The Nightengale Summary

FRANCE, 1939 In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another. Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can...completely. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences. With courage, grace and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah takes her talented pen to the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime. (less)

Time to Update

Our Book Club at Maura's on Tuesday was small but the discussion was great! Lee brought a family heirloom that just happened to be a coffee table book of Edward Curtis's best photograghs; what a treat! Maura made a great Tiramisu dessert! The next book is "The Nightengale" by Kristin Hannah and will be on Tuesday August 30th at Lee's house. BTW, Maura found out that they have the complete epic series of books by Curtis in the NW room at the main Spokane Public Library. She is trying to organize a time when we can go because it is by appointment only. Send her an email or text if you are interested. I am available next Friday or Saturday (or even this Saturday).

Next Book Is.....

Annie Dillard!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2015/0928/Annie-Dillard-Which-5-books-by-this-National-Humanities-Medal-winner-are-must-reads

Link to NYTimes review of Olive Kitteridge

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/books/review/Thomas-t.html

And the Next Book Is...

The next Book Club is at Julie's on October 29th starting at 6:30 or 7 PM. We are reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stuart which is a Pulitzer Prize winner!

Finally Back on the Blog! (Next Bookclub)

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. 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, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge. Doerr’s “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, a National Book Award finalist, All the Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never fail to thrill” (Los Angeles Times).

Boys in the Boat

Great discussion tonight at Lee's house regarding The Boys in the Boat about the 1936 UW crew team that won gold at the Berlin Olympics. It had loads of local flavor and was enjoyed by all. We missed you Candace and Joe! Lee's cake was wonderful (as well as all the other goodies)! As a group we sort of decided to read something shorter and easier because the upcoming travel schedules. We are meeting next in 4 weeks instead of our normal 6 weeks.

A Dog's Purpose Reviews

Audible Editor Reviews Grab the tissues. This heart-warming novel told from a dog’s perspective is even more touching due to the pitch-perfect narration by George Wilson. Bailey starts out life as a mutt named Toby, but after a short existence is reincarnated into a golden retriever who finds a loving home with 8-year-old Ethan. Bailey loves Ethan eagerly and without bounds — as only a dog truly can — and believes that this must be his purpose; this must be why he was reborn. But after a long life with the boy, Bailey dies yet again — and is reborn as a German Shepherd police dog. As Bailey ponders his new existence and what his new purpose must be, the bond he had with Ethan never wavers and he misses the boy desperately. “How could I possibly have a more important mission than loving the boy?” he wonders. Yet he begins the journey of life again, searching for its meaning, and always on the lookout for Ethan. Wilson’s warm and buttery voice delivers Bailey’s thoughts with an earnest sincerity — without overdoing it. He easily captures the excitement, innocence, and fierce loyalty of a dog in his tone. Listeners will be convinced that if their dogs could talk, they would sound exactly like this narrator. Wilson also expertly and subtly changes tone and pitch when portraying the human characters around Bailey — his admirations (“Good dog, Bailey!”) and admonishments (“No, Bailey, no!”) have such emotion behind them, that you instantly empathize with Bailey and look forward to a human asking him if he wants to go for a “car ride” or have a “biscuit”. Bailey’s observations on human life are naïve, yet clever, and often hysterically funny — he’s like the Forrest Gump of the canine set. For fans of Marley & Me and The Art of Racing in the Rain, this is your new favorite dog book. —Colleen Oakley Publisher's Summary After a tragically short life as a stray mutt, Bailey is surprised to find himself reborn as a rambunctious golden-haired puppy. Bailey's search for his new life's meaning leads him into the loving arms of eight-year-old Ethan. During their countless adventures, Bailey joyously discovers how to be a good dog. But this life as a beloved family pet is not the end of Bailey's journey. Reborn as a puppy yet again, Bailey wonders, will he ever find his purpose? Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh-out-loud funny, A Dog's Purpose is not only the story of a dog's many lives but also a dog's-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man's best friend. This beautifully crafted novel teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends arealways with us, and that every creature on Earth is born with a purpose. ©2010 W. Bruce Cameron (P)2010 Tantor