New Books for 2010-2011

There is no Frigate like a Book

To take us Lands away,

Nor any Coursers like a Page

Of prancing Poetry.

~ Emily Dickinson ~

The summer storm was hours away, and the sky was covered with clouds like big brushstrokes across the Pittsburgh skyline.  What a nice view for our latest book club meeting, outside at Station Square.  We got the full Pittsburgh treatment, including long trains hurtling past.

The service was so slow that we had plenty of time to talk about books for the upcoming season.

Here are the choices and the Tuesday dates:

September 7, 2010
The Help, Kathryn Stockett

November 2 (Election Day)
Choose one to read and we will share:
Keeping the Sabbath Holy, Marva Dawn
or
An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor

January 11, 2011
Two books by Alice Waters (This will be our cooking and eating meeting!)
Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook
or
In the Green Kitchen

March 1, 2011
Strength in What Remains, Tracy Kidder

May 3, 2011
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot

The books include our theological choice, a novel, cookbooks, and two non-fiction stories.  Sounds like an interesting year.  As always, the best part is each other.

Summer Meeting to plan our New Season of Reading...

EVENING BOOK CLUB SUMMER MEETING
TUESDAY, JULY 20
6:00 p.m.
Bar Louie, Station Square.

Most of you thought the outdoor dining at Station Square was a good idea, so to keep it convenient for most we will meet at Bar Louie in Station Square.

Bring your book ideas and calendars…it was also suggested that the book clubs participate in the Rally Day festivities, with a booth of our own, so we can talk about that…

Hopefully it will be a nice sunny, but temperate evening.

Book Suggestions from Diane

Here are Diane's book suggestions for our new season of reading:


Fiction:

Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott
As the Ferguson parents struggle with various -iholisms of their own -- alcohol, work, career -- they must suddenly cope with those of their high school senior daughter.

Non-Fiction:

Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth
What are you hungry for? Hint: It's not food. In fact, it's everything but food. This provocative new book reveals the self-defeating truth about dieting, while lighting the path to a full and healthy life.


In the Green Kitchen, by Alice Waters
In the Green Kitchen is about getting back to the basics, using simple local, organic, and seasonal ingredients to make food that’s easy to create and delicious to eat. The book kicks off with the most basic technique — Washing lettuce (sans paper towels!) — and moves on to everything from making bread, blanching greens, pickling veggies, and roasting a chicken.


Thank you, Diane for these ideas!

LADIES:
Remember we will meet in the summer just for "food and fellowship" let us know your ideas for where and when!!!

Last meeting until September - keep posting

Hi All,

Our last book club meeting of the "semester" is this
Tuesday, May 4.

Please be sure to be on the lookout for book ideas for the new season of Evening Book Club, that starts in September. 

Post your ideas as you get them!! and let's keep the dialogue going...

Here is my book idea...one of my favorite authors, starting back when I lived in Baltimore, Anne Tyler. I've read everyone of her books. Her latest is "Noah's Compass" .You might get addicted to her...

ABOUT THIS BOOK

From the incomparable Anne Tyler, a wise, gently humorous, and deeply compassionate novel about a schoolteacher, who has been forced to retire at sixty-one, coming to terms with the final phase of his life.

Liam Pennywell, who set out to be a philosopher and ended up teaching fifth grade, never much liked the job at that run-down private school, so early retirement doesn’t bother him. But he is troubled by his inability to remember anything about the first night that he moved into his new, spare, and efficient condominium on the outskirts of Baltimore. All he knows when he wakes up the next day in the hospital is that his head is sore and bandaged.

His effort to recover the moments of his life that have been stolen from him leads him on an unexpected detour. What he needs is someone who can do the remembering for him. What he gets is—well, something quite different.

We all know a Liam. In fact, there may be a little of Liam in each of us. Which is why Anne Tyler’s lovely novel resonates so deeply.

Wendell Berry

The subject of the last two Sunday School classes has been "Does God Care What We Eat?" and Father Hall has done, I believe, an exceptional job of introducing us to the interconnectedness of food production, community and the Bible. 

My brain is idling too fast because due to state budget cuts my library is not open on Sunday and they have numerous books by Wendell Berry in there.  I want to break in and get one!  I'll have to wait 'til Monday when I plan to check out one of his novels.  I want to read the essays, too.

I'll keep you posted, but I strongly suggest that we read something by Wendell Berry as a future book selection.  Bea spoke at the class this morning and made an important point about not politicizing the subject. 

P. S. How can we get a conversation going on this blog?  Any suggestions?

Marianne

Food

The adult Sunday School class this morning was about "Does God Care What We Eat?" led by Father/Dr. Hall.  Now I want to read the book  by Michael Pollan about the "Natural History of Four Meals" (The Omnivore's Dilemma).  Maybe most book club members have read it.

Anyway, I offer it as a suggested selection for future reading.

Marianne

OUR NEXT BOOK

So our selection for the next meeting is "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. A non-fiction book, written by a former Washington Post staffer and a "New Yorker" writer.


"Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant in the blink of an eye - that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?"

Should be an interesting discussion- Snap decisions- good , bad!??!
 
We will meet on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at Jeanne's house.
 
Jeanne:
Let us know how you want to do dinner- another potluck?

What's next?

Thank you very much for allowing me to join the bookclub.  I am anxious to find out what the next book is going to be.

A Book Recommendation

for Bea--

Une si longue lettre,
Mariama Bâ

La Sénégalaise Mariama Bâ est la première romancière africaine á décrire avec une telle lumière la place faite aux femmes dans sa société.

Marianne

OUR CURRENT BOOKS for MARCH 2 Meeting

ANIMAL VEGETABLE, MIRACLE by Barbara Kingsolver

"Part memoir, part jounalistic investigation, this book, tells the story of how our family was changed by one year of deliberately eating food produced in the place where we live." Includes recipes.
and


THE PIONEER WOMAN COOKS by Ree Drummond

Part memoir,  part cookbook, a city gal marries a rancher and her life is dramtically changed - she shares her favorite recipes from her new life.

Check out her website at

http://thepioneerwoman.com/


SO  our plan is to read both or either book. We will then pick a recipe from either book,  cook the dish and meet at Pam Healds' home on Tuesday, March 2 to share our dishes and discuss the books as well as BLOGGING in general...

What fun! Let's get cooking!!!

Preface

Here it is--the beginning of a blog for the First Lutheran Church Evening Book Club. All members can post. The signature on each post will be FLC Reader; therefore, you may want to put your first name at the end of your post.

We can write about anything relevant to the book club, such as good book suggestions, responses to what we are reading, and comments about restaurants. Just remember that all of this is on the World Wide Web, and thus posts can be viewed by anyone.

Technical suggestions for customizing our blog are welcome. The creator of this blog is just a shade above a novice.

Marianne