Book Club

My book club meets once every 4 - 6 weeks. Sometimes I don't finish the book (occasionally I only get up to almost starting the book). We rotate who chooses the book. Whoever chooses hosts and whoever hosts tries to make food that relates to the book in some way. Those are the rules, these are the books beginning with the most recent:

The Humans, by Matt Haig

This was my pick for 2013. An alien is sent to earth after a mathematician solves the Riemann hypothesis, one of the seven millenium prize problems. It has something to do with the pattern of prime numbers. Anyway, the rest of the universe is very worried about humans solving this problem because it would mean extremely advanced technology and space travel that our shitty little brains aren't ready for, so they send this alien to kill the guy that solved it and anyone he might have told. The story is, I guess, supposed to be a commentary on humanity from an outsider's perspective. That we are violent, greedy, vain, blah blah blah, but after some time the alien comes to see that we are also capable of love, altruism etc. His observations on humanity are pretty boring and, as someone in book club said (I can't remember who), cliche. At this point, we all know that humanity is a fickle beast and so his commentary on our morality was decidedly uninteresting. Maybe if I'd read this when I was 17 and was less familiar with life generally, I would have found this book more revelatory. But the jaded old wither bag that I've become thought it was all pretty obvious. Apart from this, the story is quite good and I thought the characters were fairly engaging. It's also well-written in both a technical and creative sense. Also, after all my above complaining, I will say that the book deals with two issues that I find interesting and tend to think about quite a lot. First, that our technology has surpassed our collective intelligence, likely to our detriment. And second, that even though we know our life is finite, we choose to not only survive as long as we can, but to actually achieve things of varying importance with the time we have. Go humans! A good story so read it at some point.

What we ate: Mars bars and BBQ pringles - these were the first foods the alien ate on earth. Of course, wine and cheese also.

Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, by David Sedaris

Jenny picked this one and I was interested because I've never read David Sedaris and have heard he's quite funny. The book is a collection of short essays, mostly on his observations of the world and memories of his family. The essays were humorous but also emotive which surprised me a bit. I guess I was expecting laugh-out-loud hilarity (and some essays met that expectation) but a lot of it was more amusing and sometimes a little sad. It wasn't what I expected but I enjoyed it quite a bit and would read him again. My favourite essay had to do with learning languages through a program called Pimsleur and the cultural differences that are intimated by the content of the lessons. Here's an excerpt which caused me to lol:

["For this latest trip, I wanted to do better, so I downloaded all thirty lessons of Pimsleur German I, which again start off with "Excuse me, do you understand English?" As with the Japanese and the Italian version, the program taught me to count and to tell time. Again I learned "The girl is already bid" and "How are you?" ("Wie ght est Ihnen?")
   In Japanese and Italian, the response to the final question is "I'm fine, and you?" In German it's answered with a sigh and slight pause, followed by "Not so good." [...]
   In Japanese I, lesson 17, the actress who plays the wife says "Kaimono ga shitai n desu ga!" ("I want to go shopping by there's a problem and you have to guess what it is.") The exercise is about numbers, so the husband asks how much money she has, she gives him a figure and he offers to increase it incrementally.
   Similarly, in the German version, the wife announces that she wants to buy something: "Ich mochte noch etwas kaufen." Her husband asks how much money she has and after she answers, he responds coldly, "I'm not giving you any more. You have enough." There's no discord in Pimsleur's Japan, but its Germany is a moody and often savage place. In one of the exercises you're encouraged to argue with a bellhop who tries to cheat you out of your change and who ends up sneering, "You don't understand German."
   "Oh but I do," you learn to say. "I do understand German."]

What we ate: Crackers and cheese and tea and wine

Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn

*I've still been going to book club every month but the regularity with which I finish the assigned book has diminished by the amount of time taken up by working and toddlering - which is 99%. Oh well.

I started reading this book and immediately rolled my eyes within the first two pages or something. The author's cv includes a regular writer for Entertainment Weekly so I was not surprised that I found her style annoying and contrived right off the bat - the main character calls his sister Margo "Go" which is the stupidest nickname that no one would ever use. Kris has been calling me "Dra" for the last couple weeks just to fan my flames. But, I ran into Reche and she encouraged me to keep going because the story gets pretty good. So I persisted. It's a he/she book. Husband under suspicion of killing his wife. For the first half of the book, the reader gets alternating first-person narrative present tense (man) and past diary entries (woman). The man part was pretty normal. The diary entries are highly unlikely. I couldn't believe that anyone would ever use the words "let me set the scene" in their journal. The journal entries were so annoying that I ended up internetting some spoilers to see if would be really worth the slog. At about the halfway mark (a long time for a 400pg book) it started getting pretty decent. The journal entries went away and we learn that the (spoiler) journal is fake and written by a lunatic. Oh. Ok. So I was supposed to be annoyed I guess.

Anyway, it ended up being a pretty decent story and the second half of the book had A LOT of swearing which I liked. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it but if you're currently reading it you should finish it. Also, side note, this is going to be a Ben Affleck movie in 2015. I like Ben Affleck. I think he's pretty solid. 

What we ate: Maggie and Chris has just finished SEE so she was pretty tired. We had crackers and cheese and grapes and chocolate. And wine or tea. I think I ate half the chocolates.

A Mountain of Crumbs, by Elena Gorokhova

This was Reche's pick. It's a memoir written by a woman who grew up in the Soviet Union and eventually left to live in the United States with her American husband. I enjoyed this book for the most part, though there were some slow spots. I think I enjoyed it and understood her perspective (as much as a capitalist westerner can) because I was immersed in Russian history for what felt like forever while I was in school. I try to imagine reading this book as a newcomer to Russian and soviet history and I think I might have felt differently. It's a memoir, not a historical analysis, so the book takes a lot of pre-existing knowledge about the era for granted. That said, the author writes in a very accessible and familiar way and she shares some really good stories that would scare the shit out of any Canadian kid...like having teeth pulled and root canals performed with absolutely no pain medication. Shudder. Overall, a pretty compelling read that anyone with a family can relate to on some level, communist or not.

What we ate: I missed the group because of extreme pregnancy fatigue, so I'm not sure what they ate. Probably bear meat and mayonnaise. Just kidding! Or maybe not...

An Object of Beauty, by Steve Martin

I really enjoyed this book. It follows the career of a woman in the art dealing world in New York through the 90s and early 2000s. The main character, Lacey Yeager (I refrain from referring to her as a protagonist because we all agreed that she is as unsympathetic a character as they come), is truly unlikable. She is selfish, engages in fraudulent activity, breaks hearts and betrays her family. Essentially, she's a total bitch. Still, I was sort of captivated by the story and found that I was really interested in her career, her successes and ultimate failures. In terms of the writing, we mostly agreed that Steve Martin is a bit of a pretentious git and writes as such. Some in the group felt that Lacey's character was poorly developed and that The Jerk didn't write a woman very convincingly which detracted from their enjoyment of the story. I'll admit that there were a few times where I rolled my eyes (mostly to do with vibrators and random office sex), but to be fair the story is told from the point of view of Lacey's male friend so I have to cut him a bit of slack. Also, someone mentioned (and this seemed to make sense to me) that perhaps Lacey's story is really just the vehicle through which we follow and learn about the ebbs and flows of the art world during this time. The art and art dealing is actually the story and Lacey isn't all that important. What I appreciated most about the book is that, although it detailed artists and various periods, styles and movements, I didn't feel lost despite my complete lack of knowledge in this area. I have one favourite museum painting - it's a Klimt at the National Gallery - a pregnant woman surrounded by skeletal figures. I assume it's got something to do with life and death but I couldn't tell you anything about technique or the history or context of this painting. I only know that I like it. I also liked this book.

What we ate: Maggie made art opening type fare - a tapinade and some kind of creamy shrimp dip, crackers, pickled sour onions, grapes and chocolate eggs (it was Easter).

The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery

So I actually didn't manage to read this book by the time our meeting came around. We really only had three weeks from the time Caileen decided on the book to the date of our book club and I just flaked. However, I did manage to read it last week. Yes it only took me a week, which is like super space travel time for me because I am an extremely slow reader. I couldn't put it down! It was emotionally and philosophically gripping. To be sure, I didn't understand most of the references she made to the great literature and philosophers of the world (everyone agreed this book made us feel culturally inadequate), however the premise of the book is quite sweet and ultimately sad with a twist of hope. Like bawling like I'm watching The Notebook sad. 

Renee, in her mid-fifties, is the widowed concierge for a richy rich apartment in Paris. She comes from a small village, is fat and has no credentials. Paloma is a twelve-year-old that lives in the building who is extraordinarily smart (a bit unbelievably so), hates humanity and has resolved to burn down the apartment building and commit suicide by way of her mother's sleeping pills which she's been pilfering for months-all on her 13th birthday. Both are pretending to be someone they're not and by the end of the book I think the hope is that Paloma has learned that perhaps life is worth living after all.

One of my favourite excerpts from the book comes from Paloma's journal where she describing listening to a moving performance by her school's choir:

Every time, it's a miracle. Here are all these people, full of heartache or hatred or desire, and we all have our troubles and the school year is filled with vulgarity and triviality and consequence, and there are all these teachers and kids of every shape and size, and there's this life we're struggling through full of shouting and tears and laughter and fights and break-ups and dashed hopes and unexpected luck - it all disappears, just like that, when the choir begins to sing. Everyday life vanishes into song, you are suddenly overcome with a feeling of brotherhood, of deep solidarity, even love, and it diffuses the ugliness of everyday life into a spirit of perfect communion.

What we ate: Caileen provided bergamot tea, a variety of French cheese, rosemary crackers, baguette and pralines.


*I also wanted to add that my favourite colloquialism from The Big Sleep was "know your onions". I just thought the Shins were being inaccessible in choosing this as a song title, but it turns out it's a fairly well known saying meaning to be well-informed on a subject. 


The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler

Janelle chose this novel by "the master". I have never read anything by Raymond Chandler but I love a good mystery and I was excited to read something from the olden days...I think everyone liked the book. Rachael especially liked that it was written in 1939 but wasn't about the Depression and we all agreed that the weird old-timey colloquialisms were charming, if unfamiliar - "nix nix", "tut tut" and a reference to tailing cars as being "my meat, jack" by a cabbie. There was also a lot of lady slapping, especially when they got hysterical. We agreed there weren't really any redeeming female characters - they were all nancies who sucked their thumb or had poor judgment. But still, I liked the book, I love the genre and will likely read more Chandler in the future.

What we ate: No food really associated with this book, so Janelle made cupcakes (since it was my birthday) and a plate of veggies to counter the icing.

World War Z, by Max Brooks

This was my pick. My sister's boyfriend (I kind of feel like he's my brother already - boyfriend sounds so casual) is a huge graphic novel/comic book/comic art fan expert and he brought out a bunch of zombie books one day when we were visiting. I flipped through the Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks and thought "yes, I would like to learn more". World War Z tells the story of the great zombie war through a collection of individual accounts from all over the world. I really enjoyed this book (am still because I'm not done yet) and the group more or less agreed that it was quite fascinating to read. There are two things I liked most: First, the short personal anecdotes make this book really easy to read for ten minutes before bed (I only had minor nightmares the first night or two). Second, it wasn't kitschy; it was actually quite serious and I can appreciate Brooks using extraordinary circumstances to comment on the state of the world (government, military, humanity or lack thereof).

What we ate: I googled "zombie food", but since I didn't think the girls would be into eating brains, I served food that makes humans lethargic and kind of dim: cheese (dairy), crackers and cookies (wheat).

Good to a Fault, by Marina Endicott

This was a 2010 Canada Reads book. I absolutely loved this book. It relays the story of Clarice who crashes into the car of a homeless family comprised of three kids, their mother, father and paternal grandmother. Clarice ends up taking the children and grandmother into her home during the mother's extended hospital stay to treat her cancer. It's an admittedly extraordinary circumstance that, at first, was kind of a barrier for me. But as Clarice develops a relationship with the children and comes to be known affectionately as Clary, you can't help but be taken in by the story. One of the things I love about this book is that it's set in Saskatoon. Interestingly, the majority of our group had a hard time envisioning it actually taking place in our fair city, but I had the opposite experience. I didn't know it was set in Saskatoon before I started to read, but as I got into the book it started to feel very familiar and I was not at all surprised when the setting was revealed. As you read the book it becomes obvious that there is really only one way for it to end - bitter sweet. 

What we ate: Abi made Saskatoon crab apple pie that was delicious!

The Jade Peony, by Wayson Choy

This was also a 2010 Canada Reads book. It's set in Vancouver's Chinatown during WWII  and told from the perspective of three siblings. It explores the immigrant experience in Canada at that time and also touches on the tension between Chinese and Japanese ex-pats during Japan's occupation of China (if you don't know much about this period, try googling "the Rape of Nanjing"). I'm not sure that I've ever read a novel quite like this one. Every sentence seems to be a short poem. Choy's descriptive style is what I imagine floating on a sailboat in sleepy waters with no land in sight might feel like. Although there was much sadness in this book, it had a calming effect (except for the parts where I bawled like a little sissy). Absolutely one hundred per cent you should read this book.

What we ate: Janelle made sweet buns and pot stickers (from scratch) and green tea.

The Brightest Star in the Sky, by Marian Keyes

Ok, I will admit that I when I went to buy this book at McNally, I was a bit skeptical because it was in the General Fiction section, and not the Literature section. I was being a snob, yes. But I bought it and about ten pages in I was absolutely crazy in love with the book and am now a little obsessed with Marian. The book is narrated by some unknown figure that's observing the lives of the residents of a walk up in Dublin. Marian has a way of detailing even the most awful tragedies in a manner that is still kind of upbeat and makes you feel like the victim is the winner. She writes for the ladies but not stereotypically. It's not all lunching and shoes. Her characters are layered, complex and flawed. There was quite a bit of sadness in this book, but a very happy ending where the shitty people get their comeuppance.

What we ate: Rachael provided tea and a variety of candy from the UK.

Push, by Sapphire

I had a really hard time with this book. The sexual and psychological abuse was in your face at all points throughout. It was explicit and truthfully I felt assaulted reading it - which is likely the point. The book is told from the perspective of Precious Jones, a teenager who bears two children as a result of her father's abuse. Precious is lost in the public school system where she made it to high school without learning to read or write. The author writes the way the someone like Precious would speak - a vernacular that indicates her lack of literacy skills. But as Precious begins attending an alternative school, her vocabulary and way of speaking begins to change as her literacy skills improve. The author did an excellent job of mapping her progress in this way. For example, words that are misspelled or mispronounced in the beginning of book are corrected as Precious learned to read or write them. It was a really interesting technique. I recommend the book, but for the social workers, teachers and human service workers out there who are faced with Precious every day, it's probably not necessary.

What we ate: There really wasn't a lot of food in this book, so Charlene provided some snacks and wine to numb the pain.

The Russlander, by Sandra Birdsell

This was my pick as a menno and history nerd. The book covers the story of Katya Vogt, her family and friends who live in and around the Chortitza Mennonite Colony in Ukraine in the years leading up to and during the Russian Revolution. Katya's family is killed during the course of the revolution. It's a piece of fiction but could just as easily be a real life account. I chose this book because my paternal grandfather was a Mennonite in Ukraine at this time and I am only here because he managed to escape the clutches of Makhno's raiders as well as the red army. As landowners, the Mennonites were targeted by the Bolsheviks. As people of (possibly) German heritage (the Mennonites of this time preferred to stress their Dutch lineage) who more often than not chose not to learn Russian or Ukrainian and often employed poor ethnic Russians and Ukrainians as cheap labour, the Mennonites were targeted by the nationalist elements. At any rate, the spirit of the book attracted me, but I could not get through it and neither could anyone else in our group. The seemingly endless sea of characters was so complex and difficult to navigate that I just couldn't get through more than 100 pages. I was disappointed, more in myself than the book. I might take another shot in a few years.

What we ate: Rhubarb ploutz, of course!

Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers.

A narrative of what happens when a natural disaster strikes a city the government doesn't seem to care about and at a time when terrorism is the guiding force behind all kinds of policy decisions. The real-life story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his family who owned a painting business in New Orleans. The book covers Abdulrahman's experience in the makeshift prison system in the city post-Katrina and his wife Kathy's attempt to find out what happened to her husband. Desperation, discrimination and heartbreak are the three words I would use to describe this book. Also, I was so frustrated at one point that I threw the book down in a fit of tears.

What we ate: Abi made some shrimp type sandwiches and we drank Dark'n'Stormy (rum & ginger beer)

First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, by Eric McCormack.

This book was excellent, quite depressing and includes a bizarre dream sequence where the protagonist is consumed by his lover's hoo hoo feet first in some symbolic desire to be back in his mother's womb (?). It was delightfully weird and I recommend it.

What we ate: Maggie made a birthday cake in celebration of the author's birthday, which happened to fall on the day we got together to discuss his book.