Me Before You

 

We prevailed against the weather and the cold and had the opportunity to meet once again to discuss and reflect on our book of the month! We all agreed that we enjoyed reading Me Before You right through the end.  It was thoroughly engaging and thought provoking. As we discussed it, we made connections with other books we read in the past as well as with personal experiences we've had. It was intriguing to see how many applications we were able to make with the title and the characters in the book. Was it 

Will before Lou?

Louisa's family before her?  

Louisa's sunrising life vs Will's sunsetting one?

Patrick before Louisa?

It seemed as though Louisa was caught in the midst of whirlwind that pulled her in all directions. All that continued until Will began to widen her horizons. He helped spark her thinking and was instrumental in freeing her from some of her past negative experiences, stagnating relationships and responsibilities that tugged at her. In the end her life was much more meaningful but that came at a great emotional cost for Louisa! 

The other and most controversial line of this book centered on the topic of euthanasia. Though our opinions vary on where to draw the line on the topic of maintaining quality of life vs the sustaining of life at whatever cost, we all agree that decisions of this nature are complex and of a deeply personal nature. 

As always, it was wonderful to spend time with great friends as we shared our thoughts and reflection on the reading of Me Before You!  Thank you for coming and have a fantastic V- Day! 

Love, 

Miggy

Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez

 

Our January book selection was Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez. The story was historical fiction, about the dictatorship of Raphael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. The story is told from the viewpoint of the 12 year old main character, Anita. Anita's family must hide and eventually flee to escape from Trujillo.

Many of us were interested to learn more about the history of the Dominican Republic. Throughout our discussion, Maria Pages was able to relate to the story and compare her childhood experience growing up in Cuba under the dictator of Fidel Castro. We also discussed our favorite characters - Oscar, Chucha, Mama -- but everyone seemed to like Chucha the best. We compared how families lived in the past, and how they presently live. Many of the ladies are interested in watching the movie that was based on the Mirabal sisters referenced in the book, called "In The Time of Butterflies".

                                                                                 -----Yvette 

If you are interested in reading about Julia Alvarez and Bill Eichner (her opthalmologist/farmer husband) and their Vermont and Dominican farming, please click on the links below.

                                                                              cafealtagracia.com
http://mcse.middlebury.edu/2013/03/01/spring-speaker-series-lessons-learned-from-cafe-alta-gracia/

Yellow Crocus

Dear Bookworms,

WOW!! What a turnout for our last meeting in the 2013 year! Our special guest Diana came to surprise us!  It was a great time together!  Glad that everyone enjoyed the Yellow Crocus.
It was a familar genre, with a happy ending!

So many of us loved the same characters, Mattie and Matthew. We enjoyed Mattie's wisdom and forgiving heart. The way she was capable of loving Lisbeth while being taken away from her own son brought tears to some of our eyes. Matthew was our dream boyfriend/husband. He was kind, loving and supportive. Lisbeth hit the lottery having him as a husband!!  I'm so glad the Yellow Crocus was enjoyed by everyone and it was a quick read!

Happy holidays to everyone and a joyous new Year!

Best wishes,
Millie

The Rosie Project

Greetings Bookworms!

It was wonderful to be together at Blu Fig for another lively discussion, dinner, and friendship. We were served by a blond beauty with a BMI of about 22.5. There were some early birds, and some latecomers. Sigh. Don would have approved of the wine.

The Rosie Project had many themes -- love, friendship, dating, change, rule breaking, Aspergers, connections to others, and trust - to name a few. While we waited for everyone to arrive, those of us that hadn't taken the Rosie Quiz did so. We had three "Rosies" in our group - Mary, Maria Rego, and Myrna. There were three Claudias (Gene's wife) -- Yvette, Irene, and Lourdes. If you haven't taken the quiz yet, click here to take it! I was quite distressed to turn out as "Don", and I'm going to retake the test and study harder this time. Just because I was wearing a jacket - a nice Gortex one - green and extremely useful too -- and because I don't have a lot of friends? OY! Don was way more organized than me -- organizationally challenged human that I am!

We talked about some of our favorite scenes from the novel. Some liked the bar scene best, and others the restaurant fight in the beginning. I laughed out loud thinking about Don dancing with his skeleton, in anticipation of the upcoming Bianca date, without music. We discussed things that make us happy - many of us (the majority) love relaxing time spent at the beach, while others enjoy time alone in Barnes and Noble (Nicole), one LOVES ballroom dancing (Maria R.), and one of us NEEDS to be outside hiking somewhere/anywhere - a mountain, a beach, a forest - any outdoors place will do (me). Romantic movies we liked included The Notebook, Shining Though, Annie Hall, and The Way We Were.

Dating memories - some disasters - were also discussed. It seems there are many socially clueless males out there besides Don! I envied Don's organized dinners and his shopping outings - no wasted food - unlike my refrigerator - full of science experiments waiting to get thrown out. All in all we laughed and enjoyed each others company, and I'm very grateful to have all of you to enjoy this time together. How wonderful to have our new members Jill and Myrna, joining us, and we were thrilled to see Nicole again, after an extended absence.

Let's plan to see the movie together when it comes out.  Have a wonderful thanksgiving my friends, and I look forward to seeing you next month.

XXOO --
 Love,
Robin



P.S. I retested myself today on the quiz, and came out as Claudia. Phew.

Year 5 begins! October 7, 2013

Dear Neary Book Club family,

It was so nice starting another year of our beloved book club.  I am so glad that many of you were able to attend our meeting and that we had the joy of having Jill join our group.  Welcome Jill!

Reading And the Mountains Echoed gave us the opportunity to enjoy yet another compelling, well-written story by Khaled Hosseini.  The story spans several generations and moves back and forth between Afghanistan and the West. It grapples with the relationship between family members, particularly between siblings, and how their actions may have consequences that last a lifetime.  The book is written almost as a collection of short stories, with each of the nine chapters being told from the perspective of a different character. Yet, for some reason it is the story of Abdullah and Pari that struck me the most, and in some way left me sad and disappointed … I guess I always want a happy ending.

Thank you ladies, for sharing your thoughts, perspectives and in many cases your own personal experiences, they all add so much to our discussions.

Looking forward to our next literary soiree…

Maria

A Painted House

Dear Neary Book Club family,

 

     I am so glad that most of you joined us on Monday, June 3. I always look forward to your company and conversation.  I chose this book because I wanted to read something that was not too long, not too intense and still had a message. Did you know that Mexicans and hillbillies were cotton-pickers? This was another reason why I chose this book. I wanted to learn about their interactions on a farm and what their roles were. 

     A Painted House showed us the trials and tribulations of farm life. It showed us that most times families stick together through thick and thin. We realized that prejudice and class distinction exists even amongst the poor. Except for the fact that technology has allowed us to advance, things are not that much different. People still work hard and want a better life for themselves and their families. We have many more conveniences today, but I wonder do we really need them all. (I just wouldn't want to do without running water and toilets for sure!!!!) I thought this novel had some traits of good vs. evil. We discussed Hank being the villain and the bully, and the Chandlers being kind and caring through many of their actions. We all felt that it certainly must have been a burden for Luke (the boy who narrates the story) to have had to keep so many secrets. We all enjoyed the book and thought it would make a good movie. Surprise, surprise it already is !!!! That was my little secret until the end.

     I wish you all a healthy and safe, fun-loving summer.

        --- Maria R.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

Dear Bookworms,

Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and feelings on the Twelve Tribes of Hattie. It was as always, great to see everyone. Having the opportunity to be in our bookclub has allowed me to read books written in so many genres. I appreciate our time spent together.

Ayana Mathis wrote about the tribulations of Hattie as a mother and wife. As we discussed Hattie's mothering skills, it was hard to understand why she couldn't open her heart to her children. It was easy to see why Hattie blamed August for everything. His womanizing, drinking and inability to financially take care of his family didn't make him a desirable character. This novel left me feeling that so much was unknown about Hattie's children. Mathis could have joined the characters earlier on in the book and continued sharing about each of them in latter chapters. Who knows, maybe a sequel will be written.

Looking forward to seeing you all again next month.

Happy Reading,
Millie