Little Heathens

Dear Books 'n' Wine Club,

For our next book we will be travelling back in time to the 1930’s Midwest. Millie Kalish provides readers with her remembrance of her childhood back in the Great Depression era on the family farm in Iowa. Get ready for caring for animals and doing the laundry by hand. A little bit of self-help is included in this gem as readers gain insight on how to skin a rabbit and how to make the best head cheese (“start by scrubbing the head of the pig until it is pink and clean”).

This link takes you to Millie Kalish’s Website for Little Heathens. This Website is packed with good stuff. Make sure you click on the Book Club link to find discussion questions as well as Farm Recipes! You can read more about Millie and why she decided to write her story.

Looking forward to seeing you all at Marrie’s!

Happy Reading,
Jennifer

May Meeting Notes

Dear Books ‘n’ Wine Club,

A huge thank you to our new member Amy for hosting Allison’s book pick last night. Amy provided a delicious meal of grilled chicken and steak with two fantastic salads! The 7 layer salad will be posted shortly. Oh, and let’s not forget the yummy cookies from Golden Harvest in Kittery. Thank you Amy for opening your lovely home, we truly had a wonderful evening. We missed Sara and look forward to her return next month…..darn those work deadlines!!!

Now on to the book….Little Bee proved to be a good read although there were mixed feelings on the ‘got to shout it from the roof tops’. Mainly our discussion centered on the main characters of Little Bee and Sarah. It was agreed that Little Bee had such a humanistic quality that one wanted to strive to be so insightful and compassionate like her. We appreciated Little Bee’s view on the world. She was well beyond her young years, but understandable so with all that she had endured. Little Bee was resourceful; due to what I assume was survival instinct. Simple things like learning the Queen’s English helped her navigate in a foreign country. Ellen pointed out how she loved Little Bee’s almost cynical (?) look on ‘just tell them it’s a proverb from your home country and they’ll believe you’. Of course there are no wolves in Nigeria, just lots of monkeys! Karin like how Little Bee points out that scars always tell a story and because they show you are a survivor.

Much time was spent dissecting Sarah’s character. She was flawed in so many ways and her development was not as succinct as Little Bee’s. Amy pointed out that Sarah was not only linear but would change her convictions on a whim. She was easily distracted from her goals. Sarah tries to do good, as Susan noted with her love of her son and helping Little Bee, however, she seems to mess up along the way. Marrie commented on her lack of emotional connection with the character (in fact other than Bee she had little connection to any of them). Moving on to the vacation to Nigeria---as Ellen asked---who the hell would go there? So, moving on to the finger scene…. Amy really didn’t think that she had the character to do so. Karin felt it was to show up the husband and Marrie dittoed that sentiment. Marrie left us wondering if it were the husband instead of Little Bee would Sarah thought of him as “finger worthy”?

Then there is Charlie’s character, Sarah’s little boy who plays the role of Batman throughout the book. I found him the most endearing and likable character above all the others. Perhaps because I am living with a five year old that I could easily relate to his character and quirky behavior. It so irritated me though when his mom kept correcting his language. I suppose there was the connection between his language development and that of Little Bee’s.

So what about the title change? Charli pointed out that the book was originally printed in England under the title of The Other Hand. Karin said that she’d wouldn’t have been drawn to that title as Little Bee is much more intriguing.

We also spent some time discussing other books we are currently reading or had just read. Coming soon to the blog will be a ‘What are you reading now?’ corner. I am working on it. Of course we couldn’t end the evening without a quick revisit to P&P. And the quote of the evening goes to Ellen….”P&P is not an airplane book it’s an around the world book.”

Next up is Little Heathens by Mildred Kalish. We’ll be travelling to Marrie’s lovely scenic home to dine and dish on this upcoming novel.

Until next month I bide you all happy reading.
Jenn

Little Bee

Up next is Chris Cleave’s book, Little Bee. The publisher thinks this book is a “special story” and doesn’t want to tell us “what happens”, although relents we may need to know something in order to buy the book. The back jacket proceeds to share that it’s a story of two women and their lives collide one fateful day…..

Discussion questions and also a nice Q&A with the author can be found at Simon and Schuster’s Website.

Want to learn more about this up and coming British author? Check out Cleave’s Website.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts next month.

Happy Reading,
Jennifer

April Meeting Notes

Dear Books ‘n’ Wine Club,

In honor of the Royal couple and homage to Britain we dined on lovely chicken curry sandwiches, spinach salad, asparagus, and deviled egg filled phyllo cups. Of course the meal wouldn’t be complete without scones and green tea. Charli really did a fantastic job and we thank her. We missed Ellen for a second month in a row, but she promises she’ll be at the next meeting. Welcome back Allison! And we look forward to her friend Amy joining us next month.

Well the classic route didn’t go as planned. In fact, Ellen has now been redeemed, and Charli holds the crown for the least liked book :-) Sara receives the Tiara for having read the book and even liking it! Marrie lovingly dubbed it Snide and Cowardice! I think it was somewhere in chapters 1-6 that lost many of us as the women bitterly complain about Mr. Darcy…he of course was probably deserving given his constant rude behavior. So why did Sara like it? Sara liked the historical standpoint and picturing what life was like back then. Karin pointed out the Neoclassic time period of the book. I think what turned so many of us off is how P&P promotes sexist stereotypes. The book centers on the mother’s desire to marry off her daughters (she was a real pit wasn’t she). However, Sara did point out that is what it was like during that time period. Sara gave us a brief summary that goes like this: Lydia runs off and elopes with Wickham, a scandalous act; Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, who rejects him; Darcy interferes with Jane and Bingley’s relationship, preventing them from being together; Elizabeth starts to look at Darcy in a different light; Darcy apologizes for hindering Jane and Bingley’s relationship; Darcy was the one to put up the dowry for Lydia and Wickham; everyone lives happily ever after: Lydia and Wickham, Jane and Bingley, Elizabeth and Darcy...ah, don’t we feel good!

So the movie….even though Marrie and Susan had to leave before it ended, I think we all enjoyed it better than the book. It was similar to the book in many ways, however, Sara pointed out how much was cut out and had to be inferred. For example, the aunt and uncle return Jane from London. The next scene they are with Elizabeth but fail to tell us they are on vacation doing ‘house tours’. Who knew they did ‘house tours’ of the rich and famous for pleasure back then!!!

We look forward to heading to Maine next month to discuss Allison’s pick, Little Bee. Until then I bid you all happier reading.
Jenn