Murder on the Leviathan Meeting

LEVIATHAN MEETING
Jen’s Place
March 30, 2005

In attendance were Jen, Paula, Cynthia, Rachel, Beth and Roy.

First of all, I think everyone is a disappointed that Manda delivered her baby a little early. I think we were all hoping that she would go into labor during a book club meeting so we could all rush to the hospital with her and have a sitcom like scene in the waiting room. But we’re glad everyone is doing well.

Again, I didn’t take notes so this is just from my memory.

The Pizzaoggi web site is wrong - they do not deliver. We had to send Rachel and Paula off to pick up the pizza. Then the pizza was not ready for them. They had to wait so long, they ended up breaking book club rule #1 - they talked about the book! But it’s not their fault.

Everyone agreed that they liked the first half of the book, but the second half of the book seemed to be bogged down in plot. Well, basically, we talked about all the same things that Donna wrote in her blog. I really don’t have much to add. Jen felt that it was fun to read, but not nearly as good as Agatha Christie. Donna, I totally agree that it was just cruel to have Gauche killed at the end. I wanted to see him in retirement.

Rachel has an interesting story to tell about something that happened at work and it involves a card catalog, but you have to hear her tell it and make sure she does the pose for you.

Jen made a turtle cheesecake that was delicious. It started a conversation - what is caramel really? What about butterscotch? Is there scotch in it? If I drink a whole can of condensed milk will I get sick?

Cynthia is picking next month’s book, but she didn’t even give us a hint as to what it might be. If you refer to your book club log, you will see that the last book Cynthia picked was The Sheltering Sky

Master List

I am working on trying to post the Excel spreadsheet of our book club history. I'm not sure how to do it here, but I am hoping to have access soon to post my own web page at work and then can link to that from here. Stay tuned!
Donna

Donna's comments on MOTL

Since I had to miss my first ever book club meeting (I know, so sad), I figured I would post my brief comments to the blog. I loved Murder on the Leviathan! It brought me back to my middle school and high school days when I was enthralled with Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple and could not get enough of Agatha Christie mysteries. MOTL recreated that type of mystery brilliantly. I thought the reasoning for some of the suspects being placed in the Windsor cabin was a bit shaky (i.e. not the ones missing their golden wings), but once they were all gathered together and you knew the murderer was among them, it was exciting. I enjoyed the different narratives and how suspicious they all were of one another, and I also liked that we never had Fandorin's direct point of view. The novel itself was very short and to the point (something I enjoy). Having said that, while I was reading, I felt like there were a lot of extraneous and slightly boring stories. Then I felt foolish for not realizing that of course every story was a clue! I was a little surprised by Gauche's actions at the end, because even though I thought he was a pompous idiot, I did not think he would commit murder (regardless of his greed). I felt like a point of view of someone wanting the shawl that badly would have been interesting. All in all, I enjoyed the latest pick.

Renegade Book Club

My good pal Tracy just sent me the link to her Twin Cities book club blog. Check it out.
http://www.renegadebooks.blogspot.com/

Ardis' Bio

Who: Ardis
What: Children's Librarian
When: Golly, when did I join? Has it been a year???
Where: scenic, tree city USA Medford
Why: I love books, and I love sharing
Faves: Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Victoria Holt, Janet Evanovich
lasagna, homemade mac and cheese, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Anne's Bio

Who: Anne
What: Librarian
When: I was at the first meeting in February 2000.
Where: Originally from Roanoke, Virginia, the Star City of the South. I moved to Boston in September 1998 to go to library school at Simmons. I am currently living in Beacon Hill with my cat, Bugbite.
How: When I am not answering crazy reference questions, I enjoy studying Spanish, running and films.
Books: Favs include God of Small Things, Motherless Brooklyn, Blind Assassin, Purple America, Sheltering Sky, and Shadow Play (of course!).

Rachel's Bio

Who: Rachel
What: Archivist
When: Way back in February 2000
Where: Martha's Vineyard
Why: I watched way to much tv when I was a child and now I'm trying to make up for it.
Fav's: Motherless Brooklyn, Woman in White, In the Heart of the Sea.

Donna's Bio

Who: Donna
What: Librarian, of course!
When: Original member and List master
Why?: I prefer the classics and try to make my fellow book lovers appreciate them too, whenever it's my turn. Not sure if I've accomplished that at all yet, although The Woman in White and Return of the Native were good attempts. My top five picks are: The Count of Monte Cristo, McTeague, Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Out of Africa, and Seabiscuit.

The rest of my free time is filled with even more pop culture, namely movies and television! I also play floor hockey and love Pearl Jam, traveling, and hosting parties.