March Selection

The March Book

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

Meeting Date

Saturday, 28 March 2009

1000a at Jen's House

Orlando

Brunch will be served!

About the Book

(from amazon.com)

Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, has a dream about finding a treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. A gypsy woman and an old man claiming to be a mysterious king advise him to pursue it. "To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation," the old man tells him. "And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

With the courage of an adventurer, Santiago sells his sheep and travels to Tangiers in Africa. After a thief steals his money, Santiago takes a job with a crystal merchant who unwittingly teaches Santiago important lessons for his long journey ahead. After working at the crystal shop for a year, Santiago earns enough money to cover his losses and return home. But then something unexpected happens. On a desert caravan, Santiago meets an intriguing Englishman. The Englishman's passion for knowledge and his relentless quest to uncover the secrets of alchemy inspire Santiago to pursue his own dream of finding the treasure. As the Englishman searches for the two hundred year old alchemist who resides in the desert oasis, Santiago falls in love with a young woman, Fatima. Exposed to the greatest and eternal alchemy of all–love–Santiago thinks he has found the treasure. But the greatest test of all is yet to come. With the help of the alchemist, Santiago completes the last leg of his journey–dangerous and infused with discoveries of the most profound kind–to find that the treasure he was looking for was waiting for him in the place where he least expected.

This story, timeless and entertaining, exotic yet simple, breaks down the journey we all take to find the most meaningful treasures in our lives into steps that are at once natural and magical. It is about the faith, power, and courage we all have within us to pursue the intricate path of a Personal Legend, a path charted by the mysterious magnet of destiny but obscured by distractions. Santiago shows how along the way we learn to trust our hearts, read the seemingly inconspicuous signs, and understand that as we look to fulfill a dream, it looks to find us just the same, if we let it.

Discussion Questions

(taken from readinggroupguides.com)

• At the start of his journey, when Santiago asks a gypsy woman to interpret his dream about a treasure in the Egyptian pyramids, she asks for one tenth of the treasure in return. When Santiago asks the old man to show him the path to the treasure, the old man requests one tenth of his flock as "payment." Both payments represent a different price we have to pay to fulfill a dream; however, only one will yield a true result. Which payment represents false hope? Can you think of examples from your own life when you had to give up something to meet a goal and found the price too high?

• Paulo Coelho once said that alchemy is all about pursuing our spiritual quest in the physical world as it was given to us. It is the art of transmuting the reality into something sacred, of mixing the sacred and the profane. With this in mind, can you define your Personal Legend? At what time in your life were you first able to act on it? What was your "beginner's luck"? Did anything prevent you from following it to conclusion? Having read The Alchemist, do you know what inner resources you need to continue the journey?

• One of the first major diversions from Santiago's journey was the theft of his money in Tangiers, which forced him into taking a menial job with the crystal merchant. There, Santiago learned many lessons on everything from the art of business to the art of patience. Of all these, which lessons were the most crucial to the pursuit of his Personal Legend?
  

• When he talked about the pilgrimage to Mecca, the crystal merchant argued that having a dream is more important than fulfilling it, which is what Santiago was trying to do. Do you agree with Santiago's rationale or crystal merchant's? 
  

• The Englishman, whom Santiago meets when he joins the caravan to the Egyptian pyramids, is searching for "a universal language, understood by everybody." What is that language? According to the Englishman, what are the parallels between reading and alchemy? How does the Englishman's search for the alchemist compares to Santiago's search for a treasure? How did the Englishman and Santiago feel about each other? 
  

• The alchemist tells Santiago "you don't have to understand the desert: all you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation." With this in mind, why do you think the alchemist chose to befriend Santiago, though he knew that the Englishman was the one looking for him? What is the meaning of two dead hawks and the falcon in the oasis? At one point the alchemist explains to Santiago the secret of successfully turning metal into gold. How does this process compare to finding a Personal Legend? 
  

• Why did Santiago have to go through the dangers of tribal wars on the outskirts of the oasis in order to reach the pyramids? At the very end of the journey, why did the alchemist leave Santiago alone to complete it?
  

• Earlier in the story, the alchemist told Santiago "when you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed." At the end of the story, how did this simple lesson save Santiago's life? How did it lead him back to the treasure he was looking for?
  

February Selection

The February Book

The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan

Meeting Date

Saturday, 28 February 2009

1000a at Whole Foods

Sand Lake and I-4

Brunch will be served!

About the Book

(from amazon.com)

Pollan (The Botany of Desire) examines what he calls "our national eating disorder" (the Atkins craze, the precipitous rise in obesity) in this remarkablyclearheaded book. It's a fascinating journey up and down the food chain, one that might change the way you read the label on a frozen dinner, dig into a steak or decide whether to buy organic eggs. You'll certainly never look at a Chicken McNugget the same way again.Pollan approaches his mission not as an activist but as a naturalist: "The way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world." All food, he points out, originates with plants, animals and fungi. "[E]ven the deathless Twinkie is constructed out of... well, precisely what I don't know offhand, but ultimately some sort of formerly living creature, i.e., a species. We haven't yet begun to synthesize our foods from petroleum, at least not directly."Pollan's narrative strategy is simple: he traces four meals back to their ur-species. He starts with a McDonald's lunch, which he and his family gobble up in their car. Surprise: the origin of this meal is a cornfield in Iowa. Corn feeds the steer that turns into the burgers, becomes the oil that cooks the fries and the syrup that sweetens the shakes and the sodas, and makes up 13 of the 38 ingredients (yikes) in the Chicken McNuggets.Indeed, one of the many eye-openers in the book is the prevalence of corn in the American diet; of the 45,000 items in a supermarket, more than a quarter contain corn. Pollan meditates on the freakishly protean nature of the corn plant and looks at how the food industry has exploited it, to the detriment of everyone from farmers to fat-and-getting-fatter Americans. Besides Stephen King, few other writers have made a corn field seem so sinister.Later, Pollan prepares a dinner with items from Whole Foods, investigating the flaws in the world of "big organic"; cooks a meal with ingredients from a small, utopian Virginia farm; and assembles a feast from things he's foraged and hunted.

Discussion Questions

(taken from sierraclub.com)

• Which of the four meals Pollan describes--fast food, industrial organic, "beyond organic," or entirely self-made--is closest to what you normally eat? Did you learn anything about how it's made that surprised you? Will you make any changes in your eating habits as a result?

• "If nature won't draw a line around human appetites, then human culture must step in," Pollan writes. Are there certain foods you won't eat for moral, philosophical, or environmental reasons? If so, when and why did you decide to stop eating them?

• Pollan believes that Americans are particularly subject to food fads and anxieties because we have "no strong, stable culinary tradition to guide us." What are your family or community traditions, if any, and how do they (or the lack of them) affect your relationship with food?

• Have you ever grown, fished, or hunted your own food? How does the experience of eating it compare to eating something from a grocery store or restaurant?

• Pollan writes that the pleasures of eating are "deepened by knowing." Do you agree, or are there some things you'd rather not know about your food?

• "Even if the vegetarian is a more highly evolved human being," Pollan writes, "it seems to me he has lost something along the way"--namely, his or her links to cultural and family traditions, history, and biology. What do you think?

• "Eating's not a bad way to get to know a place," Pollan writes. Describe a meal that deepened your understanding of a location you lived in or visited.

• "Is an industrial organic food chain finally a contradiction in terms?" Pollan asks, deciding that it is. Do you agree?

Read Whole Foods' Response to The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Some more interesting chapter-by-chapter discussion questions.

October Selection

The October Book

Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Brother Yun, by Brother Yun and Paul Hattaway


Meeting Date

Saturday, 11 October 2008
1000a at Jen's House
(e-mail for carpool/directions)
Brunch will be served!


About the Book
(from amazon.com)

A dramatic autobiography of one of China's dedicated, courageous, and intensely persecuted house church leaders.

Discussion Questions
(adapted from readinggroupguides.com)

How does the author portray religion and spirituality in this book? Can you relate to the characters and their motivations?

Has reading this book made you think about religion or spirituality in your own life in a new or different way? How so? Do you think the author has described well the presence of spirituality in everyday life?

How much did you know about the author and his experiences before you started reading the book? Were you familiar with the author? Did the book live up to your expectations? Why or why not?

What is the spiritual value of this work?

Compare this book to others you have read. Is it similar to any of them? Did you like it more or less than other books you've read? What do you think will be your lasting impression of the book?

What did you like or dislike about the book that hasn't been discussed already? Were you glad you read this book? Would you recommend it to a friend? Do you want to read more works by this author?

August Selection

The August Book

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick


Meeting Date

Saturday, 30 August 2008
1000a at Jen's House
(e-mail for carpool/directions)
Brunch will be served!


About the Book
(from amazon.com)

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

Discussion Questions
(adapted from readinggroupguides.com)

This book was structured very differently from most books. What did you think of how the author used art to advance the plot? Did the art aid or hinder your own imagination and visualization of the characters or setting?

How different would the story be if another character was narrating?

What were your favorite parts of the book? Least favorite?

Talk about the plot. What was more important, the characters or the plot? Was the plot moved forward by decisions of the characters, or were the characters at the mercy of the plot? Was the action believable? What events in the story stand out for you as memorable? Was there foreshadowing and suspense or did the author give things away at the beginning of the book? Was this effective? How did it affect your enjoyment of the book?

Talk about the location. Was it important to the story? Was the author's description of the station a good one? How about the illustrations? Talk about the time period of the story. Was it important to the story? Did the author convey the era well? Did the author provide enough background information for you to understand the events in the story? Why or why not for all of the above? Was pertinent information lumped together or integrated into the story? How did this affect your appreciation of the book?

Compare this book to others the group has read. What do you think will be your lasting impression of the book? What will be your most vivid memories of it a year from now? Or will it just leave a vague impression?

March Selection

The March Book

My Hands Came Away Red, by Lisa McKay


Meeting Date

Saturday, 15 March 2008
1000a at Jen's House
(e-mail for directions/carpool info)
Brunch will be served!


About the Book

(from the back cover)

Thinking largely of escaping a complicated love life and having fun on the beach, eighteen-year-old Cori signs up for a ten-week trip to help build a church on a remote island in Indonesia.

Six weeks into the trip, a conflict that has been simmering for years flames to deadly life on the nearby island of Ambon. Before they can leave, Cori and her teammates find themselves caught up in the destructive wave of violence washing over the Christian and Muslim villages in the area. Within days the church they helped build is a smoldering pile of ashes, its pastor and many of the villagers are dead, and the six teenagers are forced to flee into the hazardous refuge of the mountains with only the pastor's son to guide them.

As the team hikes through the jungle, Cori's search for spiritual answers and emotional stability proves just as difficult as the physical journey home.

Discussion Questions

From ReadingGroupChoices.com:

1. To what extent do the characters of this book remind you of yourself or someone you know?

2. What scene(s) did you find had the most emotional impact? Why?

3. Did any part of the story make you uncomfortable or angry? If so, why?

4. What themes and/or questions stood out to you as you read this book? How did different characters in the story interact with these themes?

5. How do the various characters react to the massacre in Mani's village and the events that followed? Did you learn anything about the experience of trauma through their stories? Which character did you identify with most?

6. Marooned in the jungle, what was Cori thinking and feeling as she read Psalm 55 (pages 117-119)? Have you experienced events in your life that could have prompted similar questions and feelings? How did you react in those times? How do you address such questions in your own life, now?

7. How did Cori react after returning home? Why might she have reacted like that? Were you surprised by any of her reactions? How were they similar or different to experiences you or others have had after returning from spending time overseas?

8. How have the various characters changed by the end of the novel? What changes were "positive/negative"? Why?

9. Has reading this book prompted you to reconsider some of your views or investigate further some of the issues raised (e.g. faith-based or sectarian conflicts, post-traumatic stress)?

10. The title of this novel was taken from a line on page 95. Do you think "my hands came away red" is a good title for the book? Why or why not? What are some of the images and meanings the title evokes?

11. Where did you see laughter, joy, and hope in this story? Where did the characters find them? When things seem darkest in your own life where do you tend to find those things?

12. Throughout the novel, the characters frequently make up their own stories about a boy named Jip and his pet monkey, Kiki. What did Jip and Kiki come to mean to the characters in the story? What role(s) did they play as a literary device?

13. What can you do to better understand people who have a different faith or worldview?

Book Lovers Ask, What’s Seattle’s Secret?

By JULIE BICK

Published: March 9, 2008

Though the big publishing houses are still in New York, the Seattle area is home to Amazon, Starbucks and Costco, companies that increasingly influence what America reads.

January Selection

January's Book

Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger


Meeting Date

Saturday, 26 January 2008
1000a at Jen's house
(e-mail for address/directions/carpool info)
Brunch will be served!


About the Book

From Amazon.com:

Born with no air in his lungs, it was only when Reuben Land's father, Jeremiah, picked him up and commanded him to breathe that Reuben's lungs filled. Reuben struggles with debilitating asthma from then on, making him a boy who knows firsthand that life is a gift, and also one who suspects that his father is touched by God and can overturn the laws of nature.

The quiet 1960's midwestern life of the Lands is upended when Reuben's brother Davy kills to marauders who have come to harm the family. The morning of his sentencing, Davy -- a hero to some, a cold-blooded murderer to others -- escapes from his cell, and the Lands set out in search of him. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers, and they cover territory far more extraordinary than even the Badlands where they search for Davy from their Airstream trailer.

Sprinkled with playful nods to Biblical tales, beloved classics such as Huckleberry Finn, the adventure stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the westerns of Zane Grey, Peace Like A River is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, a love story, and a haunting meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world.

Discussion Points

From ReadingGroupGuides.com:

• Swede, Reuben's imaginative, prolific, and precocious younger sister, creates an epic poem about a cowboy named Sunny Sundown. Talk about Sunny's ongoing saga as an ironic commentary on Reuben's larger narrative. What are the parallels? Besides the Sunny Sundown text, several other outlaw tales, literary allusions, biblical legends, and historical asides are offered—by Swede or by Reuben himself. Identify a few of these stories-within-the-story, explaining how each enriches or influences the main narrative.
• Both during Davy's trial and after his escape from prison, we encounter a variety of public viewpoints on what Reuben's brother has done. Such viewpoints, usually presented as personal letters or newspaper editorials, are always steadfast yet often contradictory. What does Reuben seem to realize about the so-called "court of public opinion," in light of these viewpoints?
• Prayer is described in many ways, and on many occasions, in Peace Like a River. Reading this book, did you discover anything about the activity of, reasons for, or consequences of prayer? What larger points—about religion and human nature, say—might the author be making with his varied depictions of people at prayer? For instance, when remembering a prayer he said that included blessings for even his enemies, Reuben comments thus regarding Jape Waltzer: "Later I would wish I'd spent more time on him particularly" (p. 285). Why does Reuben feel this way? What power does he recognize in his own prayers? Discuss the impact prayer has on Reuben, and how it transforms him.
• Much of this novel concerns the inner life of childhood: imagination, storytelling, chores, play, and school life. Discuss the author's portrayal of childhood. Do the children depicted here seem realistic? Why or why not?
• Remembering his own childhood, author Leif Enger recently noted: "I grew up squinting from the backseat at gently rolling hills and true flatlands, where you could top a rise and see a tractor raising dust three miles away. So much world and sky is visible, it's hard to put much stock in your own influence." Does this type of relationship between the individual and the natural world appear in Peace Like a River? If so, where? Identify key passages or scenes where the characters seem inferior to the landscape, or even at the mercy of it.
• Finishing his story, Reuben notes: "You should know that Jape Waltzer proved as uncatchable as Swede's own Valdez" (p. 309). What do the characters of Jape and Valdez represent in this novel? Conclude your discussion by comparing and contrasting Peace Like a River with the traditional morality play—the symbolic drama (dating back to medieval times) based on the eternal struggle between Good and Evil.

Hope to see you next week!

November Selection

November's Book

A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini.

Meeting Date

Saturday, 3 November 2007
1000a at Jen's new house
(email for directions/carpool info)
Brunch will be served!

Please do come, even if you haven't finished the book. We are a very easygoing group, and would love to have you there!


About the Book

From Publisher's Weekly:

Afghan-American novelist Hosseini follows up his bestselling The Kite Runner with another searing epic of Afghanistan in turmoil. The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation. Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny—"There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten"—is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters.

Discussion Points

To get the discussion started, some questions from ReadingGroupGuides.com:

• Mariam’s mother tells her: “Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have.” Discuss how this sentiment informs Mariam’s life and how it relates to the larger themes of the novel.
• By the time Laila is rescued from the rubble of her home by Rasheed and Mariam, Mariam’s marriage has become a miserable existence of neglect and abuse. Yet when she realizes that Rasheed intends to marry Laila, she reacts with outrage. Given that Laila’s presence actually tempers Rasheed’s abuse, why is Mariam so hostile toward her? Laila’s friendship with Mariam begins when she defends Mariam from a beating by Rasheed. Why does Laila take this action, despite the contempt Mariam has consistently shown her?
• Growing up, Laila feels that her mother’s love is reserved for her two brothers. “People,” she decides, “shouldn’t be allowed to have new children if they’d already given away all their love to their old ones.” How does this sentiment inform Laila’s reaction to becoming pregnant with Rasheed’s child? What lessons from her childhood does Laila apply in raising her own children? At several points in the story, Mariam and Laila pass themselves off as mother and daughter. What is the symbolic importance of this subterfuge? In what ways is Mariam’s and Laila’s relationship with each other informed by their relationships with their own mothers?
• Laila’s father tells her, “You’re a very, very bright girl. Truly you are. You can be anything that you want.” Discuss Laila’s relationship with her father. What aspects of his character does she inherit? In what ways is she different?
• Mariam refuses to see visitors while she is imprisoned, and she calls no witnesses at her trial. Why does she make these decisions?

Hope to see you in a few weeks!

September Selection

Our September (formerly August) Selection is Rumspringa: To Be or Not To Be Amish, by Tom Shachtman.


About the Book

It is a nonfiction account of Amish life, written by a documentary filmmaker during his research for his film The Devil's Playground. Rumspringa (roughly translated as "running around") is a period in Amish young adults' lives in which they live outside the Amish community (indulging in modern technology and behavior) before committing to join the church for life. There are serious repercussions for leaving the Amish church once one has committed to it, and some communities use rumspringa as a way to allow their children to make an informed choice before eschewing popular culture and modern conveniences.

The plan is to watch portions of The Devil's Playground at our meeting.


Discussion Points

• How much did you know about the Amish and their way of life? Did this book change your preconceptions?
  
• Compare and contrast Amish Christian beliefs with your own.
  
• What did you find to be the most interesting events/situations/people in the book?
• Can you relate to the "characters" and their motivations?
• Consider the teenagers' test-drives of English life. Do you think it is necessary for them to experience life outside the Amish community before choosing to join church? Do you feel rumspringa is unnecessary temptation to indulge in risky behavior, or a valuable reprieve from the restrictive social structure?
• Is "sowing one's wild oats" generally a positive or negative experience? Do you regret anything you did as a teenager or young adult? Do you regret anything you didn't do as a teenager or young adult?
• How can (or should) we adopt Amish methods to raise our kids to share our moral and ethical values?

Meeting Date

Saturday, 22 September 2007
1000a - Brunch served!
Jen's House (Orlando, FL)

August Update

Reminder: Book Club meeting this Saturday, 1000a, at Jen's house!
Book Club meeting postponed because of Rock Springs park day! Rumspringa will be discussed sometime in September.


Here are some titles that sound interesting for future months. Has anyone read them? Or have preferences (for or against)?

The Madonnas of Leningrad, Debra Dean

The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
(Sounds kind of depressing, but would probably spark all kinds of discussion about death and beyond.)

Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson

Moloka'i, Alan Brennert
(I've never read any fiction about Hawai'i.)

Introduction

Welcome! We officially have a website!

We will use this site for announcements and supplemental discussion - before and after our monthly meetings. My goal is to post some information, questions, and discussion points, ahead of the meetings. You are welcome and invited to post comments to continue the conversation. This should also give members who miss the meeting the opportunity to participate.

As always, if you have any questions, you can e-mail me - or see me at church on Sundays.