Seek out a book club either at your local library, church or even online.

Library book clubs are attractive, because a paid staff  member selects the reading material, reserves copies of the book and leads the discussion.  No effort is required on your part except reading the book.

Finding/Starting a Book Club

But if you’d prefer a smaller, friendlier group, start your own book club.  Fewer members mean more control not only of book selection but also discussion time.

Contact neighbors, either apartment or subdivision, plus compatible friends and social acquaintances.  People who live in close proximity have an easier time getting together on a monthly basis.  Nobody likes to drive a long distance after working all day.

How to Create a Book Club

To alert neighbors that a subdivision book club was forming, we hit the streets, talking to people and handing out fliers.  Amazingly enough we gathered several interested readers who have been meeting  for almost three years in each other’s homes.

From the beginning, we designated  ourselves a ‘no frills’ group.  We meet to share our observations, drink bottled water with sometimes a light snack afterwards.  Of course, making sure your house is presentable requires a little effort, but two hours of adult conversation is well worth the grunt work.

How to Choose the Book

Choosing each month’s book eats up valuable time that could be better spent chatting.  Plan ahead to avoid the inevitable question, “What are we reading next?”

Finding Discussion Questions

The monthly newsletter from www.goodreads.com overflows with book suggestions.  This site also enables you to rate and keep track of your reading history as well as check out what your friends and their friends are reading.

For a  list of the  best 100 books of the decade as designated by The Times on Line, click here.  The 2009 The BBC Book Dare also recommends 100 titles for your reading pleasure.

A yearly list of books makes it easier for members to find the designated selection.  Again, library personnel can be a valuable asset. Using  inter-library loan, they find enough copies of the agreed-upon title and alert you when it’s available for check out.  Most libraries now extend borrowing time up to one month instead of the traditional two weeks.  Just ask!

For convenience, larger library systems  put together and circulate book club kits.  These canvas totes usually include copies of the book, background information about the author, a synopsis of the book and suggested discussion questions plus a handy check out list for members to sign.

Our town’s library is quite small, so we usually select two titles each month. Selections are e-mailed to the staff and within a week or so, each member receives a circulation notice that their copy has arrived.

When it comes to finding discussion questions there are several sites from which to choose.  A few examples are: www.readinggroupguides.com, www.litlovers.com, www.bookbrowse.com and www.barnesandnoble.com. (The Barnes and Noble site has a special book club section with lots of helpful information.)

Should all of these avenues dead end, write the questions yourself.  If you find a certain passage of the novel puzzling, interesting, or worthy of comment, others will too.  Jot down page numbers as you read.

When you have finished reading, check back through your notations and formulate questions.  What may seem difficult at first try, gets easier with a little practice.

Start simple:  What did you think the author was trying to say on page 37?  What did you like/dislike about the main character? Would you read another book by this author?

If  you or your group has questions, please feel free to ask.  Happy to help!!

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?

While this makes for a pleasurable reading experience, one misses out on the vast range of fiction and nonfiction available at your local book store or neighborhood library.

That’s the beauty of a book club – members are forced to read outside of  their comfort zones.

Left to my own devices, I would never have picked up Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough.

McCullough’s biography of  Teddy Roosevelt’s remarkably innocent childhood depicts a pathetically weak, asthmatic boy clamoring for his parents’ attention. It was through the demanding love of Roosevelt’s unusually demonstrative father that Teddy grew into his tough adult self.

While this book was a favorite of both Laure and Dixie, I returned it to the local library partially read.

Discussion questions can be found here.

Anyone who has enjoyed the The Inspector Lynley Mysteries on PBS, would likewise appreciate  the printed version of works by Elizabeth George.

In her debut novel, A Great Deliverance,  the novelist lays the groundwork for the up-and-down working relationship of  smooth, attractive and utterly upper-class, Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton, and  ”stubby, sturdy” detective-sergeant Barbara Havers,  who’s painfully conscious of her plain appearance and lower-class.

The mismatched team must weigh the general conviction of the villagers that this  silent, obese adolescent Roberta Teys could not have possibly wielded the bloody axe that killed her church-going father with the mounting evidence to the contrary.

Not your typical book club fare, but the skeletons in every closet made for a great discussion.

Questions are as follows:

1. Does the opening sentence, “It was a solecism of the very worst kind,” apply to Father  Hart only or to the entire novel?  Explain. (Solecism – grammatical mistake or absurdity)

2. Given that Barbara Havers and Thomas Lynley come from vastly different backgrounds can they, in your opinion, work together successfully?

3. Is Havers accurate in her assessment of her own abilities as a detective?  Do others at Scotland Yard share the same opinion?  Webberly?  Lynley?

4. Discuss the purpose of the two shrines in the novel.  Would you consider them productive or counterproductive?

5. We know why William Teys wanted to marry Olivia O’dell, but what did Olivia have to gain from their marriage?

6. Not judging by appearances is a recurrent theme in ‘A Great Deliverance’.  Discuss who is judging, who is being judged and the result of that judgment.

7.  Webberly told Havers, “There’s a lot you can learn from working with Lynley.”  What could she learn?  What did she learn?  What was she afraid to learn?  Does she really hate Lynley?

8. “People would do anything for the ones they love most.”  How does this statement explain Roberta’s behavior and/or her motive for killing her father?

9. Was Barbara Havers at fault for her hard-nosed treatment of Nell Graham a.k.a. Gillian Teys?

10. After entering her parent’s home and seeing Tony’s shrine, Havers realized that she had been, “incubating a chimera and what a bloody waste it’s been.”  Explain.

(Chimera – In medicine:  a person composed of two genetically distinct types of cells; In Greek mythology:  fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent.)

11. Did you agree with Father Hart’s decision not to betray what he had heard in the confessional?  Why/Why not?

12. In your experience, was the picture of religion that Elizabeth George portrayed in ‘A Great Deliverance’ an accurate one?  Did the author have an ulterior motive?

13. Discuss the emphasis the author places on setting/scenery in the novel.   (p. 55 – the right streets of Acton, p. 56 – the wrong streets of Acton, Scrapbook of travel sites, p. 108-109 – Yorkshire countryside)

14. Give examples of the author’s use of humor to lighten the subject matter of the novel.

15. Given the book’s title, ‘A Great Deliverance,’ did you believe the murderer’s confession early on in the text?  What other characters had sufficient motive to kill William Teys?

What unlikely books has your club enjoyed?

• a small southern town where nobody’s business remains private for long
• several irresistibly, quirky characters living out their convictions regardless of public opinion
• shrewd insights and observations cloaked in homespun humor for all to enjoy

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

In this break-through Alabama novel, the action swings between the Whistle Stop Cafe and the Rose Terrace Nursing Home.

This two-fold story introduces Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison, co-owners of a post-depression era eatery.  The secondary account revolves around the nursing facility where Ninny Threadgoode, Idgie’s elderly sister-in-law, coaches middle-aged housewife, Evelyn Couch, through several of life’s more challenging moments.

Through the respectful treatment of Idgie and Ruth’s ‘relationship’, Flagg presents her personal views on feminism and Sapphic love.

Probably the author’s best known novel, its story line spawned the1991 movie, Fried Green Tomatoes , but also earned Ms. Flagg an Academy Award nomination for her work on the screenplay.

Discussion Questions can be found here.

Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

Coming to light first as a short story that garnered the author first prize  at an 1978 Writer’s Conference, this novel is told from the perspective of 11-year-old Daisy Fay.

The story unfolds in diary form peppered with spelling mistakes which Ms. Flagg hoped would disguise her lack of competency in that area.  (an outgrowth of undiagnosed dyslexia)

Set in the 1950s era town of Gulf Coast Shell Beach, the dysfunctional Harper family, complete with adored alcoholic father and neurotic mother, will stop at nothing in their struggle for survival.

Whether riding half naked through town on horseback or competing for a scholarship in the Miss Mississippi pageant, the hapless, truth-telling heroine just can’t avoid trouble.

Discussion topics can be found here.

Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

Main character, Dena Nordstrom, travels from Elmwood Springs,  to New York City and back again when the stresses of TV journalism and life in the big city take their toll.

Each humorous character:   cousin Norma and  her husband, Mackey; sorority sister, Sookie, the antithesis of our heroine; and the recurring character, neighbor Dorothy, lends a spark to Dena’s life  below the Mason-Dixon line.

But Ms. Flagg shoves humor aside when Dena confronts a major crisis during the search for a mother who abandoned her daughter many years before.

Click here for discussion questions.

Standing in the Rainbow

Once again Ms. Flagg takes the reader back to Elmwood Springs, home of the Smith family.  There’s earnest Cub Scout Bobby Smith, his pharmacist father, and his radio personality mother, Neighbor Dorothy. (This character first appeared in Welcome to the World, Baby Girl.)

The story follows the family, their friends, neighbors and acquaintances over a 50-year period of time  starting when $1.50 could buy a live Christmas tree, movie goers could find an afternoon’s worth of entertainment for a nickle, plus sit on a stool afterwards for a sundae at the soda fountain.

Questions for book club discussion can be found here.

A Redbird Christmas

A synopsis and discussion questions can be found by clicking here.

Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven

In this 2006 selection, the novelist treats the reader to one person’s view of heaven-the botanical garden in Kansas City.

After octogenarian Elner Simfissle dies of anaphylactic shock, she rides a crazy, side-ways elevator to meet her makers in the guise of Neighbor Dorothy and her husband, Raymond, atop a sparkling crystal staircase.

Later a sudden and most unexpected resurrection prompts those around the rosy-cheeked lady to make drastic changes in their lives:  Norma becomes a real estate agent, Luther marries Bobbie Jo and Tot gives up her negativity.

Click here for discussion questions.

I Still Dream About You, Honey

Coming soon – November 2010

No matter which Fannie Flagg book your club  might choose, members will always find a multitude of  unconventional characters known to make observations such as, “That catfish was so big the photograph alone weighed 40 pounds.”

Don’t miss out on the fun!!

]]> http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/questions/southern-fried-fiction/feed 0 http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/questions/literary-comfort-food http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/questions/literary-comfort-food#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:50:46 +0000 Linda http://www.bookclubcompanion.com/?p=2252 In her 28th novel, Rosamunde Pilcher introduces an ensemble of five main characters who converge in Scotland on the darkest day of the year, Winter Solstice.

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?