Book recommendation: Shadow of the Wind

Last year for my birthday Donna gave me Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. What a great book! Not only is it beautiful to read with great descriptions Barcelona and lots of fog, but there is also a great mystery. I don't want to give to much away but there is a "cemetery of forgotten books" and great book lover characters.

-Rachel (forgot to add my name before)

Bangkok 8 Meeting

Bangkok 8 Meeting
Location: Thai Smile, Harvard Square
In Attendance: Anne, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Erin, Paula, Rachel and Wendy

First off, I’d like to say this is the least depressing book Anne has ever picked.

Rachel went first. She didn’t like the book at all. (This was not a surprise to me- she mentioned this once or twice over the past month.) She thought it was poorly written. Specifically, the lines “her ovaries shuddered” made Rachel shudder. But actually most other readers seemed to like the book more than Rachel did.
She was the lone voice of dissent.

In case anyone was wondering if the penis statues at the Hilton were just fiction, Wendy assured us they were not. She told us about her own experiences with Thai fertility artwork and most memorably the “penis tree. “ Unfortunately, she forgot to bring her example to the meeting, but maybe next time. (FYI - The Book Club LOVES visuals aids of all kinds)

Erin thought the book showed an interesting perspective of Thai prostitutes - that they were portrayed as tough business women and they weren’t sentimentalized - is that a word? Donna really liked the mother and her business sense.

I have to confess I didn’t finish and I don’t have a good reason.

Thank God! Anne just called. I almost got her to write up this blog for me, but we decided she will write a future blog. Anne said she really liked it, she thought Bangkok seemed like a vibrant city and she would like to visit someday. She also enjoyed the book because she never knew what was going to happen next and the resolution surprised her.

After dinner, I interviewed Cynthia for the blog, but I think I scared her. I have to work on my approach. But she did say she thought parts of the book were crass, but then she felt bad for calling the book crass, And then I said no, I really liked brutally honest answers when I’m getting exclusive interviews for the blog.

In a dramatic last minute change of mind, I announced our next book would be “Winner of the National Book Award” by Jincy Willet. (That is just a partial title.)

After noting the number of black puffy jackets in the group, I think we should name ourselves The Puffy Jacket Book Club. The two of us who do not have puffy jackets will be forced to buy one and then we can sew “Book Club - Stand Back 60 Feet” on the back of our jackets so people will know who we are when we’re out on the town. This is just an idea.

After, I forced everyone to go to Burdicks and since it was so crowded, people had to wait in the freezing cold outside while I waited inside for nectar from the gods. But at least they had those puffy black jackets to keep them warm.

Beth

Hitchhikers Meeting

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

In Attendance: Anne, Beth, Cynthia, Donna, Erin, Manda, Paula and Rachel.

Special Guest: Paul

Foreword: I know I’m missing a lot of what people said, but it’s been about month now and I have forgotten. I’m really going to take notes next time. Rachel and I brainstormed over a meal at Bugaboo Creek about what we remembered and this is what we came up with. We were interupted by the talking bison telling bad jokes. So please add your comments.

It was the most contentious book club ever. Donna opened up and she didn’t hold back. She hated Hitchhikers and she thought there was no point to it and it really wasn't that funny. I pointed out the Hard Boiled Wonderland didn’t have a point and didn’t really make any sense either, but everyone loved that. Rachel jumped in and explained the whole philosophy behind the Hardboiled, but I think everyone likes it because there was a librarian in it. I asked Donna don’t you think it’s funny that mice were really smart and Earth was designed by architects? No, she didn’t think it was funny.

I enjoyed Hitchhikers so much I read the next in the Series - the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. I loved the scene in the Restaurant at the End of Universe, its worth reading just for that. I told a whole story about the computers and tea not realizing it was from the second book and no one knew what I was talking about. I started the third book, but I guess I had my fill, because I never finished it.

Rachel didn’t like it either, but she sees the books influence in modern pop culture. She tried to say that the OC is really influenced by it. But I wasn’t buying that. Douglas Adam’s writing reminded me of a funnier, less serious Kurt Vonnegut. For some reason this really angered Rachel. I don’t know why.

We let Paul out of the kitchen to make comments since he read the book as a youth and again along with Paula. As a teen he thought it was the funniest book ever, but this time around he didn’t think it was that great.

No one really wants to see the Hitchhikers movie now.

We all calmed down and sat down for dinner. Paula and Paul made a great meal -minestrone soup, eggplant lasagna, salad and apple crisp for dessert.

We then heard about Anne’s job and the hiring process of her new job which dragged on and on and on. But we now know that worked out. then we all told stories about every crazy person we ever worked with so that went on for awhilke.

Anne had a Lisa-Dan update. She heard Dan screaming “Lisa, I f**king hate you, I f**king love you, I want to f**king marry you. But you should really hear Anne’s impresson if it. It’s the repetition that is hysterical.

Afterwards we watched the giraffe documentary and someone came up with a great idea that we should videotape a meeting and air it on cable access. We will have to discuss this in detail next time.

Beth