Winter 2014

The Four Seasons Book Club will be meeting at the Middlebury Public Library on Tuesday, January 7th at 6:30 PM to discuss the title Moloka’i by Alan Brennert. Books are available for pickup at the library. Light refreshments will be offered. Join other busy moms in this special seasonal book club and escape the snow with an armchair trip to a far away island. All are welcome. Please contact Robyn Wright with any questions at robyn@robynlynndesign.com.

 

 

Book Description: 

“This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai’i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place – and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.

Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka’i. Here her life is supposed to end – but instead she discovers it is only just beginning.

With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka’i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death. Such is the warmth, humor, and compassion of this novel that ‘few readers will remain unchanged by Rachel’s story.’”

(Image and book description provided courtesy of www.goodreads.com.)

Summer 2013

Our reading choice for Summer 2013 is 

"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" 

by Deborah Moggach

The book discussion will take place on Tuesday, August 13th @ 6:30 pm.

"When Ravi Kapoor, an overworked London doctor, reaches the breaking point with his difficult father-in-law, he asks his wife: “Can’t we just send him away somewhere? Somewhere far, far away.” His prayer is seemingly answered when Ravi’s entrepreneurial cousin sets up a retirement home in India, hoping to re-create in Bangalore an elegant lost corner of England. Several retirees are enticed by the promise of indulgent living at a bargain price, but upon arriving, they are dismayed to find that restoration of the once sophisiticated hotel has stalled, and that such amenities as water and electricity are . . . infrequent. But what their new life lacks in luxury, they come to find, it’s plentiful in adventure, stunning beauty, and unexpected love".

Books will be available at the library from late June, or may be requested here.

Video courtesy of FoxStarIndia
 

Spring 2013

The Four Seasons Group has selected 

"Chocolat" by Joanne Harris 

as the club book and movie for Spring.

We'll meet on Tuesday May 7th @ 6:30 pm 
 for the book discussion.

"Vianne Rocher and her 6-year-old daughter, Anouk, arrive in the small village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes--"a blip on the fast road between Toulouse and Bourdeaux"--in February, during the carnival. Three days later, Vianne opens a luxuriant chocolate shop crammed with the most tempting of confections and offering a mouth-watering variety of hot chocolate drinks. It's Lent, the shop is opposite the church and open on Sundays, and Francis Reynaud, the austere parish priest, is livid. 

One by one the locals succumb to Vianne's concoctions. Joanne Harris weaves their secrets and troubles, their loves and desires, into her third novel, with the lightest touch. There's sad, polite Guillame and his dying dog; thieving, beaten-up Joséphine Muscat; schoolchildren who declare it "hypercool" when Vianne says they can help eat the window display--a gingerbread house complete with witch. And there's Armande, still vigorous in her 80s, who can see Anouk's "imaginary" rabbit, Pantoufle, and recognizes Vianne for who she really is. However, certain villagers--including Armande's snobby daughter and Joséphine's violent husband--side with Reynaud. So when Vianne announces a Grand Festival of Chocolate commencing Easter Sunday, it's all-out war: war between church and chocolate, between good and evil, between love and dogma". 



Read more about Joanne Harris and "Chocolat" here. 
  Video courtesy of ichigopuff

 

We have a confirmed date for our February meeting.

The Four Seasons Group will meet at 199 Park Road Extension on Tuesday February 19th @ 6:30 pm to discuss "Home Front" by Kristin Hannah.

 
Video courtesy of author, Kristin Hannah

February 2013

The Four Seasons Book Club will meet in February to discuss Kristin Hannah's bestseller "Home Front".

The Four Seasons members were lucky winners of a Reading Group Guides contest, and as one of the 350 successful book clubs were awarded twenty copies of the book for our February discussion. 

The contest winners must post comments on the author's blog, email their friends about the book or post comments on the library's website.

"In her bestselling novels Kristin Hannah has plumbed the depths of friendship, the loyalty of "sisters, and the secrets mothers keep. Now, in her most emotionally powerful story yet, she explores the intimate landscape of a troubled marriage with this provocative and timely portrait of a husband and wife, in love and at war.

All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost. . . .

Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday life---children, careers, bills, chores---even as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then an unexpected deployment sends Jolene deep into harm’s way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a solider she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his own---for everything that matters to his family.

At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family, Home Front is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor, and ultimately, hope".

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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Movie Night

To wrap up our reading and discussion of "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan", you are invited to join us to watch the movie 

at 6pm on Thursday November 29th.

Our first meeting has been scheduled for

Tuesday November 6th @ 6:30 pm, when we'll be discussing

"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See.

  If you would like to sign up, ask for more information or check out a book, please ask for Jan.

At our four seasonal meetings through the year, we'll relax and enjoy a cupcake, consider the books that we'll read, schedule movie nights and discuss the book and movie of the season.

Good discussions come with good company, so please think about joining us for an uncomplicated evening with friends.

"In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, an “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s written a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on the fan and compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together they endure the agony of footbinding and reflect upon their arranged marriages, their loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace in their friendship, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their relationship suddenly threatens to tear apart.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a captivating journey back to an era of Chinese history that is as deeply moving as it is sorrowful".