Dead Wake, by Erik Larson

Review posted on www.bloggingforbooks.com:   If you are interested in history or a well-told true story, you will enjoy this book.    Erik Larson did a good job of making the story interesting even though I knew the basic details.  He put the story in the context of the historical period and explained why the event was more significant than I understood.   I did have difficulty keeping track of the people and kept wondering if I needed to remember them for later in the book or if this was the only time I would read about them.   In his previous books, especially Devil in the White City, the strategy of telling two concurrent and related stories worked well, but in this book I am not sure how significant Wilson’s courtship and marriage to Edith Galt was to the story of the Lusitania.   Still, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.  I received a complimentary copy of this book for this review.

People
Lusitania	U-20	Room 40 London, England	White House
Captain William Turner   Charles Lauriat Jr. – survivor - Boston bookseller Brought on board: Annotated “A Christmas Carol” Scrapbook of drawings by William Thackeray   Alta Piper – heard voices telling her not to board   Theodate Pope - survivor	Kptlt. Walther Schwieger	Cdr. Herbert Hope – charge of day-to-day management   Capt. William Hall – director of naval intelligence   Winston Churchill	President Woodrow Wilson   Helen Woodrow Bones – cousin   Edith Bolling Galt – Helen’s friend

 For discussion:
NOTE: The page numbers refer to the hardback edition of the book.


1. Larson has often used the pattern of connecting two concurrent stories in his novels.  Did the subplot of President Wilson and Edith Galt add to this novel?  Why or why not?


2. One passenger told Turner that the high number of deaths was caused by “lack of organization and discipline among the crew.” (page 297)  Do you agree?  Should they have been more prepared for an emergency?  (Keep in mind that the most experienced seamen were in the military at that time.)


3. Would you enlist to be a submarine crew member?  What qualities would this job require?


4. A woman claiming to be Schwieger’s finance said he was “shattered” by what he had done. (page 292)  However, Schwieger’s War Log gives a different account.  Who did you believe?  How could he have avoided being changed by the incident?


5. Was it right for the English government to withhold the information about German submarines in order to keep Room 40 a secret from the Germans?


6. Why did the Admiralty try to place the blame on Turner?


7. Who do you think was to blame for the disaster?

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins

Characters
Rachel	Megan	Anna
Tom – ex husband   Cathy – friend, letting Rachel stay with her   Mother   Andy – red-haired man from train	Scott – husband   Ben – older brother, deceased   Dr. Kamal Abdic – therapist   Craig McKenzie (Mac)   Elizabeth (Libby) – baby with Mac, deceased   Tara – friend and cover   Detectives: Riley Gaskill	Tom – husband   Evie - baby

 

For discussion:

NOTE: All pages refer to the hardback edition of the book.

1. Would you move into your husband’s house where he lived with his ex-wife?

2. What were the clues throughout the novel that let you know things were not as they seemed?  What did the author write to deliberately throw the reader off track?  These are the pages and passages I noted:

*Page 27 – Who is “he?”

*Page 113 – Scott was physically intimidating and Rachel thought he could crush her “without much effort.”

*Page 114 – The smell of antiseptic in Scott’s house

*Page 127 – A lot of what Scott said did not “ring true” to Rachel

*Page 230 – “The memory doesn’t fit with the reality, because I don’t remember anger, raging fury, I remember fear.”

*Page 241 – Tom’s relationship with his parents

3. Why did Rachel tell Dr. Abdic so much that she did not intended to withhold on the first visit?

4. Both Rachel and Megan held back a secret about a baby – Rachel unable to have one and Megan’s downing in tub.  Why did they hold this back when it was such an important part of who they were and what happened to them?

5. How did your opinion and thoughts about the characters change as you were reading? 

6. Would you have been as patient as Cathy with Rachel?  Explain your thoughts.

7. One mark of a good mystery is that the reader doesn’t figure it out before the end is revealed.  Did this novel fulfill this quality for you?  Why or why not?

8. Discuss your reading experience.  Were you able to keep the timeline straight and remember who was speaking in each chapter?

9. This book has been called the next “Gone Girl.”  Do you agree?  Which book did you enjoy more?  Why?

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right link.

She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb

Note from Arden: I loved this book when I read it 20+ years ago and I loved it just as much now.  Even though is it somewhat painful to read, Dolores' struggles are timeless.  My questions are very long, but there is so much to discuss in this novel.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Location	Characters
New York	Dolores Price Tony – father Bernice – mother Petey – lime green parakeet Mrs. Masicotte – hired Tony Thelma Holland – grandmother Eddie – son who died Arthur Music – driver who killed Bernice Geneva Sweet – Bernice’s high school friend
Rhode Island	Thelma – grandmother Roberta – Peacock Tattoo Emporium Jack and Rita Speight – 3rd floor tenants Rosalie and Stacia Pysyks – classmates at St. Anthony’s school Mr. Pucci – Guidance Counselor ·         Gary – boyfriend Larry – paperhanger Ruthie (wife) and Tia Thayer Kitchen Jemal – son
Merton College  Wayland, PA	Dottie – custodian Kippy Strednickis – roommate Dante – high school boyfriend Eric – Culinary Arts Domingos – cab driver who drive Dolores to Wellfleet in Cape Cod
Newport, RI	Gracewood Institute for 7 years: 4 inpatient and 3 outpatient Dr. Shaw Nadine - psychic
Montpelier, Vermont	Chadley Massey and Marguerite Wing – landlords Dante Davie - husband

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers refer to the paperback edition of the book.

1.Discuss Dolores’ rape and bullying.  This book has a 1992 copyright.  How different were the situations handled then compared to today?

2. Even though Dolores went to the emergency room two weeks after the rape, she did not want to tell her father or press charges.   How realistic was it to “pretend it did not happen.”  (page 117)

3. Did you understand Dolores’ rationalization when she blamed herself for Rita’s miscarriage? 

4. How did her mother’s “regret” (page 117) determine what she did next – letting Dolores stay home from school and buying her all the food she wanted?  What effect did her own affair with Jack have on her feelings and future behavior toward Dolores?   Can you understand Bernice’s feelings and actions?

5. Consider Dolores’ decision to go to college.  Was she wise to go so far away or would she have been better off closer to home?  How could she possibly make such a major mistake on the start date?  Was that realistic?

6. How did Bernice’s death influence Dolores’ college decision?  See page 136 where Dolores wonders if Bernice ran in front of the truck on purpose and if Dolores “had just agreed to go to college…then she’d be alive.”

7. The last thing Bernice said to Delores was, “You’ve made me so goddamned tired.”  (page   134)  How did this impact Delores? 

8. Did you understand Thelma’s frustration when she asked Dolores about her decision to go to college after her mother dies, “If you’re going anyway, then what was all that fuss about?  Why did you have to plague her?” (page 145)  Why did Dolores act that way?

9. Discuss how Dolores treated her father?  Could she or her father have done anything differently?  Would you have done the same?  Was there a “right” or “wrong” way to handle things?

10. On page 166, Ruthie told Dolores to go to college even if she thought she might hate it.  Ruthie said, “I usually learn more from the situations I hate than the ones I love, you know?”   Do you agree?  What did Dolores learn from all the bad situations?   How would her life have been different without all of the negative situations?

11. When Dolores was in the dorm orientation at Merton she watch everyone handling their Styrofoam cups and thought, “you could tell a lot more about people from watching their behavior with Styrofoam cups than you could by what they told you.” (page 189)   What can you learn about people by how they handle things?

12. What was the significance of the iron staple in the wall of the Merton dorm TV room? (page 203)

13. What did you think of Dolores finding Dante and then marrying him without revealing all that she knew about his past?

14. After her time at Gracewood and Dolores was taking a community college course on women, she said in class, “I think the secret is to just settle for the shape your life takes.   Instead of, you know, always waiting and wishing for what might make you happy.”  (page 433)  How did she follow, and not follow, this idea?

15. How did the different characters influence Dolores life, both positively and negatively?

16. After her abortion Dolores reflected that she had failed everyone (pages 375-6).  Do you agree or did they fail her?

17. Discuss your reading experience.  Was it positive or negative?  One reviewer was surprised the male author could understand and write so well from a female perspective.  Do you agree?

 *****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.