March 2, 2013 Meeting

First, thanks to Nancy for hosting us. It was lovely, as usual.

After much discussion, both pro and con, Flight Behavior emerged with 4 stars...a rarity among our group. it got as low as a 2, but was balanced out by a 4.5 on the other end of the spectrum. I believe we liked the layered themes of the environment, gender issues, socio-economic issues, and geography (in the south on the farm) and how the author weaved these through the story while building interesting characters.

Most had trouble getting through Aracadia, and those who did, appreciated the writing style and a glimpse into commune life, the story was not balanced, and the characters not interesting enough. It did get two 3s, but pulled down by four 2s.

Nancy wondered if we've given any books a five...not since we've been counting, which has only been a couple years. We have given five books four stars: Art of Fielding, Under the Banner of Heaven, Room, Let the Great Room Spin, and Cutting for Stone. I think there are others we'd add to the list (Book Thief, City of Thieves, What is the What, Out Stealing Horses), but we weren't assigning stars when we read them.

Mary has graciously offered to host our next meeting on April 13. The books are "The Light Between the Oceans" by Stedman, and "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel.