Agawam Pageturner's Book Club's Discussion of Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

The group had a lively discussion of Loving Frank. Some liked the book and its characters, while others liked the writing in the book but did not like the characters. The main characters were Frank Lloyd Wright and his mistress Mamah. Mamah left her husband and children to follow Frank Lloyd Wright. Some thought Mamah was a pioneer in leaving her husband, while he loved her, did not treat her as an equal. Mamah was treated as an equal by Frank Lloyd Wright. Others thought she was selfish to abandon her children, and that all Frank cared about was himself and his ideas. All agreed the author let the readers decide for themselves. This book prompted a lot of thought provoking discussion.

Night Booker's Book Club Discussion of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

The group had a heartfelt discussion about Cold Mountain. Everyone agreed the book was difficult to read because of the graphic depiction of the Civil War. Inman, the confederate soldier who deserted the war and headed home to his sweetheart Aida at Cold Mountain, had a more difficult time than his sweetheart Aida. Each chapter alternated between Inman's story and Aida's story. It was always a relief to come to Aida's story, because Inman's was so intense. Aida was an orphan who had to learn how to run a farm with the aid of a girl named Ruby. Everyone sympathized with him for deserting because the war was so terrible. Even though his journey was arduous, there was hope and a focus. Cold Mountain has been compared to Odysseus. The read was challenging but worthwhile.

Agawam Pageturner's Book Club's Discussion of Songs without Words by Ann Packer

The group had a lively discussion about this book. Some loved it saying the felt present with the drama of the family when one member, the teenage daughter Lauren, tries to commit suicide. Others felt there was too much detail, and that it went on, and on. Others argued that life is about minutiae. The book also discussed the effect the attempted suicide has on the mother Liz and her friend Sarabeth. Sarabeth cannot deal with it, partly because her mother committed suicide when she was a teenager. Liz has to come to terms that she has always been the giving one in the relationship, and she has to decide if she still wants to remain friends with Sarabeth when Sarabeth does not come to her aid. In terms of the coverage of a person with depression, people thought it was well done, as well as the effect on the family. Liz wants to blame herself, because it is easier than believing bad things can happen at random. The turning point for Lauren's healing is when she shows a caring attitude for Lucas, someone else in the mental ward of the hospital. She thinks of something outside herself. This book prompted discussion of deep topics.

Night Bookers' Book Club's Discussion of The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway

The group had an interesting discussion about this book. Some liked the descriptions of the Australian outback. Others hated that part of the book, and preferred the parts that described Jill's interaction with her family. This book is a memoir of Jill Ker Conway's childhood to adulthood in the outback, to her decision to leave the outback for America. Everyone felt she was burdened when she so young. She lost her father in a suicide when she was a little girl, during the great drought when all the sheep on their farm died. Then, when she was a teenager, she lost her brother in a car accident. These incidents were never discussed in the family. Her mother was able to cope with the father's death, but fell apart more with her son's death. Jill had a hard time being so smart in the 1950's. She was unable to find a job when she graduated college because she was a woman, even though she was one of the top of her class. People felt she was like her mother, and that she was wrote coldly, stoically, and intellectually. They group agreed she had to leave her mother and Australia to save herself. Eventually, Jill became the first woman president of Smith College. The group had a thought-provoking discussion about this strong woman.

Night Booker's Book Club Discussion of The Language of Threads by Gail Tsukiyama

This book is the sequel to Women of the Silk. Some people in the group liked this book better than the first book. One woman said she liked that there was not a painful separation of family, and that there was not a focus on factory work, although people found the death of Ji Shen and Mrs. Finch heartbreaking. The story follows two young women Pei and Ji Shen in Hong Kong during World War II and beyond. Pei and Ji Shen work for Mrs. Finch, until she is taken by the Japanese. Ji Shen who had a great bond with Mrs. Finch, then becomes lost in the black market. She ends up dying in childbirth. Pei raises her son. People admired the strong women characters in the book. One women said how much she would enjoy sitting down and talking with them. People also liked the colorful way Ms. Tsukiyama writes. Overall it was a great book for discussion.

Agawam Pageturners' Book Discussion of Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

People enjoyed the short stories in this book, all connected by the character Olive Kitteridge, retired schoolteacher in a small town in Maine. People said Olive was multi levelled and multifaceted. The book discussed serious topics, but used humor at the right points to break the tension. All the characters in the books struggled. One person liked Olive until she found at the end of the book that she hit (not spanked) her son when he was a child. It also was suggested that her son Christopher was bipolar, and Olive herself was probably bipolar. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition–its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires. This was an excellent book to discuss and worthy of the Pulitzer Prize the group thought.

Agawam Pageturner's Book Club's Discussion of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Everyone enjoyed this gothic novel. People compared it to Jane Eyre. The book is about an old woman and famous author, Miss Vida Winter, giving a true account of her life to Margaret, a woman who lost her twin sister at birth. It is a very tragic tale, with an element of mystery of who Miss Winter really is. It features the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire. Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida's storytelling but remains suspicious of the author's sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves. People could not put it down, and could not wait to read the next chapter. Everyone agreed this was a great book to read and discuss.