A Visit From The Goon Squad

My selection for the next meeting is A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.  It grabbed me in the first couple of pages and I think our group will feel the same.

The book won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Literature (so if you disagree with me... you're wrong!)

It's available in paperback, Kindle, at HPB, etc.  Enjoy!

-Dick Dougherty

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This review is from Bookmarks Magazine

 A Visit from the Goon Squad (Hardcover)

Critics loved Egan's newest novel, describing it as "audacious" and "extraordinary" (Philadelphia Inquirer). In the hands of a less-gifted writer, Egans's time-hopping narrative, unorthodox format, and motley cast of characters might have failed spectacularly. But it works here, primarily because each person shines within his or her individual chapter that offers a distinct voice and a fascinating backstory. A few reviewers mentioned the uneven nature of the chapters and the different stylistic experiments within them. Yet, hailed as "a frequently dazzling piece of layer-cake metafiction" (Entertainment Weekly), A Visit from the Goon Squad is a gutsy novel that succeeds on all levels.

Intensity

Selected by Tom

I have selected Intensity, by Dean Koontz. The book has been out for years and is available in all formats.

 

"This terrifying thriller is about a battle of wits between a vulnerable young woman and a sadistic serial killer. Chyna Shepherd is a vulnerable young woman with trouble childhood who must rise to the occasion in her battle against Edgler Vess, a sadistic killer who has murdered Chyna's friend and her family. This novel's lyrical prose heightens the tension and menace in the cat and mouse story of terror and courage. You won't forget Chyna or her battle with one of the most terrifying villians that ever was on the printed page!"  Rodney Powell, Resident Scholar, AllReaders.com

The Hunger Games

Selected by Brenda

Twenty-four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.

Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love.



Water for Elephants

Picked by: Evan

Winner of the 2007 BookBrowse Diamond Award for Most Popular Book.

An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of Riding Lessons.

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.

A Discovery of Witches

Picked by Barb

Here is the book that I have chosen for book club this month.  I saw a review of the book in USA Today and it said that if you like Harry Potter and Twilight you will enjoy this grown up tale.  This book is the first for the author and the first in a trilogy.  The book is new enough that it hasn’t come out in paperback.  I checked online and Amazon has it for $14.99 and BN for $15.07 (if a member).  The download for Kindles is 12.99.

Our next book club date is Tuesday, April 12th.

Three Cups of Tea

Picked by: Sarah

I don't collect things, so when I travel I bring the kids a few things like t-shirts, a pocketful of unspent Euros I won't bother to convert and will forget to take on the next trip and a cool new stamp on my passport.  Lately, though, I started picking up one or two books from the airport.  They can be expensive unless I get them on sale (prices in Euros looked great until I got good at the currency conversion).  Even having a Kindle now won't deter me from this new ritual.

On a flight home from London, I picked up this book by Greg Mortenson.  The title caught my attention a while ago but non-fiction books are not my 'cup of tea,' as it were.  However, I read this start to finish on the flight.  I was so engrossed by its thought-provoking and inspirational story, I left my very nice Brookstone neck pillow behind on the plane.  (If you find it, you can keep it.  I just 'had' to spend the ridiculous amount of money to buy another one.)

I picked it up because I wanted to be more knowledgeable about the conflicts we Americans are (involved / meddling / improving / fatigued / polarized) in the Middle East.  And because on NPR, I hear stories about how women are treated and I feel equal parts sympathetic and helpless.  And maybe because I had recently been surrounded by Europeans with a superior grasp of geography, global economics and world-view, I felt compelled to overcome the typical American egocentricity and educate myself.  It's as much a story about Afghanistan and its people and culture as it is about one American's desire to make a difference, despite overwhelming personal, political and life-threatening odds.  Reading it doesn't put another stamp in my passport, but I feel as if I traveled there and now understand better how what we do here can affect people half a world away.
 Whether it's for better or worse is up to each of us to decide.
 Interested?  Pick up the book and read more about it on the Three Cups of Tea website.

Jitterbug Perfume

I first read my selection almost 30 years ago on the recommendation of a friend.  Since then I’ve read and collected first editions of all Robbins' books (except his first, “Another Roadside Attraction” that still eludes me at a reasonable price – a good copy is $500+).  They all have the same pleasant weirdness as JP.

Speaking of “firsts,” this is the first book I’ve read in Kindle format.  Part of me hates the idea of paper books being replaced by electronic files.  Physical books have a wonderful feel to them and look nice on your shelf.  For book collectors, the first printing of an author’s first book is frequently the most valuable because the publisher normally starts off with a small number of copies; if there is demand it goes into 2^nd and 3^rd printings which are less valuable.  The first Harry Potter book had a first printing of 500 copies and to date has sold over 20,000,000 copies; those first 500 copies are insanely expensive now but the later 19,999,500 have little or no collector value.  For books in electronic format, all these principles of rarity are irrelevant and book collecting, sadly, goes away.

On the other hand, I love the Kindle experience and will most likely make this my primary method of reading books.  I'm now in the middle of Ken Follett's new 1000-page monster and it's much more convenient than the giant book, especially while travelling.  After all my whining above, this probably makes me some kind of especially loathsome traitor.

One comment about our book:  I was taken by how Robbins wove this long tale of Kudra and Alobar living together for hundreds of years then becoming separated for hundreds more years then finally resolved this main plot line with a few words tacked on the end of the final sentence of the book.

-Dick Dougherty