih they did in 1990. The 1990 version strays from the book quite a bit.