Book List 2016

1. Morton, Kate, The Forgotten Garden, A tiny 4-year-old girl is abandoned on an Australian wharf in 1913. She only has a small suitcase and a beautiful book of fairy tales. 560pp. litlover.com.
2. Binchy, Maeve, The Nights of Rain and Stars, In a small town in Greece strangers see a boating accident. Then subsequently become entangled in each others lives. 368pp. bookrags.com
3. Bauermeister, Erica, Joy for Beginners, What would you do with a second chance at life? Having survived a life-threatening illness, Kate celebrates by gathering with six close friends. 288p. litlovers.com
4. Richman, Alyson, The Lost Wife, In pre-war Prague, the dreams of two young lovers are shattered when they are separated by the Nazi invasion. Then, decades later, thousands of miles away in New York, there's an inescapable glance of recognition between two strangers. 352p. litlover.com
5. O’Reilly, Bill and Dugard, Martin, Killing Kennedy, The End of Camelot, The authors go over the events before John F. Kennedy assassination and the aftermath. They also concentrate on the threat of Communists and the Cold War. 366p.
6. Brown, David, The Boys in the Boat, A group of rowers pursue Olympic gold during the 1936 Berlin Olympic games.llitlovers.com.
7. Irving, John,The Prayer for Owen Meaning, This book tells the story of John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany growing up together in a small New Hampshire town during the 1950s and 1960's. 640p. litlover.com
8. Name-Naomi, Beautiful, blonde, materialist Delilah Levy steps into a life she could have never imagined when in a moment of panic she decides to marry a sincere Rabbinical student. 320p. litlover.co
9. Chamberlain, Diane, Pretend to Dance, Molly Arnette is very good at keeping secrets. She and her husband live in San Diego, where they hope to soon adopt a baby. But the process terrifies her. 384p.
10. See, Lisa, Shanghai Girls, This book centers on the complex relationship between 2 sisters, May and Pearl. They go through great pain and suffering in leaving war torn Shanghai. 314p. litlovers.com
11. Sendker, Jan-Phillip, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, A poignant love story set in Burma, tells the story of a successful New York lawyer who suddenly disappears until his wife and daughter find a love letter he wrote many years to a Burmese woman who they never heard of. 336pp. litlover.com

  1 3. Hepworth, Sally, The Things we keep,

    14. McClain, Paula, Circling the Sun.
     15. Hannah, Kristen, The Nightingale, Two sisters are in World War II France. One     sister is struggling in the countryside, the other one is joining the French Resistance. 444p. litlovers.com Check






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Book titles to select our future book discussions

Vogt, Virginia, Death By Moonlight  This book is a double mystery. Two terrible crimes mirror each other across nearly two centuries, and both must be solved to rescue a young girl threatened by an age-old evil.  376p. This book is written by a Morristown author. We could see if she would like to speak to our group. Norma’s friend also belongs to a book club and this author spoke to her book group. If we chose this book maybe we could have her speak

in April or after.

 

Brennert, Alan, Molaka’i,  Rachel Kalama is a young native Hawaiian girl growing up in Honolulu at the end of the 19th century. At age seven is diagnosed with Hansen's disease, taken from her family, and exiled to the leprosy settlement on a remote peninsula on the island of Moloka'i. 400p. readinggroupguides.com

 

Van Allen, Lisa, The Wishing Thread, This book  is an enchanting novel about the bonds between sisters, the indelible pull of the past, and the transformational power of love. 400p.

 

Erdrich. Louise, Round House, National Book Award Winner One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. 336pp

 

McLain, Paula, The Paris Wife, This deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley.352p readinggroupguides.com

Bostwick, Marie, Between Heaven and Texas, This book takes readers into the heart of a small Texas town and the soul of a woman who discovers her destiny there. 352p.

Phillips, Jayne Ann, Lark and Termite, Set during the 1950s in West Virginia and Korea, this is the story of two children--Lark, on the verge of adulthood, and her brother, Termite, a child unable to walk and talk but filled with radiance. 304p. readinggroupguides.com

 

 

Barbery, Muriel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, This book that is set in France is a study in the dichotomy of the hidden inner self versus outer perceptions. Paloma and René are each careful to build a facade that hides their true nature from the world. Until a new tenant moves into their building, this plan has worked well — but no longer. What happens when you meet someone who can see who you really are? 336p. litlovers.com



Kingsolver, Barbara, Flight Behavior, a young Tennessee woman who stumbles upon millions of misguided Monarch butterflies. 434p. readingroupguides.com



Edwards, Kim, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, This novel begins on a winter night in 1964 in
Lexington, Kentucky, when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son, born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognizes that his daughter has Down syndrome. Rationalizing it as a need to protect Norah, his wife, he makes a split second decision that will alter all of their lives forever. 444p. readingroupguides.com

Patton, Lisa, Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter, LeeLee moved from Memphis to Vermont for her husband to follow his pipe dream of managing a quaint inn. In this funny and sad fish out water book LeeLee learns she is more resilient than she thinks she is. 312p

www.lisapatton.com/DiscussionQuestions.pdf

 

Shaffer, Mary ,The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, In January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name. 304p. www.litlovers.com/.../405-guernsey-literary-and-potato-peel-pie-society

 

Wait until in paperback

 

Walls, Jeanette, The Silver Star, Jeannette Walls has written a heartbreaking and redemptive novel about an intrepid girl who challenges the injustice of the adult world—a triumph of imagination and storytelling. 269p.

 

O’Reilly, Bill, Killing Kennedy-

 

Thorn Birds

In October and November our book club read The Thorn Birds. We enjoyed this Australian epic book. We divided this book for two months because it is a 704 page book.

McCullough, Colleen, The Thorn Birds, 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.

 

Christmas books

In November and December I like to read Christmas books. These books put in the Christmas spirit. I also shared them with our book club.

Frank, Dorothy Benton, The Christmas Pearl, With her truculent family gathered at her stately Charleston mansion for Christmas, 93-year-old matriarch Theodora is having a hard time tolerating the lot of them. Theodora hankers for her 1920s childhood and her family's Christmas. 256p.

Ahern, Cecelia, The Gift, 320p This Christmas story is a winning tale of magic and redemption. Lou Suffern is a busy man, and his family's growing weary of constantly taking the backseat to his career. 320p.

Jacobs, Kate, Knit the Season: A Friday Night Knitting, With the holidays just around the corner, the Friday Night Knitting group women have reason to celebrate: There's a special wedding planned for New Year's Day.  260p. litlovers.com

VanLiere, Donna,
The Christmas Secret, When a struggling young single mother saves the life of an elderly woman, she sets into motion a series of events that will test her strength, loyalty, and determination, all the while setting her on the path to finding true love. 291p.

Lamb, Wally, Wishin' and Hoping, It is 1964. LBJ and Lady Bird are in the White House, Meet the Beatles is on everyone's turntable, and ten-year-old Felix Funicello (distant cousin of the iconic Annette!) is doing his best to navigate fifth grade—easier said than done when scary movies still give you nightmares and you bear a striking resemblance to a certain adorable cartoon boy. But there are several things young Felix can depend on: the birds and bees are puzzling, television is magical, and this is one Christmas he's never going to forget. 274p.

Washburn, Livia, The Christmas Cookie Killer, The
Yuletide is here-and retired teacher cum amateur sleuth Phyllis Newsom looks forward to finishing up this unlucky year. But she won't be hanging up her apron just yet-because this year's Christmas bake-off is going to be cutthroat. 272p.

Thayer, Nancy, Nantucket Christmas, Holidays on Nantucket are nothing short of magical, and the season's wonderful traditions are much loved by Nicole Somerset, new to Nantucket and recently married to a handsome former attorney. Their home is already full of enticing scents of pine, baking spices, and homemade pie. But the warm, festive mood is soon tempered by Nicole's chilly stepdaughter, Kennedy, who arrives without a hint of holiday spirit. 209p.

Our book list for our book club

I have continued to be the keeper of the list. I have included our Christmas selection and our New Year's 2014 selection. I have also included books that we will select from later in 2014.

December-Chris at Chris's house-Washburn, Livia, The Christmas Cookie Killer
The
Yuletide is here-and retired teachercum amateur sleuth Phyllis Newsom looks forward to finishing up this unlucky year. But she won't be hanging up her apron just yet-because this year's Christmas bake-off is going to be cutthroat. 272p.

January-Ellen- Walter, Jess, Beautiful Ruins, The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. 352p. litlovers.com

February-Linda-library- Sotomayer, Sonia, My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayer, the first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, she recounts her life with candor from a Bronx housing project to the federal bench. 416p

March-Fran- Hoffman, Alice, The Third Angel, Three women linked over time by love and redemption. Three weddings riddled with secrecy and betrayal. Three generations wounded by heartbreak and loss. Traveling backward through time, The Third Angel moves from modern-day London where Maddy Heller seduces her sister's fiancé to the wild days of the '60s where Frieda Lewis falls for a musician with in search of a muse, and finally to the buttoned-down '50s where Bryn Evans can't give up her complicated ex-husband. 304p. Litlovers.com

More books to select from

Franek, Valarie Four of a Kind, Brought together as committee members at their children's school, and four women assume they have nothing in common. Until they meet for each other.

 
 

Frank, Dorothy Benton, Sullivan's Island, Set on the coast of South Carolina, this book explores one woman's journey from a contentedly married middle-aged wife and mother to a newly divorced woman looking back on her past for reassurance and to the future for some means of regaining her self-esteem. 416p. litlovers.com

 
 

Vogt, Virginia,
Death By Moonlight is a double mystery. Two terrible crimes mirror each other across nearly two centuries, and both must be solved to rescue a young girl threatened by an age-old evil.
376p.
This book is written by a Morristown author. We could see if she would like to speak to our group. Norma's friend also belongs to a book club and this author spoke to her book group. If we chose this book maybe we could have her speak

in April or after.

Erdrich. Louise, Round House, National Book Award Winner One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. 336pp

 
 

Sotomayer, Sonia, My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayer, the first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, she recounts her life with candor from a Bronx housing project to the federal bench. 416p

 
 

Walter, Jess, Beautiful Ruins, The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. 352p. litlovers.com

 
 

Hoffman, Alice, The Third Angel, Three women linked over time by love and redemption. Three weddings riddled with secrecy and betrayal. Three generations wounded by heartbreak and loss. Traveling backward through time, The Third Angel moves from modern-day London where Maddy Heller seduces her sister's fiancé to the wild days of the '60s where Frieda Lewis falls for a musician with in search of a muse, and finally to the buttoned-down '50s where Bryn Evans can't give up her complicated ex-husband. 304p. Litlovers.com

 
 

McLain, Paula, The Paris Wife, This deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley.352p readinggroupguides.com

 
 

O'Reilly, Bill, Killing Kennedy- Hardback will wait until it comes into paperback.

 
 

Patton, Lisa, Whistlin' Dixie in a Nor'easter, LeeLee moved from Memphis to Vermont for her husband to follow his pipe dream of managing a quaint inn. In this funny and sad fish out water book LeeLee learns she is more resilient than she thinks she is. 312p

www.lisapatton.com/DiscussionQuestions.pdf

Wells, Jeanette, Silver Star, The Silver Star, This is story about an intrepid girl who challenges the injustice of the adult world—a triumph of imagination and storytelling. 269p. Wait until it comes out in paperback

Van Allen, Lisa, The Wishing Thread, The Wishing Thread is an enchanting novel about the bonds between sisters, the indelible pull of the past, and the transformational power of love. 400p.

 

 

I have continued to be the keeper for our book club list. The following are books that we discussed or we will discuss from  December 2012 to September 2013. One of our favorite was The Shoemaker's Wife.

December 2012-Trigiani, Adriana,The Shoemaker’s Wife, The majestic and haunting beauty of the Italian Alps is the setting of the first meeting of Enza, a practical beauty, and Ciro, a strapping mountain boy, who meet as teenagers, despite growing up in villages just a few miles apart. At the turn of the last century, when Ciro catches the local priest in a scandal, he is banished from his village and sent to hide in America as an apprentice to a shoemaker in Little Italy. Without explanation, he leaves a bereft Enza behind.496p. litlovers.com

2013
Sylvia-January-Findlay, William, Defending Jacob,

Linda-February- Simon, Rachel, The Story of Beautiful Girl, Lynnie, a young white woman is put into the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded. She meets Homan, an African American man. Deeply in love, they escape. They start a long journey. 340p. litlover.com

Kris-March- Sebold, Alice, Lovely Bones, Shockingly original and completely unforgettable, The Lovely Bones is the story of a family devastated by a gruesome murder -- a murder recounted by the teenage victim. 352p. www.litlovers.com

Karen-April- McFadden, Maryann, The Richest Season, When lonely corporate wife Joanna Harrison runs away to Pawleys Island, she has no idea what happens next. But as a new life takes root, thanks to a passionate fisherman and a commitment to save endangered turtles, demands from her old life may force her to return. The Richest Season is a stunning debut that will resonate with any woman who's ever fantasized about leaving home to find herself. 352p.

Ellen-May- Frank, Dorothy Benton, Porch Lights, May and after In the South Carolina Low country, three generations of a family--a grandmother, a mother, and a son--discover the indelible power of love as they share a memorable summer on Sullivan's Island.  324pp   litlovers.com 

Norma-June-Lannert, Stacey and Kristen Kemp, Redemption: A Story of Sisterhood, Survival, and Finding Freedom Behind Bars, On July 4, 1990, eighteen-year-old Stacey Lannert shot and killed her father, who had been sexually abusing her since she was eight.

336pp This is the book that Pat Andersen talked about at one our meetings. It is not in library. It is sold through Barnes and Noble. Please use the complete title.

Linda- July Flagg, Fannie, Fried Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café This book is the story of two women in the 1980s: of gray-headed Mrs Threadgoode telling her life story to Evelyn, who is in the sad slump of middle age. The tale she tells is also of two women--of the irrepressibly dare devilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth--who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, offering good barbecue and good coffee and all kinds of love and laughter, even an occasional murder. 416p. litlovers.com

Sylvia August-Landay, William, Mission Flats Nothing ever happens in the sleepy backwater town of Versailles, Maine. At least, that’s what everybody thought. When Police Chief Ben Truman finds a body in the tourist cabins by Lake Mattaquisett, he is plunged headlong into a murder investigation that leads all the way into Boston Proper. 400p.

September-Trigiani, Adriana, Very Valentine, Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia.  401p. www.harpercollins.com/author/authorExtra.aspx?isbn13

Public library Use

Public Library Use

Use your library card!!! A library card is free. We know that there are very few things in our lives that are free.

Find out what your libraries web site is. From your home you can reserve books.

Libraries have free internet. This is great for job hunting and for students who are researching for

school reports and papers.

Many libraries will show you how to use a computer or have free computer classes. There are free e- books and books on mp3 players.

Many libraries have special movie afternoon and evening viewing. Tomorrow night I am going to see

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. When I read it as a teenager I loved the book and I also saw the movie many many years ago.

Also libraries may have exercise groups, writer's groups, knitting, and needlework groups. I also found a gaming group with Wii gaming systems and board games. Then, I also found

an Omigiri club that pertains to manga and anime.

If you would like to join a book discussion group, check and see if there is one.

Also check for pre-school story times.

During the summer, libraries have special summer programs for children and teens.

One thing I love to do in the library when I have the time. I love to sit down and read the newspapers and magazines. We do subscribe to magazines but we cannot afford to subscribe to every magazine that we like to read.

You can find movies, video games and TV DVDs.

Public libraries offer its community many services and are a special resource, use it.