The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, by Katarina Bivald

Characters

Sara Lindqvist   Amy Harris   Tom Harris – Amy’s nephew   Broken Wheel citizens: John – only African American in town, Amy’s friend, owns grocery/hardware store Grace (Madeline) – owns Amazing Grace diner Caroline Rohde Josh Jen Hobson – Broken Wheel newsletter Gertrude and May – senior citizens William Christopher - minister Andy Walsh – owns The Square bar Carl George – Michelle (wife), Sophie (daughter) Claire Henderson – daughter Lacey – teenage pregnancy – George’s neighbor and friend   Gavin Jones – Immigration Officer

 For discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the paperback edition of the book.

1. Does this book present a too-romanticized view of reading?  Would a non-reader enjoy it?
2. On page 20 Sara wonders if people think she uses books to “hide from life.”  Do you think that might be a fair assessment sometimes? 
3. On page 16, Sara’s mother told her, “Honestly, though, what do you know about people?  If you didn’t have your nose in a book all the time…”   What do you think you can learn about people and the world through reading?
4. In one of her early letters to Sara (August 23, 2009), Amy wrote about racism and middle-aged people, “those who think the world has automatically become better simply because they’re old enough to shape it now, but without any of them having made the slightest contribution to improving it.”  Is that a fair statement?
5. Discuss Caroline.  It seems Caroline thought she was the moral compass for the town.  On page 27 Caroline thought the following:
1. “But she also knew that towns needed someone to keep an eye of them and someone to help them out; someone who knew what was right and someone who knew what was good.”
2. “She had never been able to help people like Amy could.  Amy always seemed to know precisely what people wanted to hear.  Caroline knew only what they should hear, and the two were very rarely the same thing.”
3. “Caroline didn’t care for judging people on things they had no control over.  There were enough conscious sins to focus on.”

6. Do you think you would have liked Caroline as a friend?  Did you like how the author wrote her character at the end of the book?

7. Discuss the other characters.  Who were you able to relate to?  How well did the author show you the character of Amy even though she was dead throughout the entire novel?

8. Have you ever read a Harlequin romance novel?  Did you like it or not?  Why are they so popular?  On page 52 Sara told Carl, “Harlequin has sole six billion books…Believe me, even if you include the fanatics with drawers full of them, it’s a statistical fact that every woman has come across at least one.”

9. When the town had the festival and wanted to impress the people from Hope, everyone had a book and was told to “look literary.”  (page 158)   How do you look literary?

10. There were a lot of author’s and books mentioned in the novel.  Which ones stuck out to you?  My favorites were:
1. Page 154 – John Grisham was categorized as an “unreliable author,” who wrote a few great books and then “come out with completely flat, idiotic stores the rest of the time.”   (Do you agree???)
2. Page 196-197 – Sara gave Gertrude The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Steig Larrson, and she came back the next day looking very haggard after staying up all night reading and wanted the next book.
3. Following the same story line, Gertrude refused to trade in the first book but instead bought all three in the series so she could keep them.  Can you relate to that feeling??

11. What were your favorite parts of the book?  Did you like the ending?

*****
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.

Our Man in Charleston, by Christopher Dickey

Review: This book, for me, took a bit of concentration and effort to keep all of the people and the timeline straight.  However, it was well worth the effort!  Not only did I gain knowledge and admiration for an unknown hero of the Civil War, I gained insight into the importance of unknown people to the outcome of major world events.   I also found interesting the author’s statement that the succession was solely about slavery and that the issue of state’s rights was only related to the right to own slaves.  One blurb on the back of my edition stated, ”A spicy historical beach read…”   I wouldn’t go that far, this book is certainly not a mindless read.  But it is well worth your time and effort.   I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for this review. 

People
United States	Britain
Robert Brunch, His Majesty’s Consul Emma Craig – wife Helen – daughter Helen – younger sister Daniel Blake – widowed, slave owner, married Helen (sister)   Southern men Brunch trusted: James Petigru – former state Attorney General Alfred Huger – postmaster Col. John Haarleston Read William Henry Trescot – lawyer, historian   Robert Barnwell Rhett – extremely pro slavery   John Russell – owned book store   Governors of South Carolina: John Manny General James Hopkins Adams   Newspapers: Charleston Mercury – unreasonable Charleston Courier – more balanced Editor Richard Yeadon Charleston Standard – proslavery Editor Leonidas Spratt   Senator William Seward   John Brown   Hugh Forbes – soldier of fortune   Confederate government’s representatives to Europe captured by the North: James Mason John Slidell	Henry John Temple – 3rd Viscount Palmerston 1859 – Prime Minister   Lord Clarendon   George William Frederick Villiers   Lord Napier – Washington D.C. minister   Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons – 1859, new Minister in Washington D.C., felt Brunch over-stepping his boundaries   Lord John Russell – former PM, 1859 Foreign Secretary   Three trusted Consels: Robert Brunch William Mure Edward Mortimer Archibald   Prince of Wales – visited Canada and US in 1860

For discussion:

1. How difficult do you think it would be to lead a double life, never expressing your true feelings and always having to be on guard?  Do you think you could do that?
2. How do you think Bunch’s wife coped?
3. Was it fair to subject his wife and daughter to this lifestyle?
4. If you were in Brunch’s place, how would you decide who to trust?
5. On page 195 the author claims the South’s secession was solely about slavery and the states’ rights to own slaves.  Does this agree with what you had been taught in the past?
6. How would this country be different if there had been no Civil War and the southern states had formed an independent country?   What if there had been no war and no succession?

*****
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.