Book Club Forum #34: The Preservationist

October  2013  Book of the Month: The Preservationist
Author: Justin Kramon
Genre: Fiction - Thriller

Discussion Questions Coming Soon

Book Club Forum #33: A Land More Kind Than Home

Book Status: CURRENTLY READING

Month: February 2013

Genre: Literary Thriller

Book of the Month: A Land More Kind Than Home

Author: Wiley Cash

Question source: N/A

Watch Wiley Cash, A Land More Kind Than Home on PBS. See more from NC Bookwatch.

 Discussion Questions:

1. Think about the epigraph the author chose to open the book and from which the novel's title derives. What is the significance of this particular quote? How does it set the novel's tone and mood? Explain what the title—"a land more kind than home"—signifies.

2. The novel is told from three characters' perspectives. How does this add to the story and deepen it as it unfolds? How might it be different if it had been told from only one of the character's point of view?

3. Talk about Carson Chambliss. Describe his character. Why does he have such a magnetic hold on his congregation, and especially on Julie? Is Julie a good mother? Can you understand why she behaved the way she did? Do you think she understood the truth of her son, Stump's fate? Why is Addie so afraid of him?

4. How might the events of the story have unfolded differently if Jess had told his mother the truth about what she heard at the Sunday afternoon service?

5. Describe this small North Carolina town in which the story takes place. What is it like? How does its size and remoteness influence the lives of those who call it home? Sheriff Clem Barfield is not native to Madison County. How does this impact the way he sees this place and its people?

6. How can religion uplift a person's soul? How can it be corrupting influence? Julie considers herself to be a "good Christian woman." What do you think? Whether you are Christian or not, religious or not, what is your definition of a "good Christian?" Is anyone in the novel virtuous, and if so, in what way?

7. Why did Addie pull the children out of Chambliss's services? Did she have any other options?

8. When Jess asks his grandpa if Stump will be able to talk in heaven, Jimmy tells him, "Of course he will. We'll all be able to talk. And we'll be able to understand each other." What does his answer reveal about him and the world? What is he trying to teach Jess?

9. Think about Jimmy Hall. What kind of relationship does she have with his son? What about with Sheriff Barefield?

10. Can this novel be compared to a Shakespearean tragedy? If so, in what ways? Think about various stories and proverbs from the Bible. How are they reflected in the story?

11. What role does nature and the natural world play in the novel?

12. Addie believes that this place and its people will be saved in the wake of tragedy. Do you believe in salvation? What role does forgiveness play in this story? Do you think people can change for the better? What about Jimmy Hall? How do the novel's events impact his relationship with the sheriff and with his grandson, Jess?

13. Think about the novel's themes: revenge, faith, betrayal, goodness and evil, forgiveness and understanding. Choose a character and show how these themes are demonstrated through his or her life. 

 

Book Club Forum #32: Ashes Of The Earth

Book Selection Status: Read
Month: October 2012

Genre: Dystopian fiction, mystery

Book of the Month: Ashes Of The Earth

Author: Eliot Pattison

Question source: N/A

 Discussion Questions

Questions Coming Soon...

Book Club Forum #31: Summer Session

Book Selection Status: READ
Month: September 2012

Genre: Fiction, Mystery

Book of the Month: Summer Session 

Author: Merry Jones

Question source: N/A

Discussion Questions:

1. What did you like and dislike about this novel?

Book Club Forum #30: The Saving Graces

Book Selection Status: READ
Month: August 2012

Genre: Fiction

Book of the Month: The Saving Graces 

Author: Patricia Gaffney

Question source: http://www.patriciagaffney.com/savinggraces_guide.html#

Discussion Questions

1. Which Grace do you relate to most, and why? What do you define as "grace"? Where do you find it in your life?
2. Why do you think the author starts and ends the story from Emma's point of view? Would you consider Emma the main character?
3. When Lee is describing Isabel for the first time, she says, "Some people are born knowing things the rest of us spend our lives trying to learn." What kinds of things do you think she's talking about? Do you agree with Lee? What do you think Isabel had, or knew, that the other Graces didn't?
4. The night Emma finds out that Mick Draco is married, she describes men as "speed bumps ... aggravating distractions scattered along life's otherwise pretty nice highway," and also says that good women are easier to find. Do you think she really believes this? Have you ever felt the way Emma says she does? Do you think men feel that way about women -- that, on the whole, men are the better sex -- or is this a uniquely feminine perspective?
5. At one point, Rudy says about Curtis, "I tried not loving him -- just for a second; an experiment. To my horror, it worked." What does she mean by this? That her love for him isn't real? What do you think of Rudy and Curtis's relationship, over all? How did your feelings change about him over the course of the book? When he told Rudy he has leukemia, did you believe him? What do you think Rudy's dream means?
6. There's a remarkably small amount of jealousy and possessiveness among the Graces. Do you think this is realistic? Have you had the same experiences with your women friends?
7. When you tally it up among the four of them, the Graces experience just about every tragedy known to womankind -- cancer, infidelity, alcoholism and drug abuse, mental illness, infertility, and devastating heartbreak, to name a few. Do you think the author has woven these themes in realistically? Would you say this group of women experiences more than their share of suffering? What about joy?
8. The only time the idea of romantic love between women comes up in the book is via Jenny, Henry's lesbian plumber mom. Why do you think the author wrote Jenny into the story? What purpose does she
   serve? Do you think Jenny really assumes The Saving Graces is founded on the same basic ideas as the women's group/commune she belonged to in the late '70s? Is it? If so, how is it the same, and how is it
   different?
9. Have you ever belonged to a formal group like The Saving Graces? Do you think it's difficult to form close friendships with women later in life, after school and other settings? How do you think friendships among women change as they age?
10. At one point, Emma describes Isabel as her "mentor, although neither of us would ever say that out loud, and certainly we'd never use that word." Do you think that's an accurate way to describe their
    relationship?
11. What about mothering -- is Isabel the mother figure in The Saving Graces? Or is Lee? Do you think any one member takes more than she gives, or is it all pretty equal?
12. Why do you think Lee holds out for so long trying to have her own baby? Do you think she's justified in feeling so angry and desperate, especially when she has a loving husband, a good job, a nice home -- and other people have much bigger problems, like her friend Isabel, who's dying? How do you think Lee's experience with infertility affects her reactions to what's going on with Isabel?
13. Isabel says "sometimes kindness is as excruciating as cruelty." What do you think she means by that?
14. Why do you think the author wrote in Isabel's encounter with Sheldon Herman, the old man on the bench?
15. When Isabel and Kirby sleep together for the first time, she's able to forget for a moment that she's dying -- then abruptly remembers again. Do you think that sex and death are related in any way?
16. What do you think of the scene where the Graces take on Curtis? Is it realistic? Is it everybody's fantasy, in some way, to have their best friends there for them in the hardest moments? Can you really have help with these things, or do you need to face them alone?
17. Do you think Emma and Mick will make it as a couple? Or were they brought together by the desire for something they couldn't have, and, now that they have it, their passion will be diminished?
18. Which of the Graces do you think grew the most over the course of the book, and in what ways?

Book Club Forum #29: The Chaperone

Book Selection Status: READ 
Month: July 2012

Genre: Fiction

Book of the Month: The Chaperone

Author: Laura Moriarty

Question source: http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/the_chaperone.html

Discussion Questions

1. The Chaperone opens with Cora Carlisle waiting out a rainstorm in a car with a friend when she hears about Louise Brooks for the first time. What do we learn about Cora in this scene? What does it tell us about her and the world she lives in? Why does Laura Moriarty, the author, choose to open the novel this way? Why do you think she waits to introduce us to Brooks?


2. When we first meet Louise Brooks, she seems to be the complete opposite of Cora, but the two women form an unlikely bond anyway. Are they really so dissimilar? What does Cora learn from Louise? Do you think Louise learns anything from Cora?


3. When Cora arrives in New York, the city is worlds away from her life in Wichita. How much do you think Cora actually embraces New York? When she returns to Wichita, what does she bring back with her from New York? What parts of her stayed true to Wichita all along?


4. The limits of acceptable behavior for women were rapidly changing in the 1920s, and both Cora Carlisle and Louise Brooks, in their own ways, push against these boundaries. Discuss the different ways the two women try to change society’s expectations for women. Is one more successful than the other? What are the values involved in each woman’s approach?


5. Cora becomes frustrated with the hypocrisy of the women in her Wichita circle of friends and yet she herself chooses to keep details about her own life secret. Do you think she should be more open about her life choices? What are the risks for her if she were to be more open?


6. Cora Carlisle hopes to find the secret of her past in New York City but discovers that the truth doesn’t align with either her expectations or her memory of the past. Why do you think Laura Moriarty has chosen to leave Cora’s history ambiguous? What does this tell you about Cora? How has Cora’s attitude toward her past changed by the end of The Chaperone?


7. Cora narrates the events of the book from a perspective of many years later. What juxtapositions does this allow her? By placing Cora’s narration at a time of radical social change, what parallels is Moriarty making?


8. Think about Louise Brooks’s behavior. How much of it would be considered scandalous today? What values has society held on to? In what ways has society changed?

Book Club Forum #28: The Castaways

Book Selection Status: READ
Month: June 2012

Genre: Fiction

Book of the Month: The Castaways

Author: Elin Hilderbrand

Question source: N/A

Discussion Questions:

This is a "Free For All" book review please comment and give your opinion about this novel. 

Book Club Forum #27: Cutting For Stone

Book Selection Status: READ
Month: May 2012

Genre: Fiction

Book of the Month: Cutting for Stone

Author: Abraham Verghese

Question source: http://bestsellers.about.com/od/bookclubquestions/a/cutting_stone_q.htm

Discussion Questions

 1. What did you enjoy most about Cutting for Stone?

 2. Who was your favorite character? Why?

 3. What was "missing" in the main characters' lives (Thomas, Ghosh, Hema,  Genet, Marion, Shiva)? What was found?

 4. What was the saddest loss in this tale?

 5. What did you learn about Ethiopia's history as a country that you did not know before?

6. Did you empathize with Genet's choices? Why or why not?

7. What did you think of Thomas Stone's back story? Did it help you understand his character's actions and motivations?

8. How does Marion and Shiva's characteristics and choices as twins reflect the stories' themes about division, reconciliation, and unity?

9. Were you satisfied with the conclusion? Why or why not?

Book Club Forum #26: Home Front

Book Selection Status:  READ    
Month: April 2012

Genre: Fiction

Book of the Month: Home Front

Author: Kristin Hannah

Question source: N/A

Discussion Questions:

1. Based on your interpretation can you describe the personality traits of each member of the Zarkades family?

2. What did you like most about this book? Was there a specific chapter in this book that peaked your interest? Why?

3. What circumstances aided in the deterioration of Michael and Joleen Zarkades marriage?

4. How would you rate their parenting skills?

5. How did the war affect the Zarkades family and Michael and Joleen's marriage?

6. How did this book affect your view about marriage and family in general?

7. If you were to meet these characters, what advice would you offer them?

8. How do you feel about the conclusion of this story?  

Book Club Forum #25: The Boy In The Suitcase

Book Selection Status:  READ 
Month: March 2012

Genre: Fiction

Book of the Month: The Boy In The Suitcase

Author: Lene Kaaberbol & Agnete Friis

Question source:

Discussion Questions:

 1. How did you experience the book? Were you engaged immediately, or did it take you a while to

"get into it"? How did you feel reading it—amused, sad, disturbed, confused, bored...?

2. Describe the main characters—their personality traits, motivations, inner qualities. Why do they do what they do? Are their actions justified? Do you admire or disapprove of them? Do they remind you of people you know?

3. Do the main characters change by the end of the book? Do they grow, or come to learn something about themselves and how the world works?

4. Is the plot engaging—does the story interest you? Is this a plot-driven book: a fast-paced page-turner? Or does the story unfold slowly with a focus on character development? Were you surprised by the plot's complications? Or did you find it predictable, even formulaic?

5. Talk about the book's structure. Is it a continuous story...or interlocking short stories? Does the time-line more forward chronologically...or back and forth between past and present? Does the author use a single viewpoint or shifting viewpoints? Why might the author have choosen to tell the story the way he or she did—and what difference does it make in the way you read or understand it?

6. What main ideas—themes—does the author explore? Don't forget to talk about the title, often a clue to a novel's theme.

7. What passages strike you as insightful, even profound? Perhaps a bit of dialog that's funny or poignant...or encapsulates a character? Maybe comments that state the book's thematic concerns?

8. Is the ending satisfying? If so, why? If not, why not...and how would you change it?

9. If you could ask the author a question, what would you ask? Have you read other books by the same author? If so how does this book compare. If not, does this book inspire you to read others?

10. Has this novel changed you—broadened your perspective? Have you learned something new or been exposed to different ideas about people or a certain part of the world?

Book Club Forum #24: The Bird House

Book Selection Status:  READ

Month: February 2012

Genre: Fiction

Book of the Month: The Bird House

Author: Kelly Simmons

Question source: http://books.simonandschuster.ca/Bird-House/Kelly-Simmons/9781439160930/reading_group_guide 

Discussion Questions: 

1. Ann reveals within the first chapter that her memory is failing. How did this confession affect your reading? Was Ann an unreliable narrator? Explain your answer.

2. Bird houses are a recurring theme throughout the novel—besides the title itself, Ellie chooses bird houses for her "Aspect" school project. Do you think the bird houses hold some sort of symbolism? Why or why not?

3. Throughout the novel, we get bits and pieces of what Ann's husband, Theo, was like. Do you think Ann is fair with his depiction? If the novel had been narrated by Theo, how do you think he would have described himself? How would his perspective differ from Ann's?

4. In the beginning, Ann describes her daughter-in-law, Tinsley, as almost perfect. She even attributes her granddaughter's wonderful demeanor to Tinsley. When do you see Ann's opinion begin to change? Why do you think it changes so drastically? Do you think they will ever completely resolve their differences?

5. Ann thinks the world of Tom and Ellie. In her mind, they can do no wrong. Do you feel the same? Or do you think she is fiercely loyal to them because they are her flesh and blood?

6. Adultery recurs throughout the novel and is also a shared commonality between Ann, her mother, and Tinsley. How do you think this bonds the women together? Does this shared connection help them relate to one another? Or could it also have an opposite effect on their relationships?

7. Ann, her mother, and Tinsley all have completely different personalities and lead completely different lives. What do you think lead each woman to cheat on her partner?

8. There were multiple instances throughout the novel where Ann's daughter, Emma, acts in an odd, and even malicious, manner. Do you think this is a result or an effect of the anger and resentment she feels for losing her daughter at such a young age?

9. Do you blame Ann for her daughter's death? Do you think Ann blames herself? Why do you think she kept this a secret for such a long time?

10. When Ann confronts Tinsley about her affair, she claims to have the best intentions. Do you agree with how Ann handled this discussion? If you were in Ann's position, what would you have done?

11. Ann never gave her father the chance to give his side of the story, and after his death she discovers he was not her biological father. Do you think she should have given him the chance to explain himself? And do you think this was what he was trying to tell her?

12. Ann reveals a great deal about her past, and even present, to Ellie. Do you think this relationship was inappropriate? Why or why not?

13. On page 272, Ann says to Ellie: "'If you ever have to choose between a man who's serious and a man who's fun, choose the fun one. Promise me.'" Do you agree with Ann? Who do you think was the "fun one" and who was the serious one? Theo or Peter?

14. Did you like that the novel was told from only Ann's perspective? Or would you have a more objective, third person narrator?'

Book Club Forum #23: Girl In Translation

Book Selection Status:  READ 

Month: January 2012

Genre: Fiction

Book of the Month: Girl In Translation

Author: Jean Kwok

Question source: http://jeankwok.net/discussion.shtml

Discussion Questions:

1. Throughout Girl in Translation, the author uses creative spelling to show Kimberly’s mis-hearing and misunderstanding of English words. How does the language of the novel evolve as Kimberly grows and matures? Do you see a change in the respective roles that English and Chinese play in the narrative as it progresses?

2. The word translation figures prominently in the title of the novel, and learning to translate between her two languages is key to Kimberly’s ability to thrive in her new life. Does she find herself translating back and forth in anything other than language? Clothing? Priorities? Expectations? Personality or behavior? Can you cite instances where this occurs, and why they are significant to the story as a whole?

3. Kimberly has two love interests in the book. How are the relationships that Matt and Curt offer different? Why do you think she ultimately chooses one boy over the other? What does that choice say about her? Can you see a future for her with the other boy? What would change?

4. In many ways Kimberly takes over the position of head of household after her family moves to New York. Was this change in roles inevitable? How do you imagine Ma feels about it? Embarrassed? Grateful? In which ways does Ma still fulfill the role of mother?

5. Kimberly often refers to her father, and imagines how her life might have been different, easier, if he had lived. Do you think she is right?

6. Kimberly’s friend Annette never seems to grasp the depths of Kimberly’s poverty. What does this say about her? What lesson does this experience teach Kimberly? Is Kimberly right to keep the details of her home life a secret?

7. Kimberly believes that devoting herself to school will allow her to free her family from poverty. Does school always live up to her expectations? Where do you think it fails her? How does it help her succeed? Can you imagine the same character without the academic talent? How would her life be different? What would remain the same? Is Kimberly right to believe that all of her potential lies in her talent for school? Must qualities like ambition, drive, hope, and optimism go hand in hand with book smarts?

8. Think about other immigrant stories. How is Kimberly’s story universal? How is it unique? How does Kimberly’s Chinese-American story compare to other immigrant stories? Would it change if she were from a different country or culture?

9. Kimberly lives in extreme poverty. Was anything about her circumstances surprising to you? How has reading Girl in Translation affected your views of immigration? How can you apply these lessons in your community?

10. The story is set in the 1980s. Do you think immigrant experiences are much different today? What has changed? What has remained the same?

Book Club Forum #22: The Paris Wife

Book Selection Status: READ

Month: December 2011

Genre: Historical Fiction

Book of the Month: The Paris Wife

Author: Paula McLain

Question source: http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/features/paula_mclain/author/

Discussion Questions:

1. In many ways, Hadley's girlhood in St. Louis was a difficult and repressive experience. How do her early years prepare her to meet and fall in love with Ernest? What does life with Ernest offer her that she hasn't encountered before? What are the risks?

2. Hadley and Ernest don't get a lot of encouragement from their friends and family when they decided to marry. What seems to draw the two together? What are some of the strengths of their initial attraction and partnership? The challenges?

3. The Ernest Hemingway we meet in THE PARIS WIFE—through Hadley's eyes—is in many ways different from the ways we imagine him when faced with the largeness of his later persona. What do you see as his character strengths? Can you see what Hadley saw in him?

4. The Hemingways spontaneously opt for Paris over Rome when the get key advice from Sherwood Anderson. What was life like for them when they first arrived? How did Hadley's initial feelings about Paris differ from Ernest's and why?

5. Throughout THE PARIS WIFE, Hadley refers to herself as "Victorian" as opposed to "modern." What are some of the ways she doesn't feel like she fits into life in bohemian Paris? How does this impact her relationship with Ernest? Her self-esteem? What are some of the ways Hadley's "old-fashioned" quality can be seen as a strength and not a weakness?

6. Hadley and Ernest's marriage survived for many years in Jazz-Age Paris, an environment that had very little patience for monogamy and other traditional values. What in their relationship seems to sustain them? How does their marriage differ from those around them? Pound's and Shakespeare's? Scott and Zelda's?

7. Most of THE PARIS WIFE is written in Hadley's voice, but a few select passages come to us from Ernest's point of view. What impact does getting Ernest's perspective have on our understanding of their marriage? How does it affect your ability to understand him and his motivations in general?

8. What was the role of literary spouses in 1920's Paris? How is Hadley challenged and restricted by her gender? Would those restrictions have changed if she had been an artist and not merely a "wife"?

9. At one point, Ezra Pound warns Hadley that it would be a dire mistake to let parenthood change Ernest. Is there a nugget of truth behind his concern? What are some of the ways Ernest is changed by Bumby's birth? What about Hadley? What does motherhood bring to her life, for better or worse?

10. One of the most wrenching scenes in the book is when Hadley loses a valise containing all of Ernest's work to date. What kind of turning point does this mark for the Hemingway's marriage? Do you think Ernest ever forgives her?

11. When the couple moves to Toronto to have Bumby, Ernest tries his best to stick it out with a regular "nine-to-five" reporter's job, and yet he ultimately finds this impossible. Why is life in Toronto so difficult for Ernest?

12. Why does Hadley agree to go back to Paris earlier than they planned, even though she doesn't know how they'll make it financially? How does she benefit from supporting his decision to make a go at writing only fiction?

13. Hadley and Ernest had similar upbringings in many ways. What are the parallels, and how do these affect the choices Hadley makes as a wife and mother?

14. In THE PARIS WIFE, when Ernest receives his contract for In Our Time, Hadley says, "He would never again be unknown. We would never again be this happy." How did fame affect Ernest and his relationship with Hadley?

15.  The Sun Also Rises is drawn from the Hemingways' real-life experiences with bullfighting in Spain. Ernest and his friends are clearly present in the book, but Hadley is not. Why? In what ways do you think Hadley is instrumental to the book regardless, and to Ernest's career in general?

16. How does the time and place—Paris in the 20's—affect Ernest and Hadley's marriage? What impact does the war, for instance, have on the choices and behavior of the expatriate artists surrounding the Hemingways? Do you see Ernest changing in response to the world around him? How, and how does Hadley feel about those changes?

 17. What was the nature of the relationship between Hadley and Pauline Pfeiffer? Were they legitimately friends? How do you see Pauline taking advantage of her intimate position in the Hemingway's life? Do you think

18. Hadley is naïve for not suspecting Pauline of having designs on Ernest earlier? Why or why not?

19. It seems as if Ernest tries to make his marriage work even after Pauline arrives on the scene. What would Hadley it have cost Hadley to stick it out with Ernest no matter what? Is there a way she could have fought harder for her marriage?

20. In many ways, Hadley is a very different person at the end of the novel than the girl who encounters Ernest by chance at a party. How do you understand her trajectory and transformation? Are there any ways she essentially doesn't change?

21. When Hemingway's biographer Carlos Baker interviewed Hadley Richardson near the end of her life, he expected her to be bitter, and yet she persisted in describing Ernest as a "prince." How can she have continued to love and admire him after the way he hurt her?

22. Ernest Hemingway spent the last months of his life tenderly reliving his first marriage in the pages his memoir, A Moveable Feast. In fact, it was the last thing he wrote before his death. Do you think he realized what he'd truly lost with Hadley?

Book Club Forum #21: Lady Undertaker

Book Selection Status: READ

Month: November 2011
Genre: Fiction
Book of the Month: Lady Undertaker
Author: Lyn Johnson and Lisa Branch-Tucker
Question source: http://www.book-clubs-resource.com/running/discussion-questions.php

Discussion Questions:

1. What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

2. What specific themes did the author emphasize throughout the novel? What do you think he or she is trying to get across to the reader?

3. Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

4. How do characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes?

5. In what ways do the events in the books reveal evidence of the author's world view?

6. Did certain parts of the book make you uncomfortable? If so, why did you feel that way?

Book Club Forum #20: The Heart Specialist

Book Selection Status:  READ

Month: October 2011
Genre:  Fiction Literature
Book of the Month: The Heart Specialist
Author: Claire Holden Rothman
Question source: http://www.bookmovement.com/app/readingguide/view.php?ratings&readingGuideID=18157

Discussion Questions:

1. One of the central images of the novel is a misshapen, three‐chambered human heart in a laboratory bottle. Human hearts normally have four chambers – two atria and two ventricles – but the Howlett Heart, as it is called in the book, has only one ventricle, which confuses Agnes
White when she discovers it in the McGill museum of pathology. At first she thinks it is reptilian or perhaps amphibian, but eventually she realizes it's human, albeit gravely defective. She publishes an article about it in a scholarly journal, a first step in what will become her celebrated
career in heart medicine. The deformed heart is also the first of a series of clues leading to her missing father, and it figures in her discovery of love at the novel’s end. What does the Howlett Heart evoke for you? What are its functions in the novel?

2. The Heart Specialist tells the story of a young woman trying to enter medicine at a time when
this was nearly impossible. Other characters in the novel are marginalized as well. Agnes’s lab
assistant Jakob Hertzlich is marginalized because of his religion. Her colleague Dugald Rivers is
marginalized due to sexual orientation. These characters are all hurt by a society with overly
rigid definitions of social roles. Which characters in the novel are marginal? Which are
mainstream? What impact does this have on their fates?

3. Vision is a motif in this novel. Agnes White is myopic. George Skerry is constantly removing her
spectacles and rubbing the lenses clean. Honoré Bourret is half‐blind when Agnes finally meets
him at the novel`s end, and shortly after that meeting, Agnes declares, ``I just opened my eyes
for the first time in fifty years. It certainly took me long enough. I had built my life on a dream.``
Discuss vision and its symbolic importance in this book.

4. In section VI of the novel, entitled War, Agnes White laments that she has been forced, due to
her sex, to stay in Montreal, while her male colleagues head off to France to serve in the First
World War. She is deeply jealous of them. After reading letters from Dugald Rivers, however,
her view shifts. ``From that day until I died,`` she declares, ``I would offer up prayers of thanks
for the good fortune of having been born a woman.`` Agnes White has conflicting feelings about
womanhood. Would you characterize her as a feminist?

5. Agnes White pursues a career in medicine in large part as an attempt to enter the world of her
missing father. The father quest is an archetypal story form, found in ancient myth and legend.
In the Greek myths, for instance, Theseus goes in search of his missing father, Aegeus, and in the
process proves himself a hero. Likewise, young Telemachus searches for his missing father
Odysseus, and proves his own courage and worth. Discuss the ways in which The Heart Specialist
is a father quest, with a twist.

6. Love is hard to achieve in this novel filled with hearts. Is there a successful love relationship
here?

7. The Heart Specialist was inspired by one of Canada`s first female physicians, Doctor Maude
Abbott. Does this fact change your approach to the novel? How?

8. The act of story‐telling is important in The Heart Specialist. Twice, Agnes White recounts the
story of her life: the first time to William Howlett in Baltimore, and the second to George Skerry
by the river in Saint Andrew`s East, right at the novel`s end. Why are these two scenes
important in the novel?

9. Compare the two sisters, Laure and Agnes. One picked a more traditional female life, the other
charted new waters. What were their fates? Now add George Skerry into the mix. What kinds of
options for happiness and fulfillment did women have in the society depicted in this novel?

10. This novel opens with death, and death seems to follow Agnes White wherever she goes. In
part, this is because of her profession. But could the death be metaphoric as well as literal?
Must Agnes White die in this novel, to be figuratively reborn?

Book Club Forum #19: Promise Bridge

Book Selection Status:  READ

Month: September 2011
Genre: Historical Fiction Literature
Book of the Month: Promise Bridge
Author: Eileen Clymer Schwab
Question source:

Discussion Questions:

1. What did the promise bridge mean to you and how did it expand as the novel progressed?

2. Livie's move to freedom can be seen in a physical journey. Do you think Hannah and Colt discover a kind of freedom? How so?

3. Why did Hannah feel more alive in Mud Run than she did in the main house?

4. Several circumstances occur during the story that change Colt in Hannah's eyes. What instances are memorable and how did they change her perception of him as a man?

5. Elements of friendship, suspense and romance carry the story, with a few surprises along the way. How did the mix of these elements affect the pace of the story, and which plot twist did you least expect?

Book Club Forum #18: State of Wonder

Book Selection Status: READ

Month: August 2011

Genre: Fiction

Book of the Month: State of Wonder

Author: Ann Patchett

Question source: http://www.bookmovement.com/app/readingguide/view.php?ratings&readingGuideID=17907

Discussion Questions:

1. How would you describe Marina Singh? How has the past shaped her character? Discuss the anxieties that are manifested in her dreams.

2. “Marina was from Minnesota. No one ever believed that. At the point when she could have taken a job anywhere she came back because she loved it here. This landscape was the one she understood, all prairie and sky.” What does this description say about the character?

3. Talk about Marina’s relationship with her boss, Mr. Fox. Would you call what they share love? Do they have a future? Why does he want Marina to go to the Amazon? What propels her to agree?

4. What drew Marina to her old mentor, Annik Swenson? Compare and contrast the two women. How does Annick see Marina? Barbara Bovender, one of Annik’s caretakers/gatekeepers tells Marina, “She’s such a force of nature. . . . a woman completely fearless, someone who sees the world without limitations.” Is this a fair assessment of Annik? How would you describe her? How has the elderly doctor’s past shaped the person she is and the choices she has made?

5. Describe the arc of Marina and Annik’s relationship from the novel’s beginning to its end. Do you like these women? Did your opinion of them change as the story unfolded? Why didn’t Marina ever tell anyone the full story of her early experience with Annick?

6. Consider Annik’s research in the Amazon. Should women of any age be able to have children? What are the benefits and the downsides? Why does this ability seem to work in the Lakashi culture? What impact does this research ultimately have on Marina? Whether you are a man or woman, would you want to have a child in your fifties or sixties? How far should modern science go to “improve” on nature?

7. In talking about her experiences with the indigenous people, Annik explains, “the question is whether or not you choose to disturb the world around you; or if you choose to go on as if you had never arrived. “ How does Marina respond to this? Did Annik practice what she preached? How do these women’s early choices impact later events and decisions? How does Annik’s statement extend beyond the Amazon to the wider world? Would you rather make a “disturbance” in life, or go along quietly?

8. Talk about the Lakashi people and the researchers. How do they get along? Though the scientists try not to interfere with the natives’ way of life, how does their being there impact the Lakashi? What influence do the Lakashi have on the scientists?

9. Would you be able to live in the jungle as the researchers and natives do? Is there an appeal to going back to nature; from being removed from the western constraints of time and our modern technological society?

10. What role does nature and the natural world—the jungle, the Amazon River—play in Marina’s story? How does the environment influence the characters—Marina, Annik, Milton, Anders, Easter, and the others? Annik warns Marina, “It’s difficult to trust yourself in the jungle. Some people gain their bearings over time but for others that adjustment never comes.” Did Marina ultimately “gain her bearings”?

11. Marina travels into hell, into her own Conradian “heart of darkness.” What keeps her in the jungle longer than she’d ever thought she’d stay? How does this journey transform her and her view of herself and the world? Will she ever return—and does she need to?

12. What is your opinion of the choices Marina made regarding Easter? What role did the boy play in the story? Do you think Marina will ever have the child—one like Easter—that she wants?

13. What do you think happens to Marina after she returns home?

14. State of Wonder is rich in symbolism. Identify a few—for example, Eden Prairie (Marina’s Minnesota home), Easter (the young deaf native boy), Milton (the Brazilian guide)—and talk about how Ann Patchett uses them to deepen the story.

15. State of Wonder raises questions of morality and principle, civilization, culture, love, and science. Choose a few events from the book to explore some of these themes.

16. What is the significance of the novel’s title, State of Wonder?

Book Club Forum #17: Save Me

Book Selection Status: READ

Month: July 2011
Genre: Fiction - Thriller
Book of the Month: Save Me
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Question source:  http://scottoline.com/Site/Bookclubs/

Discussion Questions:

1. SAVE ME explores the mother and child relationship, at its heart. What do you think defines a mother? How is a mother and child relationship different than any other relationship? Look at other forms of culture, like art, for example. How many depictions are there of mother and child? And how many of father and child? Are we discriminating against fathers, or diminishing them, by all this talk of the mother-child bond? And by doing so, do we create a self-fulfilling prophecy?

2. In SAVE ME, Melly is the victim of bullying because of a birthmark on her face. Do you think bullying is different today than years ago? Do you think that the bullying is getting worse, or are we just hearing more about it because of the Internet? What do you think parents and schools should do to help curb bullying? What kind of punishment do you think is appropriate for the child who is doing the bullying? What about those who watch and say nothing? Are they, or aren't they, equally as culpable? Do you think that school programs and curricula that build up self-esteem and a sense of community will really make a difference?

3. Rose experienced her own bullying at the hands of the angry parents, which gave her new perspective on what Melly was going through. Do you have any experience with bullying between adults? In what ways are adults better equipped to deal with bullying than children? What impact can bullying have on adults, and what can an adult do if they are faced with a bully? What impact does being a bully, or being a bully as an adult, have on their children?

4. Rose steps in to defend Melly against her bully. Do you think it was a good idea? Why or why not? How do you think a parent's involvement hurts or helps the situation? At what point do you think a parent needs to involve themselves in the situation? What steps would you take to help your child if they were being bullied, and how far would you be willing to go?

5. What impact do you think a physical blemish has on a child, and how do you think it effects their identity, their relationship with their family, and their relationship with the outside world? Take it a step further -- like how about physical differences, like a child in a wheelchair? Or learning challenges, that aren't so visible? Or how about discriminations based on race, religion or sexual orientation? Melly's father reacted very badly to Melly's birthmark. What did his reaction make you feel about him?

6. Many of Lisa's books center on single mothers or blended families. Do you think the love of one great parent is enough to sustain a child through life? Does it take a husband, too? Or a village?

7. As Rose found out, volunteering comes with risks. The book makes clear that this is a problem in the law of many states, maybe even where you live. What do you think of the laws in terms of protecting those who volunteer their time? What changes, if any, would you make to the laws to protect volunteers? Should we expand the Good Samaritan statues to include volunteers and to encourage even more people to volunteer?

8. How did you feel about Rose keeping her secret past from Leo? Did you understand her reasoning? Did you agree or disagree with it? What impact do you think Rose's past will have on her marriage as she moves forward? Do you think she will ever really be able to escape what happened? Will he forgive her not telling him? How do secrets impact intimacy in our lives?

9. Rose was called a "helicopter" parent, a term often used in today's society with a negative connotation. What separates helicopter parenting from good parenting? What kind of parent do you think Rose was? What mistakes do you think she made? Do you think she was a good mother? Do you think she favors Melly, or the baby? Or treats them equally?

10. How did you feel about Amanda in the beginning of the book? How, if at all, did your opinion of her change by the end of the book? What do you think causes children to be bullies? Under what circumstances would you ever feel bad for the bully? In punishing a bully, do you think their personal circumstances should be taken into account?

11. What did you think of Rose's lawyers' strategy? Did you agree or disagree with it? Why or why not? Do you think they were just passing the blame, or do you think the school had a responsibility in what happened? Do you think that litigation is another form of bullying? Do you know anybody who is sue-happy?

Book Club Forum #16: Cheap Cabernet: A Friendship

Book Selection Status: READ

Month: June 2011
Genre: Non fiction Chic-Lit Memoir
Book of the Month: Cheap Cabernet: A Friendship
Author: Cathie Beck
Question source: http://www.cathiebeck.com/my-book/reading-group-guide/

Discussion Questions:

1. Why does Cathie feel the need to start a women’s group? What crossroads has she arrived at in her life? How does her children moving away from home change the way she feels about her place in society?


2. Cathie and Denise become fast friends, but their relationship is far from smooth, even at the beginning. In what ways do their personalities clash? In what ways do they complement one another? Why do you think their complex relationship ends up being so special?

3. Why does Cathie retell the story of applying for food stamps when her children are young? What does that story tell the reader about Cathie’s life as a young mother? What do we learn about her background, and how does it inform the woman we meet in the memoir?

4. Discuss issues of ownership as they are portrayed in the memoir (Cathie’s need to own a house, and Denise’s need to own garage sale bargains). What does owning material objects mean to each of the women? How do their different backgrounds inform this need?

5. Denise and John have unique and unconventional marriage. How does Cathie feel about their relationship? Do you think she envies them, or pities them? What about the marriage works for Denise, and in what ways does the arrangement fail her? Do you think John and Denise are in love? Why or why not?

6. Cathie had very complicated, mixed feelings about Denise’s illness. In what ways does Cathie let Denise’s MS affect their friendship? Would you say that Cathie takes care of Denise when she is ill? In what ways does Denise’s MS frustrate and disappoint Cathie?

7. Discuss Cathie and Denise’s trip to Jamaica and Cuba. In what ways is the trip a turning point for both women? What do they each discover about themselves on the trip and what do they discover about one another?

8. Why does Cathie include the story of her visit to New York to see where Denise grew up? What does visiting Denise’s home, and meeting the women she grew up with tell us about Denise and her upbringing? Why does meeting these women have such a profound effect on Cathie?

9. Toward the end of the memoir, Cathie writes about her own mother, and the struggles she faced raising Cathie and her siblings. Is Cathie anything like her mother? In what ways does Cathie escape her families’ legacy? In what ways does she continue where her mother left off? How does her family and her childhood haunt her into her adult life?

10. In the end, Cathie and Denise have a falling out and Cathie does not attend her friend’s memorial service. Do you think Denise orchestrated their rift to protect Cathie, as Cathie assumes? Do you think Cathie can really find closure?

11. Cheap Cabernet follows in a tradition of many great memoirs, novels, and movies about women’s friendships. How does this book fit in to that tradition? How is Cathie and Denise’s friendship unique from others you have read about or seen?

Book Club Forum #15: The Passage

Book Selection Status: READ
Month: May 2011
Genre: Science Fiction
Book of the Month: The Passage
Author: Justin Cronin
Question source: http://bestsellers.about.com/od/bookclubquestions/a/The-Passage-By-Justin-Cronin-Book-Club-Discussion-Questions.htm

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you feel were the main themes Cronin was wrestling with in this novel?

2. What was your favorite quote/intro to which section of the novel and how do you feel it best set up what was to come?

3. Did you think the national response to the crisis was realistic (ex. California seceding from the U.S.)?

4. Do you think Cronin’s writing techniques and style changes were successful in bringing this world to life? Why or why not?

5. Did you have a hard time transitioning from the first third of the book to the last two-thirds? Why or why not?

6. Was there any point in the story where you felt you couldn’t read anymore?

7. Did you have any issues with the pacing of the novel? Why or why not?

8. Which character do you think loved Amy the most? Which do you think Amy loved the most?

9. Was the ending satisfying or did it leave you thirsty for more?

10. Rate The Passage 1 to 5.