January's Pick

Monkey Hunting by Cristina Garcia

Norida has chosen Monkey Hunting by Christina Garcia. We haven't picked a date yet.

You can purchase the book at Amazon.com for about $11.00.


Review:
From Booklist
Garcia, of Dreaming in Cuban (1992) and The Aguero Sisters (1997) renown, writes pristinely lyrical and enchanting prose, and creates powerfully alluring characters, delectable qualities she takes to new heights in this many-faceted tale about an extended Chinese Cuban family. The novel begins in China in 1857 when Chen Pan is tricked into indentured servitude and shipped to Cuba where he is sold as a slave and put to work cutting sugar cane. Strong and resilient, he eventually escapes and becomes a successful and upright Havana businessman who gallantly liberates a mulatto slave, Lucrecia, and her infant son. In between passages devoted to Chen Pan and Lucrecia, who eventually become lovers, Garcia travels back to China to tell the harrowing tale of Chen Fang--an unwanted third daughter disguised as a son in her youth and deprived of everything she holds dear as an adult once the communists come to power--then moves on to 1960s Vietnam, where Domingo, the son of a Chinese Cuban herbalist, barely survives the war. Gorgeously detailed and entrancingly told, erotic, mystical, and wise, Garcia's bittersweet saga of a family of remarkable individuals spans a century of displacement, war, and sacrifice, and a world of forbearance and love. Donna Seaman

Check out this wikipedia page!

HOST by Stephanie Meyers

December's pick-

Amazon.com ReviewAmazon Best of the Month, May 2008:

Stephenie Meyer, creator of the phenomenal teen-vamp Twilight series, takes paranormal romance into alien territory in her first adult novel. Those wary of sci-fi or teen angst will be pleasantly surprised by this mature and imaginative thriller, propelled by equal parts action and emotion. A species of altruistic parasites has peacefully assumed control of the minds and bodies of most humans, but feisty Melanie Stryder won't surrender her mind to the alien soul called Wanderer. Overwhelmed by Melanie's memories of fellow resistor Jared, Wanderer yields to her body's longing and sets off into the desert to find him. Likely the first love triangle involving just two bodies, it's unabashedly romantic, and the characters (human and alien) genuinely endearing. Readers intrigued by this familiar-yet-alien world will gleefully note that the story's end leaves the door open for a sequel--or another series. --Mari Malcolm

Warning: If you haven't started the Twilight series. Don't start until you finish Host. (or else you will have to read all four and you won't have time to read this book.)

Disclaimer: Obviously, we all have the intention to read every book; sometimes it just doesn't happen. No need to explain; we are all busy and can respect each others preferences and schedules. Diversity is the spice of book club. :)

From Oprah.com's Interview with the Author

David Wroblewski Answers Your Questions

How Do You Pronounce "Sawtelle" and "Almondine"?

I'm on the last 90 pages of the book and can hardly put it down. My question is about the pronunciation of the names "Sawtelle" and "Almondine." Loved the book. I became allergic to dogs in the past few years, but in the pages of this book, I was able to feel as if I were cuddling up close to a dog and oh, how good that felt!

— Janet

Hi, Janet, yes, there are a few tricky names in the book, and you are not the first to wonder how they are pronounced. Here's a quick pronunciation guide for the names you mentioned, plus a few others.

Sawtelle: Saw-TELL (the final "e" is silent)
Almondine: ALL-mon-deen
Papineau: PAP-in-no

And the trickiest of all:
Chequamegon: Sha-WAH-me-gon (the q is pronounced like a w )

As for Edgar's first and last name, I chose them based purely on their sound. When first starting the book, all I knew was that I wanted the main character's first name to have two syllables and begin with an open vowel sound. Don't ask me why that was important, it just was—right from the beginning my mental placeholder for the main character's name was a two-note melody: AH-ah. But I didn't have any real syllables attached to the melody.

I toyed with lots of names, none felt perfect. Then I came across "Edgar." I immediately locked in on it, for several reasons. First, it fit the sound pattern I'd been imagining. Second, I didn't know anyone named "Edgar," so the name didn't come loaded with preconceptions. It had a slightly formal sound to it, too, which I thought was appealing. Finally, I liked that "Edgar" could be shortened to "Gar" for his father's name—by then I also knew that the main character was named after his father. By making them Edgar/Gar I could avoid the confusion that would inevitably arise in scenes where two Edgars appeared.

For months "Edgar" had no last name. While driving home from work one day, I heard the name "Sawtelle" on the radio, and it just clicked. I loved the musicality of it, and it worked together with "Edgar" beautifully—the hard "g" in his first name offset by the soft "s" in Sawtelle. Unfortunately, I don't remember what I was listening to on that drive—not even whether it was music or a news segment on NPR—so I can't trace the source any further. All I know is that by the time I parked my car in the driveway, Edgar had a last name.

“A CLASSSIC IN THE MAKING: Whether you read for the beauty of language or for the intricacies of plot, you will easily fall in love with David Wroblewski’s generous, almost transcendentally lovely debut novel, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. This is a tale set in rural Wisconsin in the first half of the 20th century, on a farm where the Sawtelles raise a fictional breed of dog. The dogs function like spirits in Shakespeare, or the chorus in Greek tragedy: They color the text with larger meaning yet remain tangibly real, deeply believable as dogs. Edgar is the mute boy who raises them, a mesmerizing fictional hero, primitive and wise. There are passages of language here ("A pair of does sprang over the fence on the north side of the field-two leaps each, nonchalant, long-sustained, falling earthward only as an afterthought...") that make you pause and read again with luxuriant pleasure. Wroblewski's plot is dynamic – page by page compelling – and classical, evoking Hamlet, Antigone, Electra, and Orestes, as Edgar tries to avenge his father's death and his paternal uncle's new place in the affections of his mother. The scope of this book, its psychological insight and lyrical mastery, make it one of the best novels of the year, and a perfect, comforting joy of a book for summer.”
— O Magazine, July 2008

I thought this was a really nice review. I do think the writing was really visual, without over doing it, I feel like I know exactly what the barn, and surrounding area looks like. Actually, now that I think about it I have a really great feel for the local..but not the dogs or the people.

I know some people are struggling to get into to the book, there were some dull parts for me but overall I really liked it. Just when I started to get bored the book would take a whole new turn.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel

Also known as Oprah's #62nd pick (that's not the reason we picked it) (62 picks!!).

The book was picked by Lora and will be hosted by Jerri at Las Tapas located in Old Towne Alexandria.

Welcome to web 2.0. If our kids can do it so can we!

Some of the best conversations about a book happen while you are reading! Sometimes by the time we get to book club our opinions have dwindled down to a "it was OK". I hope we can use this blog to discuss things like, "WTF are the dogs doing with the syringes" or ***SPOILER*** "Did Edgar just KILL THE DOCTOR??"

So readers fess up, where are you, what do you think, lets get this conversation started.

This blog is your blog, post, delete, whatever whenever.