November Book Selection

Thank you Laura, for hosting our lively book discussion this morning! The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was very well received by those present. Even more entertaining than Henrietta, was the post-book talk that covered everything from hormone replacements to the need for SBS (Smutty but Smart) books and the current high school dance style. Good thing we don't keep minutes at these gatherings, because I'm not sure they could be published!!

Margaret has selected the next book and it is (drumroll please):

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Summary from goodreads.com...

The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?

As the weather turns cooler, it's the perfect time to relax with a good book...happy reading!

News item that relates to our latest book

Click here for news article from today

October NTSBC Meeting

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 19 at 9:00 a.m. We will meet at Laura's home to discuss The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Click here for an interesting interview with author Rebecca Skloot, found in the Smithsonian Magazine.

Happy Birthday Peggy!

Happy Birthday to our NTSBC Founder!

Best wishes

from your fellow Bookworms

Thank you Kelby, for a great start to our day! It was a good, if not mixed, discussion of A Visit from the Goon Squad. Our very perceptive, Teresa, said the book reminded her of the movie Pulp Fiction. Little did she know, Pulp Fiction was a big influence on author Jennifer Egan. Below is an excerpt from a review of the book in Paste Magazine...

A side note, if I may. Egan has mentioned that Pulp Fiction influenced her a great deal while writing Goon Squad. In 1994, when Pulp Fiction burst onto the scene, with its startling nonlinear storyline, punchy dialogue, pop culture references and humor juxtaposed with rank violence, a whole new phenomenon was created—so much so, no one knew quite where to place it....

As in Pulp Fiction, the characters ooze unlikeability, yet it is to Egan’s credit you feel their woundedness and wish some relief for them.

Egan creates underdog characters, achingly self-destructive and down-on-their luck. The characters’ personal interactions exude intimacy, and yet they know so little about each other. In other words, they’re more like real-life people or the messy, unpredictable characters in Pulp Fiction than the happy, redeemed-in-the-end Hollywood caricatures required for a movie deal. [Although I’m happy to report that HBO—o brave and cutting-edge network!—has acquired the rights to develop Goon Squad as a half-hour TV series.]

Moving on to October, most of you have learned that Laura has chosen The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot as our next book. Laura introduced it as a story about a woman who is very much still alive amongst us, despite being deceased and she is very popular and important in the science industry although her family has struggled to make ends meet.

Watch this quick clip from the author:

Sounds like a great read....now the dilemma of reading the actual book, reading it on an iPad or Kindle, or listening. So many choices! Or do as Peggy does...use all the options!

Happy reading!

Book Club to Book Club Loan

Another Village book club has picked Still Alice for their upcoming book selection. I was going to loan one of the members my copy but remembered I had already given it to someone else. Does anyone have a copy that they wouldn't mind loaning? Please respond if you are willing!

Speaking of Still Alice, I have heard that Lisa Genova's second book, Left Neglected is really good.

Book Review Podcast

Peggy found a podcast on iTunes discussing A Visit from the Goon Squad. Click here for the podcast and then select the first selection in the list. The podcast includes 3 reviewers discussing the book....will you agree with any of them? Grab a cup of coffee and take a listen!

Happy Birthday Margaret!

Happy Birthday

Margaret!

So sorry to be a bit late in sending

you good wishes ~ hope you had

a fabulous day !

The NTSBC gals

September NTSBC Meeting

Mark your calendar for our next NTSBC gathering to discuss our summer read, A Visit from the Goon Squad. We will meet at Kelby's home on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 9:00 a.m. Please respond to this post or Kelby if you can make it.

By the way, did you see the lovely photo of our very own Kelby in the paper today?!

Hope to see you all soon!

Happy Birthday Tammy!

Hope you have a

wonderful day

Tammy!

The NTSBC gals

NTSBC Night at the Movies!

Wednesday, Aug 17 7:00 p.m.

Comment on this post or respond by email if you can make it.

This is going to be good!

Happy Birthday Clare!

Have a wonderful

birthday Clare!

The NTSBC Gals

Happy Birthday Cari

Cari ~

Wishing you a happy day!

The NTSBC Gals

What are you reading?

Hope you all are enjoying your summer and carving out some time for reading. I just wanted to post about a book I just finished and LOVED...The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I found it to be a rich book full of twists and and secrets that take you back and forth between interesting characters from 3 different generations. Below is video from the author.

I also enjoyed reading One Day by David Nicholls. As I mentioned previously, this book has been made into a movie which will be released in August. Anyone want to see it? Speaking of movies...The Help will be released on August 12!! Let's plan a NTSBC Night at the Movies soon!

I am now starting to read Cutting for Stone, which I have wanted to read for a long time.

Please post a comment to let everyone know what you are reading!

"Cacophony" Alert

A Visit from the Goon Squad (page 31) - " He wanted to cover his ears, block out the cacophony of Stop/Go........"

Happy Birthday Brigid

Happy day...happy reading! :)

The NTSBC Gals

Summer Reading

Thank you Julie for hosting last night's book discussion!

Kelby's selection for our summer reading is A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. This book is the Goodread

s Book Club selection for the months of June and July. It has won several accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle

Award and it will become an HBO series.

From Goodreads:

Bennie is an aging former punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Here Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs. With music pulsing on every page, A Visit from the Goon Squad is a startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption.

In addition, we discussed some books that are on our summer reading wish lists. Click on each book title for more info.

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee

Caleb's Crossing or People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Swim Back to Me or The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

Feel free to comment with other book suggestions.

Happy summer...happy reading!

Happy Birthday Molly!

Since you are out of town,

we send you happy wishes across the miles!

Have a great day!

The NTSBC gals

June NTSBC Meeting

We will meet at Julie's house this Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. for a fireside chat (outside that is) to discuss Skinny Dip. If you have not responded to Julie yet, please email her to let her know if you'll be there. See you soon!

June Book Selection

We are lightening things up as we head into summer! Julie has selected Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen. In an excerpt from a 2004 New York Times review, Janet Maslin praises Hiassen's work...

At this point in his career as a comic novelist, Carl Hiaasen did not need to get any better. He has long been writing smart, fizzy Floridian escapades that amount to pure reading pleasure. But "Skinny Dip", his latest, is something more: a screwball delight so full of bright, deft, beautifully honed humor that it places Mr. Hiaasen in the company of Preston Sturges, Woody Allen and S.J. Perelman. This book is dedicated to the late, priceless Warren Zevon, who provided a theme song for Mr. Hiaasen's previous "Basket Case" and whose quick, diabolical wit put him on that same list.

Almost every living organism in this book fares well as the story ends. Not even the story's snakes or tasty little dogs are made to suffer. But nobody winds up happier than the reader, unless it's Mr. Hiaasen for having hit his stride so unmistakably. "Skinny Dip" is a madcap trip through southern Florida, but Mr. Hiaasen's geography no longer matters. You'd follow him anywhere.

I for one, can't wait to dive into this book! Mark your calendar for our next book discussion on June 15.