The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls

Characters

Rex Walls – father Rose Mary – mother Lori – older sister, became freelance artist Jeannette Brian – brother, younger than Jeannette, decorated police detective Maureen – younger sister, jailed for stabbing mother, moved to California Grandma Smith – Rose Mary’s mother Jim – brother, inherited Texas land with Rose Mary Erma – Rex’s mother Father Uncle Stanley Eric – Jeannette’s first husband John Taylor – second husband Jessica – John’s daughter Welch: Dinitia Hewitt Ernie Goad Miss Jeanette Bivens – English teacher, advisor to school newspaper

 For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from 2006 paperback edition

1. Given Rex’s intelligence and pursuit of knowledge, why do you think he chose to live the way he did? Were there some things about his personality outside his control? Could you understand him?
2. When you read the “Acknowledgements” section at the beginning, what did you think about Maureen’s reaction to the book?   Did you have a fuller understanding after you finished the book?
3. What did you think when reading the first part, “A Woman on the Street” (pages 3-5)?  Where you able to understand Jeannette’s reaction?  How do you think you would have reacted?
4. Why didn’t Rose Mary take advantage of any of the options she had such as selling the two-caret diamond ring and the antique jewelry and buy food and somewhere to live?   
5. When confronted about selling the diamond ring, Rose Mary said that the ring would improve her self-esteem and that “self-esteem is even more vital than food” (page 186).    What did you think about her reasoning?  What insight did this give you into her character?
6. On page 208, after Rose Mary quit her teaching job, Lori wanted Jeannette to feel sorry for her mother.  She said, “Poor Mom…She’s got it tough.”   Jeannette thought, “a strong woman would be able to manage Dad.”   Does Rose Mary deserve any sympathy?
7. In the following section, Lori went to a government-sponsored summer camp and Rose Mary went to Charleston to take college courses for her teaching certificate, leaving Jeannette, at age 13, in charge of the household (pages 208-213).  Why wasn’t Jeannette able to keep her father under control as she expected her mother to do? 
8. Several times Rose Mary explained what she did saying that she was, “an excitement addict” (page 93).  How does this explain her actions? 
9. What did you think of Rose Mary’s sayings?  Was she wise, foolish, or just kidding herself?
1. “Suffering when you’re young is good for you” (page 28).
2. “Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy…You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more” (page 129).
3. “…you should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them” (page 144).
4. “All seasons have something to offer…Cold weather is good for you.  It kills the germs” (page 177).
5. “Sexual assault was a crime of perception. ‘If you don’t think you’re hurt then you aren’t…So many women make such a big deal out of these things.  But you’re stronger than that” (page 184).
10. At the end of the book Rose Marie bought her apartment where she had been a squatter for 15 years for $1 from the city and was on the residents’ board.    Do you think she will be happy and settle down? Why might it be different now than when she was younger?
11. Discuss the importance of sexual abuse in the memoir: Erma molesting Brian, questioning if Erma had likewise molested Rex, Uncle Stanley groping Jeannette, and Rex taking Jeannette to a bar to distract Robbie so he could win money from him at pool.  In the last instance Rex brushed off the fact that Robbie attacked her because he was confident Jeannette could handle herself.
12. Why did Maureen, who seemed to have the best childhood, have the most troubles later in life?
13. How was Jeannette’s adult life positively and negatively affected by her childhood?

*****
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.

Summer of Reading - #2 Community-wide Books

The idea of everyone reading the same book and then coming together to discuss and share is quite popular in multiple areas – colleges and universities, communities, and on a smaller level, local book clubs.        

One Book/One University -  One current trend is for colleges and universities to select a book that is either assigned to all incoming freshmen to read over the summer or one book that will be read across campus during the year.    If you are a freshman and have been assigned to read the book before arriving on campus you should consider the following:

• READ THE BOOK!  Do not wait until you arrive on campus.  You will not have time.
• There may be discussion groups scheduled during orientation.   Think ahead about what ideas or insights you learned from the book and how you might share these.
• During the fall semester you may be expected to make connections to the book in some of your classes.
• Often speakers and events are scheduled around the book and theme.   Be sure to attend the events, especially if you have a chance to hear the author. 

One Book/One Community

• The library system where I live has these programs two or three times year.  The books are available to borrow through the library and there are facilitated discussions at each branch.  I have read many books I might not normally have read and met very interesting people through these programs.

Formal and Informal Book Groups

I currently facilitate three groups – two formal groups through the library and one with my friends. Again, these are ways to expand your reading and talk about books and ideas with other people.   Some tips are:

• Stay on topic.
• Avoid side-bar conversations.
• Be open to ideas that are different from your own.
• Do not dominate the conversation.   It is important that everyone get a chance to talk.
• In a more formal group it is the responsibility of the facilitator to make sure these things happen.   In an informal group with friends it is everyone’s responsibility.

*****
For more specific learning strategies and a continuation of reading strategies over the summer, follow my other blog, www.StudytoSucceed.blogspot.com.   Also look at my book, First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova

Characters

Dr. Alice Howland John – husband – cancer researcher Anna – daughter (Charlie – husband) Tom – son Lydia – younger daughter Alice’s family: Mother and sister killed in auto accident Father – alcoholic or Alzheimer’s Disease Cathy, Mary and Dan – support group Dan – grad student

For Discussion:

NOTE:  Page numbers refer to paperback edition

1. When she accepted the diagnosis of Alzheimer's, she thought about what she really wanted from life and was surprised to see that there was nothing on her list that was job related.  Did that surprise you?   What would be on your list?
2. What was your reaction about Alice’s fixation on Lydia going to college?  Could you understand her reasoning?  Did you think she should give in or continue to offer that option? 
3. What did you think of John’s paying for Lydia’s acting classes without telling Alice?
4. In the chapter “April 2004,” Lydia said she notice something wrong with Alice for about a year, but no one else in the family did.  Why do you think Lydia noticed something was wrong?
5. Discuss Lydia being able to connect with Alice through acting and that Alice was able to understand more through Lydia’s actions than words.
6. In the “June 2004” chapter when Alice and John were consulting with Dr. Davis, the neurologist, the doctor and John had different opinions about which would be the best treatment for Alice, the Amylix trial or IVIg therapy.  What did you think Alice should have done?
7. In the “July 2004” chapter Alice was swimming in the ocean and reflected that, “she might very well not remember this night in the morning, but in this moment, she didn’t feel desperate.  She felt alive and happy.”   What can we learn from this?
8. Alice treasured her mother’s butterfly necklace but stopped saving it for special occasions.  Part of the meaning of the necklace was that, “just because their (the butterflies) lives were short didn’t mean they were tragic” (May 2004 chapter).    What does this idea mean to you?
9. What scene do you still remember?  Here are some of my favorites:

a.       When she sat in her classroom and thought she was the student instead of the professor

b.       Alice not recognizing Lydia as the actress in the play. 

c.       No one sat beside Alice in the department meetings.

d.       During the study presentation at the meeting Alice made a very observant point that helped the student.  But then later she made it again.

10. Consider the dilemma between Alice and John: Alice wants him to take a sabbatical year and stay home with her but John wants to move to New York and take the exciting job offer that he feels he will never get again.  Can you see both sides?  How would you have solved this problem? 
11. Were you able to sympathize with John and understand his point of view?   Could you understand John’s point on page 235 when he said he did not think he would be able to stay home and watch her deteriorate day after day?  
12. Do you think Alice’s sense of self-awareness made a difference in the way she reacted to the disease?  If yes, how?
13. What did you think of the ending?  Is it realistic?  What do you think happens after the novel ends?
14. If there was a chance of a genetic disease in your family, would you want to know if you carried the gene?  Why or why not?
15. Did this novel give you any new insights into Alzheimer’s disease? 
16. Did you like the novel?  What was your reading experience?

*****
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.

Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Characters

Fermina Daza Larenzo Daza -father – accused of illegal activities after death Escolastica – aunt Fermina Sanchez – mother – deceased Hildebranda Sanchez – cousin Dr. Juvenal Urbino Urbino children: Dr. Marco Aurelio Urbino Daza - son Ofelia - daughter Florentino Ariza Transito Ariza – mother Pius V Loayza - father Don Leo XII Loayza – uncle

Sister Franca de la Luz – Superior of the Academy of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Affairs with Florentino: Rosalba – on ship Widow Nazaret Ausencia Santander Sara Noriega Olimpia Zuleta – murdered by husband when affair discovered America Vicuna – relative under Florentino’s care, seduced by him, suicide Leona Cassiani – job at River Company of the Caribbean (RCC) – became Uncle Leo XII’s personal assistant Lucrecia del Real del Obispo – Fermina’s friend, rumored to have an affair with Juvenal Miss Barbara Lunch – Doctor of Theology, affair with Juvenal

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers refer to the paperback edition.

1. When Dr. Urbino returned from medical school to his home in the Caribbean, he had a difficult time adjusting to the pace of life, but, “…at last he gave in to the spell of habit” (page 108).   When is habit good and when can it be bad?  
2. On the other hand, Dr. Urbino “was in conflict with everything” at the hospital, but especially the “lack of sanitation in the city” (page 108).   This resulted in the first outbreak of cholera.   How important was cholera in the novel?
3. Florentino was responsible for his relative, America Vicuna, and yet he seemed unmoved when she committed suicide.  How much is he to blame for her academic difficulties and then death?
4. Why did Fermina end the relationship with Florentino so suddenly?
5. Was it realistic that Florentino would continue to love Fermina throughout his entire life and never marry?

6. When Fermina and Florentino connected late in life, Fermina’s two children had different views of their relationship.   Her son saw it as, “a healthy affection between two lonely old people” but her daughter thought is “a vice-ridden form of secret concubinage” (page 322).    Were you able to understand each’s child’s point of view?  What did you think?
7. Florentino believed that, “human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves” (page 165).  What examples did you see of rebirth in the novel?  In your life?
8. Why did we need to know so much about Florentino’s intestinal difficulties?  What did that add to the novel?
9. What major topics were addressed by the novel: unrequited love, marriage, widowhood, sexual freedom, aging, love between seniors?  Any others?  What topics did you think the author addressed realistically or not so realistically?
10. On page 256 the author, through Florentino, addressed aging in men vs. women.  He thought that as men aged, “…they seemed more dignified with their first grey hairs…” but that “…their withered wives had to clutch at their arms…”   He then went on, “A few years later, however, the husbands fell without warning down the precipice of a humiliating aging in body and soul…”   How did you feel reading these thoughts?   Are they accurate?
11. According to the New York Times Book Review, June 10, 2018, this book was the “summer’s must-read” book in 1988.   Why do you think it was so popular?
12. Did you learn anything or gain any new insights from this novel?
13. What did you think about 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.

Summer of Reading: #1 Why Read?

NOTE:  This is an entry I posted on my other blog, www.StudytoSucceed.blogspot.com, but it also relates to this blog about reading.

The blogs this summer will focus on my favorite subject, reading, starting with independent reading (choosing on your own what to read) and moving through all aspects, ending with reading and learning from textbooks.

 So, why should you read?  What are the benefits?

There are multiple benefits to independent reading, not the least of which are entertainment, escape, learning, enlightenment, and pure joy.  There are so many types of books it is impossible to list them all, but there is something for everyone no matter what your interests, profession, etc.

While reading is mainly a solitary activity, it can be social when talking about a book in a group.  There are an amazing number of book groups – no one really knows how many as most of them are a group of people who decide to get together on their own to discuss books.   When my friends group met at a local restaurant there were two other groups meeting at the same time!

Besides the endless reasons to read listed above, there are two specific benefits:

• Increasing or maintaining your power of concentration: Many people think that all of the time we spend on our electronic devices is lowering our ability to concentrate for an extended period of time.  See Nicholas Carr’s book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brain, for further information.  By reading without interruption you are keeping your power of concentration strong.
• Gaining empathy:  When we read about someone else’s experiences and feelings from their perspective we are better able to understand how they feel and can transfer that awareness to our everyday lives.  (Schwanenflugel & Knapp. (2016). The Psychology of Reading. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.)

Whatever type of books you like, hopefully you will have time this summer to read for the pure pleasure of reading!

The next blog will address the popular program on college campuses, One Book-One College, how the books are used, and some strategies for reading.

Consider voting for your favorite book this summer at The Great American Read, sponsored by PBS.  My vote went to The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusack.

  

Today Will Be Different, by Maria Semple

Characters

Eleanor Flood – artist and animation director for Looper Wash Joe Wallace – husband, hand surgeon Timby Matthew Flood – Eleanor’s father, alcoholic, ignored daughters Tess Tyler – mother, died of cancer Ivy – sister Barnaby “Bucky” Fanning – married Ivy John-Tyler and Delphine – children Lester Lewis – Bucky’s roommate at Vanderbilt and artist under Eleanor working on Looper Wash Alonzo Wrenn – poetry coach Sydney Madsen – annoying “friend” Spencer Martell – artist Simon – pastor, Seahawks chaplain

For discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the paperback edition.

1. Discuss the Introduction.  Was Eleanor’s plan for the day reasonable?  Do you or could you do all of these things.  After reading just the Introduction, what were your expectations for the book?
2. What questions or misunderstandings did you have about Eleanor and when were they answered or addressed in the novel?
3. What did you think about Timby’s appointment and Eleanor’s conversation with Dr. Saba?   What did you think of Eleanor’s parenting style?

4. After the appointment with Dr. Saba, Eleanor was missing Joe because he was the “Competent Traveler” (page 43).   She mused that because Joe was so organized she was able to go through life being the “Helpless Traveler” (page 43).   Eleanor thought we could be either type, it just depended on who you were with.  Do you agree?   Which role do you usually take?
5. When Eleanor was in Costco she compared the contents of her shopping cart with others (page 110).   Do you do that at the store?
6. Why did Eleanor and Ivy turn out so differently?   Is missing Ivy the key to all of Eleanor’s problems?
7. Do you think Eleanor and Ivy will be able to overcome their differences?  How important a part will Bucky or Timby play in this?
8. On pages 222 and 223 Joe mentally listed everything that he had done right. Did you think of anything else he could have done?  Have you ever had similar thoughts?
9. What were you predicting would be Joe’s story?  Were you surprised it was religion?
10. As the story progressed, were you surprised at the turns it took?  Were you able to predict what would happen?
11. Compare the Introduction and the last page of the novel.  Had Eleanor changed?   Does she have a better chance of success at the end of the novel than at the beginning?
12. Discuss your reading experience.  Did the story turn out differently than you expected?   Was that a good thing or not?

*****
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.

Hidden Figures, by Margot Lee Shetterly

Langley West Computers

Other people, places and events

Dorothy Vaughn 1929 – 1931 – waitress 1931 – math teacher 1943 – laundress 1943 – Mathematician Grade P-1 1949 – Head Computer, West Computing 1951 – became head of unit 1958 – became computer programmer Katherine Coleman Gable Johnson 1953 – to Langley 1958 -  invited to editorial meetings of Guidance Control Bureau of Flight Research Division 1960 – published first report by female 1962 – checked numbers for John Glenn’s flight Mary Jackson 1951 – to Langley 1956 – started engineering classes 1960 – built soap-box derby car with son, Levi 1962 – tested Apollo capsule Miriam Mann Kept taking table sign, “Colored Computers” 1962 – worked on rendezvous research for Apollo

Virginia Senator Harry Byrd Tied fear of communism to fear of integration Massive Resistance in 1950s Asa Philip Randolph Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. William Clayton – Katherine Johnson’s mentor at West Virginia State College Hampton Roads, VA Kazimierz Czarnecki – Mary Jackson’s mentor 1958 – 1964 – Virginia closed public schools to avoid segregation in three cities Star Trek – set in 2260s - multinational, multiracial, mixed-gender crew Lieutenant Uhura

 For discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers refer to paperback edition.

1. According to the author, the racial problems in America provided the Soviet Union with “one of the most effective propaganda weapons in their arsenal” (page 104).  Why didn’t this seem to have any effect on improving the racial tension in our country?
2. Discuss the contradiction of restaurants who would not serve a black person but would serve Germans from the prisoner-of-was camp in Newport News (page 33).    How did people justify hating the Germans for what they did to the Jewish people while doing the same thing to the colored citizens in America (page 33)?
3. How do you think Senator Harry Byrd would be regarded today?  Do you think his family is proud of his legacy?
4. The author wrote that, “The NACA nuts always thought they had a better way to do anything – everything – and didn’t hesitate to tell the locals so” (page 53). The citizens of the town felt that, “the good Lord didn’t always see fit to give book sense and common sense to the same individual” (pages 53 & 54).  Which to you think is more important, book sense or common sense?
5. The black engineers experienced more prejudice from the blue-collar workers in town than they did from their peers at Langley (page 146).  Why do you think this was so?
6. In the late 1950s, when the US was lagging behind Russia in missiles, black newspapers linked “America’s inadequacy in space to the dreadful conditions facing many black students in the South” (page 152).  Did you think this was fair?
7. Mary Jackson thought that “life was a long process of raising one’s expectations” (page 98).  On the other hand, the colored women felt that “they had to get over the high hurdle of low expectations” (page 181).  How did the women juggle these two different perspectives?
8. Why were the women featured in the book so driven to succeed in their fields?
9. What did you learn from this book?

*****
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.