Book: Stella Bain
Author: Anita Shreve
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014
Place: Julie's
Food: Dinner in honor of Grace's birthday. Smoked salmon dip for appetizer, spanakopita for the meal, and a cake, of course, for dessert. This was a first ever meal for this group. Delicious!
I read Stella Bain as a digital download while in Oaxaca in November. The story of a young volunteer nurse with amnesia near the front lines in France during WWI and her life as it eventually unfolds kept me turning pages. But, it all wraps up a little too neatly in the end for my taste.
Book: We Need New Names
Author: NoViolet Bulawayo
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015
Place: Jane's
Dessert: chocolate cake with caramel sea salt ice cream
Again, "Not a happy story" (this is a recurring theme of books chosen by this group). Darling (the name of the main character) was born and raised in Zimbabwe and eventually comes to the US. My favorite part of the story is her descriptions of snow and cold.
From p.152 of the hardbound book: "With all this snow, with the sun not there, with the cold and dreariness, this place doesn't look like my America, doesn't even look real. It's like we are in a terrible story, like we're in the crazy parts of the Bible, there where God is busy punishing people for their sins and is making them miserable with all the weather."
OK, I promised not to whine about the weather, but this was SO Madison in December; not white, but no sun and dreary. Bulawayo has at least 3 other sections devoted to winter in "Destroyedmichygen" where snow is described as sneaky and a monster. I'm glad I read it, but I can't say I enjoyed it.
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