August 3, 2023
First Thursday Book Club Meeting Minutes
August 3, 2023
The Marcellus Township Wood Memorial Library’s First Thursday Book Club met on Thursday, August 3, 2023 from 12 NOON to 1:00 PM in the library with six members present.
The Marcellus Township Wood Memorial Library’s First Thursday Book Club meeting minutes are published in “files” on the Marcellus Twp Library Book Club Facebook site. If you have not already joined this site, please do!
The library is holding a book sale now until August 26, 2023, at 2:00 PM. Come, browse, and pick up some great reads. Best of all—you can name your own price when you take home your finds. All proceeds from this sale will benefit the library.
Library staff told the group that this month, an unusual object would be embedded in the August 2023 minutes. The first person to locate the object and notify library staff by sending an e-mail to marcellusmichiganlibrary@gmail.com describing what the object is and on what page of the minutes it was found will win a lovely beverage tumbler from Delightful Designs in Marcellus
The library staff will notify the first individual sending us an e-mail that she or he is the winner. The winner will be invited to pick up the gift when he/she next visits the library. Other members will be notified by e-mail that a winner has been identified. All persons receiving the First Thursday Book Club Meeting Minutes are eligible to participate. Library staff are not eligible to participate.
Books discussed:
The Wife Between Us: A Novel by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Description: “When you read this book, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Assume nothing. Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love. Read between the lies.”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34189556-the-wife-between-us
Genre: Mystery. This book was a nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller 2018.
Availability:
In Library: Book; Libby audiobook
MeLCat: Book; Large print book; Audiobook
Club member comment(s): The club member describing this book to the group did not recommend it. She found the plot odd and not a suspenseful as she believed it would be.
Without a Trace by Danielle Steel
Description: “Charles Vincent seems to have it all—a beautiful wife, two successful children, and a well-paying career. Yet happiness remains out of reach. He is trapped in a loveless marriage and his job is simply a paycheck. But his life changes forever one night as he drives along the Normandy coast, heading to their lavish château for the weekend. In one terrifying moment, Charles falls asleep at the wheel and veers off the road, plunging thirty feet down the face of a rocky cliff. Miraculously, Charles survives. After gathering the courage to climb to safety, he starts to walk—bruised, bloody, and desperate for help. In the dark of night, he happens upon a cabin where he meets the kind and beautiful Aude Saint-Martin. They have an instant connection, and as she nurses him back to health, Charles begins to discover the passion he’s been missing for so many years. In the aftermath of the crash, Charles has a startling realization: He doesn’t have to go back. He could simply choose to disappear, to walk away from his old life. When his car is discovered, he’ll be presumed dead, washed away at sea. If he stays with Aude, he has a chance at a fuller, happier life that he didn’t know was possible. It all seems too good to resist. But Aude has secrets of her own, and before long their pasts catch up to them, threatening everything they have fought to build. What would happen if you were given a chance to walk away from everything in your life and start over with a blank slate, and you had a split second to decide? In Without a Trace, Danielle Steel tells an irresistible story of the risks two people are willing to take in exchange for a chance at the life they’ve always wanted.”
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/without-a-trace-danielle-steel/1141319184
Genre: General fiction.
Availability:
In Library: Large print book; Libby e-book
MeLCat: Book; Large print book; Audiobook
Club member comment(s): This book was recommended as a “good read” to the other group members.
A Gathering of Secrets: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo
Description: “When a historic barn burns to the ground in the middle of the night, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called in to investigate. At first it looks like an accident, but when the body of 18-year-old Daniel Gingerich is found inside - burned alive - Kate suspects murder. But who would want a well-liked, hardworking Amish man dead? Kate delves into the investigation and discovers Daniel had a dark side. He was a sexual predator. His victims were mainly Amish women, too afraid to come forward, and he's been getting away with it for far too long. Now someone has stopped him, but who? The women he victimized? Their boyfriends? Their parents? As Kate wades through a sea of suspects, she's confronted by her own violent past and an unthinkable possibility.”
https://www.audible.com/pd/A-Gathering-of-Secrets-Audiobook/B079VS6KS3
Genre: Mystery.
Availability:
In Library: Book; Large print book.
MeLCat: Book; Audiobook
Club member comment(s): Recommended to the group by the club member having read it, the book delves into the world of the Amish in northern Ohio and what it means to be shunned by the Amish people.
Damaged by Lisa Scottoline
Description: “Ten-year-old Patrick O’Brien is a natural target at school. Shy, dyslexic, and small for his age, he tries to hide his first-grade reading level from everyone: from his classmates, from the grandfather who cares for him, and from the teachers who are supposed to help him. But the real trouble begins when Patrick is accused of attacking a school aide. The aide promptly quits and sues the boy, his family, and the school district. Patrick’s grandfather turns to the law firm of Rosato & DiNunzio for help, and Mary DiNunzio becomes Patrick’s true champion and his only hope for security and justice. But there is more to the story than meets the eye and Patrick might be more troubled than he seems. With twists at every turn and secrets about the family coming to light, Mary DiNunzio might have found the case that can make her a true protector, or break her heart…?”
https://www.scottoline.com/books/rosato-dinunzio-series/damaged/
Genre: Mystery.
Availability:
In Library: Book; Large print book; Libby audiobook and e-book.
MeLCat: Book; Large print book; Audiobook
Club member comment(s): Described as “good,” this book was recommended to the other readers in the club.
One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner
Description: “Timothy O’Day knew the woods. Yet when he disappeared on the first night of a bachelor party camping trip with his best friends in the world, he didn’t leave a trace. What he did leave behind were two heartbroken parents, a crew of guilt-ridden groomsmen, and a pile of clues that don’t add up. Frankie Elkin doesn’t know the woods, but she knows how to find people. So when she reads that Timothy’s father is organizing one last search, she heads to Wyoming. Despite the rescue team’s reluctance, she joins them. But as they hike into the mountains, it becomes clear that there’s something dangerous at work in the woods . . . or someone who is willing to do anything to stop them from going any farther. Running out of time and up against the worst man and nature have to offer, Frankie and the search party will discover what evil awaits those who go one step too far . . .”
https://www.lisagardner.com/books/frankie-elkin/one-step-too-far/
Genre: Mystery.
Availability:
In Library: Book; Large print book; Libby e-book
MeLCat: Book; Large print book; Audiobook
Club member comment(s): The club member reviewing this book found it enjoyable and recommended it to the other members.
Sticks & Stones: A Rachel Flynn Mystery by Susan Meissner
Description: “Critically acclaimed author Susan Meissner's Rachael Flynn mystery series started with the popular Widows and Orphans. In the second serving of intrigue, Sticks and Stones , lawyer Rachael Flynn receives an unsigned, heart-stopping letter: They're going to find a body at the Prairie Bluff construction site. He deserved what he got, but it wasn't supposed to happen. It was an accident. When the body is uncovered, Rachael and Detective Will Pendleton discover that the fifteen year old victim, Randall Buckett, had been buried twenty five years before. Is the letter writer and the killer the same person? Why would someone speak up now? And why are they telling Rachael? Susan Meissner's ability to weave a fascinating tale will leave readers wanting more.”
Genre: Mystery.
Availability:
In Library: Not available.
MeLCat: Book; Audiobook
Club member comment(s): The club member reviewing this book listened to the audiobook and selected the book because she enjoys books narrated by Tavia Gilbert. The member learned to search in MeLCat and Goodreads by audiobook narrator to find books narrated by those she prefers. She enjoyed this mystery and recommended it to others. Tavia Gilbert did not disappoint. Her narration is excellent.
When in Doubt, Add Butter by Beth Harbison
Description: “As far as Gemma is concerned, her days of dating are over. In fact, it's her job to cater other peoples' dates, and that's just fine by her. At thirty-seven, she has her own business, working as a private chef, and her life feels full and secure. She's got six steady clients that keep her hands full.
There's Lex, the fussy but fabulous department store owner who loves Oysters Rockefeller and retro party food; Willa, who needs to lose weight under doctor's orders but still believes butter makes everything better; a colorful family who may or may not be part of the Russian mob; an überwealthy Georgetown family; the picture-perfect Van Houghtens, whose matriarch is "allergic to everything"; and finally, a man she calls "Mr. Tuesday," whom she has never met but to whom she feels a magnetic attraction, in part, due to his taste for full-on comfort food. For Gemma {;>}, cooking is predictable. Recipes are certain. Use good ingredients, follow the directions, and you are assured success. Life, on the other hand, is full of variables. So when Gemma's takes an unexpected turn on a road she always thought was straight and narrow, she must face her past and move on in ways she never would have imagined. Because sometimes in life, all you need is a little hope, a lot of courage, and—-oh yes—-butter.”
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-in-doubt-add-butter-beth-harbison/1107039081
Genre: General Fiction.
Availability:
In Library: Book.
MeLCat: Book; Audiobook.
Club member comment(s): The club member describing this book told the others that the book examines the life of a private chef in New York City. The protagonist is losing clients and the book details how she works through the issues surrounding the loss of her clients. The interesting descriptions of her existing clients made this an “interesting and fun read” for the club member who recommended this book to the others.
The Right of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts
Description: “Letts (The Perfect Horse) inspires in this miraculous true story of one woman’s trek from Maine to California on horseback. In November of 1954, after a health scare revealed she only had four years to live, 63-year-old Annie Wilkins bought a horse, grabbed her dog, and left her tiny hometown to ride west. Along the way, she went viral—at least by 1950s standards—thanks to an AP reporter who found out she was meeting the governor of Idaho. On her journey, Wilkins slept in police stations and the homes of kind strangers; charmed famed American artist Andrew Wyeth; was hosted by a small-town sheriff in Tennessee; acquired a second horse (but lost him to tetanus); rode in the country’s largest rodeo; and nearly drowned in a flash flood. She crossed California’s state line in the late afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 26, 1955, and, blowing past her doctor’s projections, lived to be 88. Letts’s attention to detail and clear admiration of her ‘funny, quirky, and bold’ subject light up the narrative and make it hard to put down. This story has it all: bravery, determination, and a whole lot of heart.”
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780525619321
Genre: Non-fiction—biography, travel literature, autobiography.
Availability:
In Library: Not available.
MeLCat: Book.
Club member comment(s): This is a true story about the adventures of a middle-aged woman who treks from Maine to California on horseback. The club member enjoyed the book and recommended it to the others.
Ungifted by Gordan Corman
Description: “For fans of Louis Sachar and Jack Gantos, this funny and touching underdog story is a lovable and goofy adventure with robot fights, middle-school dances, live experiments, and statue-toppling pranks! When Donovan Curtis pulls a major prank at his middle school, he thinks he’s finally gone too far. But thanks to a mix-up by one of the administrators, instead of getting in trouble, Donovan is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a special program for gifted and talented students. Although it wasn’t exactly what Donovan had intended, the ASD couldn’t be a more perfectly unexpected hideout for someone like him. But as the students and teachers of ASD grow to realize that Donovan may not be good at math or science (or just about anything), he shows that his gifts may be exactly what the ASD students never knew they needed.”
https://www.amazon.com/Ungifted-Gordon-Korman/dp/0061742678
Genre: Children’s Fiction.
Availability:
In Library: Not available.
MeLCat: Book; Audiobook.
Club member comment(s):
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Description: “After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late. Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.”
Genre: General fiction.
Availability:
In Library: Book; Libby audiobook and e-book.
MeLCat: Book; Audiobook.
Of note! Octopuses have become very popular since this book was published. People are including the remarkable creatures in crafts and even when baking!
Club member comment(s): The club member reviewing the novel listened to the audiobook. The narration was excellent. The author’s characters are of different generations evident in the way they think, act, and talk and in their different work ethics. The giant pacific octopus is a central character in the book, and the narrator really gives him a personality of his own. This book is a delightful read and the club member highly recommended it to the others.
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club: A Novel by J. Ryan Stradel
Description: “Mariel Prager needs a break. Her husband Ned is having an identity crisis, her spunky, beloved restaurant is bleeding money by the day, and her mother Florence is stubbornly refusing to leave the church where she’s been holed up for more than a week. The Lakeside Supper Club has been in her family for decades, and while Mariel’s grandmother embraced the business, seeing it as a saving grace, Florence never took to it. When Mariel inherited the restaurant, skipping Florence, it created a rift between mother and daughter that never quite healed. Ned is also an heir—to a chain of home-style diners—and while he doesn't have a head for business, he knows his family's chain could provide a better future than his wife's fading restaurant. In the aftermath of a devastating tragedy, Ned and Mariel lose almost everything they hold dear, and the hard-won victories of each family hang in the balance. With their dreams dashed, can one fractured family find a way to rebuild despite their losses, and will the Lakeside Supper Club be their salvation? In this colorful, vanishing world of relish trays and brandy Old Fashioneds, J. Ryan Stradal has once again given us a story full of his signature honest, lovable yet fallible Midwestern characters as they grapple with love, loss, and marriage; what we hold onto and what we leave behind; and what our legacy will be when we are gone.”
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/61653268
Genre: Literary fiction.
Availability:
In Library: Large print book; Libby e-book.
MeLCat: Book; Large print book.
Club member comment(s): The club member reviewing this book told the others that she picked the book because she found the cover enticing. The book examines the lives of family members all linked to a family owned restaurant where the expectation is that successive generations will continue the legacy and maintain and run the restaurant even though some do not want their lives to go in the expected direction. The club member said that reading this book brought back memories of her father writing a letter to the DOD asking that her brother return home from the military to assist with operating their family’s farm. Her brother was disappointed because he had wanted a military career. The book also examines the impact of big chain restaurants on small town establishments over time. The club member wanted to like the book but gave it a lukewarm review.
A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting: A Novel by Sophie Irwin
Description: “Kitty Talbot needs a fortune. Or rather, she needs a husband who has a fortune. Left with her father’s massive debts, she has only twelve weeks to save her family from ruin. Kitty has never been one to back down from a challenge, so she leaves home and heads toward the most dangerous battleground in all of England: the London season. Kitty may be neither accomplished nor especially genteel—but she is utterly single-minded; imbued with cunning and ingenuity, she knows that risk is just part of the game. The only thing she doesn’t anticipate is Lord Radcliffe. The worldly Radcliffe sees Kitty for the mercenary fortune-hunter that she really is and is determined to scotch her plans at all costs, until their parrying takes a completely different turn…. This is a frothy pleasure, full of brilliant repartee and enticing wit--one that readers will find an irresistible delight.”
https://www.amazon.com/Ladys-Guide-Fortune-Hunting-Novel/dp/0593491343
Genre: Historical romance.
Availability:
In Library: Book.
MeLCat: Book; Large print book.
Club member comment(s): This book was described as “Pride and Prejudice-like.” Set in 1818, the protagonist, a young woman, Kitty, with 4 sisters, experiences the death of her parents and then the realization that their deaths have left the girls in serious debt. In order to get out of debt, Kitty must find a rich husband really fast. The club member reviewing this book said that it was a “fun read.”
The House of Lincoln by Nancy Horan
Description: “In 1853, thirteen-year-old Portuguese immigrant Ana Ferreira lands a job as a house girl in the home of attorney Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois. While assisting Mrs. Lincoln with her sons and the duties borne by the wife of a rising political star, Ana bears witness to Mr. Lincoln’s evolving views on slavery and the Union, and observes the complexity of the couple’s marriage. Along with her African American friend Cal, Ana encounters the presence of the Underground Railroad in town and experiences personally how slavery is tearing apart her adopted country. The House of Lincoln takes readers on a journey through the buildup to Lincoln’s presidency, the duration of the Civil War and its aftermath through the eyes of three characters: Ana, a Black minister and brother of a man who conducts escaped slaves through town, and Mary Lincoln. The events that unfold in Springfield chronicle the making of a president during deeply divisive times, events that ultimately reshaped America and continue to reverberate today.”
https://www.nancyhoran.com/the-house-of-lincoln
Genre: Historical fiction.
Availability:
In Library: Book.
MeLCat: Book.
Club member comment(s): The club member reviewing this book shared that it was written from the perspective of Abe Lincoln’s household maid. The book offers insights about that period of history and brings this history to life for the reader—historical details and perspective that we did not get in school. The reader recommended this book to club members.
Loving Frank: A Novel by Nancy Horan
Description: “’I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current.’ So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives. While scholars have largely relegated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America’s greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full weight to their dramatic love story and illuminates Cheney’s profound influence on Wright. Drawing on years of research, Horan weaves little-known facts into a compelling narrative, vividly portraying the conflicts and struggles of a woman forced to choose between the roles of mother, wife, lover, and intellectual. Horan’s Mamah is a woman seeking to find her own place, her own creative calling in the world. Mamah’s is an unforgettable journey marked by choices that reshape her notions of love and responsibility, choices that ultimately lead to this novel’s stunning conclusion.”
This book was awarded the Best Historical Fiction Prize by the Society of American Historians in 2009.
https://www.nancyhoran.com/loving-frank
Genre: Historical fiction; biographical fiction; romance novel.
Availability:
In Library: Book; Libby e-book.
MeLCat: Book; Audiobook.
Club member comment(s): This book details the relationship between Frank Lloyd Wright and his mistress and is told from the mistress’ point of view with an interesting surprise ending.
Hang the Moon by Jeanette Walls
Description: “Sallie Kincaid is the daughter of the biggest man in a small town, the charismatic Duke Kincaid. Born at the turn of the 20th century into a life of comfort and privilege, Sallie remembers little about her mother who died in a violent argument with the Duke. By the time she is just eight years old, the Duke has remarried and had a son, Eddie. While Sallie is her father’s daughter, sharp-witted and resourceful, Eddie is his mother’s son, timid and cerebral. When Sallie tries to teach young Eddie to be more like their father, her daredevil coaching leads to an accident, and Sallie is cast out. Nine years later, she returns, determined to reclaim her place in the family. That’s a lot more complicated than Sallie expected, and she enters a world of conflict and lawlessness. Sallie confronts the secrets and scandals that hide in the shadows of the Big House, navigates the factions in the family and town, and finally comes into her own as a bold, sometimes reckless bootlegger.”
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Hang-the-Moon/Jeannette-Walls/9781501117299
Genre: Historical fiction; biographical fiction.
Availability:
In Library: Book; Libby audiobook and e-book.
MeLCat: Book; Audiobook.
Club member comment(s): This book is set in the rural south during the time of prohibition. The book was described as interesting particularly because it has several unexpected plot twists.
The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
Description: “It is 1970 in a small town in California. “Bean” Holladay is twelve and her sister, Liz, is fifteen when their artistic mother, Charlotte, takes off to find herself, leaving her girls enough money to last a month or two. When Bean returns from school one day and sees a police car outside the house, she and Liz decide to take the bus to Virginia, where their widowed Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that’s been in Charlotte’s family for generations. An impetuous optimist, Bean soon discovers who her father was, and hears stories about why their mother left Virginia in the first place. Money is tight, and the sisters start babysitting and doing office work for Jerry Maddox, foreman of the mill in town, who bullies his workers, his tenants, his children, and his wife. Liz is whip-smart—an inventor of word games, reader of Edgar Allan Poe, nonconformist. But when school starts in the fall, it’s Bean who easily adjusts, and Liz who becomes increasingly withdrawn. And then something happens to Liz in the car with Maddox. Jeannette Walls has written a deeply moving novel about triumph over adversity and about people who find a way to love each other and the world, despite its flaws and injustices.”
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Silver-Star/Jeannette-Walls/9781451661545
Genre: General fiction.
Availability:
In Library: Book.
MeLCat: Book; Audiobook.
Club member comment(s): The club member reviewing this book told the group that she enjoyed the read and that it has a very redeeming ending.
At the close of this month’s meeting, a club member shared two cookbooks that she had discovered at estate sales recently. The first is an old White House Cookbook and the second is an old Department of the Army Technical Manual/Department of the Air Force Manual—actually a cookbook—published in 1950. The second photograph in each set below shows a sample of the recipes in each of these books. What delightful finds!
The next meeting of the Marcellus Township Wood Memorial Library’s First Thursday Book Club will be held on September 7, 2023, at 12 NOON in the library. We look forward to seeing you here!
Tammy Terpstra
Interlibrary Loan Specialist/Library Assistant
Marcellus Township Wood Memorial Library
