This summer has been eventful for the LitChicks.

In June, we met to discuss "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro.  I would say that most of the members were either familiar with movie it inspired (starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson) or with Kazuo Ishiguro's other book "Never Let Me Go" (which those members highly recommended).  The concensus on this book was that while it was beautifully written, it wasn't able to overcome the lack of any real plot.  Members were very consistent on goodreads, giving it 2-3 stars.  

The big news coming out of our June meeting was that we decided to launch a second branch of the NoVA LitChicks.  If you pay attention to our website you may have seen our post about it.  There was stellar response to this idea, both from our current membership and the general public.  We were able to fully fill a new club by the middle of June, and set a launch date of July 22nd.

Our original group met in the beginning of July to discuss "The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in The World" by A.J. Jacobs.  Only a few people managed to finish it.  I think most were turned off with a book that mostly regurgitated encyclopedia entries.  Those who had read and enjoyed some of his other books agreed that this was not his best effort (although to be fair, this was also his first book).  Once again, members were fairly consistent in giving it 2-3 stars on Goodreads.

Finally, the New LitChicks met in late July to discuss "The Housekeeper and the Professor" by Yoko Ogawa.  It was a great meeting.  Conversation constantly flowed even though we were all strangers at the beginning of the meeting.  It is a sign of great things to come.  We agreed that it was a charming and sweet book.  While the book does refer to math a good deal (the Professor is a math professor after all), it was not overbearing.  Several ladies noted that they would have liked to see the past relationship between the Professor and his sister-in-law more fleshed out.  

Overall it was a great start to the summer.  In August, we will be reading "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb (original LitChicks) and "The Wives of Los Alamos".

Please excuse the lack of update the past couple of months.  The LitChicks have been going strong, but I have been slacking as the web admin.  But since we are going into the summer, I felt the need to update y'all on what the LitChicks have been reading.

In March we read Jonathan Tropper's "This is Where I Leave You".  This book is a great illustration of the MTV Real World's slogan "find out what happens when people stop being polite...and start getting real".  The story follows the ups and downs of the Foxman family as they come together to sit Shiva for their patriarch.   As any adult knows, family reunions can bring out the best and worst of people - and this book captures that.   Tropper has a great sense of comedy, but also balances the laughs well with serious life issues.   Yes, this book is the basis for the Justin Bateman/Tina Fey movie.   Overall, most of us enjoyed the book - with many of us giving it 4-5 stars on Goodreads.  I think it was also the loudest meeting we've had in a long time.

In April we read a collection of humorous essays called "I Was Told There'd Be Cake" by Sloane Crosley. While I wouldn't say that overall we disliked the book, I do think that many of us had problems connecting to it. The stories felt disconnected from one another. One person described it as a blog on paper. Another possible reason for the disconnect could be because many of us are just done with that period in our own lives and ready to move on. The best part of the meeting was when members shared some hysterical stories about their twenties. Many members gave it 2-3 stars on Goodreads.

Our May book, "Delancey: A Man, A Woman, A Restaurant, A Memoir" is the second memior by Molly Wizenberg, who writes the well-known food blog Orangette.  This book details the early part of her marriage when her husband decided to open a pizza restaurant.  Warning - You will get hungry for pizza when reading this book.  The club was kind of split on this book.  The book does cover extensively what has to happen when you decide to open a restaurant, from finding a location, to deciding on a menu, to hiring staff.  There was even a whole chapter about building a pizza oven.  For our members who love reading about food and restuarants - this was a great book.  However, despite the title, the book kind of glossed over what was really happening within Wizenbergs' marriage.  Members who wanted to know more about the marriage were left disappointed.  Most members gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads.

So last Wednesday we held our February meeting where we discussed the book "How To Be a Woman" by Caitlin Moran.  

I think it would be safe to say that the club had trouble connecting to this book.  When asked if anybody liked the book, I don't think anybody raised their hand.  A few people even said that they gave up reading it after the first few chapters.

It's not that this book didn't have good points.  Many of the topics Moran talks about led to some very interesting conversations (especially the chapters about deciding to have children), but most of those conversations were not really centered about what she specifically wrote.  Overall, we felt that Moran's book really wasn't the guidebook to be a woman in general, but more of a guidebook to be a woman like her.  

I wish I had a more eloquent review for the site, but there's really not that much to say.    Most of us gave the book a one or a two stars on Goodreads.  Hopefully we will have more to say on next month's book.

Sometimes our January books are the hardest to get through.  Because we meet on the first Wednesday of every month, we are often reading the book the month before.  This means that our January book often has to compete with the chaos that goes on at the end of the year (closeouts at work, holiday parties, holiday trips, etc.)  This can be especially hard when you have a really heavy read at the end of the year.  Fortunately this year our January book was "Hannah's Dream" by Diane Hammond.

As you can tell from the cover, "Hannah's Dream" is all about elephants - more specifically, one elephant named Hannah.  For over 40 years, Hannah has been the only elephant at the Max L. Biedelman Zoo.  Her only constant companion is her zoo-keeper Sam, who won't retire until he knows that someone will be there to look after Hannah when he's gone.  Meanwhile, a new director of the zoo is making Hannah's the new focus of the zoo marketing campaign.  Will the zoo do what is right for Hannah, or will it do what it can to hold on to its start attraction?

"Hannah's Dream" was one of the lighter books we've read this year.  While there were some serious moments in the book, something about remained very hopeful.  Hannah is a very sweet and lovely animal who does have a sparkling personality, and the Max L. Biedelman zoo is filled with a very quirky selection of staff and visitors.  It's not really hard to guess what is going to happen, but you can tell that there is a lot of fun to be had getting there.  As someone who spent the month of December glued to the Hallmark Channel and its Christmas movies, I mentioned that it would be a perfect candidate for adaptation for one of its movies (or depending on the edit, it could be a perfect choice for Lifetime).  

It's a simple tale, it doesn't share that complicated grit that was present in "Water for Elephants".  Perfect for a light read.  I listened to the audiobook version on my drive to see my family and I have to admit that the narrator did a fantastic job of bringing the story to life, especially distinguishing all the different characters (of which there were many). 

People in the club mostly gave it 3-4 stars out of 5.  One thing we we were all surprised about was the fact that this was the first in a series and that the next book was focusing on a killer whale ("Friday's Harbor").  If you like happy stories about animals and looking for a light read, you are really going to like "Hannah's Dream".

Today's Throwback Thursday Book is "The Light Between Oceans" by M.L. Stedman.  If you visited our site anytime in December, you know that this was our December book choice.

Former member Debra described the book perfectly on her Goodreads review " Heart wrenchingly beautiful novel about loves lost and moral sacrifices made for one's children."  I would also want to add that it deals a lot with the theme of isolation, especially feeling isolated in your troubles even when your loved ones are around you.   

This is definitely a book about extremes.  Living in a world where we are constantly connected, it's difficult to imagine what it would be like to live out on an island for years at a time with very few visitors.  It's definitely an extreme situation in and of itself.  This intensifies as each event transpires.  There were points while I was listening to it, that I wanted to yell out at the characters to just stop and think about what they were doing.  It's definitely one of those stories where the characters have to figure out what is the best thing to do even though nothing is a good choice.  By the end of the book it was hard not to feel exhausted from following what happened.  

One thing we did agree on was that we thought the author was a little heavy handed with description.  While her language was poetic, there were a couple of places where she laid it on very thick, causing you to think the story was about to go in one direction, but then it just stopped, with nothing coming of all the build up.  Sara noted that she found it difficult to like any of the characters - because even the "'good people' were too spineless and too martyr-like".  Rina gave the book bonus points for including a map (although she did say that she would have liked the map more if it had been the map of the island that the characters drew in the book).  I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by an Australian.  While this upped the authenticity quotient, this made it harder to understand when he was reading whispered conversations or breathy female characters.

Overall the club liked the book.  Nobody overwhelmingly loved or hated it.  Most of us gave it 3 or 4 stars. 

To everyone who reads this blog, I must apologize for going so long between entries.  I got very wrapped up in the holidays that I just let it get away from me.  But I'm back.  I may cut back on posting about new releases or books on film (unless anybody really loves those sections and want me to continue - if so, speak up).

This Wednesday we are going to be discussing the book Hannah's Dream by Diane Hammond.  I ended up listening to it while driving to my family's for Christmas and I have to say that I found it to be the perfect feel-good book.  It's about elephants, and I find it little hard not to love elephants.  Once we have the discussion I can post a little about what we thought.  Until then, I will post the Amazon.com summary.

Our Wednesday meeting will be a full one.  Not only will we be choosing books for the next 3 quarters, but we will be having our annual White Elephant gift exchange (kinda appropriate given our book choice).  Thanks for sticking with us!

Emily

Amazon.com Description
An elephant never forgets . . . but can she dream?

For forty-one years, Samson Brown has been caring for Hannah, the lone elephant at the down-at-the-heels Max L. Biedelman Zoo. Having vowed not to retire until an equally loving and devoted caretaker is found to replace him, Sam rejoices when smart, compassionate Neva Wilson is hired as the new elephant keeper. But Neva quickly discovers what Sam already knows: that despite their loving care, Hannah is isolated from other elephants and her feet are nearly ruined from standing on hard concrete all day. Using her contacts in the zookeeping world, Neva and Sam hatch a plan to send Hannah to an elephant sanctuary—just as the zoo's angry, unhappy director launches an aggressive revitalization campaign that spotlights Hannah as the star attraction, inextricably tying Hannah's future to the fate of the Max L. Biedelman Zoo.

A charming, poignant, and captivating novel certain to enthrall readers of Water for Elephants, Diane Hammond's Hannah's Dream is a beautifully told tale rich in heart, humor, and intelligence.

For December, we will be reading "The Light Between Oceans" by M.L. Stedman.  According to Bookmovement.com (a popular website for book clubs), this book is among the top 5 popular books for book clubs at the moment.  

Amazon.com Description
The years-long New York Times bestseller soon to be a major motion picture from Spielberg’s Dreamworks that is “irresistible…seductive…with a high concept plot that keeps you riveted from the first page” (O, The Oprah Magazine).

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

Tom, who keeps meticulous records and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel insists the baby is a “gift from God,” and against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

Today's Throwback Thursday takes us to the very recent past: yesterday.  Yesterday was the first Wednesday of the month which meant that it was book club night.  Our November book "Glitter and Glue" by Kelly Corrigan, nominated by our member Alison.  

In the middle of "Glitter and Glue" Corrigan recalls a lecture in college where her professor explained a theory: "More often than not, it's the readers - not the writers - who determine what a book means.  The idea is that readers don't come blank to books.  Consciously and not, we bring all the biases that come with our nationality, gender, race, class, age.  Then you layer onto that the status of our health, employment, relationships, not to mention our particular relationship to each book - who gave it to us, where we read it, what books we've already read." (page 145 of Kindle version)   This theory was very evident in our discussion last night, as we all reacted to the book by looking at our relationships with our own parents, as well as our status as parents, parents-to-be, or non-parents.  

One of the most discussed questions was did parents have to choose between being the glitter or the glue; could parents be both or neither.  It seemed like we all had our own different opinions that we based on our own experiences.  It was truly an interesting discussion, and by the end of the meeting member Julia summed it up perfectly by saying, "Now I really wish I could meet everyone's parents."

Overall the club liked the book.  On the goodreads 5 star scale, the book got mostly 4's and 5's.  Emily described it as "both a love letter to your mother and your children".  The one thing we all did agree on is that it will get you thinking about your mother.


Club News:
November marked the 2 year anniversary for members Alison and Jeanette.  On a sad note, this was the last meeting for members Stephanie and Debra.  We wish them nothing but the best in their future endeavors.

The big news was that November marks the 10th Anniversary of the NoVA Lit Chicks.  While none of our members today were at that first meeting, we continue to carry on the tradition of sharing literature and friendship.   To all Lit Chicks past and present, thank you for helping to make the club what it is today, and here's to another 10 years of reading together.

A Brief Summary -  Connie's life is coming apart. Her thesis advisor at Harvard tells her that her thesis won't stand without the discovery of new first person source while her mom is insisting she move out to Salem, MA for the summer and clean up her grandmother's deserted house which is facing foreclosure.    Reluctantly she packs things out and moves out to the little house, determined to sort things out.  While cleaning, she finds a small key with an even smaller piece of paper inside of it which reads "Deliverance Dane".   Suddenly finding the identity of Deliverance Dane and figuring out why she left the key is all that matters to Connie.  

Most members liked the book, the couple of us who enjoy fantasy books enjoyed it a lot. We read this after reading a series of heavy books and I think it was just what we needed to lighten things up without being too fluffy (this is about as chick lit as we get as a group).  This wasn't a scary/spooky book, but it was filled with moments of suspense.  One of the things that the club liked most were the flashback scenes to the past, in fact many members would have liked more of those.  Howe really created an interesting history of magic that felt very real and natural.  I think one of her best choices was setting the book to take place during the summer, when ghosts and monsters are one of the last things on your mind.  It would have been really easy to set it during the fall, when the weather in Massachusetts brings an other-worldliness to everything, especially in a town like Salem, but I think it would have made the story feel a bit cliched.   The success of this book depends on the reader feeling like there is a balance between Connie's real-life problems and the mystery of Deliverance Dane's journal so when they do all merge it makes sense.  If you are a person who enjoys tv shows/movies/books that mash realism with the supernatural and you like female heroes (like in Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the movie Practical Magic), you will probably enjoy this book a lot.  

You can check out Howe's following books "The House of Velvet and Glass" and "Conversion" at Goodreads.  You can also find her on twitter (@katherinebhowe).

This meant nothing to Kelly, who left childhood sure that her mom—with her inviolable commandments and proud stoicism—would be nothing more than background chatter for the rest of Kelly’s life, which she was carefully orienting toward adventure. After college, armed with a backpack, her personal mission statement, and a wad of traveler’s checks, she took off for Australia to see things and do things and Become Interesting.
 
But it didn’t turn out the way she pictured it. In a matter of months, her savings shot, she had a choice: get a job or go home. That’s how Kelly met John Tanner, a newly widowed father of two looking for a live-in nanny. They chatted for an hour, discussed timing and pay, and a week later, Kelly moved in. And there, in that house in a suburb north of Sydney, 10,000 miles from the house where she was raised, her mother’s voice was suddenly everywhere, nudging and advising, cautioning and directing, escorting her through a terrain as foreign as any she had ever trekked. Every day she spent with the Tanner kids was a day spent reconsidering her relationship with her mother, turning it over in her hands like a shell, straining to hear whatever messages might be trapped in its spiral.
 
This is a book about the difference between travel and life experience, stepping out and stepping up, fathers and mothers. But mostly it’s about who you admire and why, and how that changes over time.