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.

The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Characters

Victoria Meredith Combs – Social Worker Elizabeth – foster mother Catherine – estranged sister Grant – Catherine’s son Perla – Carlo’s daughter, Elizabeth’s vineyard foreman Renata – owner of Bloom Natalya – singer, Renata’s sister Mother Ruby – midwife, Renata’s mother Message – Victoria’s florist business Marlena – worker from Gathering House Customers: Earl – periwinkle (tender recollections), spider mums (truth) Bethany and Ray – red roses (love), white lilac (first emotion of love), rosemary (remembrance) Annemarie – jonquils (desire)

For Discussion:

Note: Page numbers are from the paperback edition.

1. Could Victoria’s story have been different if someone or something else had intervened?   What events could have made her life better?
2. How well did Meredith do her job?  What could she have done differently?
3. Why did Elizabeth stop the adoption? 
4. To what did you attribute the changes that happened with Earl and Bethany after Victoria made them the bouquets?  On page 113 the author reflected that “It wasn’t as if the flowers themselves held within them the ability to bring an abstract definition into physical reality, instead, it seemed that Earl, then Bethany, walked home with a bouquet of flowers expecting change, and the very belief in the possibility instigated a transformation.”  Do you agree?  Is this possible?
5. On page 209, Victoria asked the girls at The Gathering House three questions before hiring Marlena:

1.       Do you have an alarm clock?

2.       Do you know how to get to 6^th and Bethany by bus?

3.       Why do you need the money?

Was there anything else you think she should have asked?

6. How many times did you refer to Victoria’s Dictionary of Flowers while you were reading?  Did it add to your reading pleasure?
7. The meaning of flowers had once been common knowledge.   Do you think it would be nice if it still was or would that add more difficulty to buying someone flowers?   What might be common knowledge now that will be lost in the future?
8. Do you think Mother Ruby should have seen that Victoria was not prepared to keep the baby alone?
9. Victoria thought that leaving Hazel with Grant had been the “most loving act “ she had ever done (page 271).  Do you agree?  What do you think she should have done?
10. Discuss your reading experience.  Did you like how the author drew out the story of Elizabeth, Catherine and Victoria?  Would you recommend this book to your friends?
11. Did you like the ending or was it "too pat?"  
12. The author has foster parented many children.  How do you think that influenced how she wrote the 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.

The Life of the Party, by Bob Kealing

Review:  I really enjoyed this book.  Growing up I remember Tupperware Parties so I was able to easily relate, but it would be interesting and informative for younger readers as well.   There is a lot of information about how to be successful in sales as well as life in general and it could also be listed as a “how-to” book for business success as well as non-fiction.  But it is also an interesting character study.   Why was Bonnie Wise so successful?  What led to the break in her relationship with Earl Tupper and could it have been avoided?  There are multiple reasons to choose this book and any one of them will lead to an enjoyable reading experience.  I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for this review.

People
Tupperware Home Party Division (THP)	Executive Office
Brownie Wise Robert – husband, divorced Jerry – son Rose Humphrey – mother Hibiscus – pen name for advice column Water’s Edge – home in Kissimmee, FL Isla Milagra (Miracle Island) – island in Lake Toho Mary Frances Babb – secretary Herb Young – office manager, only one who left and joined Brownie after she was let go Stanley Sales Force who moved to Tupperware with Brownie: *Rose Humphrey – mother, Hibiscus Sales *Florence Zewicky *Peter and Elsie Block – ring leaders of distributor revolt *Dorothy Shannon *Gary McDonald – Dorothy Shannon’s nephew Best Wishes – Brownie’ book, not successful Dealers >> Managers >> Distributors	Earl Tupper *Hamer Wilson – Sales Counselor *Gary McDonald – Sales Promotion Manager *Norman Squires - General Sales Manager *Jack Marshall – General Sales Manager *Elsie Mortland – Originally one of Rose’s key star dealers, perfected the “Tupperware burp,” Hostess Demonstrator, ran Magic Kitchen at headquarters *Ruder & Finn – Madison Avenue PR firm *Charles McBurney – Public Relations Department *Glen Bump – writer for McBurney *George Reynolds – Maintenance Manager *Tony Ponticelli – Special Events Director for Home Parties Fuller Brush Co./Stanley Home Products *Frank Beveridge – first to use home parties, told Brownie “management is no place for a woman” (page 27) *Elmer Nyberg – Director of Education, influential to Brownie’s sales philosophy

For discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1. Do you think things might have turned out differently if Brownie had not received so much media attention?
2. Was there anything Brownie could have done differently to avoid the conflict with Tupper or was it inevitable?   Given how well she worked with people, should she have foreseen the problem and worked to avoid or repair it?
3. At the end when Brownie tried to lure dealers away from Tupperware after she was let go, were you surprised that no one followed her?  What do you think you would have done?
4. On page 95, what did you think about the statement that one part to the success of Tupperware was that women never got praised for what they did until they got praise for selling Tupperware?  How important is praise to you?
5. On page 16, the author listed Elmer Nyberg’s seven ways “to make people like you.”  Is there anything you disagreed with or would add?
6. When talking to a Tupperware convention, Bonnie Wise said that “Being completely satisfied would be a little like death” (page 127).    Do you agree?  Is it negative to be satisfied with what you have accomplished?
7. On that same page (127), she said that “success was limited only by how willing they were to let it consume them.”  Do you agree?  What has consumed you in your life?  Do you see a connection to how successful you were with that endeavor?
8. There was a lot of emphasis on helping other people be successful.  (See page 139 where Tony Ponticelli, special events director, said that at his first convention he, “was converted.  It wasn’t a phony, staged kind of thing…before you know it, you had a new religion of helping other people.”)   How did this philosophy help Tupperware and Bonnie Wise be successful?

 ***

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.

Beach Music, by Pat Conroy (second half - Parts 4, 5, 6 and Epilogue)

NOTE:  My Library Book Group is discussing this book over two months.  This discussion guide is for the second half of the book.

Characters – expanded for second half of novel
McCall family	Others
Jack McCall Shyla – wife, suicide Leah – daughter Judge Johnson Hagood McCall – father Lucy – mother Dr. John Pitts – Lucy’s second husband Father Jude – Lucy’s brother Brothers: Dupree Dallas – lawyer with dad’s firm Tee – second youngest John Hardin – youngest, mental problems Paternal grandparents: Silas Ginny Penn The Great Dog Chippie	Shyla Fox’s family: Martha – sister Ruth – mother – rescued as teenager from Holocausts by Max Rusoff and wife George - father – pianist, also Holocaust survivor Jack’s high school friends: Ledare Middleton Capers Middleton - divorced from Ledare, political ambitions, 2nd wife Betsy Mike Hess – Hollywood produced Jordan Elliott – fugitive, priest in Rome Jordan’s parents: Celestine General Elliott Max Rusoff – Mike’s father, department store owner, mayor of Waterford In Kironittska was apprenticed as child to: Arel the Muscle – blacksmith Mottele the Blade – butcher Radical Bob Merrill – leader of Students for Democratic Society at Carolina University 1969-1971

After reading the second half of the book:

• In chapter 20 Jack said to Leah that, “All life connects…. Nothing happens that is meaningless.”  How well did everything will connect together at the end of the book?
• What questions did you have that were answered in the second half of the book?

If you read the entire book without a break:

• What surprised the reader in the second half?
• What seemed important in the first half that was not be important to the final story?

 For discussion:

1. What did you think about the story where Shyla brought home the homeless black woman, left her alone in the apartment and then she stole everything from them?  Was it realistic that Shyla would do this and that Jack would go along with it?
2. Leah is about eight when she and Jack go back to Waterford.   Does she act too old for her age in the novel?   In particular, see the episode in chapter 28 with her grandmother and Jane, the South Carolina Wildlife Officer and also the time she saw John Hardin naked.
3. On about the fourth page of chapter 31 Leah tells Jack that he does not understand John Hardin or his father and that Jack is mean to his father.  She says that, “It’s your job to like him.  He’s your daddy.”   Is this too insightful for a child?
4. At the very beginning of chapter 29, what did Jack mean by a “danger of unremembrance?”
5. Do you think it would have been possible for Ruth and George Fox to escape their past and move on?   Was it possible for them to raise Shyla differently than they did?
6. There have been numerous fiction and nonfiction accounts published about the Holocaust.   How did George Fox’s story written by Conroy compare?  Did you gain any new insights?
7. At the end of chapter 30, George tells Jack, “I think Shyla might have died because of what I did not tell her, not what Ruth did.”   He went on to say, “I thought silence was the proper resolution and strategy for what happened to me.  I did not think my poisons and hatreds and shame would leak out and poison everything I loved.”  What did he mean?  When would it have been appropriate to tell Shyla his story?   Would it have made a difference to her?
8. What was Mike’s motivation for holding the mock trial for Jordan Elliott?  Did you think it was self-serving?
9. Where you surprised when Capers was revealed as a paid undercover agent at the trial following the Vietnam Demonstration?
10. What purpose did Radical Bob Merrill play in the novel?
11. He alone seemed unconcerned with what he did in the past.   In chapter 38 during the mock trial he said, “I did what I thought was right back then.  Hindsight’s groovy, but a total waste of time.”   Do you agree?  Why or why not?
12. Does Capers need forgiveness for what he did to his friends and family or is General Elliott right when he said, “You’re the only one on this stage who conducted yourself with honor in this whole affair.”  (Chapter 38)
13. Also in chapter 38 the General said, “I can’t help who I am, son.”   Do you agree?  Is it possible to be self-reflective and change something about ourselves we do not like?
14. When John Hardin kidnapped his mother and the brothers were hunting him, where was Dr. Pitts?  Where was Leah?  Do you think the author should have addressed this?
15. Who do you think Jack and Ledare should have chosen for their matron of honor and best man?
16. The 2009 paperback edition has a letter at the end that Pat Conroy wrote to the Charleston Gazette in response to an email from a high school student telling him that some parents were trying to stop high school English teachers from teaching The Prince of Tides and Beach Music in their English classes.  How convincing was his argument to allow the books in the classroom?  What did you think was his most convincing point?

*****

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 Sunlight Pilgrims, by Jenni Fagan

REVIEW: This was an interesting book, although far from my favorite.   The writing is beautiful.  I especially liked the description of driving across the suspension bridge (“…flashes of crisscross, crisscross, crisscross, the shadows flicker over the driver’s face.”) on page 19 and the description of Dylan inside the cloud on page 78.   I also gained insight into the feelings of someone who feels they are in the wrong gender body and the struggles to fit in as a teenager.  Even though there are many positive aspects of the book, I can’t quite put my finger on why the story did not interest me more.  Maybe it moved too slow, or I like a bit more drama.  Certainly there are readers out there who will find this book enthralling, I am just not one of them.  I received a complimentary copy of the book for this review.

Characters
Clachan Fells	Babylon Cinema
Constance Fairbanks – the moon polisher Stella (previously Cael) Alistair – Constance’s lover and Stella’s father Caleb – Constance’s lover Lewis Brown – used to be Stella’s best friend Vito – transgender internet friend in Italy Sisters of Beathnock Residents: Barnacle Tim (Alan) Satanist Ida – porn star Boo – Iceberg heading for Clachan Fells	Dylan MacRae Vivienne – mother Gunn – grandmother Havid & Bitta – Dylan’s great-grandparents Children: Gunn MacRae Olaf Balkie Vivienne MacRae – Gunn and Olaf’s child Alistair Balkie – son of Olaf and Astrid (wife)

For discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1. Did you enjoy the description of being inside a cloud on page 78?  Were you able to feel what Dylan was experiencing?
2. How well did the author describe Stella’s experience being transgender?  Did the book help your understanding of the feelings and problems faced by transgender people?  How do you think Constance was coping?   Was there anything that could have been done to help Stella’s acceptance in her school? 
3. Do you think the Sisters of Beathnock should have done more to help Stella?  The book starts in the year 2020.  Did you think helping a transgender child would be more understood in the future than was portrayed in the novel?
4. On page 45, Stella meets Gunn in the caravan park and Gunn tells her that, “You have two spirits…”   What do you think she meant?
5. On the same page, 45, Gunn says she was taught how to safely look directly at the sun and absorb the sunlight by the “sunlight pilgrims…from the islands farthest north.”   How did you understand this passage?   (See page 124 for discussion between Stella and Dylan regarding the identity of Gunn as the woman Stella talked to.)
6. Why is Constance referred to as a “moon polisher?”
7. Why did Gunn change her last name from the family name (Balkie) to her mother’s maiden name (MacRae)?
8. Should Dylan tell Constance and Stella their family connection?  Do you think he ever will?  Did you like the way the author hinted at something in the family but drew out revealing it to the reader?
9. Can you imagine living under the conditions described in the book?  How do you think you would fare?
10. Did you like the ending?  What do you think will happen next?

*****
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.

Beach Music, by Pat Conroy (Preface and Parts 1, 2 and 3)

NOTE:  My Library Book Group is discussing this book over two months.  This discussion guide is for the first half of the book, followed by a prediction/preview of the second half.

Characters
McCall family	Others
Jack McCall Shyla – wife, suicide Leah – daughter Judge Johnson Hagood McCall – father Lucy – mother Dr. John Pitts – Lucy’s second husband Brothers: Dupree Dallas – lawyer with dad’s firm Tee – second youngest John Hardin – youngest, mental problems Paternal grandparents: Silas Ginny Penn The Great Dog Chippie	Shyla Fox’s family: Martha – sister Ruth – mother Father – both parents Holocaust survivors Jack’s high school friends: Leader Middleton Capers Middleton - divorced from Ledare, political ambitions, 2nd wife Betsy Mike Hess – Hollywood produced Jordan Elliott – fugitive, priest in Rome Jordan’s parents: Celestine General Elliott Max Rusoff – Mike’s father, department store owner, mayor of Waterford In Kironittska was apprenticed as child to: Arel the Muscle – blacksmith Mottele the Blade - butcher

For discussion:

1. Jack:
1. What were the positives and negatives of moving with Leah to Italy?  Do you think this was a wise choice?  What would you have done in Jack’s circumstances?
2. Why did the Fox family attack Jack to vehemently?  Could they have handled things differently?  Was it possible for them to get along at that time?
3. When Martha came to visit to try to promote a reconciliation, Jack left her with Leah and went to Venice, even though at that point Leah knew nothing about Shyla’s story or her own background.  Why did Jack trust Martha and do this?   Was this realistic or fair to Leah?

2. Jordan:
1. Why do you think Jordan’s father betrayed him and turned him in?
2. Can you understand the General’s side of the story?   Given his personality, was he able to react any differently?
3. Throughout the first half of the book, Lucy and Max Rusoff’s stories were included.  What do you think the purpose is of these stories?  
4. Regarding Max, do you think the Jews of Kironittska were justified in how they treated Max after he killed to two Cossacks who were violating Anna Singers?
5. What is the purpose of The Great Dog Chippie stories?  Regarding stories in general, Jack said to Leah in the hospital, “Stories don’t have to be true.  They just have to help.”  (Chapter 18) 
6. What did you think of the different reactions when all of the McCall brothers gathered for Lucy’s illness?  Tee was the only brother who showed sadness.  Jack thought about why men are not allowed to cry and decided that, “we die long before women do, with our hearts exploding or our blood pressure rising or our livers eaten away by alcohol because that lake of grief inside us has no outlet.”  (end of Chapter 14)
7. Dallas explained why he stayed in his father’s law practice by telling Jack, “You may not have noticed, but our father’s a tragic man.”  (beginning of Chapter 15)   Do you agree or not?  Can you see him in that light?
8. Are any parents depicted in a positive light?
9. What did you think about Mike’s movie plans?  What is his motive?  Why did Ledare agree to work on the movie? 
10. How do you think the story will end?

If you have only read the first half of the book:

In chapter 20 Jack said to Leah that, “All life connects…. Nothing happens that is meaningless.”  How do you think everything will connect together at the end of the book?

What questions do you hope to have answered in the second half of the book?

If you have already completed the book:

What surprises are in store for the reader in the second half?

What seems important in the first half that will not be important to the final story?

*****

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.