Date: Jan. 5, 2007
Summary: Story of Anna Walker who is a 20-something girl living in NYC and really wants to be a writer. She works for a newspaper but has a rotten boss. She gets the opportunity for her dream job but isn’t ready. She suffers from confidence issues and deep guilt over the death of her dad in a house fire.
Notes: I liked it fine for chick lit but as a group, no one really liked it. Author lives in Middletown. Came to speak at the library. She is young, really a bit of a novice.
Rachel’s rating: Two (2) out of four stars
Jessica’s rating: One (1) out of four stars (chick lit is sooo NOT my thing)
Date: March 2, 2007
Summary: New York Times food critic reviews restaurants in disguise in an attempt at NOT getting star treatment. She’s the “people’s critic.” It’s also the story of culture in New York and class systems.
Notes: I liked it alot. Others didn’t see the point.
Rachel’s rating: Three (3) out of four stars
Jessica’s rating: Three (3) out of four stars (a foodie must read; enjoyed it a lot; Reichl does a nice job telling her personal story about food and self discovery)
Date: April 27, 2007
Summary: Story of Norah and Dr. David Henry who have a set of twins but one is born with Down Syndrome. David makes the decision to give her away to an institution to spare his wife (he tells her she died at birth) but the nurse, Caroline Gill, raises her instead. Their marriage crumbles and Norah finally meets her daughter when she’s 24.
Notes: Well-written but overall disappointing.
Rachel’s rating: Two (2) out of four stars
Jessica’s rating: One and a half (1.5) out of four stars (there’s something there but it never quite comes to fruition)
Date: June 8, 2007
Summary: Memoir: author is a writer at MSNBC who grew up in a dysfunctional family. Her dad is an alcoholic and possible paranoid schizophrenic and her mom is bipolar. But neither are diagnosed. They move around constantly, live in dire circumstances and barely survive. But overall it’s a heart-warming tale of how this woman makes it on her own.
Notes: It’s told without pity, with love and affection for her crazy parents and siblings. Very well done.
Rachel’s rating: Three and a half (3.5) out of four stars
Jessica’s rating: Three and a half (3.5) out of four stars (Wow! couldn’t put the book down; so glad that Walls chose to tell her story; almost right up there with Angela’s Ashes)
Date: July 19, 2007
Summary: Story of five women who live in the same neighborhood and form a book group. The story follows the women through the decades starting with the 1950s.
Notes: Everyone liked even though it was hard to get into at first (for me). Good discussion book.
Rachel’s rating: Three (3) out of four stars
Jessica’s rating: Two (2) out of four stars (super easy read; great choice for a book club; took a while for the characters to develop and grow on me; couldn’t really relate to any of the characters’ prototypical stories but found them somewhat interesting; makes a good beach read)
Date: Aug. 24, 2007
Summary: Story of Mariam and Leila, who both marry the same man Rasheed but under very different circumstances in troubled Afghanistan. Mariam, a harami or bastard, is “given” to him by her father after her mom commits suicide. Leila agrees to marry him after her parents die in a bomb explosion and she thinks Tariq (the love of her life) is dead.
Notes: Very political, lot of explanation about the war. Very well done. Well-written, not as tough to take as Kite Runner.
Rachel’s rating: Four (4) out of four stars
Jessica’s rating: Three (3) out of four stars (another compelling and emotionally challenging book by Hosseini; didn’t “feel” this story or its characters the way I felt those in the Kite Runner)
Date: Oct. 12, 2007
Summary: Memoir of JR growing up without a father and looking for male role models in a bar called Dickens, the name eventually changes to Publicans. Set in Manhasset, Long Island (NY), it follows him through boyhood and through 9/11.
Notes: Very well-written, but a slow read. The group did not care for it.
Rachel’s rating: Two and a half (2.5) out of four stars
Jessica’s rating: Two (2) out of four stars (there were some really bright moments spattered throughout the book; for the most part I had a hard time caring about Moehringer and his experiences; don’t understand the acclaim)
Date: Nov. 16, 2007
Summary: Memoir of senator Obama’s life from a boy growing up in Hawaii with a white mother and an absent African father.
Notes: Very long. Good discussion though.
Rachel’s rating: Two (2) out of four stars
Jessica’s rating: Two (2) out of four stars (interesting story about the now presidential candidate before he entered politics; Obama’s life makes for a wonderful story; honest and interesting if sometimes a bit long)