Books Read in 2017

1. A Simple Act of Gratitude by John Kralik
2. The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley
3. Cold Cereal by Adam Rex
4. Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts
5. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
6. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
7. Author Study of the works of Georgette Heyer set in the Regency Period
8. An American Hero: The True Story of Charles a. Lindbergh by Barry Denenberg
9. A House Full of Females by Laurel Ulrich
10. Posted by John David Anderson
11. book
12. book

October's Book

Posted
by John David Anderson

October 19th (3rd Thurs)
7:30 pm at Aimeè's

Summary from Harper Collins.com

From John David Anderson, author of the acclaimed Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, comes a humorous, poignant, and original contemporary story about bullying, broken friendships, and the failures of communication between kids.

In middle school, words aren’t just words. They can be weapons. They can be gifts. The right words can win you friends or make you enemies. They can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they can change things forever.

When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends Deedee, Wolf, and Bench come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and soon all the kids in school are leaving notes—though for every kind and friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well.

In the middle of this, a new girl named Rose arrives at school and sits at Frost’s lunch table. Rose is not like anyone else at Branton Middle School, and it’s clear that the close circle of friends Frost has made for himself won’t easily hold another. As the sticky-note war escalates, and the pressure to choose sides mounts, Frost soon realizes that after this year, nothing will ever be the same.

Click here to find it at the public library
Click here to find it on Amazon
Click here to find it at Barnes and Noble

Click here for discussion questions from Harper Collins

September's Book

A House Full of Females 
by Laurel Ulrich

September 21st (3rd Thurs.)
8pm at Emily P.'s


Note from Emily P.
the library only has five copies and there is currently 10 holds so people may want to read early


Summary from Deseret Book
A stunning and sure-to-be controversial book that pieces together, through more than two dozen nineteenth-century diaries, letters, albums, minute-books, and quilts left by first-generation Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, the never-before-told story of the earliest days of the women of Mormon “plural marriage,” whose right to vote in the state of Utah was given to them by a Mormon-dominated legislature as an outgrowth of polygamy in 1870, fifty years ahead of the vote nationally ratified by Congress, and who became political actors in spite of, or because of, their marital arrangements. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, writing of this small group of Mormon women who’ve previously been seen as mere names and dates, has brilliantly reconstructed these textured, complex lives to give us a fulsome portrait of who these women were and of their “sex radicalism”–the idea that a woman should choose when and with whom to bear children.


Click here to find it at the public library
Click here to find it on Amazon
Click here to find it at Barnes and Noble
Click here to find it at Deseret Book

August's book

An American Hero: 
The True Story of Charles A. Lindbergh
by Barry Denenberg

August 17th (3rd Thurs)
7:30 pm at Amanda C.'s


Message from Amanda C.
I am hosting in August. I'd like to suggest "American Hero: The True Story of Charles A. Lindbergh" However, the library does not have the book anymore. I have one copy to share. I am a slow reader and it took me 4 hours to read the whole book (So, it is possible all who would like to, can read it before August's meeting). I don't know if there are digital copies (I'm not a big digital reader) Is this still a good book to pick? Or should I pick a book more readily available?


Summary from Barnes and Noble:
Illustrated with archival photographs, this acclaimed biography presents a full portrait of the handsome and brave aviation pioneer--from his global fame to the kidnapping of his baby son and his shocking politics. 272 pp. Ages 10 and up. Pub: 1/98.


Click here to find the book on Amazon
Click here to find the book on Barnes and Noble

July's Book

Please post your response to the Facebook group or email her.
Thank you!

Message from Stacy C.,

I may have picked a book ,but I want to run something past everyone. There is an author named Georgette Heyer who wrote in the 1920's and they compare her books to jane Austen, she has written tons of books and I thought it might be interesting for everyone to pick one and we could compare them to each other and to Jane Austen novels, what we love/hate about both of them. they are free on kindle unlimited (someone could borrow my kindles if they don't have unlimited) I think some are on the library e-book site. Or I'm also reading a book called the storied life of AJ Fikry, but not sure if it's a good book club selection yet.

What do you think?

UPDATE

Any Regency Period work

by Georgette Heyer

July 20th (3rd Thurs)

7:30 pm at Stacy C.'s

Note from Stacy C.

Pick a regency period book by Georgette Heyer. A couple titles are 'The Great Sophie', Frederica, The Talisman Ring, The Foundling... etc.. they are quick funny quirky little novels. We will compare plots and characters and how they compare to Jane Austen novels. She write mysteries too but we are going to focus on the regency period books.

Click here to find Georgette Heyer books at the public library

Click here to find Georgette Heyer books on Amazon

Click here to find Georgette Heyer books at Barnes and Noble

To learn a little more about Georgette Heyer's click here

Here's a 2015 article Georgette Heyer, queen of Regency romance, honoured with blue plaque

Stacy also mentioned another work as a possibility for future reading The Storied Life of AJ Fikry

June's Book

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
by Richard Bach

June 29th (5th Thurs)
7:30pm at Sarah F.'s 


Note from Sarah

Here are some questions to think about as you read/rethink what you read and I'd love to hear what you guys think on Thursday. I love analyzing literature and hope you do too!

-Why did the author choose a seagull as the base of his story/what could be some of the symbolism?

-Why flight/flying as the 'goal' (what's the symbolism in flight)?

-In what ways did Jonathan begin to understand that he was more than a 'limited mortal' (or perhaps think of it as an eternal being)?

-What can we learn about love and missionary work in the story? (How did Jonathan help Fletcher and others)

-How is forgiveness and love one of the keys to learning and progressing in the story? What are some of the other keys discussed?

-In what ways are we like Jonathan? In what ways are we like Fletcher? What is the Flock-are we?

Bring other thoughts/questions/discussions as you'd like.

If you are looking for something else to read in the meantime-I highly suggest Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson...many parts of it match well with Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Summary from Amazon:
This is the story for people who follow their hearts and make their own rules...people who get special pleasure out of doing something well, even if only for themselves...peopel who know there's more to this living than meets the eye:  they'll be right there with Jonathan, flying higher and faster than they ever dreamed.

A pioneering work that wed graphics with words, Jonathan Livingston Seagull now enjoys a whole new life.

Click here to find the book at the public library
Click here to find the book on Amazon
Click here to find the book at Barnes and Noble

May's Book

The Westing Game
by Ellen Raskin

May 18th (3rd Thursday)
7:30pm at Angela's

Summary from Amazon
A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel w. Westing's will.  And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger-and possible murderer-to inherit his vast fortune, one things for sure: Sam Westing may be dead...but that won't stop him from playing one last game!

Book trailer:

Discussion Questions can be found here

To find the book click below:

• Public Library
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble

April's Book

Founding Mothers
By Cokie Roberts

April 27th (4th Thurs)
7:30pm at Aimeé's 

Summary from LitLovers:

While the "fathers" were off founding the country, what were the women doing? Running their husband’s businesses, raising their children plus providing political information and advice. At least that’s what Abigail Adams did for John, starting when he went off to the Continental Congress, which eventually declared the independence of the American colonies from the British. While the men were writing the rebellious words, the women were living the revolution, with the Redcoats on their doorsteps. John’s advice to Abigail as the soldiers approached Braintree: if necessary "fly to the woods with our children." That was it, she was on her own, as she was for most of the next ten years while Adams represented the newly independent nation abroad.

Abigail Adams is the best known of the women who influenced the founders, but there are many more, starting with Martha Washington, who once referred to herself as a “prisoner of state” for the constraints placed on her as the first First Lady. She was the one charged with balancing the demands of a Republic of the "common man" on the one hand, while insisting on some modicum of courtliness and protocol so that the former colonies would be taken seriously by Europe. She also took political heat in the press from the president’s political opponents when he was too popular to criticize.

And there are women like Esther Reed, married to the president of Pennsylvania, who, with Benjamin Franklin’s daughter Sarah Bache, organized a drive to raise money for Washington’s troops at Valley Forge. In 1780 the women raised more than three hundred thousand dollars. Reed wrote a famous patriotic broadside titled The Sentiments of an American Woman, calling on women to wear simpler clothing and hairstyles in order to save money to contribute to the cause. It worked! The women who ran the boarding houses of Philadelphia where the men stayed while writing the now sacred documents of America had their quite considerable say about the affairs of state as well.

This will be the story of some of those women, as learned through their seldom seen letters and diaries, and the letters from the men to them. It will be a story of the beginnings of the nation as viewed from the distaff side. (From the publisher.)

Discussion Questions can be found here

To find the book click below:

• public library
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble

History Channel presentation on this book: https://vimeo.com/99668214

March's Book

Cold Cereal
by Adam Rex

March 30th (5th Thurs)
7:30pm at Kristin P.'s


Summary from PCPL website:

Baker and Taylor
A boy who may be part changeling, twins involved in a bizarre secret experiment, and a clurichaun in a red tracksuit try to save the world from an evil cereal company whose ultimate goal is world domination.

HARPERCOLL
From author Adam Rex comes the first book in the Cold Cereal Saga—a hilarious, clever, and action-packed adventure series with an educational hook.

Scottish Play Doe—aka Scott—is used to being a little different. Sometimes he hallucinates things no one else can see. But then one of these hallucinations tries to steal Scott's backpack, and he comes face-to-face with an honest-to-goodness leprechaun named Mick who's on the run from, of all things, the Goodco Cereal Company. With the help of his friends Erno and Emily, Scott and Mick uncover Goodco's sinister plans—and take the first steps in saving the world from the evil cereal company. 

Like the Artemis Fowl Series and the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, the Cold Cereal Saga takes elements of familiar mythology—in this case, Arthurian legend and Irish folklore—and reimagines it in the modern world with a cast of relatable characters and myriad magical beings. The story is told from multiple points of view, and there are dozens of illustrations—including "commercial breaks"—and stories within the story.

 Supports the Common Core State Standards


Click here to find it at the public library 

 Click here to find it on Amazon 

 Click here to find it at Barnes and Noble

February's Book

The Autobiography of 
Malcolm X
As Told to Alex Haley

February 16th (3rd Thurs)
8pm at Emily P.'s

The public library has a limited number of copies of this book.  However, Emily is willing to lend her copy out as soon as she's finished it.

Summary:
The famous black leader tells the story of his life, from his birth in St. Louis through his career as a criminal and eventual imprisonment, to his conversion to Islam, rise to leadership within the Black Muslims, and gaining of international prominence as a voice of black protest.

Summary from Pima County Public Library

Click here to find it at the public library

Click here to find it on Amazon

Click here to find it at Barnes & Noble

January's Book

*Please note the date change*

A Simple Act of Gratitude

by John Kralik

Previously Published as
365 Thank Yous: The Year a Simple Act of Gratitude Changed My Life

January 26th (4th Thurs)

7:30pm at Carol R.'s home

Summary:
Personal and uplifting, "365 Thank Yous" is Kralik's inspiring memoir about how the seemingly ordinary act of writing thank you notes led him out of hopelessness and into fulfillment of lifelong dreams.

summary from www.goodreads.com

Just when his dearest life dreams seemed to have slipped beyond his reach, Kralik was struck by the belief that his life might become at least tolerable if, instead of focusing on what he didn't have, he could find some way to be grateful for what he had. He set the goal of writing 365 thank-you notes in the coming year.

summary from Pima County Public Library

Click here to visit the author's website

Click here to find the book at the public library

Click here to find the book on Amazon

Click here to find the book at Barnes & Noble

John Kralik's interview on The Early Show