Talking with the Author

What is there about talking with the author of a book you have read that changes your appreciation of the story?  Is it the time that author has devoted to telling the story, sometimes a year or longer on just the research?  How about the story itself?  Is it knowing what sparked the author's mind and inspired the story?

I know, for me, it is all of the above and more when we speak with authors via SKYPE or phone during our book club meetings.

While speaking with Lily Koppel author of The Astronaut's Wives Club I was struck by her commitment to tell the story of these remarkable women behind the scenes of the men with the "right stuff".  It reminded me of how boxed in women were in the 50's and 60's.  Every woman was supposed to be June Cleaver of Leave it to Beaver fame and these women were expected to fit the mold by NASA and the public.  But I wonder are we better off today when every woman can give free expression of herself - twerking in public is acceptable???!!

Reading opens up doors in our minds to endless possibilities and for me, reading gives voice to my constant desire to have a better world for my family  and seek ways to accomplish that.

Who wants to blog?

I'm not a writer and I know we have lots of writers in our group so if anyone wants to post on our blog site, please do so!!   Kay


The October meeting generated a lot of discussion on what makes a good book club book.  Of course Ashton Lee's book The Cherry Cola Book Club started the discussion.    One thing we all agreed on is that we want to read book that bring us out of our usual comfort zone and that give us new ways of looking at life.  We reflected on some of the books we have discussed in the past.  Some we learned about cultures we were unfamiliar with such as the foot binding in Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and the Japanese encampments in America through Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.  Others reminded us of our experiences such as Kathryn Casey's The Killing Storm and her description of a hurricane blowing through Houston.    Ahhhh, we are definitely enriched by our reading and our friendship.


Reminder:  November meeting  The Astronaut's Wives Club by Lilly Koppel.  She will do a SKYPE interview.  Also bring contributions for our Christmas literacy project.

Grace & Grit by Lilly Ledbetter

Wow did this book stir up some great discussion about women in the workplace!  What a strong woman Mrs Ledbetter is to continue to work under harassing conditions.  We all would love to meet her and perhaps she will come here sometime...maybe the Banner Series at McNeese or the Fall Women's Conference.  If you know someone, you might suggest...

You can hear her tell her story through the courtesy of C-span Book TV  http://www.booktv.org/Program/13241/Grace+and+Grit+My+Fight+For+Equal+Pay+and+Fairness+at+Goodyear+and+Beyond.aspx

It's an important book for women to read and to always remember those who have blazed the trails for us.

Ladies Night by Mary Kay Andrews

Great discussion at our meeting this evening centering on betrayal, revenge, redemption and rebuilding.  In many ways these themes have entered our lives, not just in a couples relationship but through family, friends, and co-workers.

And of course, the saving Grace is having friends to share the journey so that you arrive in a better place than where you began.

We all loved Mary kay Andrews's books and have read many of them.  Hope you do too.

Aug 28th is Ladies Night by Mary Kay Andrews

Excited to be reading Mary Kay Andrews latest book Ladies Night for our August 28th Meeting.  Her books have been on my TBR pile and now is the time!

Marilyn's Book Review

Pulpwood Queen Marilyn Bonnette's book review of our July selection The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway is linked to the library website here http://calcasieulibrary.org/bkreviewfiction   


I am eager to discuss this book with all of y'all!

Janis Owens reveals Cracker characters

When Janis Owens heard stories about the last lynching in Florida, she investigated the event for several years.  After compiling enough info about what happened she put her skills as a master story teller to work and came up with a believable story about a young girl who grows up in northern Florida where people don't talk much about the town's dark history.  Then along comes an anthropology student who under the guise of love begins to ferret out secrets that many want to remain hidden.   What happens after he is shot and leaves northern Florida and the girl behind feeling lucky to be alive?  Years later he has the opportunity to revisit both the town and the girl.

Loved reading this story and talking with the author about her research into this episode in our American past.

Kay

Diamond Ruby: An Engaging Story

We did love reading about Diamond Ruby and her real to life adventures in New York.  Ruby Thomas struggled through the Spanish influenza and the death of her parents and brother, leaving her at age 14 with nieces to support.  The only skill she has was a deadly throwing arm that provided squirrels for them to eat to survive.  Eventually Ruby and her pitching arm found her way to a side show in Coney Island and recognition by many of the famous ball players of the era.  Her many adventures were well-written by author Joseph Wallace to reflect the history and make the story totally plausible and leaving you wanting to know more about what happens to Diamond Ruby.

Chatting with the author via SKYPE, we learned that Wallace loosely based his character on a female baseball pitcher named Jackie Mitchell from Chattanooga, TN.  While researching the baseball archives in Cooperstown, Wallace found picture of this young lady in a baseball uniform with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  Mitchell had struck both men out at an exhibition game!  Wallace was captivated by her story and kept imagining what her life could have been.

We are definitely looking forward to read this sequel!

For more info you can view Wallace's website http://josephwallace.com/

February 2013 Meeting

February meeting is coming up and we will be talking baseball with author Joseph Wallace who wrote Diamond Ruby, loosely based on a early female baseball player.  I love the name "Diamond Ruby".  Doesn't that sound intriguing?

First Meeting of 2013

I hope everyone is rested from the holidays and eager to meet and discsuss our latest book selection A Rare Titantic Family: The Caldwells Story of Survival by Julie Hedgepeth Williams.

Dr. Williams is professor of journalism and mass communication at  Samford University in Birmingham, AL.  The Titantic book is about her great-uncle Albert Caldwell who survived the sinking of the Titantic along with his wife and baby.  Well-documented as a historical work, it is also a story of real people and how they came to be on the Titantic that fateful day.