OLPD Book Diary

Feb. Meeting

2012-01-25T18:44:00.000-08:00

Book:

The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi by Elif Shafa

When: Feb. 18, 10 a.m.

Where: Coffee Traders

December Christmas Party

2011-11-29T14:18:00.000-08:00

Cindy's House
Sat. Dec. 17 10 a.m.
Bring a gift inspired by one of this year's books.
Book: A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
We'll listen to Dylan reading the story.
I'll make coffee and tea. Bring a snack if you'd like.

Also, we're planning to see Kay as a singing nun in The Sound of Music. Congrats Kay!
Come to the 12/10 7 p.m. show at the O'Shaughnessy.
We'll go out for dessert after.

Nov. Book

2011-11-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

A Visit From the Goon Squad

by Jennifer Egan

Sat. Nov. 19

10 a.m. at Coffee Traders

Won the Pulizer this year!

Oct. Meeting

2011-10-24T15:59:00.000-07:00

Book: Into the Beautiful North

By Luis Alberto Urrea

When: Oct.29, 10 a.m.

Where: Coffee Traders

August Meeting

2011-08-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Aug. 20
11 am.
Sony's revamped lake house

Book: Hemingway's "Movable Feast"

Bring lake gear, lunchy food and drink

May Book

2011-04-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

Date: to be figured out
Place: to be figured out
Book: Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdi

The Amazon reviews on this one ranges from, "This is, in every way, a perfect novel," to "A Total Piece of Horse Doo Doo."

Apparently Midnight's Children is being made into a movie, possibly called Approaching Midnight. Rushdie is doing the screen play.

Here's a brief look at the man, culled from Wikipedia.

The only son of a Cambridge-educated lawyer turned businessman and a teacher, Rushdie was born in Bombay (now known as Mumbai), India, into a Muslim family He was in Mumbia and at Cambridge, where he studied history

He's been married four times!

In 1976 he married for the first time, and kept at it 11 years. His second wife was the American novelist Marianne Wiggins; this marriage lasted until 1993, five years. Four years later, he married Elizabeth West. This marriage lasted seven years. In 2004, he married the Indian American actress and model Padma Lakshmi. Have you guys seen Padma? She's beautiful and self- Padma divorced him three years later. He seems to be on a spat of dating Ballywood stars the last few years.

With Padma

His first job was a copywriting gig for ad agencies. He wrote Midnight's Children while working full time as an ad man. Apparently, this book though wasn't his first published, which was Grimus, which no one paid any attention to. Midnight's Children came out next and catapulted him to literary notability. It significantly shaped the course that Indian writing in English followed over the next decade, and is regarded by many as one of the great books of the last 100 years. This work won the 1981 Booker Prize and, in 1993 and 2008, was awarded the Best of the Bookers as the best novel to have received the prize during its first 25 and 40 years.

He wrote a bunch of other books in the 80s, some of which won prizes. In 1988, The Satanic Verses cam out.

Here a long and in-depth interview in which Rushdie speaks on Islam and how the fatwa influenced his life.

In 1999, he came out with The Ground Beneath Her Feet, which is an alternative history of modern rock music. The song of the same name is one of many song lyrics included in the book, hence Rushdie is credited as the lyricist. He's continued to produce a string of commercially successful and critically acclaimed novels.

Yes, Rushdie is actually in this U2 music video. Don't blink or you'll miss him.

April Book

2011-03-24T05:49:00.000-07:00

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Meeting: April 16, 10 a.m., at Sally's

Explore:

The book trailer

Interview
Part I

Part II

March Book

2011-02-20T22:17:00.000-08:00

Olive Kitteridge
by Elizabeth Strout

Sat. March, 19
10 a.m.at Sally's

Ta-da....two-years-ago Pulitzer. We're behind my ladies.

Must admit I'm reticent. The titles of her last two books: Amy and Isabella and Abide with Me...well, not the sort of titles that usually inspire OLPD. This Kitteridge business isn't great either. OLPD will offer to help Liz fight for better titles -- if we like this one.

Even if we don't...

Elizabeth is darling. See.

Now a video discussion. I don't know what this is. Looks like a friend interviewing her. A friend with a gray basement. But Strout speaks of the denseness and seriousness of our lives, which bodes well. She also seems to talk about music, but I lost that thread because my husband was bothering me and picked up again at the bit about foolish readerst, which of course is true. She leaves off with a bit about the "pure and the simple and the honest," which left me with a sudden urge for four hotdogs with everything and a really great show from the BBC, like that Monarchy series.

Of course, I, as well as the other OLPD members, are out of sorts with the P judges because of The Tinkers, which we thought was akin to jacking off with pretty words. We're all for pretty words, but figure America's best should supply a plot and so forth as well. So we're coming to Olive with a ghosted feeling of something jellied and opaque in our hands.

Feb. Meeting

2011-01-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

Book:

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by Jamie Ford

Date: Feb. 19, Saturday

Place: Sally's

Time: 10 aM

Book Video

NPR interview

Jan. 2011 Meeting

2011-01-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

Book: W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage

Date: Sat. Jan. 15

Place: Sally's coffee shop

Time: 10 a.m.

Nov. Book

2010-10-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

Beatrice and Virgil

by Yann Martel

Nov. 20th, 10 a.m, at Sally's.

Oct. Meeting

2010-10-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sat. Oct. 16, Sally's

Book: The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo

June meeting

2010-05-31T08:51:00.001-07:00

Book: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty
Date: Sat., June 26, 10 a.m.
Place: Sally's Coffee Shop.

Karen is back!

2010-04-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

May Club Meeting
Book: Tinkers (Just won the Pulitzer)
Date: May 22 (the fourth Sat. this time because Kay will be visiting her new grandbaby!) Also my birthday.
Time: 10 a.m.
Place: Sally's Coffee Shop. It's kinda across from Copperleaf.

March Book

2010-02-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.
Kay pick.

Meeting: Sat. March 20
At Sally's Cafe, across from Copperleaf.
Time: 10 a.m.

Also Sony has already picked our April book: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2010-01-24T10:10:00.000-08:00

Feb. Book

Anything by Mary Gaitskill.
We'll all read whatever book of hers we want and then discuss her as an author.

Feb. 20th, 10 a.m. at Copperleaf.

Looks like Sony will make it to this one. Hurray.

Jan. 2010 Book

2009-12-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Sat., Jan. 16
Copperleaf

2009-11-27T12:00:00.000-08:00

Dec.
Book: Indignation by Philip Roth
Meeting: Sat. the 12th
Can't remember time and where we're meeting.
Going to try go see The Road together.

Nov. Meeting

2009-10-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

Book: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
Kay pick.

Meeting: Sat. Nov. 15
10 a.m.
Copperleaf Chocolate

Kay and I were the only ones at the last meeting. Where was everyone?

Oct. Meeting

2009-09-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Book: Annie Proux's That Old Ace in the Hole
(Cindy pick)

Sat. October, 17
10 a.m. Copperleaf Chocolate

Sept. Meeting

2009-08-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sept. 19 (We're skipping August.)
10:00 Copperleaf Chocolate
Book: Slam by Nick Hornby

July Meeting

2009-06-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

July 26, meet at Cindy's house at 10:45 and we'll caravan up to Sony's lake cabin.

Bring something for shared lunch and a bathing suit.

Book: The Echo Maker by Richard Powers

2009-05-19T05:45:00.000-07:00

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

June 20 at 10 a.m.
Copperleaf Chocolate

2009-04-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

May 16
Copperleaf 10 a.m.
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler

2009-04-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

2008

Dec. 13 The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Nov. 15
Copperleaf Chocolate
Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario

Oct.
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwanCopperleaf Chocolate 10 a.m. Oct.25
We all just adored this one. So bittersweet.

Sept.
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold. Hard to read. We disliked main character and never understood what we supposed to get from her. One member liked it.

May
The Fourth Hand continued...Coffee Traders, Sat, May 24, at 10 a.m.

April
The Fourth Hand by John IrvingSony's condo, Sat. the 19, overnighter with movies.. Show up around 5 p.m.

March
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi PiccoltWe liked the premise and most of the book, but were dissapointed with the wrap up.

Feb.
Paint It Black by Janet Fitch

Jan.
Paint It Black by Janet Fitch

2007
Dec. 15, Saturday 7:30 Whitefish Lake Lodge (that's the one on Wisconsin). Bring 4 or 5 gifts $1 or under.Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
Also welcome to new member Carole.

Nov. 17, Saturday, Montana Coffee Traders in back. 10 am. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (hold over from last month because of slacking readers)

Oct. 20 Voyager Bookstore 10:30Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Sept 22 Voyager Bookstore (Central 300 block) at 10:30 The Namesake by Jhumpa LahiriRepeating because so many of us were gone, also moving to the next weekend because so many gone this weekend and I'll be at the Missoula Festival of the Book..
Also we're opening membership up again, as we're down in numbers and need new blood. We're planning to move to Grouse Mountain Bar for the winter so we can set up in front of the massive fireplace. Starting in Oct.

Aug. 18 Red Caboose The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Would everyone try to stop by the new used book store on Central. It's across from Ace Hardware and called Voyagers. If we like the venue, we could change meeting places.

July 21 We're doing a Turkish theme with two books. Pick whichever you want and we'll discuss commonalities, themes in Turkish literature. Get them early as you'll probably have to order. The White Castle by Orham PamukThe Garden of Departed Cats by Bilge Karasu Third Sat. at Red Caboose

June
No Country for Old Man by Cormac McCarthyThird Saturday 10 a.m. Red Caboose.

May 19, Caboose 10.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Janice pick) Those of us who finished were blown away.

April 21, Saturday Red Caboose at 10 a.m.
Lost in Translation by Nicole Mones (Be careful there are several books with this title.) (Paula pick.)Enjoyable reading, fascinating topic of Peking Man, and of the hinterlands of China. Some of us got tired of the main character's repetitive thoughts and of the romance aspects.

March 17, Saturday, at 4 p.m. at the bar of the new Whitefish Lake Lodge, or whatever that new monstrocity on Wisconsin is called. We'll be celebrating with Keirsten and Paula.
The Zero by Jess Walter (Cindy pick.)We all found this novel refreshingly different than so much of what we've read. Funny, off-kilter, and dripping with discussion-worthy ideas.

Feb. 17 10 a.m. the new Red Caboose join next to Casey's. Will also discuss hazing potential new members.
The World Made Straight by Ron Rash (Keirsten pick) Only two of us had read so discussion wasn't long. Agreed pretty good book, not great as if the writer hadn't delved as deeply into the possibilities he started with as he meant to.

Jan. 27, 10 a.m. Casey's Bar
Magical Thinking by Augusten BurroughAll agreed, very funny with a caustic hopefulness.

2006
Dec. 10, Sat. 7:30 p.m. Grouse Mountain LodgeChristmas Party, dress up, $1 gifts
The Final Solution by Michael ChabonWe all enjoyed, although no one fell in love. None of us got what the "wrenching solution" at the end was. If anyone has figured it out, please email us with solution.

Nov. 20 Casey's at 10 a.m.
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss -- repeat

Oct. (21st at Casey's at 10 a.m.)
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss Split decision: some loved for the story, writing, and insights; some found impossible to get into and annoying.

Sept. (on the 23rd, meeting at Casey's Bar at 10 a.m.)
Sula by Toni Morrison

August (meeting a tea house in Big Fork)
Masks by Fumiko EnchiIntrospective, dark, engaging look into Japanese fiction

July (meeting at the Feather's house)
Angry Housewives Eating Bon BonsLike a good B movie

April
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz ZafonSplit on this one. Some loved the Gothic/bookish tone, other's got tired of all the navel-gazing, learned helplessness of the characters.

March
The Joyous Season by Patrick DennisMany of us laughed outloud while reading this one. Fun, happy, a nice change of pace. While we all liked it, the discussion, while interesting, was short. The book just didn't have enough structure to carry a long discussion.

Feb.
Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian -- Split decision. Half liked; half were luke warm. Sparked good discussion of hunting, guns, and meat.

Jan.
Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire -- We were all pleasantly surprised that we liked this book as the cover had a young adult/fantasy feel. The book sparked a lengthy and fascinating discussion about the hero's journey and archetypes.

2005

Dec.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Nov.
The Plot Agasint America by Phillip Roth

Sept.
Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner

Aug.
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

July
The Story of B by Daniel Quinn

June
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

May
Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh

April
Second Hand Smoke by Patty Friedmann

March
Epileptic by David B.

Feb.
Embers by Tomas Marai

Jan.
An Unfinished Life by Mark Spraag

2004

Dec.
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

Nov.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime

Oct.
The Peppered Moth by Margaret Drabble

Sept.
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

July
Any Human Heart by William Boyde

June
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson

May
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

April
The Clothes They Stood Up In by Allen Bennett

March
Ahab's Wife by Sena Feter Naslund

Feb.
My Dream of You

Jan.
Life of Pi by Yanni Martel

2003

Dec.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Nov.
The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Letham

Oct.
Paradise Alley by Kevin Baker

Sept.
Nine Below Zero by Kevin Canty

Aug.
Dreamland by Kevin Baker

May
Back When We Were Grownups" by Anne Tyler

April
Mother of Pearl

March
I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson

Feb.
Possession by A.S. Byatt

Jan.
Atonement by Ian McEwan

2002

Dec.
Zorba the Greek by Nicolas Kozininski

Nov.
Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner & The Lovely Bones by Alice Seibold

Oct.
Last Refudge of Scoundrals by Paul Lussier

Sept/Aug
Ulysses by James Joyce

July
The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter

June
Fugative Pieces by Anne Micheals

May
Emmpire Falls by Richard Russo

April
Straight Man by Richard Russo

March
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Micheal Chabon

Feb.
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Jan.
Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk

2001
Dec.
The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

Oct.
Enchanged Night by Steven Millhouser

Sept.
White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Aug.
Bee Season by Myla Goldberg

July
Motherless Brooklynn by Johnathan Lethem

June
In America by Susan Sontag

April
Lying Awake by Paul

March
Heart of Stone by Renate Dorrstein

Feb.
House of Fog and Sand by Dumas

Jan.
Blonde by Joyce Carol Oats

2000
Dec.
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

Nov.
White Oleander by Janet Fitch

Oct.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Gold

Sept.
The Hours by Micheal Cunningham

Aug.
The Human Stain by Philip Roth

OLPD Book Diary

Feb. Meeting

The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi by Elif Shafa

December Christmas Party

Nov. Book

Oct. Meeting

August Meeting

May Book

April Book

March Book

Feb. Meeting

Jan. 2011 Meeting

Nov. Book

Beatrice and Virgil

by Yann MartelNov. 20th, 10 a.m, at Sally's.

Oct. Meeting

June meeting

March Book

Jan. 2010 Book

Nov. Meeting

Oct. Meeting

Sept. Meeting

July Meeting

by Yann Martel

Nov. 20th, 10 a.m, at Sally's.