Update!

In November, we read Of Mice and Men, however we were unable to meet because of the craziness holidays bring. Since there was no meeting, we will not have a review of November's book. For the rest of 2014 our book club will not be meeting. We will meet again at the end of January! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! See you in 2015!

Review of Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

This book was definitely a huge change from our previous reads. And the change was a good one; the group found this book to be a welcomed change of pace.   

What we liked:

-        There were plenty of laugh out loud moments

-        Some group members related to the stories about Brosh’s two dogs

-        The fast pace and how it was more like a comic book

What we didn’t like:

-        The end of the book felt like it lost the moment and the voice of author, it was a little flat

-        The depression sections of the book lost some of the group members interest

Review of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

When Vonnegut’s book was suggested, some of us were reluctant to read yet another Science Fiction book. Except, this book was not heavily laden with Sci-Fi! Instead we all really enjoyed the read and were intrigued by the many ideas presented in the story. We found ourselves discussing what “So it goes” meant and why it was only said after death. Slaughterhouse-Five also has a lot of theories surrounding the themes that appear within it. Our meeting was full of questions and discussion; there was never a dull moment.

What we liked:

-          We liked the layout of the book; we felt it wouldn't have had as much of an impact if it were more linear.

-          We found the quirkiness of Billy Pilgrim to be interesting and lightening. It helped make an upsetting topic like war, less emotional.

-           We had a lot of things to discuss, from the Tralfamadorians viewpoints of time and death, to Billy's peculiarities and possible coping mechanisms. 

What we didn't like:

-           For some of us the ending wasn't very memorable, and for others it didn't feel like an ending.  

Review of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

For the most part we all really liked the book. We all agreed the middle of the book began to drag and felt very unnecessary. We didn’t think it was fair we had to suffer along with Dorian during that phase of his life. Another thing that we wished the book gave us was more thorough descriptions of the characters background and why they are the way they were in the book. Despite the great descriptions and detail there wasn’t much detail about the main characters. Overall, this book was enjoyable and the ending made up for the excess detail in the middle.

What we liked:

-        The complexity and absurdity of Lord Henry intrigued us

-        The set-up of the beginning of the book had many of us hooked and wanting to read on

-        The ending happened quickly and renewed our interest in the book after the dull middle portion of the book we had read

-        The story was very interesting and different and made this a good read

-        The description in the book was very detailed and well written

What we didn’t like:

-        The middle of the book with the description of jewels, tapestries, and so forth lost our attention and many of us skimmed over that part

-        Wilde didn’t fully develop Basil, Lord Henry and Dorian. We wanted to know more background about their lives and how they grew up

-        Also, Wilde glossed over eighteen years of Dorian’s life, so we don’t know what all did happen or didn’t happen

Review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

We all loved reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It was a refreshing and light read that went quickly. For our book club we did notice our discussion was slightly distracted because there wasn’t too much to discuss. If I were to do this book over again I would have us read the first book (which is only 150 pages) and the following book. That way we have more to discuss. However, this was a wonderful read and made as all want to continue the series to find out what happens next. It is easy to see why this book has been popular for such a long time and continues to be so.

What we liked:

-        The humor and sarcasm in the book had us laughing.

-        The randomness and absurdity of the story kept us turning the pages.

-        There were some great lines that stuck in our memory and made for hilarious recollection moments.

-        It was very lighthearted and enjoyable.

-        It felt like a more grownup read compared to Ender’s Game.

-        The storyline was so intriguing all of us want to read the next four books in the series.

What we didn’t like:

We had absolutely no complaints!

Review of On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac’s book On the Road was not well received by the group. Only one member really enjoyed it. After researching the book some, I found out many colleges and high schools have students read this book. Which makes me wonder, if my group disliked it, did the majority of students dislike it too? Despite the lack of love for Kerouac’s book, we are happy that through book club we are continually exposed to books we may not normally read.

What we liked:

-        There were moments of humor throughout the book. It was a nice break from all the craziness that occurs.

-        It gave us insight into a time that we never experienced and opened our eyes to a different world.

What we didn’t like:

-        None of the women characters were written in an appealing and uplifting light.

-        It was not a page turner kind of read, some of us had to push ourselves to continue reading.

-        There were too many characters introduced into the book that it was hard to keep track of who was who.

-        We couldn’t really relate or connect to the story. The time the book was written about was so long ago and so different from life today.

-        There was too much focus on drugs, sex, and other criminal activities. It was a story full of criminals with little ambition to achieve something more (ex: keep a stable and consistent job). 

Meeting Update

Hi everyone! I have cancelled the meeting for June 1st. We will resume on June 29^th. The book we are reading for June is “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac.

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Review of Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Ender’s Game appealed to the non-Science Fiction lovers and the Science Fiction lovers. It was very surprising that the book could captivate such diverse tastes in a book club. This was a great book and we would recommend it to others. However, this may not be the best book for a book club. There wasn't as much to discuss like our previous books. Even though it is a less discussion provoking book, we still recommend it.

What we liked:

- The story was engaging and kept you reading, plus it was a quick read.

- For it being a Science Fiction book it was very interesting and entertaining for the men in the group and the women too. That was a nice surprise to all of us.

- The way the author explained the intelligence and things Ender did was well written. It was also shocking to imagine someone so intelligent at such a young age.

- The surprises and plot twists the author incorporated throughout the story were not predictable and were well done.

What we didn’t like:

- The theory of relativity was confusing to understand, and there wasn’t much clarification. At some parts it was hard to decipher what age Ender was.

- Other science aspects of the books were confusing too. We all agreed that some details and explanations would have been welcomed. Though it wasn’t a turn off that it wasn’t all explained, just would have been nice.

- Some of us didn’t care to read about Valentine and Peter towards the middle of the book. We felt had it been removed the book would have still been wonderful.

Review of Wild by Cherly Strayed

Inspired by Cheryl Strayed’s book, we decided to have a picnic for our book club meeting! It couldn't have been a better setting to discuss Wild. Our whole group enjoyed the book and had a great time discussing it. One thing that isn't a like or dislike, it's more of an uncertainty. Currently Strayed’s book is being made into a movie. Most of us weren't sure how good of a movie it will be. There were some slow parts in the book and wouldn't make for a very interesting movie. And of course there were some parts we felt they will certainly exaggerate for the sake of movie making and creating drama and tension.

What we liked:

- We liked Strayed’s honesty. She didn't hide who she was or withhold information from her readers.

- We liked all the people Strayed described that she met on the Pacific Crest Trail. It gave us a sense of what it was like for her on the trail and off the trail.

- We liked the loving moments that Strayed shared in her book about her mom and herself.

- We liked that Strayed was able to achieve such a difficult path physically and emotionally. She had so much baggage on her back from all she packed, but she also had so much emotional baggage. Along her trail she was able to sort through it and grow from both.  

What we didn’t like:

- We didn't like the ending of the book. It felt too abrupt. Some of us felt even though it was abrupt it was okay because Strayed was letting the readers know what her life was like now. Others felt it was too abrupt and could have been smoothed out more.

- We didn't like the scene with the horse, Lady. It was a difficult part to read and definitely very graphic and sad.

- Not that we didn’t like this, but we were a little suspicious if Strayed truly saw a bull on the trail. None of us thought bulls lived in such high elevations along California. We ended up agreeing it could have been an exaggeration or a hallucination of Strayed’s. Who knows?

Review of Run, Brother, Run by David Berg

This book seemed to receive mixed reviews from our group. Though, overall mostly everyone really liked it. Some members of the group felt the trail descriptions that didn’t relate to Alan’s murder were unnecessary. Other members really enjoyed the chapters about David Berg’s trials he had, and felt it was interesting.

What we liked:

-        We all found Dot to be a relatable person compared to all the others in the book.

-        We enjoyed reading a book about the area we lived in. A lot of us recognized some of the places David Berg mentions.

-        We found it interesting to get a glimpse into how David Berg feels about Woody Harrelson.

-        We liked reading about the trials David Berg had in the beginning of his career.  

What we didn’t like:

-        We didn’t like how so many people were introduced into the story. It made it difficult to remember who was who.

-        We didn’t like how Alan’s wife didn’t have a big role in the book or when her husband was murdered.

-        We didn’t care reading about the trials David Berg had in the beginning of his career, it would have been okay to skip that chapter and still understand the book.

Review of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Overall, the majority of the members that read The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman really enjoyed the book. One member even said that she felt like a child again, and wanted to re-read the classic childhood books. Other members found themselves missing certain details, or not fully understanding parts of the book. Below is a brief synopsis of our likes and dislikes that we discussed.

What we liked:

-   The imagery used was bare minimum, but very descriptive and vivid.

-   The book contained groupings of 3s that added another depth and element to it.

-   The symbolism used throughout the book.

What we didn't like:

-   The flow of the book was confusing at times.

-   The fantasy aspect of the book was hard to grasp and get into for some of the book club members.

Favorite quotes:

“Adults follow paths. Children explore. Adults are content to walk the same way, hundreds of times, or thousands; perhaps it never occurs to adults to step off the paths, to creep beneath rhododendrons, to find the spaces between fences. I was a child, which meant that I knew a dozen different ways of getting out of our property and into the lane, ways that would not involve walking down our drive.”

“I knew what egg was. Where the universe began, to the sound of uncreated voices singing in the void. And I knew where rose was. The peculiar crinkling of space into dimensions that fold like origami and blossom like strange orchids, and which would mark the last good time before the eventual end of everything and the next big bang, which, would be I know now, nothing of the kind.” 

Welcome!

Welcome to the Young Professionals Book Club! This is a great opportunity for everyone to get together and discuss a new book each month. My vision for this group is that over time we will grow closer together and learn more about ourselves with each book we read.