May 2018: The Story Of A New Name

The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante (Anna Goldstein translator) via Goodreads:

"In 2012, Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend introduced readers to the unforgettable Elena and Lila, whose lifelong friendship provides the backbone for the Neapolitan Novels. The Story of a New Name is the second book in this series. With these books, which the New Yorker's James Wood described as "large, captivating, amiably peopled ... a beautiful and delicate tale of confluence and reversal," Ferrante proves herself to be one of Italy's most accomplished storytellers. She writes vividly about a specific neighborhood of Naples from the late-1950s through to the current day and about two remarkable young women who are very much the products of that place and time. Yet in doing so she has created a world in which readers will recognize themselves and has drawn a marvelously nuanced portrait of friendship.

In The Story of a New Name, Lila has recently married and made her entrée into the family business; Elena, meanwhile, continues her studies and her exploration of the world beyond the neighborhood that she so often finds stifling. Love, jealousy, family, freedom, commitment, and above all friendship: these are signs under which both women live out this phase in their stories. Marriage appears to have imprisoned Lila, and the pressure to excel is at times too much for Elena. Yet the two young women share a complex and evolving bond that is central to their emotional lives and is a source of strength in the face of life's challenges. In these Neapolitan Novels, Elena Ferrante, the acclaimed author of The Days of Abandonment, gives readers a poignant and universal story about friendship and belonging."

Author Website: Click here. (Spoilers possible)

We'll meet to discuss The Story of a New Name On Thursday, May 31, at 7pm. Location: Community Room of the Atlantic Highlands branch of the Monmouth County Library, 100 First Avenue, inside Borough Hall in downtown Atlantic Highlands. Books are available at the Library Desk.

Please note: This title wasn't available via the Monmouth County Library Bookclub List and quantity is limited!

April 2018: The Mayor Of Casterbridge

The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy via Goodreads:

"In a fit of drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas at a country fair. Over the course of the following years, he manages to establish himself as a respected and prosperous pillar of the community of Casterbridge, but behind his success there always lurk the shameful secret of his past and a personality prone to self-destructive pride and temper."

Thomas Hardy biography via Encyclopedia Britannica: Click here.

We'll meet to discuss The Mayor of Casterbridge On Thursday, April 26, at 7pm. Location: Community Room of the Atlantic Highlands branch of the Monmouth County Library, 100 First Avenue, inside Borough Hall in downtown Atlantic Highlands. Books are available at the Library Desk.

Please note: This title wasn't available via the Monmouth County Library Bookclub List and quantity is limited!

Mar 2018: The Signature Of All Things

The Signature Of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert via Goodreads:

"Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker—a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia. Born in 1800, Henry’s brilliant daughter, Alma (who inherits both her father’s money and his mind), ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself. 

As Alma’s research takes her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, she falls in love with a man named Ambrose Pike who makes incomparable paintings of orchids and who draws her in the exact opposite direction—into the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the magical. Alma is a clear-minded scientist; Ambrose a Utopian artist—but what unites this unlikely couple is a desperate need to understand the workings of this world and the mechanisms behind all life.

It is the story of Alma Whittaker, who—born in the Age of Enlightenment, but living well into the Industrial Revolution—bears witness to that extraordinary moment in human history when all the old assumptions about science, religion, commerce, and class were exploding into dangerous new ideas."

Author Website: Click here. (spoilers possible)
Book Trailer: Click here. (spoilers possible) video
Elizabeth Gilbert on The Signature Of All Things: Click here. (spoilers possible) video

We'll meet to discuss The Signature Of All Things on Thursday, March 29, at 7pm. Location: Community Room of the Atlantic Highlands branch of the Monmouth County Library, 100 First Avenue, inside Borough Hall in downtown Atlantic Highlands. Books are available at the Library Desk.

Please note: This title wasn't available via the Monmouth County Library Bookclub List and quantity is limited!

Feb 2018: The Rosie Project

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion via Goodreads:

"Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a “wonderful” husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical—most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent—and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie—and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper."

Author Website: Click here. (spoilers may be possible)

We'll meet to discuss The Rosie Project on Thursday, February 22, at 7pm. Location: Community Room of the Atlantic Highlands branch of the Monmouth County Library, 100 First Avenue, inside Borough Hall in downtown Atlantic Highlands. Books are available at the Library Desk.

Jan 2018: All The Light We Cannot See

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr via Goodreads:

"Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another."

Author Website: Click here. (spoilers possible)
Anthony Doerr on his novel: Click here. (spoilers possible) video

We'll meet to discuss All The Light We Cannot See on Thursday, January 25, at 7pm. Location: Community Room of the Atlantic Highlands branch of the Monmouth County Library, 100 First Avenue, inside Borough Hall in downtown Atlantic Highlands. Books are available at the Library Desk.

Please note: This title wasn't available via the Monmouth County Library Bookclub List and quantity is limited!

AHLEBC 2017 Round Up

Happy New Year fellow readers!

Before we get started with 2018, I wanted us to take a look back at our year of reading in 2017 via our voting in December (which was done via email and during our annual holiday / December meet up).

Here are the results from Lori's email:

Remember, our voting systems was a little unorthodox, for example, you could have more than one favorite, but we are not a rule following book club. We do things our way, baby! :-)

My Brilliant Friend Fav: 7 Liked: 4 No one thought this book was meh or hated it.

Thank Who Mistook his Wife... Liked: 5 Meh: 3 No one's favorite and no one hated it.

One Thousand White Women Liked: 6 Meh: 1 Hated: 1 No one's favorite.

When the Emperor was Divine Fav: 1 Liked: 6 Meh: 4 No one hated it.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey Fav: 1 Liked: 3 Meh: 5 No one hated this book.

Olive Kitteridge Fav: 4 Liked: 6 No one thought this book was meh or hated it.

Being Mortal Fav: 2 Liked: 8 Meh: 11 No one hated it.

Frankenstein Liked: 4 Meh: 3 Hated: 3 No one's favorite.

Euphoria Liked: 5 Meh: 4 Hated: 1 No one's favorite.

Orphan train Liked: 10 Meh: 2 No one's favorite and no one hated it.

A Man Called Ove Fav: 2 Liked: 7 Meh: 2 Hated: 2

So...

Favorite book: My Brilliant Friend Least Favorite: Frankenstein Most Liked: Orphan Train Most Meh: Being Mortal

Thanks for voting!

Speaking of "rules" - along with input from those who attended the annual holiday / December meet up, Lori and I have come to the decision (for lack of a better word) that we're bringing the bookclub back to its' roots in some ways to make it more inclusive for all who attend, and less "to-do" pressure for Lori, who has been our fearless and faithful leader though thick & thin, but as can happen with us all, needs to have less on-hands time with the bookclub now, as I have needed these last couple of years.

So in that spirit, here are the new old "rules" for 2018 and beyond:

-If you pick a book that gets chosen as a monthly selection, You are responsible for facilitating the month your book is assigned to.
-If you are unable to do so, please let Lori and myself know ASAP (or hit "reply all" to the latest email from us) so that we can go from there and someone can volunteer to facilitate in their place.
-(Emergencies are the obvious exception here, so in this case those who attend that month will carry on and discuss the book sans facilitator).

-If you are facilitating, that month you bring the snacks.
-If you're unable to do so, or would like everyone to try and bring something as well, please let the group know by hitting "reply all" to the latest email from us. This way those who are able to bring something can do so.
-(There are paper goods at the library already - if Lori or I aren't there, just ask the librarians).
-Lori will continue to bring the electric kettle and tea.

As a reminder: If you pick a book that is not on the Monmouth County Bookclub Library List, all will be done to try and locate enough copies of that book throughout the system, however, we cannot guarantee that there will be enough system wide and therefore we may ask you to pick a back-up title in case.

In closing, here is our 2017 annual Holiday / December meet up group photo!

Here's to another great year of reading together!
-Jo

Nov/Dec 2017: A Man Called Ove

A Man Called Ove: A Novel by Fredrik Backman (author), Henning Koch (translator)

From Goodreads:

"A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a boisterous young family moves in next door.

Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations."

Author site: Click here.

We will meet to discuss A Man Called Ove on Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 7pm in the Community Room of the Atlantic Highlands branch of the Monmouth County Library located inside Borough Hall at 100 First Avenue in downtown Atlantic Highlands. (If we are having a holiday party during this discussion, look for details in the email preceding this meetup).