Though the titular Ava serves as narrator and ultimately the tale's
heroine, her story spans multiple generations, starting with her
great-grandmother, remembered only as Maman, an immigrant to "Manhatine"
two generations earlier. Through the eyes of her grandmother Emilienne,
and then her mother Vivianne, Ava's lineage unfolds. Emilienne,
suffering a broken heart, leaves New York and travels to Seattle, where
she sets up shop as a baker on Pinnacle Lane. She gives birth to
Vivianne, Ava's mother, who later suffers her own heartbreak and gives
birth to Ava in 1944. Ava is a normal girl with one notable exception:
she was born with the wings of a bird. Ava looks to the stories of her
matriarchs to make sense of her own life and to understand how to
navigate the world as both an "other" and a typical teenage girl. It is
not until a fateful day in her 16th year that many narrative threads
come to a head. Difficult to categorize,
this is a mystical tale, a historical novel, a coming-of-age story,
laced with folkloric qualities and magic realism, often evocative of
great narratives like Erin Morgenstern's transcendent The Night Circus
(Doubleday, 2011) or the classic Like Water for Chocolate (Anchor, 1995)
by Laura Esquivel
Saturday, March 19, 2016
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
Picked my Melissa - April 19th 2016 Meeting
Though the titular Ava serves as narrator and ultimately the tale's
heroine, her story spans multiple generations, starting with her
great-grandmother, remembered only as Maman, an immigrant to "Manhatine"
two generations earlier. Through the eyes of her grandmother Emilienne,
and then her mother Vivianne, Ava's lineage unfolds. Emilienne,
suffering a broken heart, leaves New York and travels to Seattle, where
she sets up shop as a baker on Pinnacle Lane. She gives birth to
Vivianne, Ava's mother, who later suffers her own heartbreak and gives
birth to Ava in 1944. Ava is a normal girl with one notable exception:
she was born with the wings of a bird. Ava looks to the stories of her
matriarchs to make sense of her own life and to understand how to
navigate the world as both an "other" and a typical teenage girl. It is
not until a fateful day in her 16th year that many narrative threads
come to a head. Difficult to categorize,
this is a mystical tale, a historical novel, a coming-of-age story,
laced with folkloric qualities and magic realism, often evocative of
great narratives like Erin Morgenstern's transcendent The Night Circus
(Doubleday, 2011) or the classic Like Water for Chocolate (Anchor, 1995)
by Laura Esquivel
Though the titular Ava serves as narrator and ultimately the tale's
heroine, her story spans multiple generations, starting with her
great-grandmother, remembered only as Maman, an immigrant to "Manhatine"
two generations earlier. Through the eyes of her grandmother Emilienne,
and then her mother Vivianne, Ava's lineage unfolds. Emilienne,
suffering a broken heart, leaves New York and travels to Seattle, where
she sets up shop as a baker on Pinnacle Lane. She gives birth to
Vivianne, Ava's mother, who later suffers her own heartbreak and gives
birth to Ava in 1944. Ava is a normal girl with one notable exception:
she was born with the wings of a bird. Ava looks to the stories of her
matriarchs to make sense of her own life and to understand how to
navigate the world as both an "other" and a typical teenage girl. It is
not until a fateful day in her 16th year that many narrative threads
come to a head. Difficult to categorize,
this is a mystical tale, a historical novel, a coming-of-age story,
laced with folkloric qualities and magic realism, often evocative of
great narratives like Erin Morgenstern's transcendent The Night Circus
(Doubleday, 2011) or the classic Like Water for Chocolate (Anchor, 1995)
by Laura Esquivel
Monday, February 1, 2016
Ben Hur by Lew Wallace
Picked by Brenda - March 8th 2016 Meeting
Written in 1880 by Lew Wallace, Major General in the Union Army, Governor of the New Mexico Territory and Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, the story tells of the adventures of Judah Ben-Hur, Jewish prince and
merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. Ben-Hur's
childhood friend Messala arrives back home as an ambitious commanding
officer of the Roman legions. They come to realize how much they have
changed and now hold very different views and aspirations. During a
military parade a brick falls from the roof of Judah's house and barely
misses the Roman governor. Although Messala knows that they are not
guilty, he condemns the Ben-Hur family. Without trial, Judah is sent to
work until death as a Roman galley slave, his mother and sister are
thrown into prison and all the family property is confiscated. Through
fate and good fortune, Judah survives and manages to return to
Jerusalem, to seek revenge against his one-time friend and redeem his
family. Running in parallel with Ben-Hur's narrative is the unfolding
story of Jesus, who comes from the same region and is a similar age,
mirroring themes of betrayal, conviction and redemption. Ben-Hur
witnesses and is inspired by the rise of the Christ figure and his
following who challenge Roman tyranny and talk of keys to a greater
kingdom.
Written in 1880 by Lew Wallace, Major General in the Union Army, Governor of the New Mexico Territory and Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, the story tells of the adventures of Judah Ben-Hur, Jewish prince and
merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 1st century. Ben-Hur's
childhood friend Messala arrives back home as an ambitious commanding
officer of the Roman legions. They come to realize how much they have
changed and now hold very different views and aspirations. During a
military parade a brick falls from the roof of Judah's house and barely
misses the Roman governor. Although Messala knows that they are not
guilty, he condemns the Ben-Hur family. Without trial, Judah is sent to
work until death as a Roman galley slave, his mother and sister are
thrown into prison and all the family property is confiscated. Through
fate and good fortune, Judah survives and manages to return to
Jerusalem, to seek revenge against his one-time friend and redeem his
family. Running in parallel with Ben-Hur's narrative is the unfolding
story of Jesus, who comes from the same region and is a similar age,
mirroring themes of betrayal, conviction and redemption. Ben-Hur
witnesses and is inspired by the rise of the Christ figure and his
following who challenge Roman tyranny and talk of keys to a greater
kingdom.
Monday, December 21, 2015
The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
Picked by Barb - January 26th 2016 Meeting
On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the
stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner. Sharing one too many martinis, the
strangers begin to play a game of truth, revealing very intimate
details about themselves. Ted talks about his marriage that’s going
stale and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. Ted and
his wife were a mismatch from the start—he the rich businessman, she the
artistic free spirit—a contrast that once inflamed their passion, but
has now become a cliché.
But their game turns a little darker when Ted jokes that he could kill Miranda for what she’s done. Lily, without missing a beat, says calmly, “I’d like to help.” After all, some people are the kind worth killing, like a lying, stinking, cheating spouse. . . .
Back in Boston, Ted and Lily’s twisted bond grows stronger as they begin to plot Miranda's demise. But there are a few things about Lily’s past that she hasn’t shared with Ted, namely her experience in the art and craft of murder, a journey that began in her very precocious youth.
On a night flight from London to Boston, Ted Severson meets the
stunning and mysterious Lily Kintner. Sharing one too many martinis, the
strangers begin to play a game of truth, revealing very intimate
details about themselves. Ted talks about his marriage that’s going
stale and his wife Miranda, who he’s sure is cheating on him. Ted and
his wife were a mismatch from the start—he the rich businessman, she the
artistic free spirit—a contrast that once inflamed their passion, but
has now become a cliché.But their game turns a little darker when Ted jokes that he could kill Miranda for what she’s done. Lily, without missing a beat, says calmly, “I’d like to help.” After all, some people are the kind worth killing, like a lying, stinking, cheating spouse. . . .
Back in Boston, Ted and Lily’s twisted bond grows stronger as they begin to plot Miranda's demise. But there are a few things about Lily’s past that she hasn’t shared with Ted, namely her experience in the art and craft of murder, a journey that began in her very precocious youth.
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Picked by Evan - December 15th 2015 Meeting
The art of love is never a science: Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet
socially inept professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a
wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches
all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a
sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers,
the smokers, the late arrivers.
Rosie Jarman possesses all these qualities. Don easily disqualifies her as a candidate for The Wife Project (even if she is “quite intelligent for a barmaid”). But Don is intrigued by Rosie’s own quest to identify her biological father. When an unlikely relationship develops as they collaborate on The Father Project, Don is forced to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie―and the realization that, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love, it finds you.
The art of love is never a science: Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet
socially inept professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a
wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches
all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a
sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers,
the smokers, the late arrivers. Rosie Jarman possesses all these qualities. Don easily disqualifies her as a candidate for The Wife Project (even if she is “quite intelligent for a barmaid”). But Don is intrigued by Rosie’s own quest to identify her biological father. When an unlikely relationship develops as they collaborate on The Father Project, Don is forced to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie―and the realization that, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love, it finds you.
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
Picked by Sarah - November 10th 2015 Meeting
Paula
McLain, author of the phenomenal bestseller The Paris Wife, now returns
with her keenly anticipated new novel, transporting readers to colonial Kenya
in the 1920s. Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating
woman—Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love
triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak
Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa.
Paula
McLain, author of the phenomenal bestseller The Paris Wife, now returns
with her keenly anticipated new novel, transporting readers to colonial Kenya
in the 1920s. Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating
woman—Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love
triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak
Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa.
Brought
to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl Markham is
raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe who share his estate.
Her unconventional upbringing transforms Beryl into a bold young woman with a
fierce love of all things wild and an inherent understanding of nature’s
delicate balance. But even the wild child must grow up, and when everything
Beryl knows and trusts dissolves, she is catapulted into a string of disastrous
relationships.
Set against the majestic landscape of
early-twentieth-century Africa, McLain’s powerful tale reveals the
extraordinary adventures of a woman before her time, the exhilaration of
freedom and its cost, and the tenacity of the human spirit.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Picked by Penny - October 6th Meeting
A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to
redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of
the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time
Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the
Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most
desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children
trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first
cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a
notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a
tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and
transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.
Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account
of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the
lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the
pursuit of true justice.
Friday, July 17, 2015
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Picked by Dick - August 18th Meeting
FRANCE, 1939
In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.
Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.
FRANCE, 1939 In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.
Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.
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