Ashland Books at Noon May 2019 Picks

Created on April 27, 2021, 8:49 am

Last Updated April 27, 2021, 8:49 am

On the first Tuesday of every month, an intrepid group of Ashland readers meets at noon to talk about the best books they've read during the month. These are their stories. [Cue CSI Theme Music]
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Ahna, from afar, says: "A mid-twenties woman 'tilted' within normal society attempts to maneuver through the trials of coming to terms with her serious mental affliction. She lives at her grandmother's cottage alone and ventures out cautiously with great curiosity, meditation and wonderment. She is the narrator is her inner voices and expounds to the reader her awareness of what she finds and thinks. This is a book with prose that made me slow down and ponder. I actually found myself in agreement with some of her discoveries. This is the second book by this author who writes in elegant literary style. Not a quick read."
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Since we had a side conversation about the Iowa Writer's Workshop, Kristin mentioned this memoir/lit review of heavy-drinking authors. The memoir-y parts are set primarily at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. She wants to reiterate that she was making no statements about the hypothetical drinking habits of any members of the Books at Noon crew. ;)
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Rad read this and said that it started out really well but didn't live up to its early promise.
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Jane read this and enjoyed it. She didn't realize when she started it that it was a children's book...but it's just a really good story!
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Kristin read this short story collection recently. The author is heavily influenced by the work of George Saunders. This is particularly evident in the first story in the collection "The Finklestein Five." Kristin felt like this short story was an excellent example of how short stories can be particularly powerful at conveying a social justice message in an impact-ful way.
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Our former fearless leader, Amy, suggested this title. She was inspired to read it after watching OSF's Cambodian Rock Band which many of us have seen and enjoyed. This is a good title to read if you want more stories set in Cambodia.
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7) sleepers
This entry no longer exists in the catalog
8) sleeper
This entry no longer exists in the catalog
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Claudia heard about this at our April meeting. She observed that it's pretty unrelentingly grim without an emotionally positive payoff.
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Carolyn is working on her writing...and this title is renowned for being one of the best books of short stories out there. Carolyn found some beautiful bits of prose in this collection and shared one with us.
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Bill is still reading this recent Pulitzer winner. While it is slow, Bill is enjoying the writing and the presence of characters to whom he can relate.
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Rad read this book about an ice age that happened during the middle ages. While researchers know what happened, they don't know why. There is a recent title: Nature's Mutiny by Phillip Blom that Rad is eager to read. While the library will be purchasing this title, it is not yet in the catalog.
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Jane was expecting something like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. This wasn't that but she liked this WWII historical novel set in Hawaii.
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Jane enjoys Scottoline partly because she is so familiar with the Philadelphia setting.
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Wendy really enjoyed this recent book about end of life issues from Ram Dass.
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If you haven't encountered Station Eleven before in your reading, here it is! Kristin says that this is a literary post-apocalyptic novel with tons of Shakespeare references.
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Kristin found this quiet book about a fictional disease outbreak quiet and thoughtful. An excellent readalike for Station Eleven.
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Claudia waiting patiently for this to come in. Written by a social geographer, she really enjoyed the ideas presented.
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