Beach Road:Review by Carissa

     I have to admit, I had a tough time identifying with any of these characters.  I wondered if I would get through it since I was juggling this book along with my unfinished vacation read, text books, holiday recipes etc.  Thankfully the chapters were short and written in several different characters point of view so it really helped move the story along, eventually I was flying through!  I can honestly say that I did not see that plot twist coming (I hope that doesn't ruin it for anyone)!  This book reminded me why I enjoy mysteries and how James Patterson came to master them!

~Carissa

Dr. Zhivago: Review by Barbara

“Dr. Zhivago” by Boris Pasternak

Review by Barbara Lechner

November 2013

*Note: try to get the copy with the Introduction by John Bayley. That really helped set the stage and gave some clues to who/what/where.

Reading a Russian novel is somewhat like plowing through snow until you find the road or a good pair of skis. So many Russian names, with nicknames, and names used by loved ones. It took a while to get comfortable with the characters and determine which would be of importance and which to pass over. Many characters re-emerge in later portions of the novel.

Once I got to that comfort level, it was smooth sailing...pretty smooth. I rented the movie with Omar Sharif and Julie Christie about half way through the reading. That helped tremendously! Of course the book is much better. The writing is poetic and so much richer.

The setting is pre-revolution Russia (not for long, though). There is unrest among the “common” man due to terrible working conditions and pay. We call it poverty today. Dr. Zhivago is raised by an Aunt and Uncle in the bourgeois circles of Moscow. While he is well-educated and becomes a doctor...although being a poet was his real desire...he had no personal money. This has importance in the story regarding the perception of the people vs. reality.

Once the revolution breaks out there are several factions eventually at war with each other...the Bolsheviks, the Reds, the Whites, the Foresters, and the Partisans. I think Dr. Zhivago was conscripted by most of them over the years of the war. He was a field doctor and saw a gamut of atrocities and was transported or walked over much of the countryside.

He had married and had a child before the war. Tonia was loved by Zhivago but his ultimate meetings with Lara and their bonding during the war led to a love affair that has been written about over and over. Many couples at the time of the movie's popularity set this love story as a goal for their own life.

It wouldn't be fair to give away much more of the story and it's complicated to relate on one page. I loved this story and hope you do, too. The novel was a success for Pasternak outside of Russia. Since he had a “good” relationship with Stalin, he was fairly safe from reprisal. It was eventually also a huge movie. The song from the movie “Lara's Theme” was played so much it became a cliché. I'm sure you've heard it and maybe didn’t know what it was.

My favorite quote from the book: “Man is born to live, not to prepare for life.” (Zhivago)

I plan to read this book a second time. Enjoy! (it goes well with a hot cup of tea and a lap blanket.)

Beach Road: Review by Barbara

Beach Road

Book Review by Barbara Lechner

James Patterson is a huge success as an author of the detective; murder & crime genre. I've only read one or two other books by him. (One was Beach House (?) that I read by accident thinking it was Beach Road). I've got to admit they are great escapism and page-turners – my goodness, so hard to put down the book.

Beach Road was less violent than I had remembered from another book I read of Patterson's, so I enjoyed reading this a bit better. His story-telling method of each character speaking in a chapter was an interesting approach. I had a hard time really caring much about any of the characters except for Tom Dunleavy and Dante Halleyville; but since the story flows so fast, it's hard to have much concern about that issue.

I think you will enjoy this book for easy reading. If you like mysteries, may I suggest some Agatha Christie.

Barbara Lechner

Book #11~Family Pick: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

In honor of our beloved mother, grandmother and book club president Dorothy...

For the months of November and December we have chosen as a family to read an epic novel to end the year with.

As described on Amazon...

Doctor Zhivago is the story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago's love for the tender and beautiful Lara, the very embodiment of the pain and chaos of those cataclysmic times.

Below you will find a link to the trailer of the movie made in 1965.

Without a saucer, tea is just another beverage.

I just found this post in my drafts.   

Thank you Grandma for being the meaning of home that we will always carry in our hearts.

You will be missed every single day.

My recent visit with Grandma Dot reminded me of one of those "stop and smell the roses" "one day at a time, one thing at a time" emails that we've all sighed at while skimming through, nodding along, mentally taking note, and forwarding to those we think may need reminding as we had. One message in particular implores us to light the decorative candle and use the good china...we deserve fancy.

Tea with my grandmother is always served in a cup with matching saucer "so there's a place to set the tea bag" she said simply.  This is the same set she has had since I can remember, it's basic stoneware with a simple pattern but it is beautiful and feels so good in your hands. I'm quite often holding a flimsy paper cup.  At home and the office I am a Keurig girl, no muss no fuss and voila instant tea.  I started to realize that I gave up a bit of pampering for "progress" as I watched Grandma Dot place the bags gently our cups and slowly pour hot water over the top. We sat whiled the tea leaves seeped.  We chatted and we watched the water darken.  We sipped to check if it was ready a time or two and then let the warmth from our cups fill us up.  I couldn't help being reminded of the idea of 'Chicken Soup for the Soul'...this was tea for our souls and a moment in time I hope never to forget.

You may already have that special cup and saucer tucked away in a china cabinet or wrapped in a box along with other family heirlooms.  If so, it is time to set it free.  If not, then it's time to do some shopping.  Find something that you really love, not something that's merely functional.

Don't forget the saucer, it's the most important part. ;)

Please share pictures with a little caption about your vessel of calm.

I found this single cup at my local thrift shop.  On a table filled with tea cups covered in busy floral patterns, it looked out of place (because it belonged with me).

Thank you for showing us the way Grandma.

A Lesson Before Dying: Review by Dorothy

A Lesson Before Dying

By Ernest J. Gaines

An Anstett Book Club Selection

          I grew up in a small town in Illinois with a population of about 6,000.  Only one family was black, a couple with 3 children.  The daughter was my age, and she had two younger brothers.  They were a nice respectable family who shopped in the same stores as everyone else, not at all like blacks were treated in the South.  Even though Frances was a classmate, I don’t recall having any contact with her, nor did anyone else I knew.  Frances had no close friends that I know of, and she never participated in any school activities.  When the children reached high school, their parents were wise enough to send them to school in Chicago were it was more diverse.  I lost contact with the family after that, but hope they found a better life than the Southern Negro depicted so vividly in this book.

          This book we are now reviewing is about a young black man in the Cajun South of the forties who is unwittingly involved in the robbery and murder of a white storekeeper.  The other two black men who were with him at the time and actually did the crime were both killed, and since he was with them, he was accused of the crime and sent to prison with a death sentence.  Grant Wiggins is a black schoolteacher who is asked to visit the man in prison by his own aunt and the prisoner’s godmother.  He is reluctant to become involved because the prisoner has turned into the animal he is accused of being.  Grant goes on many visits to the prison because of the women, but eventually he realizes how much good he can do this man by bringing him into a peaceful existence in his last days.

          Jefferson ended up dying for the crime, but when I finished the book, I wondered what happened to Grant.  Did he stay in the small town with all its prejudice against Negros, or did he leave for a different life?

          This was an interesting well-written book recommended by Barbara Lechner; Reading such a book, I realized I grew up not knowing how blacks were treated in the South, and makes me sorry I couldn’t have been more of a friend to Frances Kennedy.

Dorothy Anstett

Book #10 ~ Kathy's Pick: Beach Road by James Patterson

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: Review by Kathy

Birds of a Lesser Paradise: Review by Kathy

REVIEW OF ‘BIRDS OF A LESSER PARADISE’

KATHY SWANSON

THE BEST PART ABOUT THIS BOOK WAS THAT THEY WERE SHORT STORIES SO I COULD PUT IT DOWN AFTER EACH STORY AND READ SOMETHING LESS DEPRESSING AND DARK.

IT AMAZES ME THAT A WIFE AND MOTHER WOULD HAVE SUCH DEPRESSING THOUGHTS TO WRITE DOWN AS A STORY. 

WERE THESE STORIES WRITTEN TO ENTERTAIN, TO INFORM?  WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE?

I DID NOT FIND ONE REDEEMING FACTOR IN ANY OF THE STORIES.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: Review by Dorothy

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: Review by Barbara

Book #9 ~ Barbara's Pick: A Lesson Before Dying

A LESSON BEFORE DYING

by Ernest J. Gaines

Anstett Book Club recommendation from Barbara Lechner

For my next book club recommendation, I have chosen A Lesson Before Dying, written in 1993 but set in the 1940's, about the arrest and trial of a black man in the Cajun south.

I thought it was rather timely due to the recent not guilty verdict of George Zimmerman in Florida that subsequently led to a national outcry of African Americans that justice had not been served since the other party in the event was a black man. While I do not wish to project my opinions of the event, trial, and outcome, I do think this book might shed light on why the African American community was outraged. There is a very long history of racism, both brutal and subtle, in our country – whether it's the south or the north – that has woven a fabric of mistrust so deeply imbedded in the African American heart and mind that what happened in this Florida case could not be seen any other way by that group of citizens.

In “A Lesson Before Dying” a black man named Jefferson is an unwitting party to a liquor store shootout in which three men are killed. He is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins, a teacher and a black man, is urged by his aunt and Jefferson's godmother to impart his learning and pride to Jefferson. In the end, the two men forge a bond.

This book is so well written that you just seem to fall into the times.

Ernest James Gaines (born January 15, 1933) is an African-American author. His works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian and Chinese. Four of his works have been made into television movies.One of them was The Authobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.(For those of you younger than 50 – this was a very popular TV event with Cicely Tyson.)

His 1993 novel, A Lesson Before Dying, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction

You can purchase this book from Amazon.com or find it at your local library or bookstore.

I hope you like it as much as I did.