The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

Here is the book for August. We will meet at Mike's house on August 27th at 7:00 pm.

There are ton of copies at the Salt Lake County Library system. They have it at the B&N site too. Which is where I lifted the synopsis below. This should be a good read and those who have read it have said that it will spark a lot of discussion so I hope you plan to get it and read it before the meeting.


Synopsis

New York Times Bestseller

Today Show Book Club Selection

Audrey Niffenegger's innovative debut, The Time Traveler's Wife, is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry finds himself periodically displaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity from his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.

The Time Traveler’s Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare's marriage and their passionate love for each other, as the story unfolds from both points of view. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals -- steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control, making their story intensely moving and entirely unforgettable.

USA Today

… Niffenegger, despite her moving, razor-edged prose, doesn't claim to be a romantic. She writes with the unflinching yet detached clarity of a war correspondent standing at the sidelines of an unfolding battle. She possesses a historian's eye for contextual detail. This is no romantic idyll. — Kathy Balog

Marriage, A History - Stephanie Coontz

Marriage, A History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage

This is the new book for S.A.N. Book Club in June by Stephanie Coontz. Steve will be in charge of the meeting that will take place on June 25th. I think he should have an entire triple tiered wedding cake for us to eat while we discuss the book. The Salt Lake County library has PLENTY of copies of this book and I bet the Salt Lake City Library does too. This book should really provide some good discussion.

Also in other news the fruit pizza and 4 kinds of cheesecake Becca brought to the book club meeting totally made up for the book selection in May. Candace will be choosing the book for July.

To Jason F Wright

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Dear Jason,

I have just finished reading your book, The Wednesday Letters, and I can’t seem to stop crying. Who knew! Who knew that a family could inspire so much love and overcome so much tragedy with such grace, and that everything would work out in the end? I didn’t, but you made my most closely guarded hopes come true and I have the soaked tissues to prove it. Who knew that Nathan Sleazy-Italian-Last-Name would turn out in the end to have no redeeming qualities and in fact had set up Malcolm all along, thus clearing the path (a mere handful of pages before the end of the novel- nail biter! Lol!) for Malcolm and Rain’s unrequited love to be requited?! I didn’t! Nathan ex machina! I smiled every time Samantha ribbed Malcolm or tousled his hair- just when I thought you wouldn’t be able to fit any more sibling banter into your tight, lean story, you found a way to charm me again. Thank you, Jason!

I felt like I had read this story before, in one of those email chains I get from my Aunt Carrie, who loves me, with the subject line: “Proof that Romance and Magic Still Live! Pass this on to 5 People You Love and God Will Bless Your Life!” At the bottom of this email I think there was a picture of a fireman saving a cat or a sunset poking through the clouds- I don’t recall because my eyes were misty. It was such a touching and faith promoting email, as was your book. You sir, have bolstered my faith in God and man.

I tried writing a song inspired by your book. It’s not done, yet, and I must admit it sounds better with the melody I’ve come up with, but here it is:

Just when I thought life couldn’t get better
I read this book called the Wednesday Letters
The book was read and tears were shed
Who knew that Mal and Rain would wed?

In my tears and in my pain
I hoped that Mal would end up with Rain
But that jerk Nate, who I hate, hate, hate
He wouldn’t stand aside and let fate be fate

But God is good and things worked out
I just can’t get over that jerk Nate, that lout
Oh, and I don’t want to make things awkward
But though I like Mal, he’s still a bastard

Your friend and loyal reader,

Stephen Joel Jensen

P.S. Have you read the Christmas Box? I think you’d like it.

Whose turn is it anyway?

At the first meeting we kind of picked the order for the next few turns. Who picked May?

The Thirteenth Tale (not to be confused with the 13th Element, which is also good)

Who's ready for a new Book? I know I am. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield comes highly recommended and this heartwarming romp will be a departure from the white supremacy of Forrest Carter. Okay, so I don't know if it's exactly a heartwarming romp, but if I were to be commissioned to write summaries on the jacket of this or any other book, you can rest assured that is what I would write.

I did, however, find this summary from Setterfield's own site dedicated to the book:

Margaret Lea works in her father’s antiquarian bookshop where her fascination for the
biographies of the long-dead has led her to write them herself. She gets a letter from one
of the most famous authors of the day, the mysterious Vida Winter, whose popularity as a
writer has been in no way diminished by her reclusiveness. Until now, Vida has toyed
with journalists who interview her, creating outlandish life histories for herself—all of
them invention. Now she is old and ailing, and at last she wants to tell the truth about her
extraordinary life. Her letter to Margaret is a summons.

Somewhat anxiously, the equally reclusive Margaret travels to Yorkshire to meet her
subject. Vida’s strange, gothic tale features the Angelfield family; dark-hearted Charlie
and his unbrotherly obsession with his sister, the fascinating, devious, and willful
Isabelle, and Isabelle’s daughters, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline. Margaret is
captivated by the power of Vida’s storytelling, but she doesn’t entirely trust Vida’s
account. She goes to check up on the family, visiting their old home and piecing together
their story in her own way. What she discovers on her journey to the truth is for Margaret
a chilling and transforming experience.

The site also lists the favorite books of our character Margaret as including works by Emily Bronte, Jane Austen, and that guy who wrote Sherlock Holmes. (Maren's gonna love this). But don't fret if you are one of those that get scared off by the mere mention of Miss Austen, or if you are male. I have it on good authority that this book is a not only a crowd pleaser but of great literary quality. At least I hope so. And if the appearance of the website sends anyone into a panic stricken anxiety, don't get your panties in a twist. You can always read the dialogue in robotey voices. Damian is working on a series of sci-fi Austen films so you can always go to him for instructions on the matter. (How's that going for you Damian?).

Happy Reading!

disclaimer: my sister expressed some concern that there is some incest mentioned in the writing and perhaps shouldn't be recommended for a book club audience. I assured her that we are, in fact, The Super Amazing NEW Book Club and are all for incest. She said, in that case, we would love it.

And to all of you that missed last night, you missed out. We hope to see you next time.

This came in my Daily Dose Steep and Cheap email.

If you don't like a book someone recommended, keep it to yourself. They won't take it well when you tell them it was bad, and they'll be especially upset if you launch into a well-reasoned explanation supported with literary precedent. I learned this not when I compared the Poisonwood Bible to a doorstop, but when the friend who had recommended the Poisonwood Bible responded with a dismissive shrug when I asked what he thought of a book I'd loaned him. Books take so much of an investment in time that I think they form a bit of a cognitive dissonance for their readers. Unless you quit reading halfway through, it's like you've invested so much time in the book that it had better be good. Taking a particular liking to a book is similar to finding a song you enjoy deeply--there's something about it that resonates with you. So when someone comes back with a negative review of a book you like, it's more like it informs your differences with the person than your taste in books. And that person can never be trusted again.

"So your in a New bookclub?" No mother, it's the same old one we call "new".

While I think that we can all admit that our book club is...

• Super



• Amazing



• New

What is the expiration period of new?

When do we change the name to:

Pretty Good, Reletively Entertaining, Old Book Club?

Just wondering, and waiting for my turn on Scrabulous.

This is Juliet's book club. She and "the others" were reading Carrie. You may know Juliet, she's from a little TV show called Lost.

Retarded

The trouble with this word is that is has so much baggage. It is a very offensive word now mostly because it has been used derogatorily towards people whose brains function differently, a thing which few find appealing. The word means "slow", if you retard your progress, you slow it down. However, if you are freaking retarded, you freak in a very slow manner. I am afraid I have digressed too much already. Our hero in this book, however is not retarded, his mind works incredibly fast, however it works very differently.

Well since I missed book club I thought I would comment on the book in written form (If I could upload a snack tray of veggies to feel fully a participant, I would). I found the book to be an entirely delightful and engaging read. It was a more-accessible "Sound and the Fury". I read the book quickly and enjoyed it, yet something itched the back of my head. I think the greatest thing that comes from a book like this is an increased empathy for the autistic, however, in the end I didn't find that there was an overarching theme of any depth. Once the author described how he can use similie but not metaphor, I found him too willing to engage in similie while my experience with the autistic made me feel that there was a general aversion towards anything beyond the straight forward and understandable. I also had a little difficulty in making the leap for the narrator to also be an atheist which requires some ideological thinking beyond pure logic (which betrays the authors ideology and I thought weakens the story). When dealing with death most autistic-type persons have difficulty in dealing with it in the abstract.

In the end I think I would recommend this book as a pretty good airport read, beyond the pablum of the pop novels but not quite the literature that begs for in-depth critique.

So now I will stop with my academic posturing and get back to work.

Books are Sooper.

Hi guys!

So I haven't posted on my own blog in a million billion but I hope to be a better "club" member so I'll try to blog with y'all.

I thought some of you might appreciate a few recommendations I received for the reading list. It's pretty diverse so there may be at least one that interests you. I was also thinking some feedback would be nice, getting an indication of what the majority of people are interested in reading together will help me pick a book when it's my turn.

Your Co-Super, Amazing, Clubbee,

Maren

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The History of Love by Nicole Kraus
The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
Cages of Stars by Jacquelyne Mitchard
The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Benjamin Franklin by Edmund Morgan
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Hallelujah by J. Scott Featherstone

February Book

This was the first book discussed and I think that all in all everyone enjoyed it and said that they would recommend the book to someone else. I liked how we all were able to come up with our own quirky behaviors that we do and felt like we could relate to the young boy because of it. I would love for Steve to post the website on here of the Autistic man that thought it could have been written differently.

Feel free to comment or go ahead and write things right within this post. This is our blog, we can do whatever we want with it!

Welcome to the Book Club Blog!

I thought this would give us an opportunity to be involved in the book club even if we were unable to read the book or come to book club one month. We can also post reminders for book club. I have added everyone in the club to be an author, so that we all have access to write on here. Enjoy!!