May 2015: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

From the Vintage International paperback edition, 1990:

"One of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, The Sound and the Fury is the tragedy of the Compson family, featuring some of the most memorable characters in American literature: beautiful, rebellious Caddy; the manchild Benjy; haunted, neurotic Quentin; Jason, the brutal cynic; and Dilsey, their black servant."

Helpful links: (Spoilers may be possible)
-Nobel Prize biography of William Faulkner, click here.
-Interview with the Paris Review entitled, "The Art of Fiction No. 12," click here.
-Article on Faulkner from the NY Times Archives, click here.

Links included in this month's AHLEBC group email regarding The Sound and the Fury:
(spoilers may be possible)
-Faulkner interview, click here.
-Book review #1, click here.
-Book review #2, click here.

We will meet to discuss The Sound and the Fury on Thursday, May 28, 2015, at 7pm at the Atlantic Highlands Branch of the Monmouth County Library located at 100 First Avenue in downtown Atlantic Highlands (inside Borough Hall, opposite Veterans Park).

April 2015: Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck

From the Moyer Bell paperback edition:

"Madam Wu was to retire from married life and had planned to select a concubine for her husband when the difficulties ensued changed life in the women's quarters."

Please note: There is a info flyer available with this book when you check it out from the (Atlantic Highlands) Library!

There are several sites with biographies of Ms. Buck, here are a few:

-Click here for the Penn Arts & Sciences Department of English page.
-Click here for the Biography Channel page.
-Click here for the Nobelprize.org page.

Click here for the YouTube video, "Pearl S. Buck's Legacy Lives on in PA."

We will meet to discuss Pavilion of Women on Thursday, April 30, 2015, at 7pm, at the Atlantic Highlands Branch of the Monmouth County Library, located at 100 First Avenue in downtown Atlantic Highlands inside Borough Hall.

March 2015: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple + Our 5th Anniversary!

From the 2013 Hachette Book Group paperback:

"When fifteen-year-old Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for her perfect grades, her fiercely intelligent but agoraphobic mother, Bernadette, throws herself into preparations for the trip. Worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Bernadette is on the brink of a meltdown. As disaster follows disaster, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces. Which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together emails, invoices, and school memos to reveal the secret past that Bernadette has been hiding for decades.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette is an ingeniously entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are, and the power of a daughter's love for her imperfect mother."

Author bio, click here.

We will meet to discuss Where'd You Go, Bernadette on Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 7pm at the Atlantic Highlands branch of the Monmouth County Library, located in downtown Atlantic Highlands at 100 First Avenue (inside Borough Hall).

This March meet up will mark our 5th Anniversary! Help us celebrate our birthday; we'll have tea and treats! Here's to many more years of reading together, great discussions, and laughter!

February 2015: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

From the 2004 B & N Classics paperback edition:
"Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte's only novel - remains one of literature's most disturbing explorations into the dark side of romantic passion.

An unpolished and devastating epic of childhood playmates who grow into soul mates, Wuthering Heights revolved around the willfully childish Catherine and the dark Heathcliff, who, in the words of Charlotte Brontee, "exemplifies the effects which a life of continued injustice and hard usage may produce on a naturally perverse, vindictive, and inexorable disposition." Heathcliff and Cathy believe they're destined to love each other forever. But when cruelty and snobbery separate them, their untamed emotions literally consume them.

Set amid the wild and stormy Yorkshire moors, Wuthering Heights is widely regarded as the most original tale of thwarted desire and heartbreak in the English language."

Your edition of Wuthering Heights may differ than the one featured here, this shouldn't be an issue!

Wikipedia bio of Emily Bronte: Click here.
Poetry Foundation bio of Emily Bronte: Click here.
Encyclopedia bio of Emily Bronte: Click here.

We will meet to discuss Wuthering Heights on Thursday, February 26, 2015, at 7pm, at the Atlantic Highlands branch of the Monmouth County Library, located at 100 First Avenue in downtown Atlantic Highlands (inside Borough Hall).

In the event of inclement weather, please look for an email update from AHLEBC right before the meeting date. If you are not on our email list, please send an email to ahlebc@gmail.com / ahlebcATgmailDOTcom requesting to be added to our email list.

January 2015: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd + 2014 Holiday Party Recap!

From the 2014 Viking/Penguin hardcover edition: "Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimkes’ daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Sue Monk Kidd’s sweeping new novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday in 1803, when she is given ownership of ten-year-old Handful, who is to be her waiting maid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty-five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement, and the uneasy ways of love.

As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

Inspired in part by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in search for something better, and Charlotte’s lover, Denmark Vesey, a charismatic free black man who is planning insurrection."

We will meet to discuss The Invention of Wings on Thursday, January 29, 2015, at 7pm at the Atlantic Highlands Branch of the Monmouth County Library located at 100 First Avenue (inside Borough Hall) in Atlantic Highlands.

Looking ahead, here is the list of books for 2015 (starting with February):

Feb - Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
March - Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
April - Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck
May - The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
June - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
July - Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
August - Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis
Sep - Middletown, America by Gail Sheehy
Oct - Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
Nov/Dec - The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

Now it's time for our Holiday Party Wrap-Up from 12/4/14!

Here are the results for the most and the least favorite books we read in 2014:

Favorite - The Light between Oceans
Runner up - The City of Ember
Least favorite - The Prince

And here are some photos from our Seabiscuit chat and Holiday Party:

Photo credits: Lori M.

Photo credits: Jo W.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Here's a virtual sparkling cider toast to a healthy and Happy New Year for 2015 and here's to another year filled with more great discussions!

Nov/Dec 2014: Seabiscuit (An American Legend) by Laura Hillenbrand + Holiday Party Info!

From the 2002 First Trade Paperback edition:

"He was a cultural icon. A world-class athlete. A champion who triumphed over terrible handicaps to become a legend of the racetrack. No other racehorse has rivaled Seabiscuit's fame or his sway over the Nation's imagination. Now Laura Hillenbrand unfolds the spellbinding story of this marvelous animal, the world he lived in, and the men who staked their lives and fortunes on his dazzling career. A riveting tale of grit, grace, luck, and an underdog's stubborn determination, Seabiscuit is an American classic."

A New York Times Notable Book.

For the Wikipedia author bio, click here.

For the author's facebook page, click here.

For an article about the author living with chronic illness, click here.

With Thanksgiving falling on the last Thursday of this month, we will meet to discuss Seabiscuit on Thursday, December 4, 2014, at 7pm at the Atlantic Highlands Branch of the Monmouth County Library, located at 100 First Avenue (inside Borough Hall). We will also have our annual Holiday party on December 4th, during which we will hold our annual Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down review of our 2014 books!  (If you are unable to attend, you may leave your votes on the next post here on our blog where we will share the results in January, or reply to one of your AHELBC emails with your votes).  Also, if you wish to bring in gently loved/used books for a book exchange, please feel free.  Any books not taken home will be donated to the Free Books cart in the Library.  Please feel free to bring something festive & delish to share with the group as well!

October 2014: Dear Life (stories) by Alice Munro

From the 2012 Vintage International paperback edition:

"In story after story in this brilliant new collection, Alice Munro pinpoints the moment a person is forever altered by a chance encounter, an action not taken, or a simple twist of fate. Her characters are flawed and fully human: a soldier returning from war and avoiding his fiancée, a wealthy woman deciding whether to confront a blackmailer, an adulterous mother and her neglected children, a guilt-ridden father, a young teacher jilted by her employer. Illumined by Munro’s unflinching insight, these lives draw us in with their quiet depth and surprise us with unexpected turns. And while most are set in her signature territory around Lake Huron, some strike even closer to home: an astonishing suite of four autobiographical tales offers an unprecedented glimpse into Munro’s own childhood. Exalted by her clarity of vision and her unparalleled gift for storytelling, Dear Life shows how strange, perilous, and extraordinary ordinary life can be."

Winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize In Literature. (Click here for the NY Times article - spoilers may be possible).

For the Wikipedia bio of Alice Munro, click here. For the author's facebook page, click here. (She has no official website).

We will meet to discuss Dear Life (stories) on Thursday, October 30, 2014, at 7pm in the Community Room of the Atlantic Highlands Branch of the Monmouth County Library located at 100 First Avenue inside Borough Hall in downtown Atlantic Highlands. Lori will bring candy so feel free to bring something in keeping with the (Halloween) holiday! Any questions regarding treats, please email Lori at AHLEBC@gmail.com.