Our first reader described Elena Ferrante as an author of
vivid books about women’s struggles. The
“Neapolitan Novels” is a four book series which follows two women from Naples,
Italy through all stages of their lives.
The titles include My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New
Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the
Lost Child. Our reader described the
books as having much passion and being reminiscent of an opera, even though
they are not musically based.
Next up was The Wonder by Emma Donoghue. With the Irish potato famine barely past,
eleven year old Anna O’Donnell is seen as a miracle or a hoax, as she has
chosen to live without food for months.
Worldwide visitors, believing or not, came to see Anna. Our reader found the book extremely moving
and worth reading.
Another reader has
been considering the factors leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
on December 7, 1941. Books that helped
to supplement an extremely well thought out discussion included Pearl
Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness by Craig Nelson, Countdown to Pearl
Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack by Steve Twomey, and The Secret
War: Spies, Ciphers, and Guerrillas, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings. Another book club member added that she was
reading Roosevelt’s Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage by Joseph
E. Persico.
Returning to fiction, another reader described Solar
by Ian McEwan as a situation where you might be having an argument with someone
and you believe you are totally in the right, but that after you walk away you
discover that you were actually in the wrong.
In such a way you might learn something about your own fallibility. The protagonist is a Nobel laureate physicist
who has spent years trying, and failing, to live up to his own early success.
Lastly, a light, fun read was recommended: Time’s Up by Janey Mack. Maisie McGrane is a woman in her early 20’s
who has grown up in a large Irish family full of cops and lawyers. When she is kicked out the police academy,
what is she to do with her life? Become
a meter maid of course, with the hopes of proving herself worthy of
reinstatement to the academy. Compared
to early Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich, this is one crazy read with
larger than life characters.
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