Monday, July 22, 2013

Book Bunch

Book Bunch meets the second Wednesday of every month from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm in the GREEN ROOM. Please join us for some lively discussions. All are welcome!

For questions, please call Bob or Kay Evans at 
904 743-1885 or email: bobkayjax@gmail.com
Book Bunch Summaries
May 2019 through December 2020

2019
May 8     The Great Alone  Kristin Hannah (Linda Robbins)  
                          Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and
                        volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will
                        move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America's last
                        true frontier. For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

June 12 The Woman in Cabin Ten Ruth Ware (Linda Tisdale)
                      In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie's works, Lo
                      Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the
                      assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins.
                      At first, Lo's stay is nothing but pleasant, but as the week wears on, Lo witnesses
                      what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being
                      thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for--and so, the
                      ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo's desperate attempts to convey
                      that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

August 14 Origin Dan Brown (Fred)
                       Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives
                       at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend a major
                       announcement--the unveiling of a discovery that "will change the face of science
                       forever." Edmond Kirsch, who was one of Langdon's first students at Harvard two
                       decades earlier, is about to reveal an astonishing breakthrough . . . one that will
                       answer two of the fundamental questions of human existence. Langdon and
                       Ambra Vidal, the museum director, uncover clues that ultimately bring them face-
                       to-face with Kirsch's shocking discovery . . and the breathtaking truth that has
                       long eluded us.


Sept 11 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine Gail Honeyman           
                                                    (Bob)
                    Smart, warm, uplifting, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the story of an
                    out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make
                    for an irresistible journey as she realizes the only way to survive is to open your
                    heart.


Oct 9 The Winter Sea Susanna Kearsley (Linda Robbins)
                    A hauntingly beautiful tale of love that transcends time. A modern American
                    woman travels to Scotland to write a novel about the Jacobite Rebellion-- only to
                    discover that the vivid scenes and the romantic hero she's imagining actually
                    exist...American writer Carrie McClelland hopes to base her next bestselling
                    novel on that story of her ancestors in the dim, dark past . Settling herself in the
                    shadow of Slains Castle, she starts to write. But as Carrie's mind slips back in
                    time, she learns of the ultimate betrayal that happened all those years ago, making
                    her the only living person who knows the truth--and that knowledge comes very
                    close to destroying her.


Nov 13 Camino Island John Grisham (Judy)
                    A gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a secure vault deep below Princeton
                    University’s Firestone Library. Their loot is priceless, but Princeton has insured it
                    for twenty-five million dollars. Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy              
                    resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money,
                    though as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally
                    dabbles in the black market of stolen booksvand manuscripts. Mercer Mann, a young
                    novelist goes undercover to infiltrate Bruce Cable’s circle of literary friends, ideally
                    getting close enough to him to learn his secrets. But eventually Mercer learns far too
                    much, and there’s trouble in paradise as only John Grisham can deliver.


Dec 11 The Tumor John Grisham (Bob)
                   The Tumor" is a short story telling about the focused ultrasound process through
                   the case of a fictional character named Paul. This story was not released through
                   Grisham's usual publisher, but instead was published for a free eBook on the
                   website of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation,[1] on whose board Grisham serves.
                   Grisham's purpose in writing this short story was to increase awareness about this
                   promising new medical therapy. The use of focused ultrasound is not yet approved
                   for use on brain tumors, but The Tumor takes place in a time when the therapy is
                   in regular use. Unlike most short stories, the story is as much informational as
                   narrative, and includes medical illustrations and brain scan images. The book’s
                   cover includes the subtitle A Non-Legal Thriller. On Grisham's website, in a letter
                   introducing The Tumor, Grisham states "It's the most important book I've ever
                   written.”

2020

Jan 8 The Nightingale Kristin Hannah (Linda Tisdale)
              "Viann and Isabelle have always been close despite their differences.
               Younger, bolder sister Isabelle lives in Paris while Viann lives a quiet and
               content life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their
               daughter. When World War II strikes and Antoine is sent off to fight,
               Isabelle's father sends Isabelle to help her older sister cope. As the war
               progresses, it's not only the sisters' relationship that is tested, but also their
               strength and their individual senses of right and wrong. Vivid and exquisite
               in its illumination of a time and place that was filled with great
               monstrosities, but also great humanity and strength, Kristin Hannah's novel
               will provoke thought and discussion that will have readers talking long
               after they turn the last page" -- Provided by publisher.


Feb 12 Forever Island Patrick Smith (Susan)
                   Forever Island is widely recognized as the classic novel of the Everglades.
                  Allapattah is the story of a young Seminole in despair in the white man's world.


Mar 11 Boy Erased Garrard Conley (Bob)
                    The son of a Baptist pastor and deeply embedded in church life in small town
                    Arkansas, as a young man Garrard Conley was terrified and conflicted about
                    his sexuality.When Garrard was a nineteen-year-old college student, he was outed
                    to his parents, and was forced to make a life-changing decision: either agree to
                    attend a church-supported conversion therapy program that promised to “cure"
                    him of homosexuality; or risk losing family, friends, and the God he had prayed to
                    every day of his life. By confronting his buried past and the burden of a life lived
                    in shadow, Garrard traces the complex relationships among family, faith, and
                    community. At times heart-breaking, at times triumphant, this memoir is a
                    testament to love that survives despite all odds.


Apr 8 The Collectors David Baldacci (Fred)
                 People are dropping dead in Washington, D.C., and the Camel Club
                 must unravel a secret that threatens to bring America to its knees.


May 13 Where the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens (Judy)
                     For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a
                     quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when
                     handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately
                     suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they
                     say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the
                     marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in
                     the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and
                     loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild
                     beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life--until the unthinkable happens.


June10 The Sea Garden Deborah Lawrenson (Susan)
                    On the lush Mediterranean island of Porquerolles off the French coast, Ellie
                    Brooke, an award-winning British landscape designer, has been hired to restore a
                    memorial garden. Unsettled by its haunted air and the bitterness of the garden's
                    owner, an elderly woman who seems intent on undermining her, Ellie finds that
                    her only ally on the island is an elusive war historian. . . .


Aug 12 Exit West Mohsin Hamid (Linda Tisdale)
                   In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet--sensual,
                   fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive
                   love affair, and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling
                   their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of
                   checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors--doors that
                   can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates,
                   Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their
                   homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through. . . .
                   Profoundly intimate and powerfully inventive, it tells an unforgettable story of
                   love, loyalty, and courage that is both completely of our time and for all time.






Sept 9 The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto Mitch Albom 
                                       (Lynn)
                  Mitch Albom creates his most unforgettable character--Frankie Presto, the
                  greatest guitarist ever to walk the earth--in this magical novel about the power of
                  talent to change our lives. In Mitch Albom's epic new novel, the voice of Music
                  narrates the tale of its most beloved disciple, Frankie Presto, a Spanish war
                  orphan raised by a blind music teacher. Along the way, Frankie influences many
                  artists: he translates for Django Reinhardt, advises Little Richard, backs up Elvis
                  Presley, and counsels Hank Williams. Frankie elevates to a rock star himself, yet
                  his gift becomes his burden, as he realizes that he can actually affect people’s
                  futures: his guitar strings turn blue whenever a life is altered. Overwhelmed by
                  life, loss, and this power, he disappears for years, only to reemerge in a
                  spectacular and mysterious farewell. With its Forrest Gump--like journey through
                  the music world, The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto is a classic in the making. A
                  lifelong musician himself, Mitch Albom delivers an unforgettable story.
                 "Everyone joins a band in this life," he observes, be it through music, family,
                   friends, or lovers. And those connections change the world.


Oct 14 Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Ann Tyler 
                             (Linda Tisdale)
                  Abandoned by her wanderlusting husband, stoic Pearl raised her three children on
                  her own. Now grown, the siblings are inextricably linked by their memories—
                  some painful--which hold them together despite their differences. Now gathered
                  during a time of loss, they will reluctantly unlock the shared secrets of their past
                  and discover if what binds them together is stronger than what tears them apart.

Nov 11 The Greatest Generation Tom Brokow (Susan)
                   The instant classic that changed the way we saw World War II and an
                   entire generation of Americans, from the beloved journalist whose own
                   iconic career has lasted more than fifty years.
                   In this magnificent testament to a nation and her people, Tom Brokaw
                   brings to life the extraordinary stories of a generation that gave new
                   meaning to courage, sacrifice, and honor.


Dec 9 The Cure: What if God isn’t who you think He is and
           neither are you?  John Lynch, Bruce McNicol, 
           Bill Thrall, Trueface       (Rev. Tiffany McCall)
                 The Cure gives the diagnosis of this century's religious obsession with sin-
                 management. It has poisoned the Church, obscuring the Original Good News and
                 sending millions away-wounded, angry and cynical, from nearly any organized
                 expression of faith. The Cure offers an authentic experience in Christ that frees
                 some from a self-rewarded righteousness, and others from a beaten down striving
                 for a righteousness they can never seem to attain. The Cure infuses a relational
                 theology of grace and identity, which alone can heal, free and create sustainable,
                 genuine, loving, life-giving communities.


(Names in parenthesis are those who suggested the book and will lead the discussion.)