How surprised the subdivision book club was to learn that  Almost Astronauts, 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, was recommended  solely for 9-12 year olds.

Two or three times a year, we like to break up our steady diet of  fiction with a factual volume or two and don’t even mind learning a little something in the process.  That’s how Almost Astronauts and Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her made the 2011 reading list.

Growing up in the 60s, I was not aware that  qualified women had been denied the opportunity to participate in America’s Mercury space program.

During the late 50s and early 60s, “women weren’t allowed to rent a car or take out a  bank loan without a man’s signature; they could not play on a professional sports team at all. They couldn’t report the news on television or run in a city marathon or serve as police officers. They weren’t allowed to fly jets, either.” (page 5)

Let’s look at  the women featured in the situation comedies of that era: the zany red head, Lucille Ball;  Dick Van Dyke‘s beautiful, yet ditzy, stay-at-home wife, Laura; Margaret Anderson, a paragon of solid reason and patience on Father Knows Best; and  the ever present pearls of June Cleaver, mother of  the ‘Beav“.  No matter what the weekly plot line, the man of the family was almost always called upon to save the day even though the wife/mother was present in the household and capable of handling the matter herself.

With role models such as these on the boob tube, it’s not surprising that media bias and influential politicians were able to keep these women out of the space program.

In Tanya Lee Stone‘s 130 pages, the reader finds a vivid description of the testing and training set up by Dr. Randy Lovelace, the doctor responsible for overseeing testing for Mercury astronauts.  Led by Pilot Jerrie Cobb, the first to pass all the tests, the group equaled or surpassed their male counterparts with much less complaint.

As one reviewer pointed out, the only purpose of the privately-funded project was to develop medical standards for women in space.  They were “never trained for space, never worked for NASA nor were they ever classified as ‘top secret’”.

If that is a true statement, then please explain why the entire program was stonewalled by President Lyndon B. Johnson‘s terse note: “Let’s stop this now!”   Was it just jealousy that prompted Jackie Cochran‘s lack of support for her fellow fliers? Cochran had run the WWII WASP Program, the first women in history trained to fly American military aircraft.

Read Almost Astronauts and you will be intrigued by the historical and scientific details, outraged at the attitudes of powerful people and inspired by the women who paved the road for others.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Tom Wolfe wrote, “The world was divided into those that had it and those who did not.  This quality, this it, was never named . . . The idea was to prove . . . that you were one of the elected and anointed ones who had the right stuff.”  What do you think  ‘it’ was?  Could women as well as men have ‘it’?

2.  Compare/contrast the roles of women during WWII with that of the 1960s.  In which time period would you have been most comfortable?  Why?

3.  Discuss the motives of Randolph Lovelace, chairman of NASA’s Life Sciences Committee, Look magazine and Brigadier General Donald Flickinger behind their campaign to include women in the space program.

4.  Discuss why project WISE (Women In Space Earliest) stalled.

5.  The U.S. and Russia were neck and neck in the race to land a man on the moon.  Why did the U.S. never enter the race with the Russians to send a woman into space?

6.  The possibility of women in the space program prompted the media to ask:

What is a woman capable of?          What is a woman’s place?

How were those two questions answered in the 1960s?  How would they be answered today?

7.  Discuss the part that politics played in the space race taking into consideration the of intentions of JFK and LBJ.

8.  In  lieu of the fact that, “women are less susceptible to monotony, loneliness, heat, cold,  pain and noise than the opposite sex,” would you classify the female of the human species as stronger than the male?

9.  Was Jackie Cochran a traitor?  Why or why not?

10.  John Glenn said, “I think this gets back to the way our social order is organized.  The men go off and fight the wars and fly the airplanes and come back and help design and build and test them.  The fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order.”  What does John  Glenn mean by the term, ‘social order’? Would you consider his statement just another excuse to restrict women from the men only astronaut club?

11.  What part did NOW and the Civil Rights movement play in changing the social order?

To ease the doldrums left by the ice and snow blanketing the Midwest, the subdivision book club chose When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. Described as a youthful Woody Allen, Sedaris has crafted five previous books, many of which have hit the New York Times best seller list.

One reviewers attested that Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day produced  laughter so hard that tears streamed down his cheeks.  He remembered biting his tongue because, ‘laughing hysterically out loud for no apparent reason on the subway in New York tends to make people nervous!’

Such is not the case with the twenty-two first-person essays in Engulfed.   Just ‘not interesting, rambling, missing a beat, cobbled together from disconnected anecdotes’ are a few of the reader’s comments.

“Keeping Up,” the second essay in Engulfed, begins with an American couple bickering outside the writer’s office window in Paris. Evidently the wife had made outrageous claims about her ability to understand the French language.  But when native speakers use slang or ask unexpected questions, she finds herself at a loss and her husband becomes derisive.

Sedaris goes on to speculate that a geographical argument might be at the root of their discord.  Claiming to know his way around from a previous visit, the husband, Phillip, refuses to pull out the map and look like a tourist.

From their disagreement Sedaris jumps to those between himself and his long-time boyfriend, Hugh Hamrick.  Evidently Hugh’s long legs and uncanny capability of blending in with the locals often leaves his traveling companion (Sedaris) eating dust. (The author claims that Hugh deviously calls ahead to ascertain what style and color of coat is most popular in their host country.)

Next, we hear of the painters most extraordinary sense of direction.  After glancing at a map just once, Hugh can locate their hotel without a wrong turn.  An hour later, Hugh will be standing in the lobby directing strangers to their destinations.  To further emphasize his point, Sedaris remembers that Hugh was suggesting shortcuts to gondoliers before their Venice trip had ended.

In desperation to view a real Australian dingo, Sedaris attempts to follow Hugh through the twists and turns of the Taronga Zoo in Australia.  “Why they look just like dogs.  Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Sedaris asks an embarrassed Japanese woman, because Hugh has, once again, disappeared into the crowd.

This stream-of-consciousness essay ends with the author’s farewell speech to Hugh.  Attempting to make a clean start, Sedaris vows to rid himself of all mementos:  photos and birthday gifts ranging from a tan belt to the mechanical pig covered in real pig skin, a professional microscope, on to the 17th century painting of a Dutch peasant changing a diaper.

But when the author pictures himself leaving in a van, he remembers that he doesn’t drive.  Renting another apartment is out of a question because he can’t talk to a real estate agent.  Dealing with sums of money over $60 causes him to sweat.  Five minutes in a bank and his shirt is soaked through.  Ten minutes later and he’s stuck to his seat.

Even at the age of 50, the author claims to be afraid of everybody and everything.  He doesn’t know how to turn up the heat, send an e-mail, retrieve messages from the answering machine or do anything creative with a chicken for dinner.

At the end of eight pages, the author concludes that he’s so pathetic that Hugh has every right to run from him.  After 30 minutes of pure rage, the self-deprecating author is  happy to see his partner again!

Cute – certainly, Quirky-undoubtedly, Funny-not in my book.  While some of the writer’s anecdotes might produce a quiet smile, no evidence could be found of belly laugh material.

Pushing subject matter aside, Sedaris is regarded by his fans as a gifted writer. His strengths can be found in the ability to find a story in even the most mundane and recount it with a certain witty style and simplicity.  Even if the stories aren’t truly auto-biographical Sedaris certainly relies on keen observation and a particularly effective way of relating stories and thoughts.

The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe, and Jason F. Wright is sort of a  ‘cross between IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE and A CHRISTMAS STORY‘ without the lasting effect of either .

At first the reader feels a certain degree of sympathy and hopeful anticipation for 12-year-old Eddie.  Even with his  father’s death and the sale of their once-prosperous bakery,  the young lad still thinks this Christmas will be the best ever and hopes for a much-desired red, Huffy bike.

Unfortunately, Eddie unwraps “a stupid, handmade, ugly sweater,” and reacts accordingly.  Begrudgingly, Eddie agrees to spend Christmas  Day with his grandparents but refuses to spend the night even though his mother is too tired to drive back home.  You guessed it, a tragic accident takes the mother’s life and the boy spends the rest of the book  living with his grandparents.

A well-worn neighbor,  supposedly only Eddie can see, tries to help the youngster work through some of his anger and guilt.  But nothing really changes the young man’s surly outlook on life until he courageously steps into the gathering storm in the cornfield.   The other side of the hill is filled with colorful flowers,  wonderful sounds and Eddie shouts, “I am Happy!”

Reviewers characterized The Christmas Sweater as ‘hackneyed and flat-out unoriginal’.  A fast read, Beck’s story is not  autobiographical, as one might think.  However, the radio and television host, manages to sneak in some of his  own personal philosophy and political views.  The epilogue or afterword, The Way It Begins sounded more like a sermon than the winding up of a warm-hearted, fictional tale appropriate for the Christmas season.

Fans of Glenn Beck will probably enjoy this book, our book club much preferred A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg.

Discussion Questions follow:
1. Glenn Beck defines his core values as: personal responsibility, private charity, the right to life, freedom of religion, limited government and the family as the cornerstone of society.
How did the author’s upbringing, as portrayed in The Christmas Sweater, form these values?
2. The magic of Christmas means something different to the various characters in the novel. How did the youngster, Eddie, view Christmas? His Father? Mother? Grandfather?
3. Since his father had been dead for 3 years, Eddie’s only male role model was his grandfather. Did the grandfather’s vivid imagination along with his lying and cheating help or hinder the young boy’s development?
4. Was Eddie’s Mother a Grinch about other things than snow? What?
5. Did you find the mother’s death a believable part of the story? Did the author give the reader any hints to the contrary? If so, what?
6. In Eddie’s eyes, the Ashtons were the perfect family. What aspects of their family life is he overlooking or failing to see?
7. The character, Russell, had all the dirt of every farm on earth on him yet he felt clean and peaceful. Who is he?
8. Can you draw parallels between Eddie’s situation and that of the horse at the Johnson’s abandoned farm? Explain.
9. How would the plot of The Christmas Sweater have differed if Eddie had received the red, Huffy bike instead of the dreaded sweater?
10. In your opinion, was the dream sequence an effective literary device or just a gimmick used by the author(s) to accomplish their purpose? In your reading experience, what other devices have authors used to bring about a similar transformation in their characters?
11. Voice your feelings about the section titled, The Way it Begins.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan not only sparked a great, in-depth discussion, but led club members to read other works about famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright such as Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders by William R. Drennan.

The widely-read post Wives and Lovers can be found here.  This selection complete with discussion questions has received over 1,000 hits in the past year.

These is my Words, written entirely in diary form by Nancy Turner, has also found favor with club members.  The post Pioneer Woman can be found here.

Told entirely in  letter format by Mary Ann Shaffer, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society sparked a great deal of interest and a lively discussion.

One book club member wished that the fictional characters would indeed inhabit the aforementioned island, because she would love to visit with them to learn more about their war-time experience.  Click here for The Next Step – Discussing the Book.

The holiday season brings with it a chance to relive Christmases past and present.  Books read and discussed for our December meeting  include The Christmas Train by David Baldacci, The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans and Red Bird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. Of the three mentioned, Red Bird Christmas rated as number one.

The post, It’s Unanimous, proclaimed our love for Mma Precious Ramotswe, the main character of the The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

More information about its prolific author, Alexander McCall Smith, can be found here.

What are some of your favorites?

Former actress Elfrida Phipps, 62, flees London for a cottage in the small English village of Dibton where she is befriended by the Blundell family.

Retired college professor and organist Oscar Blundell turns to Elfrida when an auto accident claims the lives of his wife, Gloria, and 12-year-old daughter, Francesca.  Grief-stricken Oscar leans on Elfrida who convinces him to return to his grandmother’s estate in Scotland where he retains half-ownership in the Estate House.  Since he has nowhere else to go and Gloria’s sons have put The Grange up for sale, Oscar agrees.

When her affair with a married man turns sour, Elfrida’s second cousin, Carrie Sutton, leaves Austria and returns to London.  There she finds her niece, Lucy, refusing to accompany her mother and male friend to Florida for two weeks. Grandmother, Dodie, also has plans to spend the holidays in Bournemouth with friends leaving the 14-year-old bereft of friends or family for winter break.

Called back to London by his company chairman to revive a defunct Scottish textile mill, Sam Howard, shows up at the Estate House during a blinding snow storm.  While trying to enter the building with a key from Oscar’s cousin and co-owner, Sam discovers an ailing Carrie who invites him to come in out of the cold.

In two short weeks, these five people from three generations begin to put their lives back together and find something to celebrate.

While most readers reacted favorable to this novel of hope and renewal, some reviewers found fault with Pilcher’s unrealistic time frame for Oscar’s grief process.  Gloria and Francesca have been dead for two months and Oscar and Elfrida are definitely a couple in every sense of the word.

Others found the players stereotypical:  the grieving widower, the neglected child, the broken-hearted  lover, the cold-blooded socialite and pleaded for multi-layered character development.

Most readers will find the plot predictable, but don’t let that keep you from enjoying the rich descriptions of domestic detail, exquisite depiction of Scotland in winter and that sure-to-please happy ending.

Discussion Questions follow:

1. Elfrida made many friends in the small village of Dibton, but the Blundells became her favorites.  Discuss what attracted Elfrida to each one in turn:  Oscar, Gloria, Francesca.

2.  Both Oscar and Elfrida have spent much of their professional lives in London, yet find Dibton a comfortable place to live.  What makes Elfrida comfortable? Oscar?  How did the tragic auto accident affect their comfort level?

3. Sam retains fond memories of Radley Hall, his boyhood home, and Oscar remembers Corrydale, his grandmother’s estate.  What memories do you carry with you of your childhood home or hometown?  Good or bad?

4. Taking into account Elfrida’s admission that, “She liked Oscar immensely; perhaps too much,” how would you characterize her relationship with Oscar before and after the tragic accident?

5. Elfrida declared that she had to set limitations and reservations so she would not be absorbed by or be beholden to the Blundells.  Discuss the above reference and explain what she is so afraid of.

6. Compare and contrast the two young girls (Lucy & Francesca) especially in  their reaction to the merging of the pagan festival surrounding Winter Solstice with the Christian celebration of Jesus’ birth.

7. Why do you think Pilcher chose Winter Solstice as her book title?

8. How accurate is the author’s portrayal of the grief  process?  Some reviewers found it unrealistic that Oscar asked Elfrida to marry him just two months after the death of his wife and daughter.  Do you agree?

9. What part does fate play in Winter Solstice?  Did you find the plot believable?  Did Pilcher’s use of fate lend to or detract from the novel’s believability?

10. Discuss Pilcher’s use of setting to propel the action of the novel.  One reviewer felt that the setting assumed the position of an additional character in the book.  Agree/Disagree?

What other Rosamunde Pilcher novels have you read and enjoyed?

This reality show, created in August 2006 by brothers Jeffrey aka Duff and Willie Goldman, provides an inside-look at a Baltimore bakery, Charm City Cakes.

Curious about the world behind those incredibly amazing cakes, pick up this 300-page volume, Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes.

This heavy, slightly cumbersome, 10 x 12-inch scrapbook introduces all of the people who work at CCC including the TV production crew.

Where else can you find the following information:

*Mary Alice met Duff when she  dropped her grandmother’s pearls down the sink,
*persistent Anna plays Scrabble like a grand champion,
*guitarist Geof composes his own songs
*Duff hired Mary Smith because of her sassiness and extra-fine piping skills,
*baker Adam Goldstein once sold produce to Duff,
*their cakes really do taste good, all 50 flavors,
*although edible, fondant is rarely eaten
* employees frequently wash their hands even if their actions are not part of the final show.

Not exactly a cook book, this tell-all volume does include some of the bakery’s more unusual techniques and tools that shape those fabulous cake creations.

What’s a scrap book without pictures: collages of cakes, childhood snaps, bakery diagrams, a cake centerfold, fan mail and much much more.  However, some reviewers complain that there are just too many photos (“overwhelming to the eye”)  and  many are just too small. (Especially the double fold-out spread of seven years of cakes!!)

First and foremost, this book is Duff’s story, his childhood, schooling, founding of CCC and how the reality show originated.  But CCC would not exist with out its creative staff so three pages are devoted to each person. The cast and crew profiles, penned by each individual, ring true in contrast to the stiffness of the network executives.

Here again, reviewers say it’s just too much detail:  “I don’t care to see childhood photos of all the CCC employees nor do I find it entertaining”.

“Unfortunately this book didn’t undergo the same editing process” as the weekly show – 22 minutes culled from 150 hours of video footage.  Granted this hefty coffee table book presents an overload of information, but don’t expect it to read like a novel.  It’s nonfiction, people!!

Ace of Cake junkies will appreciate the comprehensive episode guide on pages 273-297 along with the depiction of the burger, hot dog and fries cake concealed under the drab dust jacket. (Also featured on pp. 212-213 along with its creator, Katherine.)

Bottom Line:  if you enjoy the Food Network show, Ace of Cakes, you’ll find plenty to like in this tell-all volume.

Even a failed, three-way collaboration and later a manuscript’s rejection didn’t scare this journalist away from storytelling.

Over lunch, Dallas and two friends plotted, divided up and crafted characters for a book later abandoned when their day jobs got in the way.

Later the fledgling novelist resurrected and rewrote a post-college manuscript only to receive the dreaded rejection letter from her agent.

Hooked on fiction, Dallas persevered eventually producing Buster Midnight’s Cafe, an end-of-depression look at the hell-roaring days of coal mining in Butte, Montana.

Steeped in history from an early age, Dallas covered the Rocky Mountain region as a staff writer and the first female bureau chief for Business Week magazine.

Schooled  daily in Virginia’s past by her mother, Dallas and her siblings toured Washington’s Mount Vernon and Arlington House, residence of Robert E. Lee as children.

But a 1945 move to Denver opened up the west for a writer who never ventured  back east again.

Subjects ranging from copper mining in Butte, Montana, and polygamy in Utah, to the role of women in business and sexual harassment provided future background for Dallas’ fiction dominated by female characters.

The Chili Queen

Set in Nalgitas, New Mexico, in the 1860s, The Chili Queen follows the life of Addie French, a con artist turned madam.

Returning by train from Kansas City, Addie befriends a prim and proper lady traveling west as a mail-order bride.  But when Emma, the spinster, is jilted, she seeks refuge in Addie’s ‘boarding house’ and life at the brothel is never the same again.

This psychological thriller cum detective story takes the reader on horseback through the plains of New Mexico and Colorado as the con men/women try to out run the person they swindled.   Through Dallas’ words, one can feel the wide open spaces and sniff the sweet-smelling air of the old west.

Tallgrass

Just after the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed an act forcing all of  California’s Japanese Americans into internment camps.

When Dallas’ pen hits paper, this relocation to Tall Grass (Amache) produces an  fearful atmosphere ripe with paranoia in Ellis Colorado,  a small town of sugar beet farmers.

From the viewpoint of Rennie Stroud, 13, the reader watches as the bigoted townspeople heap blame on the nearby Japanese when a crippled girl is found brutally murdered and raped.

Often compared to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Tall Grass highlights the struggle of the dirt-poor farmers in the sparsely populated southeast town of Granada.

Discussion questions can be found here.

The Diary of Mattie Spenser

In the post-civil war era, the stigma of being a spinster compels Mattie to accept an impromptu marriage proposal and accompany her new husband by wagon train to the western territories.

While Luke battles to shape the frontier into a homestead, the lone female endures hardship, frugality, betrayal, infant mortality and drought along with the constant threat of Indian attack.

In Mattie, Dallas gives us a woman of courage and faith in the treeless, inhospitable landscape of Eastern Colorado.

Don’t forget the Persian Pickle Club, another Sandra Dallas favorite.

A list of nonfiction titles can be found here.  Fictional titles here:

Now, four of the original dozen reconnect at the famed Peabody Hotel in Memphis for a somber purpose. They will cruise the mighty river again-this time on the Belle of Natchez – to honor the memory of Margaret ‘Baby’ Ballou and commit her ashes to the ages.

The Old Maid School Teacher

Ill-at-ease in the hotel’s elegant furnishings, Harriet Holding, considers leaving almost upon arrival.  Like the novel’s acclaimed author, Lee Smith, Harriet teaches community writing workshops for women.

Even though men have found her attractive over the years, Harriet has shied away from attachments and remains unmarried at 53.  A scholarship student at Mary Scott College, Harriet identified with the cafeteria help that she worked with rather than her  fellow classmates.

The Southern Belle

From outward appearances, Courtney Gray Ralston has the perfect life:  a handsome, successful husband, four beautiful children and status in her community.

But on closer examination,  we find that her silver-haired mate strays repeatedly forcing Courtney to find love with Gene, a 300-pound Elvis impersonator.  And when her florist lover issues an ultimatum -  divorce Hawk and marry me or else – Courtney’s world begins to spin out of its perfectly balanced orbit.

The Romance Novelist

Anna Todd enters the plot hidden under layers of makeup and clothes, topped off by her trademark black hat and enormous sunglasses.

One wonders if the romance writer is seeking anonymity from her adoring fans or is just hiding from memories of her failed marriage, still born child and 12-year liaison with Lou.

Even when Harriet asks, “Anna, Anna, whatever has happened to you?” few  details come to light; not even her real name.

The Artist

Last to arrive, Catherine Wilson, a direct, down-to-earth sculptor enters with her third husband, Russell, in tow.  Born to a life of privilege, Catherine remembers being more interested in her upcoming engagement party than the original raft trip.

Instilled with the idea that the whole point of college was marriage, Catherine was an indifferent student excelling only in art classes.

When her second husband, Steve, was killed in a robbery at the 7-Eleven, Catherine began sculpting large concrete women with mosaic dresses and hats to support her four children.

‘Baby’

The central figure, ‘Baby’, appears only in the other character’s memories since an auto accident claimed her life just before Christmas of the previous year.  Smith subtly plants doubt by recalling a failed suicide attempt during college.

Springing from a very wealthy Southern family, Margaret Ballou never played by the rules leaving her roommate Harriet to cover up her many indiscretions.   Less than studious, Baby’s main goal was to graduate with an engagement ring.

The driving force behind the original raft trip, Baby considered herself a poet.  As the story progresses,  Smith inserts examples of her work in between the prose of the novel.

The Last Girls, a mixture of  college experiences, interspersed with the grown-up world of marriage, infidelity, health crises and career moves, leaves the reader puzzled as to time and place.  One reviewer suggested that chapter headings would have cleared up some of the confusion.

A natural storyteller, Lee Smith, tells the story in the same convoluted way that Southerners do, “using intimate asides, gossipy digressions and personal observations,” just like everyday conversation.

Smith’s sense of humor shines through with the quirky fellow passengers and Catherine’s attorney husband.  A fellow drinker falls senseless from the adjoining bar stool without Russell ever shifting his attention from the Weather Channel.

There’s plenty to talk about:  thirty discussion questions can be found here.

Often termed sentimental, Berg draws an accurate picture of grief – “the doubts, the dailiness, the decisions, the daring to dream again”.

While some reviewers feel that Berg has a tendency to write scenes that are a little bit far fetched with predictable textbook characters, they still praise her eye for detail, simplicity, and beauty.

Two people, having read the same book, can come away with opposite opinions of its characters, plot and setting.  I suggest you decide for yourself by sampling one or more of Berg’s books listed below.  Happy reading!!

Durable Goods
(1993), 12-year-old Katie, struggles with the loss of her mother while  being dragged from town to town by her abusive father.

Discussion Questions here.

Talk Before Sleep
(1994),  a nurse caring for a good friend slowly dying with cancer.

Discussion Questions here.

Range of Motion
(1995), deals with the experiences of a comatose man

Discussion Questions here.

The Pull of the Moon
(1996),  Nan’s story, as she travels cross-country seeking to reinvent herself.

Joy School
(1997), a continuation of Katie’s story, as she tastes romance for the first time.

Discussion questions here:

What We Keep
(1998), a girl’s abandonment by her mother.

Discussion Questions here:

Until the Real Thing Comes Along
(1999),  a woman’s love for a gay man.

Discussion Questions here:

Open House
(2000),  after the departure of her husband and a spending spree at Tiffany’s, Sam  must  reconstruct a life for herself and11-year old son

Discussion questions here.

Never Change
(2001), a nurse treats a childhood acquaintance with an incurable illness.

True to Form
(2002), a revisit with Katie’s during the coming of age process.

Say When
(2003), the damaging effects of infidelity on the marriage of Ellen and Griffin written from the husband’s  point-of-view.

The Art of Mending
(2004), a family reunion forces a 50-something “quilt artist”  to face some long-standing secrets.

Discussion questions here.

The Year of Pleasures
(2005), a Boston widow fulfills her dying husband’s dream of starting a new life in the Midwest.

Discussion Questions here:

We Are All Welcome Here
(2006), together a polio victim and her 13-year-old daughter work miracles in the summer of 1964

Discussion Questions here.

The Handmaid and the Carpenter
(2006), inexperienced teenagers, Mary and Joseph, struggle to honor family tradition despite unusual circumstances.

Dream When You’re Feeling Blue
(2007), three Irish Catholic sisters keep the home fires burning for their young men fighting in WWII.

Discussion Questions here.

Home Safe (2009), suffering from writer’s block,  a popular and prolific author struggles with her husband’s sudden death.

Discussion Questions here:

The Last Time I Saw You
(2010), former classmates reconnect with one another—and themselves—at their fortieth high school reunion.

Which is your favorite and why?

Book #1 in Nancy Turner‘s trilogy introduces the reader to a young girl who matures into a strong independent woman while traveling by wagon train and settling in the Arizona Territory.

In the year 1881, calamities come in many forms:  unfortunate accidents, Indian attacks and sickness plague the travelers as well as the unscrupulous bandits and ruffians who meet them at every turn of the wagon’s wheels.

Because 17 year-old Sarah Prine is uneducated, nearly illiterate, her early diary entries are peppered with spelling and grammatical errors making a slow, often painful reading process.

But when she acquires a wagon load of books, her education takes off as does her writing ability.

The author’s use of first-person narrative draws you into the story laying open Sarah’s thoughts, pain, despair, and insecurities for all to experience first hand.

One reviewer commented, “I cared so much that I dreaded turning the pages for fear of the horrific fate that could befall any of the characters at any time”.

The reader cheers as Sarah overcomes the obstacles barring her way to love, marriage and establishing a family in the far flung, often lawless, western territories of 1881-1902 while always, always waiting for disaster to strike as it so often does.

Readers recommended Sarah’s Quilt, the continuing story of an extraordinary pioneer woman and her 3-year struggle with drought on the family ranch.

Book #3, The Star Garden, finds Sarah, at 43, with grown sons, and the center of a large, unruly family. Living in a house built by the man she refused to marry and courted by her neighbor, Sarah is not so sure she wants to be a wife again.

Discussion Questions for These Is My Words follow:

1. Suggest why an illiterate girl would find it so important to keep a diary of her Arizona trip and life afterward.

2. Explain, if you can, why the Lawrence family shunned Sarah after she saved the lives of daughters, Savannah, Alice and Ulyssa.

3. If you had to debate the issue of the pioneers fighting the Indians to save their own lives and the lives of their families, which side would you take and why?

4. Whenever Sarah measures up against her sister-in-law, Savannah, she always finds herself wanting. Agree? Disagree?

5. A genuine thirst for knowledge compels Sarah to learn and grow as an individual. Who helps her? What does she learn and from whom?

6.Talk about Sarah’s marriages. What makes her attractive to Jimmy Reed? Jack Elliot?

7.What ultimately brings Jack and Sarah together? Sarah’s transformation? Jack’s transformation?

8. Any idea why Jack refused to resign her army commission leaving Sarah and the children alone and vulnerable?

9. Does Sarah’s picture of the West challenge or confirm your ideas of life on the frontier? Think of the many losses, the hardships and how the settlers surmounted them. Are we, in modern times, as tenacious and courageous as Sarah and her contemporaries?

10. Although Sarah’s story is fictional (there is no actual diary according to the author), it is based on stories about the author’s great grandmother. Do you feel the story is realistic or highly romanticized? Is Sarah credible? If so, what makes her story convincing?

11. Would you read Sarah’s Quilt or The Star Garden? Why or Why not?