In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Many of us had read this book decades ago, but it was worth a revisit.  Originally a series of New Yorker articles, the book tells the true story of a gruesome murder of a farm family in late 50s Kansas.  Capote spins the tale in great detail but unvarnished language.  He calls his work "fiction" because his focus is on storytelling not news reporting.  It's a unique, clean style that made the book a literary sensation in its time.  

Our next book is Elizabeth Strout's Olive Again, a sequel to her beautifully crafted Olive Kitteridge which we read and admired in 2009.  We also considered James McBride's Deacon King Kong and Richard Powers' The Overstory.  Our next meeting is scheduled for January 26; Paul suggests the following book.

Seasons by Ellen Meloy (Zoom)

A resident of southeast Utah, Meloy was an artist, naturalist, and journalist whose books cover many topics close to the soil.  This volume is a small wonder, beautifully written but only 84 pages long.  It's a collection of random observations about life in the desert organized by season and it was a joy to read.  

And, for a different mood altogether, our next book is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.  Other titles considered were The Unwanted by Michael Dobbs and Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark.  Roger will suggest the following book for our next Zoom call on December 29.

Squeeze Me by Carl Hiassen (Zoom)

 It was time for some comic relief, so we selected this book and were not disappointed.  It's a missing person story, involving an elderly fan of a certain president near the winter White House in Palm Beach.  The story quickly pivots to a rogue ex-governor who raises man-eating Burmese pythons and is up to no good.  There's plenty of mayhem and not-so-far fetched intrigue, but, while entertaining, the book got only a mediocre rating from our group.  (One of us thought the book too vulgar and another read the wrong book altogether.)

Our next book is Seasons by Ellen Meloy.  Other works considered were Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, and Animal Farm by George Orwell.  We plan to meet on November 25; Bill is next in line to suggest the following book.  

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (Zoom)

The book is a well-known classic, but most of us had read it long ago or not at all.  It's easy to see why it made a big impression almost 60 years ago: written in the modest form of everyday correspondence, it's a bold and eloquent assessment of the state of race relations in America.  It was good to read it during this contemporary period of racial re-assessment, and it's amazing how it reflects much of the current dialogue.

Our next book is Carl Hiassen, Squeeze Me.  Other titles considered were P. D. James' Death Comes to Pemberley and Eric Larson's The Splendid and the Vile.  We'll connect again via Zoom on October 28 and Max will suggest the next book,

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehesi Coates (Zoom)

This brief book is a critique of race relations in contemporary America.  But it is also a lyrical self analysis by a gifted Black writer seeking to reconcile his own life experience with mainstream white culture.  Written in the form of a letter to his son, the book viscerally describes the realities faced by non-whites over the ages and provides insights into the situation rather than solutions.  We gave it above average ratings but some of us considered it a restatement of the race problem without offering much that is truly original.

The next book is James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time.  We also considered Animal Farm by Orwell and Outlaw Ocean by Urbina.  We plan to meet via Zoom on September 24 and Peter will bring suggestions for the next book.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (Zoom)

We're getting better at meeting via Zoom; everybody was able to participate with little trouble.  The book got a fair amount of attention but received mixed reviews.  Most of us were put off by the extensive unreality of the story and setting, and some thought it was too simplistic/juvenile.  Still, there was a compelling story with plenty of action.

Our next book is Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me.  Other suggestions were Sarah Stonich, The Laurentian Divide, and Sinclair Lewis, It Can't Happen Here (which we rejected because we had read it earlier).  Phil will suggest the next book; we plan to meet August 19.

The Plague by Albert Camus (Zoom)

Zooming is a fair substitute for in-person business communication, but it isn't great for a conversation among friends.  There are the awkward start/stop talk overs, the missed body language, and the stilted format to contend with.  Not to mention the poor quality of food and service.  Nevertheless, we pulled it off and plan to do it again.

Reading this Camus during a pandemic was cathartic.  The book might have been a metaphor, but it certainly reflects many of the hardships, dilemmas, emotions, and moral choices that we are experiencing today.  Camus' spare, blunt writing style adds drama and weight to the human tragedy that unfolds in the novel. He shows that evil is real and has to be resisted.

The next book will be one of these: The Hobbit by Tolkien, Out of the Silent Planet by Lewis, The Golden Compass by Pullman, A Wrinkle in Time by L'engle, or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Rowling.  Don is next to suggest a book.

The Control of Nature by John McPhee (Zoom Online)

Well, we did meet. But because of the pandemic it was online at cocktail hour.  It was a relatively short discussion, experimental and punctuated with scratchy connections. We did, however, enjoy reading McPhee's accounts of three human interventions into nature's plans in the lower Mississippi, an Icelandic volcano, and the erosion of LA's San Gabriel mountains.  The author's insights and writing made reading a pleasure and invited further investigation.  Some of us looked online for maps and photos that should have been included in the book for clarity.

The next book is Albert Camus, The Plague.  Meeting date TBA.  The next book will be suggested by Don.

Northland by Porter Fox (Barbette)

Still short several sun-tanning colleagues, a reduced contingent of us--four, to be exact--decided to meet over lunch instead of dinner this month.  We gathered at Barbette, a friendly Uptown standby which offers a menu of French-inspired soups, salads, and sandwiches. Although we missed our pals, our small group enjoyed the intimacy of the occasion and the fact that we could hear one another.

The book is a series of vignettes of life along the US-Canada border, generously dishing out gobs of historical detail and brief analyses of the family ties, commercial transactions, and everyday activities that make up one of the closest international partnerships in the world.  We found the stories interesting and appreciated Fox's punchy writing style.

Our next book is John McPhee's Control of Nature.  We also considered a few other McPhee books, including Looking for a Ship, Pine Barrens, and A Sense of Where You Are, John Cornwell's Hitler's Pope, and Jill Ker Conway's True North.  The next meeting was set for April 16, when Roger will suggest the following book.