July book group meeting

In attendance at Amanda's for the discussion of the July book  Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian American were: Betty, DeDe, Becky, Dulsanna, Amy and Amanda. Dulsanna recorded the discussion, and it will be posted on the blog shortly. You can download the discussion from the last book group here.

The August book choice is Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman.

The September book choice is Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. We will use Multnomah County Library's Pageturners 2 Go book group collection.

The October book choices are The Last Newspaper Boy in America by Sue Corbett and/or The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Please come to the August book group with ideas for the Christmas book we'll read for November.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet discussion

You can listen to the 50 minute July 3 book group discussion.

Bold Spirit review by Renae

We'll miss Renae during the July book group, as she'll be out of town. Lucky for us she sent her notes for us to enjoy. Hopefully we can record the discussion for her to enjoy when she returns.

Bold Spirit

Advents in Helga's life caused her to take unplanned roads

1. At 2, Father died
Raised by a single parent

2. At 7, mother married wealthy merchant
She could go to private school, she learned English

3. At 11 her family moved to USA
Had every advantage in a wealthy home

4. At 15 She became pregnant...married a Swedish Man
They moved to prairie...lived in a sod house

5. Moved to Spokane
Injured in a fall, sued city, had newly developed surgery

6. In danger of house foreclosure
Walked across America, received accolades, was going to write a book for $10,000

7. Two children died while she was gone
Family, Community angry...never forgave her

She Was Silenced

Powerful Comments:
"Honey, be sure to take care of this story for me" (told to her granddaughter)

Elementary School Experience

Teacher taught Jonah and the Whale. Helga found out the opening was too small for a man to go through. Told the teacher. Teacher said "Don't you know Helga that anything is possible with God?"
Helga lived by that motto.

Thoughts of the Era:Women's biology made her susceptible to disease and ill health.
Page 83. "Long walks are to be avoided"
Page 97. Women's work is "to soften and refine men. 
 Men living without you by themselves become savage and sinful.
Page 106. LaGrande, OR Tramp followed and threatened them for several days.
 They shot him in the leg.
Page 119. "Until woman is allowed to have ankles, there is no hope for her brain."

Helga was prejudiced against Indians and she taught her children to also be prejudiced.
She hired and Indian woman to wash clothes. She wouldn't allow her children outside.

Her trip taught her that she was wrong in her prejudices.

I love the hero in the book who hid the 2 scrapbooks of newspaper articles...The Daughter in Law

I was heartbroken for the family when diphtheria struck...two children died..the rest of the children were quarantined in a cold outbuilding ..couldn't even have a blanket for fear it would spread the disease.

A tragedy was that the daughters burned their mother's possessions...especially her writings

I'm glad the author added the chapter about how and why stories are silenced

I am sad I won't be able to be there. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Renae

June book group meeting

In attendance at DeDe's for the discussion of the June book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet were: Renae, Betty, DeDe, Becky, Mary, Terese, Nellie Mae and Dulsanna. Dulsanna recorded the discussion, and is in the process of learning how to post an audio file to this blog. In the meantime, if you are interested in hearing it, she can email it in parts small enough to send.

The July book choice is Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian American by Linda Lawrence Hunt.

The August book choice recommended tonight by Mary is Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman.

We decided that we would all go to the Multnomah County Library's book group site to check out the titles available. Click here to go to the Pageturner To Go list. We are to each skim the list and see if there are any that we've read and would recommend. We are hoping to come up with a title for our September book choice. You can post directly to this blog with your recommendations by emailing to dulsanna.cpbookgroup@blogger.com.

A few mentioned also enjoying young adult books. Maybe we could choose one for October.

Pageturners To Go picks +

There were a number of books on the list that we've already read for the book group. There are quite a number that sound interesting, but I can't recommend until I've read them. Here are three that I've read and would pass on to the group as possible September titles:

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation 

by Lynne Truss [non fiction, funny & informative]

The Good Earth 

by Pearl S. Buck [a classic I read long, long ago]

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time 

by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin [non fiction, great cause]

If there are other books (aside from Pageturners list) that you've recommended in the past, or would like to recommend now, send an email to the address on the left and we'll post them under the possible future books tab.

Dulsanna

June Book | Hotel... by Jamie Ford

Our June book is Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Discussion is July 3 at 7:00pm at DeDe's home.

A bit about the author:

Jamie Ford is and LDS author that writes for the national market. He is the parent of three teenagers. Jamie won the 2009 Whitney award for Best General Fiction for Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Jamie grew up in the Seattle area and now lives in Montana with his family.

A bit about the book:

1986, The Panama Hotel The old Seattle landmark has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made a startling discovery in the basement: personal belongings stored away by Japanese families sent to interment camps during the Second World War. Among the fascinated crowd gathering outside the hotel, stands Henry Lee, and, as the owner unfurls a distinctive parasol, he is flooded by memories of his childhood. He wonders if by some miracle, in amongst the boxes of dusty treasures, lies a link to the Okabe family, and the girl he lost his young heart to, so many years ago. With over a million copies sold worldwide, this captivating debut is a story of the sacrifices one boy makes for love and for his country. (Taken from Amazon.)

Did you read the book? Did you like it? What were you favorite parts? Least favorite? Did anything really stand out to you and get you thinking?