Stephanie Rische

Blogger and Writer: Capturing Stories of God's Grace

Book Club Discussion: The Invention of Wings

Invention of WingsThanks to everyone who read The Invention of Wings this month (which I introduced here). Here’s how it works: I’ll throw out a few topics for discussion, and you can write your responses about these topics (or others you’d like to discuss) in the comment section.

Discussion #1: Multiple perspectives

I liked the use of two narrators (Handful and Sarah). It gives us a perspective we wouldn’t have if we saw the story from only one character’s point of view. It also allows us to get inside their heads and see their real struggles—they feel like real people with complex personalities and challenges.

Did you relate to any of the characters? Did you have a favorite?

Discussion #2: Characters finding their voice

I appreciated the way the author wove in the theme of struggling to find one’s voice. Sarah literally fought to express herself despite her stutter, and she also strove to find her voice as a woman in an era that didn’t give her many outlets to do so. She tried to speak up through the platform of the law and the church, and eventually found her voice by joining the abolitionist movement.

Charlotte, too, struggled to find her voice as a slave and as a woman, and she ultimately found a way to express herself through the story quilt: “Mauma had sewed where she came from, who she was, what she loved, the things she’d suffered, and the things she hoped. She’d found a way to tell it.”

Have you ever struggled to find your voice? What helped you express yourself?

Discussion #3: Passive evil vs. active evil

One of the sobering realities portrayed in this book is that evil isn’t just perpetuated by those who actually inflict the cruelty (like the slave owners who beat the slaves). Evil also grows as a result of those who sit back and allow it to happen. It was heartbreaking to watch Sarah start out with childlike idealism, creating the manumission paper to free Handful, and then gradually become cynical as she grows older: “I was very good at despising slavery in the abstract, in the removed and anonymous masses, but in the concrete, intimate flesh of the girl beside me, I’d lost the ability to be repulsed by it. I’d grown comfortable with the particulars of evil. There’s a frightful muteness that dwells at the center of all unspeakable things, and I had found my way into it.”

What evils in our world today have we become desensitized to as a culture?

Discussion #4: Quest for freedom

The thread of freedom runs deep and rich through these pages, and I was captivated by the author’s lovely turns of phrases to express that longing for freedom of body and soul. In one striking moment, Handful says to Sarah, “My body might be a slave, but not my mind. For you, it’s the other way round.” Then there’s the soaring speech by Lucretia Mott: “God fills us with all sorts of yearnings that go against the grain of the world—but the fact that those yearnings often come to nothing, well, I doubt that’s God’s doing. . . . We’re all yearning for a wedge of sky, aren’t we? I suspect God plants these yearnings in us so we’ll at least try and change the course of things.”

What’s your wedge of sky? What wings have you found to help you find freedom? What’s scary about learning to fly?

Rating

I would give this book 3 stars. The words and sentences are masterfully crafted, the relationships between the characters are well developed, and I enjoyed reading about this topic from dual perspectives. But I thought the plot fell flat, and the ending felt especially anticlimactic. It almost felt like the author was trying so hard to keep true to the historical accounts that the novel itself came up short.

How many stars would you give this book?

Remember: There will be a free book giveaway for one lucky commenter!

Announcing the Book Club for July

Invention of WingsThanks to everyone who participated in our discussion about This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, which we discussed here. Congratulations to Megan for winning a free book!

And now . . . announcing the next book club! We’ll be reading The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd.

Here’s the description from the author’s site:

From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees: a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world.

Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimkes’ daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is mean to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Sue Monk Kidd’s sweeping new novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday in 1803, when she is given ownership of ten-year-old Handful, who is to be her waiting maid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty-five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement, and the uneasy ways of love.

As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

Inspired in part by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in search of something better, and Charlotte’s lover, Denmark Vesey, a charismatic free black man who is planning insurrection.

This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at one of the most devastating wounds in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved.

We will discuss this book at the end of August.

{Remember, there will be a free book giveaway for one lucky commenter!}

Book Discussion: This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

Ann PatchettThanks to everyone who read our book for this month. We’ll be discussing This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett, which I introduced here.

Here’s how it works: I’ll throw out a few topics for discussion, and you can write your responses about these topics (or others you’d like to discuss) in the comment section.

Discussion #1: A Glimpse into the Writing Process

Of all the descriptions I’ve read about the writing process, Patchett’s words are among the most profound and relatable. She captures both the magic and the torture of the process, and I continually found myself saying, “What? You too?” I think a lot of writers have this suspicion that writing comes easily for everyone else, so it’s a huge relief to know that not even Ann Patchett has fairy dust sprinkled over her computer. My favorite part is where she describes an idea for a novel as a beautiful butterfly that she allows to fly free in her imagination for a while, until finally she has no choice but to pin it down with words:

I reach up and pluck the butterfly from the air. I take it from the region of my head and I press it down against my desk, and there, with my own hand, I kill it. It’s not that I want to kill it, but it’s the only way I can get something that is so three-dimensional onto the flat page. . . . Imagine running over a butterfly with an SUV. What I’m left with is a dry husk of my friend, a broken body chipped, dismantled, and poorly reassembled. Dead. That’s my book. . . . The journey from the head to the hand is perilous and lined with bodies.

Have you done any writing? If so, was there anything in Ann Patchett’s descriptions about the writing process that resonated with you?

Discussion #2: What Dreams Are Made Of

I appreciated the way the author describes what it takes to achieve the dream of being a writer—or of achieving any dream, for that matter. Dreams need a spark of wonder to get started, but ultimately they require steady determination if they’re going to go anywhere.

Why is it we understand that playing the cello will require work but we relegate writing to the magic of inspiration? . . . If you want to write, practice writing. Practice it for hours a day, not to come up with a story you can publish, but because you long to learn how to write well, because there is something that you alone can say.

Have you found this to be true when pursuing your own dreams? Which comes more easily for you: the inspiration or the hard work?

Discussion #3: Jumping in with Both Feet

People often have the idea that writers hole themselves up in dark rooms and emerge only on rare occasions for interviews or bathroom breaks. With her remarkable gumption, Ann Patchett defies such stereotypes. She’s willing to live out her research—almost to the extent of making her own life an experiment. Cases in point: she joined the LAPD, became a regular at the opera, and took a cross-country trip in an RV—all for the sake of a story. And just when brick-and-mortar bookstores were all shutting their doors, she decided to do her part to buck the trend and opened her own independent store (you can check it out here).

Would you enjoy having a job that allows you to experience alternate lives firsthand? Did this book make you want to visit Ann Patchett’s bookstore?

Discussion #4: Our Friend Ann

I went into this book unsure whether I’d like it or not. I adored Patchett’s Bel Canto, but I wasn’t as taken with her other titles. And not every author is able to pull off writing bothfiction and nonfiction, so I didn’t know what to expect from a collection of essays. But the tone in these pieces won me over immediately. The author comes across as warm, witty, accessible, smart, and above all, very human—like we’d certainly be friends if only we had a chance to meet. I also gained a new insight about her books when I read this. I’d always thought her novels were vastly different from one another (one about a magician, one about an opera singer, and one about a pharmacist in the Amazon jungle), but she explains that all of her books are based on the same premise: people getting thrown together in strange environment. And I have to say, reading this book made me want to read more Ann Patchett.

Did you enjoy the tone of this book? Were you inspired to read more titles by the author?

Rating

I would recommend this book to anyone who writes or anyone who wants to know what goes on inside a writer’s head. It’s like a pleasant chat with an author-friend. (I’d also mention that the title is pretty misleading—there’s one essay about marriage, but that’s not the focus of the book.) I’d give this title five stars (out of five).

How many stars would you give this book?

Remember: There will be a free book giveaway for one lucky commenter!

Announcing the Book Club for May 2014!

Ann PatchettCongratulations to Kelli, the winner of last month’s book club! You can find out more about our discussion on lighthouses, moral dilemmas, and rule following here. (Kelli, I’ll send you a separate message about getting your free book.)

The book club selection for this month is This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett.

This is a collection of essays about writing and art and relationships and life. (The title is a bit misleading—it’s taken from one of the essays, but that’s not the theme of the book.) Here’s the description from the back cover:

Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto, examines her deepest commitments—to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband—creating a resonant portrait of a life in This is the Story of a Happy Marriage.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage takes us into the very real world of Ann Patchett’s life. Stretching from her childhood to the present day, from a disastrous early marriage to a later happy one, it covers a multitude of topics, including relationships with family and friends, and charts the hard work and joy of writing, and the unexpected thrill of opening a bookstore.

As she shares stories of the people, places, ideals, and art to which she has remained indelibly committed, Ann Patchett brings into focus the large experiences and small moments that have shaped her as a daughter, wife, and writer.

We will discuss this book in June, so stay tuned!

Book Club Discussion: The Light Between Oceans

the_light_between_the_oceansThanks to everyone who joined us for this month’s virtual book club. Today we’re discussing The Light between Oceans by M. L. Stedman.

Here’s how it works: I’ll throw out a few topics for discussion, and you can write your responses about these topics (or others you’d like to discuss) in the comment section.

Discussion #1: Moral Dilemmas

My favorite aspect of this book was the way it posed moral dilemmas and forced me to ponder what I’d do in that situation. I like to think I’m not the kind of person who would keep someone else’s baby, but when I put myself in Isabel’s shoes, I understand why she did what she did. I also appreciated that the book explored what happens when you make one bad choice and everything unravels to the point that it seems like there’s no longer a right choice to make.

Which family did you want Lucy-Grace to end up in? Why? Have you ever found yourself in a spot where it seems like the right thing is no longer possible?

Discussion #2: Justice vs. Mercy

When the baby washes up on Janus Island, Isabel says: “Love’s bigger than rule books. . . . Our prayers have been answered. The baby’s prayers have been answered. Who’d be ungrateful enough to send her away?” (p. 103). She sees the world—and this baby—through the eyes of mercy. Tom, on the other hand, is plagued by his conscience and his desire to do the right thing: “You could kill a bloke with rules, Tom knew that. And yet sometimes they were what stood between man and savagery, between man and monsters” (p. 104).

Did you resonate more with Tom or Isabel in this tension between justice and mercy? Did your perspective change as the book went on? In your own life, do you tend to lean more toward mercy or justice?

Discussion #3: The Book’s Setting

The lighthouse seems to serve as something of a metaphor in the book—a symbol of hope and safety for Isabel and Tom. When they left the lighthouse behind, it was almost as if their family’s light was extinguished. As they left Janus Rock, Tom wished Isabel would “give him one of the old smiles that used to remind him of Janus Light—a fixed, reliable point in the world, which meant he was never lost. But the flame has gone out—her face seems uninhabited now” (p. 214).

Do you think this story would have worked in another setting? Would you be able to live on an isolated place like Janus Island?

Discussion #4: Tense Shifts

Okay, this is a nerdy English major observation. Did you notice that the tense changed between past and present? It bothered me a lot at first, but as the story progressed, I realized the author was doing it for effect to make certain scenes more intense. By the end, I was grudgingly willing to go along with it.

What did you think about the tense changes? Was it distracting, or did you think it worked?

Discussion #5: The Ending

When I got to a certain point in the book, I had this horrifying realization: It’s impossible for this book to have a happy ending. I was right. It was sad for Isabel and Tom, who lost the little girl they loved and the chance to be parents. It was sad for Hannah, who would never truly get back the child she lost. And most of all, it was sad for Lucy-Grace, whose life was irreparably splintered through no fault of her own. I also felt a little emotionally manipulated at the end. Of course, Isabel is dead when Lucy-Grace returns. And of course she died just a week ago. And of course I cried buckets of tears onto my pillow against my will.

What did you think of the ending? Did it seem realistic? Is there an ending you would have liked to see instead?

Rating:

Although the plot was a bit melodramatic at times, I appreciated the evocative themes and the rich writing. The characters felt real, and their internal struggles were palpable. This one is going to stay with me for a while. I would give it three stars (out of five).

How many stars would you give this book?

 

{Remember: I’ll give away a free book to one lucky commenter! Respond by Friday to be eligible to win.}

 

 

Announcing the Virtual Book Club for March

Thanks to everyone who participated in our discussion about Cooked, which we discussed here. If you read it but haven’t had a chance to comment yet, I invite you to join the conversation!

The selection for this month is The Light between Oceans by M. L. Stedman. Here is the publisher’s description:

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.
The Light between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss.

We’ll be discussing this book at the end of April. I hope you will join us!

{Remember—there will be a free book giveaway for one lucky commenter!}

Virtual Book Discusson: Cooked

cooked_by_michael_pollanThanks to everyone who joined us for our virtual book club for January. This month we’re discussing Cooked by Michael Pollan.

Here’s how it works: I’ll throw out a few topics for discussion, and you can write your responses about these topics (or others you’d like to discuss) in the comment section.

Discussion #1: Cooking with the Elements
I thought the author’s structure for the book was fascinating. I’d never considered how different types of cooking fit into the categories of fire, water, air, and earth, and it made for an intriguing setup. I also enjoyed the way he showed his own progression from kitchen amateur to apprentice to blossoming cook. I felt like I could relate since he didn’t start out as an expert, and I appreciated his willingness to jump in to various types of cooking with both feet.

Did you have a favorite section? Which of the elements are you most comfortable in when it comes to cooking? Which elements are you least comfortable in?

Discussion #2: Cooking and Community
I really appreciated the author’s observations about how the way we cook and the way we eat effect how communal we are as a society. I was especially intrigued by his theory that the style of the cooking itself impacts the way we consume meals. When people prepared food around a fire, they cooked and ate together as an entire community. Then when people started cooking with an oven in individual households, cooking and eating became family-centric events. Now, as microwaves and fast food become the meal-prepping tools of choice, the focus is on the individual. One of my favorite parts of the book was seeing how the author’s various cooking experiments brought his family together and resulted not only in edible rewards but also in intangible gifts, such as bonding and conversations with his wife and teenage son.

As our cooking and eating become more individualized, do you think we’re in danger of losing a sense of community and family? Is there anything we can do to promote these values in our own homes?

Discussion #3: Intentional Food Choices
One of the things I appreciated most about this book was the way it opened my eyes to the underlying ramifications of the choices we make about food, cooking, and eating. When we mindlessly stick something in the microwave, pick up dinner at the drive-thru, or prioritize other activities over “scratch cooking,” there are consequences—both for us as individuals and for us as a culture. Although I haven’t necessarily revamped my approach to cooking after reading this book, it certainly has made me more aware and more thoughtful about the choices I make to get dinner on the table. I wasn’t nearly as ambitious as the author (no whole-hog barbecue or beer brewing for me), and I didn’t try any of his recipes, but this book did inspire a few modest “from scratch” attempts. My biggest success was my bread-baking adventure (the first time I cooked with yeast!). I wasn’t ambitious enough to make a starter and baby it for weeks like the author did, but it felt like a step in the right direction.

Did this book cause you to reevaluate any of your cooking/eating choices? Have you ever attempted any cooking experiments similar to what the author describes in this book?

Rating ★ ★ ★ ★
I’d give this book 4 stars. It made me think about food choices in a new way, and I appreciated the author’s style. He was at once knowledgeable and brilliant (I was impressed with the historical context and scientific background he offered throughout), but he was also accessible and an engaging storyteller.

How many stars would you give this book (out of five)?
As a side note, if you liked this book, I’d recommend Bread and Wine, which we discussed here.

{Remember: there will be a free book giveaway for one lucky commenter!}

 

Announcing the Virtual Book Club Selection for January

cooked_by_michael_pollanCongratulations to Cindy, who won the free book giveaway for December!

And now, the first book of the month for 2014 is . . . Cooked by Michael Pollan.

Here’s the description from the back of the book:

In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements—fire, water, air, and earth—to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer.

Each section of Cooked tracks Pollan’s effort to master a single classic recipe using one of the four elements. A North Carolina barbecue pit master tutors him in the primal magic of fire; a Chez Panisse–trained cook schools him in the art of braising; a celebrated baker teaches him how air transforms grain and water into a fragrant loaf of bread; and finally, several mad-genius “fermentos” (a tribe that includes brewers, cheese makers, and all kinds of picklers) reveal how fungi and bacteria can perform the most amazing alchemies of all. The reader learns alongside Pollan, but the lessons move beyond the practical to become an investigation of how cooking involves us in a web of social and ecological relationships. Cooking, above all, connects us.

The effects of not cooking are similarly far reaching. Relying upon corporations to process our food means we consume large quantities of fat, sugar, and salt; disrupt an essential link to the natural world; and weaken our relationships with family and friends. In fact, Cooked argues, taking back control of cooking may be the single most important step anyone can take to help make the American food system healthier and more sustainable. Reclaiming cooking as an act of enjoyment and self-reliance, learning to perform the magic of these everyday transformations, opens the door to a more nourishing life.

Join us to discuss the book the Boston Globe calls “important, possibly life-altering, reading for every living, breathing human being.”

{Remember: There will be a free book giveaway for one lucky commenter!}

Virtual Book Club: Wonder

wonder_by_rj_palacioThanks to everyone who joined us for our first young adult novel discussion. This month we’re talking about Wonder by R. J. Palacio, which I introduced here.

Here’s how it works: I’ll throw out a few topics for discussion, and you can write your responses about these topics (or others you’d like to discuss) in the comment section.

Discussion #1: The Best and the Worst in People
In this novel, Augie goes through a more extreme version of what everyone experiences at some point—the agony of being different, the fear of not being accepted, the pain of being excluded. Middle school is a crucible that brings out the best and worst in people, and this is even more obvious with someone like Augie, who has a significant physical deformity.

We see the pain inflicted by Augie’s classmates who bully him and actively avoid him (claiming he has “the plague”), and we also see the pain inflicted in more passive ways by peers who aren’t mean to him but don’t stand up for him either. But on the flip side, we also see the good in humanity, such as when Jack forfeits his popularity to be Augie’s friend and when Summer sits at his lunch table even though it meant the popular kid wouldn’t go out with her.

When you were a kid, where did you fit in the social pecking order? Were you a leader, someone who went with the crowd, or someone who marched to your own drum? How can we encourage kids to stand up for what’s right, even when it’s not popular?

Discussion #2: Everyone Has a Story
I enjoyed hearing the different perspectives on the same story—it was a good reminder that everyone has a story to tell. (Although it did get tedious at times when the content overlapped from one person’s story to the next.) Via, the dutiful big sister, is often overshadowed by everything that’s happening to Augie, but when we hear her story, we realize that she’s dealing with challenges of her own too. And while we may be tempted to judge Miranda at first, after we hear her side, we discover that she’s been struggling with her parents’ divorce.

Did you like the multiple viewpoints format? Did you have a favorite character?

Discussion #3: Loving without Overprotecting
I liked the way the relationships were portrayed in Augie’s family. His parents seemed believable—imperfect but full of love. I imagine that every parent or teacher feels the struggle they felt when they sent Augie off to middle school “like a lamb to the slaughter.” How do you protect your child and still prepare him/her for the real world? How do you know when to let go and allow him fall sometimes?

Do you think you would have sent your child to school, as Augie’s parents did? What would you have handled differently?

Discussion #4: The Ending
I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting for the ending of this book, but I was a little disappointed. It seems like Augie’s award at graduation was supposed to be the climactic moment, but rang somewhat hollow to me. His whole life, Augie has wanted to be a regular kid, like everyone else. He doesn’t want to be different or special or pitied or coddled by adults, so having the principal select him for the award didn’t seem like an apt conclusion. Maybe it would have been more satisfying if the award had been voted on by all his peers—it would have shown how much had changed over the course of the year.

What did you think of the ending? If you were writing an alternate ending, what would happen in your version? What do you think will happen to Augie next year?

Rating: ★ ★ ★ 
I would give this book 3 out of 5 stars. It was a little slow at times, and I wanted to skim past some of the tedious fifth grade interactions. ut then again, maybe that’s because I’m not the target audience. This book will spark good conversations—for adults and kids alike—and it rings true as a study of the human condition.

How many stars would you give this book?

{Remember: there will be a free book giveaway for one lucky commenter!}