Fiction Book Club

Please join one of our book discussion groups either Thursday, January 5th or Thursday, January 12th at 10:00 a.m. in the conference meeting rooms for a discussion of AJ Mayhew's book, The Dry Grass of August.

EXCITING NEWS
Southern Voices author, AJ Mayhew, will be skyping with us on Thursday, January 12th, so bring any questions you may have for the author!

Jubie Watts is thirteen years old the summer of 1954. She and her mother, older sister, two younger siblings and their black maid, Mary, are all taking a road trip from North Carolina to Florida. As the trip progresses, Jubie sees the injustice displayed towards Mary and must come to grips with the new reality in America. As the fissures in her own family begin to be realized, Jubie comes to understand that Mary is the only loving and giving adult she knows. When tragedy strikes the family, Jubie must make up her mind to follow her heart while leaving her parents behind.

This book was a magical to read. The atmosphere and characters were so well drawn. I wanted to join Jubie and Mary on the road and just keep driving!

In Christopher Nicholson’s delightful novel, The Elephant Keeper, eighteenth century England is described in exciting detail as one boy grows up alongside two spectacular companions, Timothy and Jenny, elephants – the first elephants to be seen in Europe.

Owned by a wealthy merchant, the elephants are both marveled at and scorned by the local townsfolk. The merchant encourages Tom to write a history of the elephant which he spends years on. Then, after an accident, the elephants are separated, Tom accompanying Jenny to a wealthy Lord in another part of the country. At this eccentric estate where there is a hired hermit in the woods, Jenny fits right in. Tom documents his continuing affection for his companion in loving detail. However, after the Lord of the manor dies and the estate is broken up, Jenny is sent away to another estate.

Tom and Jenny grow older and wiser through their experiences but his love endures all. After twenty plus years of shuffling from estate to estate, Jenny and Tom end up in a menagerie in London with a pitiful monkey, a tired lion, and a sleeping snake, Jenny delights the dwindling crowds by banging on a drum at Tom’s bidding. We readers are left to wonder at Jenny’s fate – did she escape on a ship captained by Tom’s brother back to the Indies or does Jenny catch pneumonia and die in London? However we imagine her ending, we see Tom faithfully beside her till the end.

The first Thursday book group will meet at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 7th to discuss The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson. We meet in the first floor Theatre-level meeting rooms. Call 444-7820 for more info.

The votes are in and the following titles have been chosen for 2011:

January 13   A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White

April 14   The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by C. Alan Bradley

May 12   The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson

June 9   The Postmistress by Sarah Blake 

July 14   Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

August 11   The Girl wih the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

September 8   Ape House by Sara Gruen

October 13   Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

November 10   Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

December 8   Generosity by Richard Powers

The votes are in and the following titles have been chosen for 2011:

January 6   A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White 
                     Please join us at this meeting to visit with the author via Skype.

February 3   The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

March 3   The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by C. Alan Bradley

April 7   The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson

May 5   The Postmistress by Sarah Blake 

June 2   Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

July 7   The Girl wih the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

August 4   Ape House by Sara Gruen

September 1   Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

October 6   Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

November 3   Generosity by Richard Powers

December 8   Room by Emma Donoghue

Join us for a lively discussion of The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga on Thursday, November 18 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.  Refreshments provided.

We will be voting on next year's titles at this meeting, so please join us and cast your vote!

Please join us on Thursday, August 5 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in the Theatre Level Meeting Rooms for a discussion of The Well and the Mine with author Gin Phillips.
Refreshments will be provided.  Book sales and signing to follow.