NOSE IN A BOOK club

Our book of the month was suggested by a librarian at Orem Public Library.  It won the Newberry Honor Award in 2005.  Here’s a little bit of what one reviewer had to say: “Believe it or not, this novel’s unusual setting is based on fact — the families of Alcatraz prison guards actually did live on the island. The author includes a helpful note explaining the historical facts behind the story, as well as a brief note about autism.What really makes this a winning novel, though, is not the setting but its main character. Moose, who narrates the story, is responsible and trustworthy in spite of himself. The love he feels for his sister despite the frustrations she causes him shines through all his words. The relationships among Moose, his hardworking father and his well-meaning mother are also rich and dynamic. Even without its connection to the famous mobster, AL CAPONE DOES MY SHIRTS would still be a real hit.”   — Reviewed by Norah Piehl

[Back cover summary]

As the North reels under a series of unexpected defeats during the dark first year of the Civil War, one man leaves behind his family to aid the Union cause.  His experiences will utterly change his marriage and challenge his most ardently held beliefs.  From Louisa May Alcott’s beloved classic Little Women, Geraldine Brooks has taken the character of the absent father, Mr. March, who has gone off to war, leaving his wife and daughters to make do in mean times.  From vibrant New England to the sensuous antebellem South, March adds adult resonance to Alcott’s optimistic children’s novel.  A lushly written, wholly original tale steeped in the details of another time, March secures Geraldine Brooks’s place as a renowned author of historical fiction.

Brooks is also the author of Year of Wonders–historical fiction about the London plague of 1666.

Wow!  It was quite an undertaking to read this novel.  In other words, it was very long for a mother of 5 younguns.  It is a very compelling historical novel about the early Latter-day Saints.  Card dealt with some difficult “Mormon” topics and although some of what was written did not always ring true for me, it made for an interesting read.

This book was chosen because of the National Big Read Campaign.  I also have very close ties with the Czech people and it intrigued me to read about their early immigrant struggles.  I caught myself asking the questions: Was the American dream real then?  Is it real today?

Girl with a Pearl Earring is a 1999 historical novel written by Tracy Chevalier. It takes place in Delft, Holland and was inspired by Vermeer’s painting “Girl With a Pearl Earring.” It fictionalizes the circumstances under which the painting was created. It was adapted into a 2003 film with the same name. [www.wikipedia.org]

According to the back cover…

To eight-year-old Bunny Morison, his mother is an angelic comforter in whose absence nothing is real or alive. To his older brother, Robert, his mother is someone he must protect, especially since the deadly influenza epidemic of 1918 is ravaging their small Midwestern town. To James Morison, his wife, Elizabeth, is the center of a life that would disintegrate all too suddenly were she to disappear.

Through the eyes of these characters, William Maxwell creates a sensitive portrait of an American family and of the complex woman who is its emotional pillar. Beautifully observed, deftly rendering the civilities and constraints of a vanished era, They Came Like Swallows measures the subterranean currents of love and need that run through all our lives. The result confirms Maxwell’s reputation as one of the finest writers we have.

I’ve got 12 books from the library to allow everyone to read this book selection. If you’d like to find out more about this book, go to the following link:

Two From Galilee: The Story Of Mary And Joseph by Marjorie Holmes [Paula L]