PageTurners Read “Hart’s War”
09 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: historical fiction, PageTurners, prisoners, racism, reviews, soldiers, world war II
Hart’s War
by John Katzenbach
World War II was racially segregated, the lowliest jobs going to African American GIs. A distinguished few called the Tuskegee Airmen, however, became officers in the U.S. Air Force, escorting bombers in their lethal new longrange Mustang fighters. When proud, defiant First Lieutenant Lincoln Scott arrives at Stalag Luft Thirteen, he is subjected to hostile treatment by bigoted airmen who refuse to acknowledge that any black man can equal them in skill and courage. Scott’s persistent tormentor, Captain Vincent Befford, is soon found murdered. Honor, courage, and sacrifice are revealed in unexpected ways as a ranking U.S. prisoner in a Nazi POW camp is joined in December 1944 by a law-student lieutenant who’d been captured despite his father’s powerful military connections. When First Lieutenant Lincoln Scott is falsely accused of murdering fellow prisoner, Captain Vincent Befford, Second Lieutenant Tommy Hart, the only prisoner with any legal training, is appointed to defend him in a formal military trial observed by top- ranking German officers, who will furnish the firing squad when the defendant is almost certainly convicted.
The PageTurners Book Club met on Thursday, May 3, at 6 pm in the Bottom Shelf Room at the Rice Lake Public Library. Six people attended the discussion. The general consensus about the book was that it started slow but became more enjoyable once the mystery began. Several participants watched the movie in lieu of reading the book; it was agreed that the movie differed substantially from the book. The average score awarded to this book was 3.75 out of 5 books; the lowest score was a 3.5 / 5 and the highest score 4 / 5.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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Hart’s War by John Katzenbach is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
PageTurners Read “The Samurai’s Garden”
18 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: book club, china, Gail Tsukiyama, historical fiction, Japan, leprosy, PageTurners, review, reviews, romance, Samurai's Garden, war
The Samurai’s Garden
Gail Tsukiyama
The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Tsukiyama uses the Japanese invasion of China during the late 1930s as a somber backdrop for her unusual story about a 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen who is sent to his family’s summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu’s secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight. Matsu is a samurai of the soul, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel and arbitrary world, and Stephen is a noble student, learning to appreciate Matsu’s generous and nurturing way of life and to love Matsu’s soulmate, gentle Sachi, a woman afflicted with leprosy.
The PageTurners Book Club met on Thursday, April 12, at 6 pm in the Bottom Shelf Room at the Rice Lake Public Library. Seven people attended the discussion. The general consensus about the book was that it was well written and lyrical. The average score awarded to this book was out of 5 books; the lowest score was a 4 / 5 and the highest score 4.5 / 5.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
The PageTurners Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the Rice Lake Public Library. It usually meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library. Discussion lasts an hour; everyone is welcome.
PageTurners Read “Passing Strange”
07 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: African American, book club, nonfiction, PageTurners, racial tension, reviews
Passing Strange : a Gilded Age Tale of love and Deception Across the Color Line
by Martha A. Sandweiss
Clarence King is a hero of nineteenth-century western history. Brilliant scientist and witty conversationalist, bestselling author and architect of the great surveys that mapped the West after the Civil War, King hid a secret from his Gilded Age cohorts and prominent Newport family: for thirteen years he lived a double life–as the celebrated white Clarence King and as a black Pullman porter and steelworker. Unable to marry the black woman he loved, the fair-haired, blue-eyed King passed as a Negro, revealing his secret to his wife Ada only on his deathbed. Historian Martha Sandweiss is the first writer to uncover the life that King tried so hard to conceal. She reveals the complexity of a man who, while publicly espousing a personal dream of a uniquely American amalgam of white and black, hid his love for his wife and their five biracial children.
The PageTurners Book Club met on Thursday, March 1, at 6 pm in the Bottom Shelf Room at the Rice Lake Public Library. Seven people attended the discussion. The general consensus about the book was that the author spent too much time on describing Clarence King’s career, and not enough time on his marriage. The average score awarded to this book was 3.25 out of 5 books; the lowest score was a 3 / 5 and the highest score 4 / 5.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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Passing Strange by Martha A. Sandweiss is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There are several copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
The PageTurners Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the Rice Lake Public Library. It usually meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library. Discussion lasts an hour; everyone is welcome.
PageTurners Read “Lord of the Flies”
15 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: drama, dystopia, fiction, PageTurners, piggy, ralph, reviews, school boys, ww3
Lord of the Flies
William Golding
At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate. This far from civilization they can do anything they want. Anything. But as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far removed from reality as the hope of being rescued… This work is a frightening parody on man’s return (in a few weeks) to that state of darkness from which it took him thousands of years to emerge.
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The PageTurners Book Club met on Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 6 pm. Nine people attended. Discussion lasted an hour; at times it was heated as participants debated the merits of this classic novel. The average rating was 2.9 / 5 books; the lowest rating was a 1, and the highest was a 4.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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Lord of the Flies by William Golding is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There are over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
The PageTurners Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the Rice Lake Public Library. It usually meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library. Discussion lasts an hour; everyone is welcome.
PageTurners Read “Winter Garden”
11 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: family drama, fiction, historical fiction, Kristin Hannah, Leningrad, Winter Garden, world war II
Winter Garden
by Kristin Hannah
Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family apple orchard; the other followed a dream and traveled the world to become a famous photojournalist. But when their beloved father falls ill, Meredith and Nina find themselves together again, standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the women in his life: the fairy tale will be told one last time — and all the way to the end. Thus begins an unexpected journey into the truth of Anya’s life in war-torn Leningrad, more than five decades ago. Alternating between the past and present, Meredith and Nina will finally hear the singular, harrowing story of their mother’s life, and what they learn is a secret so terrible and terrifying that it will shake the very foundation of their family and change who they believe they are.
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The PageTurners Book Club met on Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 6 pm. Nine people attended. Discussion lasted an hour; most participants agreed that the historical aspects of the story were strongest and that the ending was too coincidental. The average rating was 3.5 / 5 books; the lowest rating was a 1, and the highest was a 4.5.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There are over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
The PageTurners Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the Rice Lake Public Library. It usually meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library. Discussion lasts an hour; everyone is welcome.
PageTurners Read “Holidays on Ice”
21 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: celebrity, christmas, family, nonfiction, PageTurners
Holidays on Ice
David Sedaris
Holidays on Ice is a collection of stories and creative essays by Sedaris with a common Christmas theme. David Sedaris’s dark humor is evident in “Seasons Greetings to Our Friends and Family!!!” a parody of the relentlessly cheerful holiday letters written by thousands of people extolling the virtues of their dubious brood. “Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol,” is a vicious theatrical review of children’s Christmas pageants. Sedaris explores some of his own holiday memories in “Dinah, the Christmas Whore” and ”SantaLand Diaries”.
The PageTurners Book Club met on Thursday, December 8, at 6 pm in the Bottom Shelf Room at the Rice Lake Public Library. Five people attended the discussion. The general consensus about the book was that Sedaris walked a fine line between hilarious and offensive with these stories. The average score awarded to this book was 3.2 out of 5 books; the lowest score was a 2 / 5 and the highest score 4 / 5.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There are over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
The PageTurners Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the Rice Lake Public Library. It usually meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library. Discussion lasts an hour; everyone is welcome.
PageTurners Read “The Ghost at the Table”
23 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: dysfunctional, family, PageTurners, reviews, thanksgiving
The Ghost at the Table
by Suzanne Berne
Rival sisters search for family truths over a Thanksgiving holiday. Frances Fiske longs for harmony and decides to host a blowout dinner to reunite her estranged family. Out of pity and a sense of obligation, Cynthia Fiske flies east from her sequestered life as a writer to join in her sister’s feast. But in her quest for unity, Frances packs the house with high-wattage conflict, for when three generations of the Fiske family gather, tempers flair and skeletons begin tumbling out of closets.
Five people attended the discussion of this book on Thursday, November 10 at 6 pm. The consensus was that the family dynamics were intriguing and realistic. The average rating was 3.43 out of 5; the lowest score was a 3 and the lowest was a 4.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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The Ghost at the Table by Suzanne Berne is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There are over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
The PageTurners Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the Rice Lake Public Library. It usually meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library. Discussion lasts an hour; everyone is welcome.
PageTurners Read “Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter”
12 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: fiction, mystery, PageTurners, readalikes, reviews
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
Tom Franklin
Silas “32″ Jones and Larry Ott were great friends for a few brief months in their childhood. Unfortunately, this wasn’t to last. Suspicion is cast upon Larry when a girl goes missing who was last seen with him. Silas moved away to pursue his dreams of playing baseball and Larry remained, convicted but not in prison. Twenty five years later, a new mystery draws them together again. Another girl is missing, and everyone seems to think Larry caused it. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter explores the thin line between friendship and hatred.
The PageTurners Book Club met on Thursday, October 6 at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library to discuss this book. Six people attended.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There are over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
The PageTurners Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the Rice Lake Public Library. It usually meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library. Discussion lasts an hour; everyone is welcome.
PageTurners Read “The Sandalwood Tree”
21 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: fiction, historical fiction, India, PageTurners, romance
The Sandalwood Tree
Elle Newmark
In 1947, an American anthropologist named Martin Mitchell wins a Fulbright Fellowship to study in India. He travels there with his wife, Evie, and his son, determined to start a new chapter in their lives. Upon the family’s arrival, though, they are forced to stay in a small village due to violence surrounding Britain’s imminent departure from India. It is there, hidden behind a brick wall in their colonial bungalow, that Evie discovers a packet of old letters that tell a strange and compelling story of love and war involving two young Englishwomen who lived in the very same house in 1857. Drawn to their story, Evie embarks on a mission to uncover what the letters didn’t explain.
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Seven people attended the book discussion about The Sandalwood Tree on Thursday, September 8 at 6 pm. We had a special treat of masala chai tea and sugar cookies. Most readers enjoyed the story and insight into another culture, but were disappointed by the coincidental deus ex machina at the end of the novel. The average rating given to this book was 3.83; the highest score was a 4.5 and the lowest was 3.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There are over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
The PageTurners Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the Rice Lake Public Library. It usually meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library. Discussion lasts an hour; everyone is welcome.
PageTurners Read “Room”
10 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in PageTurners Tags: family, fiction, Hero, kidnapping, mystery
Room
by Emma Donoghue
Narrator Jack and his mother, who was kidnapped seven years earlier when she was a 19-year-old college student, celebrate his fifth birthday. They live in a tiny, 11-foot-square soundproofed cell in a converted shed in the kidnapper’s yard. The sociopath, whom Jack has dubbed Old Nick, visits at night, grudgingly doling out food and supplies. But Ma, as Jack calls her, proves to be resilient and resourceful–and attempts a nail-biting escape.
Eight people attending the book club on Thursday, August 4 at 6 pm. Conversation was fast and full of varying opinions. One woman was vocal in her disapproval of its sensationalistic focus, and another loved it for its timely message. The average rating was 3.18 out of 5 possible books; the lowest score was 1 and the highest was 4.5 out of 5.
Click on the book graphic below to see a full recap of book club members’ opinions.
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Room by Emma Donoghue is available at the Rice Lake Public Library. There are over ten copies of this book in the MORE System. Please visit the card catalog website or call us at 234-4861 to reserve a copy today.
The PageTurners Book Club is sponsored by the Friends of the Rice Lake Public Library. It usually meets on the first Thursday of each month at 6 pm at the Rice Lake Public Library. Discussion lasts an hour; everyone is welcome.
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If you’d like more information on this subject, please contact Tami Richardson, Adult Services Manager at the Rice Lake Public Library, at 234-4861 x15.
