Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Books and Meeting 2025

This list will be updated as members choose their book choice.

January 27 - Colette's choice, Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, Marg hosts

February 24 - Betty's choice, The Nurse's Secret by Amanda Skenandore, Shirley hosts

March 24 - Sharon's choice ,  Held by Anne Michaels,  Carla hosts

April 28 - Marg's choice, Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon, Michèle hosts

May 26 - Michèle's choice,  The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb,  Linda hosts

June 23 - Carla's choice, Colette hosts

September 22 -Linda's choice, Sharon hosts 

October 27 - Shirley's choice, Betty hosts

November 24 - Beth's  choice,  Beth hosts


Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr -January 27, 2025



Present were Betty, Colette, Linda, Marg, Michèle et Shirley.  Marg had for us, a very nice variety of cheese, crackers, nuts and raisins, wine and some lovely non-alcoholic drinks. We also had a very nice baklava. 

This month's book recommended by Colette, was Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.  We all very much enjoyed All the Light we Cannot See by the same author and we looked forward to reading this story by the Anthony Doerr that has excellent reviews.  Unfortunately of our members present only one person said that she enjoyed the book, though like other members found it a challenge to read. 

The book is a collection of 5 stories in different time periods from the 15th century to a future century and each story line has a main character and minor characters.  The stories are connected through a lost book by Antonius Diogenes.  The challenge is being able to follow the stories and trying to find a connection between the stories.  

One of our members who was not able to be present at our meeting found the book captivating and she sent her opinion of the book.  It is copied here because it can help all members better understand the stories and the connections.  Here is Carla's opinion of the book.

"I didn’t read any reviews before I began reading the book. I found myself confused as to what was going on. Eventually I realized that Diogenes Folio was the thread that tied the stories together. 

The main message as I see it is that, stories, books, can unite us, educate us , calm us, and even heal us.  The love of ,  reading  learning, libraries, and protecting books ran through all the stories. 
The characters were very well described as were their motivations which helped me keep track of them as the story jumped from one time period to another. I wanted to know what was going to happen to them and was happy with the resolution of their story lines.  Anna and Omeir were able to escape their circumstances and make a life together and have a family. 
There was redemption for Seymour ( that must have been gratifying for Linda). Konstance escaped the Argos.  Her storyline was captivating. 
I began the book being annoyed at all the jumping around but as I continued reading and got into the rhythm of the book, I was captivated. 
The book within a book was an interesting vehicle to tie the storylines and timelines together and it was challenging because the book within the book was fragmented, incomplete and needed to be not only translated but interpreted and filled in as needed."

Thank you Marg for being a lovely host on this wintery evening.  


Wednesday, January 1, 2025

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon - November 25, 2024

 

Front cover_The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick

Present were Betty, Carla, Colette, Linda, Michèle and Shirley.  Our host was Colette.  She offered us a very nice variety of cheese and pâtés.  

The month's book was The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, chosen by Shirley.  The Frozen River is a historical fiction inspired by the real person, Martha Ballard who was a midwife, healer and diarist in Maine during the last 40 years of the 18th century.  The principle character in the novel has the same name. Though a novel, the descriptions of country and village life, the harshness of winter, midwifery,  farming and the legal system in Maine are very realistic.  

There are many characters in the novel plus animals that have their own personalities.  Some found it took some concentration to keep the characters and their relationships and connections with others straight.  However, Ms. Lawhon gave us vivid descriptions of the mains characters, Martha and her husband Ephraim are well described, obviously a couple with respect and love. 

The story begins with a drowning death and stories of families, murders, births and a court case are all intertwined .  Martha's journals serve as record keeping of births, deaths and the history of the community. There is drama,  family activities, a court case in which Martha is a witness.  There are crimes committed. There is no down time in this novel! 

Almost all of our members enjoyed the book and found all very realistic.  Thank you Shirley for an excellent choice. 

The Day the World Came to Town 9/11 by Jim Defede - October 28, 2024

 Betty was our host for this October and she had a lovely spread of cheese, olives and pâtés.  Present were Betty, Carla, Colette, Linda, Michèle, Sharon and Shirley.

Linda presented the book for this month The Day the World Came to Town 9/11 by Jim Defede.  It is an account of the day, September 11, that all planes were diverted from American air space.  42 jetliners were diverted to the Gander International Airport and about 7,000 passengers and crew members found themselves deplaning after 24 hours on their parked planes, in the small town of Gander.  They found that the towns people had prepared meals for them and found places for them to sleep and rest.  During the 4 days that they were stuck in Gander and surrounding villages, bonds and friendships developed amongst the passengers and the townspeople.

The author Jim Defede chose to concentrate on the stories of some passengers,  crew and towns people and, after interviewing them told their experiences in Gander.  

From the stories of passengers and crew he wrote of the generosity, friendliness and community work of Newfoundlanders.  

All of us enjoyed the book, it was well organized and reminded us of the friendliness of Newfoundlanders as those of us who were lucky enough to visit found out.  Thank you Linda



Sunday, September 29, 2024

Remarkably Bright Creatures - Shelby Van Pelt

We were 7 members at our September meeting, Betty, Carla, Linda, Marg, Michèle,  Shirley and our newest member, Sharon.  Welcome Sharon!  Michèle had some great vegetable and salmon sushi and a cream cheese dip with veggies.  We also enjoyed a great Mandarin orange cake made with almond flour. Of course wine, coffee and tea were also on offer.

Our book this month presented by Carla was Remarkably Bright Creatures by American author, Shelby Van Pelt.  This is Ms. Van Pelt's first novel.  It was on the New York Times Top 10 list of fictions for several months.  It has been picked up by Netflix and will star Sally Field.

The story is about a developing friendship between a giant octopus Marcellus and a woman, Tova who cleans the aquarium. Ms Van Pelt did a lot of research on octopuses before writing the book.  The main human character, Tova is an older widow who takes a night job at the aquarium after her husband dies, to keep busy.  

Almost all our members enjoyed the book.  They found the writing to be excellent, characters well developed, and the story to be charming, gentle, not a story with extreme drama but it developed well and was easy to read and follow.  Both Tova and Marcellus must deal with the fact that they are ageing and make choices to continue a pleasant life.   Many felt it was a satisfying book to read with a happy ending.  

Thank you Carla for beginning our Fall season with such a pleasant book.  



Thursday, August 29, 2024

The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis - Monday June 24, 2024

The Zone of Interest


Colette was our host this month.  Present were Beth, Betty, Colette, Linda, Michèle and Shirley.  We were a small group this month.

Beth presented the book The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis.   Martin Amis was born in 1949 and died in 2023.  He was the son of Kingsley Amis, a well known British author who wrote over 20 novels including Lucky Jim.   Martin Amis wrote several novels, essays, memoirs and screenplays.  Two of his novels were  nominated for the Booker Prize.   

The Zone of Interest is the area around the concentration camp Auschwitz, about 40 sq. kilometres.  The commandant Rudolph Höss and his family, live in the region along with others who work at the concentration camp.   There are several characters, however Amis has chosen to tell the story via 3 of them,  the camp commandant Paul Doll,  Golo Thomsen, who is a very aryan, blue-eyed tall young Nazi officer and the third character is the head of the "Sonders" jewish prisoners who help the Nazis, with the hope of saving themselves. Many reviewers see the story as a comedic farce with a love story included between, Golo Thomsen and the Camp Commandant's wife Hannah Doll. 

All of us found the book challenging and difficult to read.  Some found it well written giving more the prospective of the protagonists, they believed they were doing the right thing.  Some however did not like the writing style and did not appreciate the German phrases that were not translated,  making it hard to read and understand.   None of us found the story to be funny.

Though it was not a story that members enjoyed reading, it was one that brought on a discussion about the war in mideast at moment.  Thank you Beth.


May - Poetry - Monday May 27, 2024

Unfortunately because of weather and an electricity outage, we had to cancel this month's meeting .

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama - Monday April 22, 2024

Michèle was our host for this April meeting.  She provided veggies with a dip, cheese and cocktail meatballs.  We also had a wonderful Persian Love Cake. The recipe is below.  

We discussed Marg's book choice The Light We Carry  by Michelle Obama.  This book is a follow-up to her  book Becoming that we read in September 2021.  Michelle Obama, as we all surely know,  was the First Lady of the United States from 2009 to 2015.

While we all enjoyed her first book, most of us were dissappointed with this follow-up book.  Becoming is an excellent autobiography, and very well written.  This book The Light We Carry is more of a book on how to improve your life, with anecdotes from her life repeated from the first book.   

For young women, certainly some of the anecdotes and suggestions on how to approach life may be useful but for women of a certain age, it is not much us.  

Thank you Marg for the book choice.  All of us were anxious to read it after Becoming.  

Recipe for the Persian Love Cake

Almond Cake With Cardamom and Pistachio

(Persian Love Cake)

 

This moist and springy Persian almond cake is generously spiced with ground cardamom (two full teaspoons). We like it with fresh berries. If you want to serve it for Passover, be sure to use kosher for Passover confectioners' sugar.

INGREDIENTS

Yield:One 9-inch cake (10 to 12 servings)

  • ½cup vegetable oil, plus additional for pan
  • 7 large eggs, separated
  • 1cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon almond extract
  • 3½cups /420 grams almond flour (see tip)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped pistachio nuts, for garnish

 

1.      Step 1

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 9-inch round or square pan and set aside. Using a stand mixer, whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry, and set aside.

2.      Step 2

In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar, and whisk to blend. Whisk in almond extract and oil. Add almond flour and cardamom. Gently stir a third of the whites into the batter, then gently fold in the rest until just incorporated.

3.      Step 3

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and finish cooling on a rack. To decorate, dust with confectioners’ sugar and chopped pistachios.

TIP

  • If you want to grind your own almond flour, start with 3 cups nuts. Using a large food processor, pulse almonds until very finely ground, stirring once or twice to prevent them from turning into a paste.

 

·       If you found the recipe online, you will see that it calls for 4.5 cups of almond flour. However, if you measure by weight, 420 grams is only 3.5 cups and that is what I used.  The batter will be very stiff and not as moist  if you use 4.5 cups.