MY PICK

Ok all...I have decided to go with one of my top 3 favorite books of all time...THE THORN BIRDS!! Hope you all love it as much as I do. Maybe when everyone is done we can all watch the mini series and discuss that too, I have 2 copies if anyone wants one! :) Rani and I talked, and we decided that we will read Thorn Birds until January. It's a long book, and things start getting crazy over the Holidays. Our book review will be the first or second week of January. Once we start again in January, there will be some new rules and changes to the book club. So far we noticed our members dwindling away, and people not showing up for their reviews! From here on out Rani and I may have to be the book nazis...so I apologize in advance. We are serious about our club, and only want people that are totally committed and will participate each month.

Enjoy The Thorn Birds and see you all again in January!!

BTW, if you read any good books between now and then, please share! Les, I have one for you...The Rembrandt Affair. I read it on the flight home from Paris and it was set mostly in Paris and Amsterdam!! I loved it, soooo good! Made me wish we would have gone through The Rembrandt Museum in Amsterdam though. :(

And one last item on the agenda...Congrats to Andrea on the new baby!!! Can't wait to see pics, you should post some!

XOXO!

Nat

NAT'S PICKS

Ok, my pics are below. Sorry, I am going for LONG novels..maybe we should give ourselves 3 months to read??? I also have to add in my two cents: I have read novels by each of the authors, and actually read The Thorn Birds twice. All are epic sagas, all are long, and all are AMAZING authors and some of my favorite books. Has anyone read Pillars of the Earth or The Poisonwood Bible? Amazing!! And you have all heard my raving about The Thorn Birds (one of my favorite books on earth!) I am so excited about these selections! Please vote on the right!

1) KEN FOLLET: FALL OF GIANTS

Amazon Best of the Month, September 2010: Welcome to the 20th century as you've never seen it. At over 1,000 pages, Fall of Giants delivers all the elements that fans of Ken Folletthave come to treasure: historical accuracy, richly developed characters, and a sweeping yet intimate portrait of a past world that you'll fully inhabit before the first chapter is through. The story follows five families across the globe as their fates intertwine with the extraordinary events of World War I, the political struggles within their own countries, and the rise of the feminist movement. Intriguing stories of love and loyalty abound, from a forbidden romance between a German spy and a British aristocrat to a Russian soldier and his scandal-ridden brother in love with the same woman. Action-packed with blood on the battlefield and conspiracies behind closed doors, Fall of Giants brings the nuances of each character to life and shifts easily from dirty coal mines to sparkling palaces. There is so much to love here, and the good news is the end is just the beginning: Fall of Giants is the first in a planned trilogy. --Miriam Landis

Product Description

Ken Follett's World Without End was a global phenomenon, a work of grand historical sweep, beloved by millions of readers and acclaimed by critics. At a towering 1,000 pages,Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic and the first novel in The Century Trilogy.

It follows the fates of five interrelated families-American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh-as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.

Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams enters a man's world in the Welsh mining pits...Gus Dewar, an American law student rejected in love, finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House...two orphaned Russian brothers, Grigori and Lev Peshkov, embark on radically different paths half a world apart when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution...Billy's sister, Ethel, a housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts, takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London...

These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as, in a saga of unfolding drama and intriguing complexity, Fall of Giants moves seamlessly from Washington to St. Petersburg, from the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty. As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. It is destined to be a new classic.

In future volumes of The Century Trilogy, subsequent generations of the same families will travel through the great events of the rest of the twentieth century, changing themselves-and the century itself. With passion and the hand of a master, Follett brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now will never seem the same again.

2) COLLEEN MCCULLOUGH: THE THORN BIRDS

Review

"A heart-rending epic...truly marvelous" -- --Chicago Tribune

"A perfect Read...The kind of book the world blockbuster was made" -- --Boston Globe

"Beautiful...compelling entertaiment" -- unknown

Product Description

Now, 25 years after it first took the world by storm, Colleen McCullough's sweeping family saga of dreams, titanic struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback returns to enthrall a new generation. As powerful, moving, and unforgettable as when it originally appeared, it remains a monumental literary achievement—a landmark novel to be read . . . and read again!

3) BARBARA KINGSOLVER: PRODIGAL SUMMER

There is no one in contemporary literature quite like Barbara Kingsolver. Her dialogue sparkles with sassy wit and earthy poetry; her descriptions are rooted in daily life but are also on familiar terms with the eternal. With Prodigal Summer, she returns from the Congo to a "wrinkle on the map that lies between farms and wildness." And there, in an isolated pocket of southern Appalachia, she recounts not one but three intricate stories.

Exuberant, lush, riotous--the summer of the novel is "the season of extravagant procreation" in which bullfrogs carelessly lay their jellied masses of eggs in the grass, "apparently confident that their tadpoles would be able to swim through the lawn like little sperms," and in which a woman may learn to "tell time with her skin." It is also the summer in which a family of coyotes moves into the mountains above Zebulon Valley:

The ghost of a creature long extinct was coming in on silent footprints, returning to the place it had once held in the complex anatomy of this forest like a beating heart returned to its body. This is what she believed she would see, if she watched, at this magical juncture: a restoration.

The "she" is Deanna Wolfe, a wildlife biologist observing the coyotes from her isolated aerie--isolated, that is, until the arrival of a young hunter who makes her even more aware of the truth that humans are only an infinitesimal portion in the ecological balance. This truth forms the axis around which the other two narratives revolve: the story of a city girl, entomologist, and new widow and her efforts to find a place for herself; and the story of Garnett Walker and Nannie Rawley, who seem bent on thrashing out the countless intimate lessons of biology as only an irascible traditional farmer and a devotee of organic agriculture can. As Nannie lectures Garnett, "Everything alive is connected to every other by fine, invisible threads. Things you don't see can help you plenty, and things you try to control will often rear back and bite you, and that's the moral of the story."

Structurally, that gossamer web is the story: images, phrases, and events link the narratives, and these echoes are rarely obvious, always serendipitous. Kingsolver is one of those authors for whom the terrifying elegance of nature is both aesthetic wonder and source of a fierce and abiding moral vision. She may have inherited Thoreau's mantle, but she piles up riches of her own making, blending her extravagant narrative gift with benevolent concise humor. She treads the line between the sentimental and the glorious like nobody else in American literature. --Kelly Flynn

Review for House Rules

 Did you guess what happened at Jess' house before the end of the book?
Rani says:
 but i don't even know if nat's cousin is doing it anymore
 yes i figured it out
Leslie says:
 I thought they gave it away early on
Rani says:
 yup totally
 it drove me crazy he wouldn't tell!
Andrea says:
 I had a pretty good idea, I knew he didn't hurt her
Leslie says:
 I was sort of mad when they let on that the brother was in the house
Andrea says:
 Me too
Rani says:
 right
Leslie says:
 I thought that they should have saved that twist till the end
Andrea says:
 Brother should have totally stepped up sooner
Leslie says:
 YUP
 Was it believable that Jacob would try to cover for Theo without understanding that he was implicating himself in the murder?
Rani says:
 yup agreed on both parts...he seriuosly was ready to let his bro go to jail
Leslie says:
 I think it is so hard to understand the actions of someone with aspergers
Rani says:
 Ok for the most part and for a typical asperger kid i would think so, but i have to say with as much as he knew about solving crimes i had a hard time buying that he would not have
Andrea says:
 I think he would, it was part of the House Rules and he was very much into following them
Rani says:
 he was totally a savant in that area
Leslie says:
 Right, he seemed especially smart
Rani says:
   right about the house rules
 i forgot about that
 it overuled i guess
Leslie says:
 What do you think happened to the characters after they went to tell the judge about Theo being at the house? Were you upset that there was not more of a conclusion to the story?
 I would like to believe that it was ruled as a mistrial and everyone was set free. But is it really that easy?
Rani says:
 I got the feeling everything ended neatly and happy...whether or not it would have realistically I'm not sure.
Andrea says:
 Very much so!!! I was sortof ticked I read 500+ pages and got totally ripped off in the end
 I wanted more!
 I like happy endings though, and while I think this had one, I wish it would have give me a little more
Leslie says:
 Me too. In some sense I thought she really hit you over the head with Asperger's and could have cut down on some areas and added 20 more pages at the end
Andrea says:
 I agree, I felt like she was repetitive sometimes
Rani says:
 right, i have to agree there...in other aspects realistically a kid with asperger's that has been in therapy that long, i think he wouldn't have been that abnormal in other areas too
Leslie says:
 Do you think an insanity defense if appropriate for someone with Asperger's? Why or why not?
 I would say yes, but it made you feel like he was competent. If I was the mother of the victim I would have a harder time
Andrea says:
 I am not sure on this one, I felt like he totally knew and understood what he was doing, so in this instance I don't think he needed an insanity plea I think he just needed to tell the truth
Rani says:
 I think it depends on the person just like any murder case... in his case and the way the story was going i definitely think it was appropriate
Leslie says:
 right.
Rani says:
 i say appropriate obviously because he seemed incapable of telling what happened
Leslie says:
 I blame the brother for coming forward.
Rani says:
 i totally do
 he knew better
Andrea says:
 True, but I think if they would have put him on the stand and asked him to tell the truth he would have
 Agree it was all the brothers fault
Leslie says:
 It was frustrating that he could not see how simple the solution was. I could not image how it would be to deal with that on a daily basis.
 It's amazing how many different challenges people have to go through in life
Rani says:
 I know it seriously would be utterly difficult
Andrea says:
 I couldn't either, the poor mother
Leslie says:
 Do you know anyone with Asperger's syndrome? Did the descriptions of Jacob fit what you know of that person?
Rani says:
 and i think the 3 year old currently sitting on my back begging to stay up is difficult
Leslie says:
 I really don't know anyone with Asperger's
 Is he really still up?!
Rani says:
 Ok this is the only part of the book that frustrated me
 i've done a lot of research on it
Leslie says:
 And?
Rani says:
 and from what i understand...and we know she got the kid in therapy from the getgo
Andrea says:
 We have a kid in our primary, and he is really smart and super instense about certain things, but I probably don't know him well enough to say
Rani says:
 a kid with asperger's can end up being pretty dang normal with therapy
Leslie says:
 umm
Rani says:
 and often get their diagnosis reversed
Leslie says:
 really?
 I really didn't know much about it before the book.
Rani says:
 i think the story would have been more realistic if he had just plain autism
 cause aspergers is suppose to be the highest functioning form of autism
Andrea says:
 possibly, the spectrum for that is so huge
Leslie says:
 I was curious to see what Nat has to say since she has worked a lot with autistic kids.
Rani says:
 my friend annie's kid has asbergers, and was in therapy since he was 2, and now he is 7 and had his diagnosis reversed just last year
Andrea says:
 That is great you can reverse it, I know I would be doing anything I could
 i can't imagine not wanting to help my kid
Leslie says:
 Did you learn anything new about Asperger's syndrome?
Rani says:
 Well I think it's always interesting, and every case is different for sure...
Leslie says:
 What did you think of Oliver's romance with Jacob's mother?
Rani says:
  i loved the romance actually
 i'm just a romantic, but he seemed nice and adorable
 i loved that he got the food days too
Leslie says:
 I thought it was sort of strange but I also thought they were trying to show that after years of putting her son first she was finally considering herself
Rani says:
 good point
Andrea says:
 At first I thought it was going to be the cop that she hooked up with, but I thought he was cute
 I also liked the food thing
Rani says:
 i thought the cop too at first
Leslie says:
 Was the cop married/
Rani says:
 divorced
Andrea says:
 divorced
Leslie says:
 oh, right
 Overall did you like the book?
Rani says:
 i really did, i thought it was very entertaining
 i also liked that she wrote in her typical style
 i feel it helps you get to know the characters better
Andrea says:
 I did like it, I enjoy her style when she does the chapters for the different characters
 I did wish there was a little more at the end though
Leslie says:
 I thought it was interesting. I really didn't know much about Asperger's. I also liked her style
 I like how she wrote it from the different character's point of view
Rani says:
 did you guys read my sister's keeper too?
Leslie says:
 She spent so much time developing the story and the characters that I thought she could have ended it a bit better.
 yea. It was so hard to read. So sad.
 Have you read any of her other books?
Rani says:
 agreed, the ending left much to be desired
Andrea says:
 That was the first one of hers that I had read, totally hated the end
Rani says:
 i've read the two, and then saw the movie about the amish girl
Leslie says:
 I hated the end but then I watched the move and hated that even more
 What is the one about the amish girl.
Andrea says:
 yeah I heard the movie ends different, I haven't seen it yet
Rani says:
 ya i felt the same... i'm trying to remember the name
 but she gets pregnant
 and aborts her baby
 i can't remember if she aborts it on purpose or not
Leslie says:
 I should read a few more of hers when I have time
 There are so many books I am waiting to read right now.
Rani says:
 i know it gets hard!

House Rules Book Review Questions

Book Review Monday, September 13th at 9:30 EST

If you have not finished the book, hurry up! If you have not started it, go buy it today. It is an easy read.

1. Did you guess what happened at Jess' house before the end of the book?

2. Was it believable that Jacob would try to cover for Theo without understanding that he was implicating himself in the murder?

3. What do you think happened to the characters after they went to tell the judge about Theo being at the house? Were you upset that there was not more of a conclusion to the story?

4. Do you think an insanity defense if appropriate for someone with Asperger's? Why or why not?

5. Do you know anyone with Asperger's syndrome? Did the descriptions of Jacob fit what you know of that person?

6. Did you learn anything new about Asperger's syndrome?

7. What did you think of Oliver's romance with Jacob's mother?

Choices...

Ok, since our vote of choices 3 months out won...how about we continue with the order we have but, Nat, myself and Becky will bring our first 3 choices to the table at the September review??? And then following that, the person assigned for the 4 month out will bring their choice to the consecutive review and so forth.  Does that make sense?  So September's review will be House Rules (which is super great!!!, if you haven't read it yet, get on it!), October review will be Innocent Traitor, November review will be whatever Nat picks, December, is my pick and Jan is Becky's pick... Then in October, Andrea will bring her pick for February's review.  I also had one other thought which everyone can say yeah or nay too...We could make December a free read month, since its a hectic time of year, and basically our review for that month we could each  tell each other about the book we chose to read. Anyhow, just an option as we are still sorting this bookclub out. Let me know your thoughts! Thank you!

Poll Again...

Ok I went ahead and did one more poll since the 6 months in advance choice won, but it was also suggested to do just 3 months out, but since I was unable to change the poll midway, I just decided to post the second. It's a 2 day quickie poll then we'll figure this all out :)

August Book of the Month...

My pick for August is "Innocent Traitor" by Alison Weir.
This book is a fictional portrait of Lady Jane Grey, the great neice of Henry the Eighth. It follows her turbulent life against the backdrop of Tudor power politics and religious upheaval , from her youth, to her nine day reign as Queen of England , to its tragic aftermath.