andrewh
Junior Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Aug 2004
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Fri August 20, 2004 2:58 PM
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Beginning in October we will once again have a book discussion group. The first meeting will be Thursday, October 7, 2004 at 5:30 p.m., and we will be discussing Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, RC 53073 and BR 13651. It is also available in large print. If you would like to participate, please call the library to register, and remember, let us know which format of the book you will need, including large print. The reading for November 2004 is Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier, RC 50258 and BR 13360. For December 2004, the reading will be Atonement by Ian McEwan, RC 54023 and BR 14059. All readings are available in large print, which you can also request when you call to register. Happy reading! Librarian. 
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Thu December 02, 2004 12:08 PM
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The questions for today's discussion of Blessings by Anna Quindlen, are listed below.
In what way do the characters testify to the triumph of human decency, when love is permitted to grow and flourish?
Why do you think the baby was named “Faith”?
Why do you think both Skip and Lydia fell in love with the baby?
Why do you think the baby caused such a transformation in the Skip's life?
Do you think that Skip, Lydia, and Faith have formed a genuine family bond?
How does the difference in abilities and capacities for love shed light on the various characters?
How does the past become an influential part of the present?
At which point does the past affect the characters' actions, or change the way in which a specific event is played out?
Is love a natural instinct, or is it learned behavior?
What makes a person “legitimate” or “illegitimate”? Who decides? Who should decide?
Do Lydia or Skip ever fully escape their pasts, or must they embrace it in order to lead fuller and more productive lives?
Is Skip's decision to return Faith to her birth mother a sound one?
Do you agree with Skip's decision?
Were you satisfied with the story’s ending? If not, how would you have liked this novel to end?
In what ways have Skip and Lydia been redeemed, and what was the outcome of that process?
The redemptive power of love is prevalent throughout this novel. Do we see changes in other characters?
When you finished the book, what meaning did you take away from the title Blessings?
Enjoy! Librarian
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Fri December 17, 2004 4:36 PM
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Please be advised that the library’s Book Discussion meetings for January 6, 2005, February 3, 2005, and March 3, 2005 have been cancelled. To make it easier for readers to attend, the meetings will be held during the months of daylight savings time. The next meeting will be on Saturday, April 16, 2005 at 11:00 a.m.; the book for discussion will be The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, RC 46882 and BR 11745.
For Saturday, May 21, 2005, at 11:00 a.m., the selection will be The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan, RC 51557; and for Saturday, June 18, at 11:00 a.m., it will be City of God by E.L. Doctorow, RC 49517. All titles are also available in large print, and regular print. If you would like to participate, please call the library at (212) 206-5400, or email us at ahlbph@nypl.org to register. Registration is required. Please be sure to let us know which format of the book you'd like. Happy reading! 
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Tue April 26, 2005 4:36 PM
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Book Discussion Group
The next meeting will be on Saturday, June 18, at 11:00 a.m., the selection will be City of God by E.L. Doctorow, RC 49517. This title is also available in large print, and regular print.
For those Spanish-speaking patrons who would like to join the group, the next discussion on Saturday, July 16, 2005, will be conducted in Spanish. The selection will be El General en Su Laberinto by Gabriel García Márquez, RC 56982. This title is also available in regular print.
The Spanish group will also meet on September 17, 2005, when the selection will be Caramelo; o, Puro Cuento by Sandra Cisneros, RC 54962. On November 19, 2005, the selection will be Las Hermanas Aguero by Cristina Garcia, RC 50007. Please call well in advance to register and request your books.
The next meeting in English will be on August 20, 2005, when we'll be discussing Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, RC 56234, BR 14805. The October 15, 2005 reading will be The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer, RC 54086; and for December 10, 2005 the selection will be Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman, RC 52888.
If you would like to participate, please call the library at (212) 206-5400, or email us at ahlbph@nypl.org to register. Registration is required! Don't forget to let us know which format of the book you'd like to read. All discussions begin at 11:00 a.m.
Happy reading!
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Wed May 25, 2005 10:40 AM
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For those of you who were not able to attend the last discussion of The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan on May 21, 2005, here are the questions.
Why are bones, ghosts, and ink the three metaphorical themes of this novel?
How is Ruth’s life affected by her childhood memories?
Why does Ruth try so hard to distance herself from her Chinese heritage?
What event or events from Ruth's past qualify her for the job of interpreting other people's words?
Why does Ruth limit herself to translating what others want to say?
In what way does her job suppress her ability to communicate?
How much does the Bonesetter’s Daughter revolve around superstition?
How does this aspect of Chinese culture affect LuLing’s and Ruth actions?
Why does Ruth lose her voice once a year on August 12th? And how does Ruth "regain" her voice by the end of the novel?
How is LuLing affected by the family curse? And how does she react when she learns of her mother’s true identity?
Why are Ruth and LuLing constantly fighting, and who do you think is at fault?
What is the significance of Ruth’s learning her family name at the end of the book?
Why does LuLing reveal to Ruth their real name, as well as that of her own grandmother right before she died?
Why does Precious Auntie’s suicide change the path of LuLing's life? Was it wrong for Precious Auntie to keep this secret from her daughter?
What was the name of the Bonesetter's Daughter?
Now in her mid-forties, why does Ruth begin to examine her own feelings towards her mother, her relationship with her partner, and her career ?
What does Ruth learn about her name, her mother’s past, and her own cultural heritage that helps her to mend her relationship with Art, Fia and Dory? Did this change her opinion about her mother?
Edited: Wed May 25, 2005 at 10:53 AM by MRW01
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Mon June 20, 2005 3:35 PM
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For those of you who could not make it to the last meeting, here are the questions. The book discussed was City of God by E. L. Doctorow.
Why did the author choose ‘City of God’ as the title? What does it mean?
Do you think the book is about [human] awareness and perception?
Do you think it’s a story about storytelling?
Why do you think the cross was stolen? And who do you think stole it?
Why relocate the cross to the Synagogue of Evolutionary Judaism? Why not return it to St. Timothy’s Episcopal?
Why do you think Doctorow uses so many stories in the book?
In what ways does the story emulate current ideas and life?
When Pem goes to the cancer ward just after leaving the priesthood, he meets a group of dying people singing twentieth-century standards. What does this incident suggest?
Why does it affect Pem the way it does?
What does it mean when the pop song is transformed into a sort of secular hymnal?
In what way are the spiritual and metaphysical quests of Pem, Everett, and Sarah similar or dissimilar?
What of Pem's relationship with Sarah Blumenthal, from their first encounter at the synagogue where the stolen cross is discovered, to their wedding reception the close of the book?
What attracts Pem to Sarah, and Sarah to Pem?
In terms of the book's major themes, what does their marriage imply?
What affect does their marriage have on Everett?
What does Everett find so appealing about these two clerics?
How does the Jewish belief of Messianic time link to the themes in City of God?
What do you think of Doctorow's characters and how their interactions with each other?
How does he develop his characters?
What makes them so credible?
One of the characters thinks that his life is slowly becoming a movie. What do you think? Is this actually true?
The next discussion will be on July 16, 2005 at 11:00 a.m, which will be conducted in Spanish. The book will be Caramelo; o, Puro Cuento, RC 54962, RC 55405 by Sandra Cisneros.
HAPPY READING !
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Thu September 15, 2005 10:24 AM
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ORYX AND CRAKE by Margaret Atwood
Questions for discussion
1. Oryx and Crake includes many details that seem futuristic, but are already evident in our society. What similarities were you able to draw between our society and that of the novel?
2. Margaret Atwood invented many words and brand names while writing the novel. In what way has technology changed our vocabulary over the past five years?
3. The game 'Extinctathon' seems to be a key component in the novel. Jimmy and Crake also play 'Barbarian Stomp' and 'Blood and Roses'. Discuss the advantages and dangers of virtual reality. Is the novel form itself a sort of virtual reality? What comparable video games do you know of?
4. If you were creating the game 'Blood and Roses', what other 'Blood' items would you add? What other 'Rose' items?
5. If you had the chance to fabricate an improved human being, would you do it? If so, what features would you choose to incorporate? Why would these be better than what we've got? Your model must of course be biologically viable.
6. The pre-catastrophic society in Oryx and Crake is fixated on physical perfection and longevity, much as it is today. Do you find this ironic, both within the novel and in our own society?
7. One characteristic of the novel's society is the effective elimination of the middle class. Economic and intellectual disparities, as well as the disappearance of safe public space, allow for few alternatives: People live either in the tightly controlled Compounds of the elites, or in the more open but squalid and more dangerous Pleeblands. Where would your community find itself in the world of Oryx and Crake?
8. Snowman soon discovers that despite himself he's invented a new creation myth, simply by trying to think up comforting answers to the "why" questions of the Children of Crake. In Part Seven — the chapter entitled 'Purring' — Crake claims that "God is a cluster of neurons," despite the fact that he's had trouble eliminating religious experiences without producing zombies. Do you agree with Crake? Do Snowman's origin stories negate or enhance your views on spirituality and how it evolves among various cultures?
9. Would the novel be different if narrated by Oryx? Do any similarities exist between her early life and Snowman's? Do you always believe what she says?
10. Why does Snowman feel obligated to protect the benign Crakers, who can't understand him and can never be his close friends? Do you think that the Crakers would be capable of survival in our own society?
11. In the world of Oryx and Crake, almost everything is for sale, and a great deal of power is now in the hands of large corporations and their private security forces. There are already more private police in North America than there are public ones. What are the advantages of such a system? What are the dangers? .
12. The ending of the novel is open, allowing for tempting speculation. How do you envision Snowman's future? What about the future of humanity-both within the novel, and the real world we live in?
The next discussion will be on Saturday, September 17, 2005, at 11:00 am. We'll be discussing Empire Falls by Richard Russo. Happy Reading!
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Mon September 19, 2005 11:27 AM
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Book Discussion Questions for EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russo
"One of the good things about small towns, Miles's mother had always maintained, was that they accommodated just about everyone". Is this how you would descripe Empire Falls?
Miles's relationship with Tick is important to him? Do you agree? Is it suggestive of his mother's attachment to him?
Do you think Grace’s expectations for Miles shapes the way he is raising Tick?
Prior to the full story of Grace and Max's marriage being exposed, what clues are there that Grace was less than the ideal wife and mother?
Miles prefer to accept his mother's account of what happened on their trip to Martha's Vineyard, even though it involves her unfaithfulness of his father. Why?
Do Miles’ feelings about Grace change when he discovers who Charlie Mayne is? If Grace were still alive to answer his questions, would he feel any differently?
How does Miles's own situation affect his reaction to his mother's affair?
How does Russo use minor characters to develop the main figures?
Do David's and Miles's feelings about Mrs. Whiting and the Empire Grill differ? Who is more realistic?
David thinks Miles is much too passive. Is he justified?
What does this say about David's personality? Is David more content with his life than Miles is, and if so, why?
What is the role of religion in the life of the Roby family?
Does Father Mark offer Miles anything he cannot get from his other relationships? Why is Miles so drawn to him?
How much of influence does Catholicism have on Miles and Grace?
Does Grace's confession to Father Tom and the atonement he requires affect her attitude on life?
Why does Tick make friends with John Voss?
Why is Tick’s relationship with Janine so different from her relationship with Miles and Max Roby?
The various marriages in Empire Falls don’t seem to last very long. What connections, it any, do all the failing marriages have to the dying town of Empire Falls?
Why do you think the author made the coldness and heartlessness of the various parents towards their children, a principal theme of the book? Does events in the book justify such behavior?
The Whitings, the Robys, and the Mintys – what do each of these families symbolize in American society?
How does the town’s past affect the current generation?
What does Empire Falls provide that its residents might not be able to find anywhere else?
Does living in a small town necessarily limit the satisfaction people get out of life?
Which characters might have led better, more fulfilling lives if they had moved away from Empire Falls?
What adjectives would you use to describe Empire Falls?
Did you think any of the characters were in anyway sympathetic?
The next book discussed will be The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer, on Saturday, October 15, 2005 at 11:00 am. Happy reading!
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Sat October 15, 2005 2:43 PM
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THE PICKUP by Nadine gordimer
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why does Julie stay in Ibrahim's country?
2. Why is Abdu/Ibrahim afraid to bring Julie to his country?
3. What does the desert signify for Julie? What does it signify for Ibrahim?
4. What does Julie's "elegant suitcase" represent to Ibrahim?
5. Why is neither Julie nor Ibrahim's country ever identified by name?
6. Why does Julie later think that during her time with Abdu/Ibrahim in her homeland, they "were playing at reality; it was a doll's house, the cottage"?
7. In Arabic, the name "Abdu" literally means "servant" (and is often an abbreviated form of "Abdullah," meaning "servant of God"). Why does Ibrahim choose this name for himself while living in Julie's country?
8. In what sense, if any, do Julie and Ibrahim love each other?
9. In what ways is Julie's relationship with Ibrahim an expression of her true self? In what ways is it, as Ibrahim often believes, merely another one of "adventures"? Are those the only two options?
10. Why does Julie come to feel closer to Ibrahim's family than to her own?
11. Why does Gordimer title this novel The Pickup?
The next book to be discussed (in Spanish), will be Las Hermanas Aguero by Cristina Garcia, on Saturday, November 19, 2005 at 11:00 am. Happy reading!
Edited: Sat October 15, 2005 at 2:50 PM by MRW01
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Mon December 12, 2005 11:05 AM
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Below are the questions for discussion of Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman.
1. Things are not always as they seem in Monroe, Massachusetts. Do the beautiful people in the novel have more to hide than those who are less physically blessed? What do you think Hoffman might be trying to say about physical beauty?
2. Why does Kat "save" Rosarie from running away with Ethan, if she knows it will mean staying on the losing end of her sister's mean behavior all her life?
3. Of all the characters, who is the book most about?
4. Kat asserts that her decision to report Ethan to the police had nothing to do with the loss of her own father. Do you believe her? Why or why not?
5. Why does Jorie, after reading Rachel Morris's last diary entry, immediately decide to leave Ethan, and her hometown, behind? What does James Morris mean when he says Jorie will know what to do if she reads the diary?
6. Why does the author name the book for Rachel's Blue Diary?
7. Loyalty and devotion are important themes in Blue Diary. Do you think Jorie shows sufficient loyalty to her husband?
8. Why did Jorie feel compelled to visit Maryland?
9. Charlotte Kite endures divorce, the loss of both her parents in high school, and breast cancer, but she finds a lover in Barney Stark. Jorie leads a charmed life until her husband's heinous crimes are revealed. Which woman has had to endure more? Which situation is resolved better?
10. Should the deeds from our past be used to judge us in the present? Does benevolent behavior in the recent past "undo" reprehensible behavior from long ago?
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Tue February 21, 2006 11:22 AM
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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Unlike most other mysteries, Mma Ramotswe solves a number of small crimes, rather than a single major one. How does this affect the narrative pacing of the novel?
2. What other unique features distinguish this book from most other mystery novels?
3. What makes Precious Ramotswe such a great central character?
4. What kind of woman is she? How is she different from the usual detective?
5. Why does she feel compelled to help her fellow Africans "solve the mysteries of their lives" ?
6. What do you find surprising about Mma Ramotswe’s cases?
7. How did the author continue to hold your interest, in the absence of the kind of tension, violence, and suspense that usually drives most mysteries?
8. Mma Ramotswe's first client, Happy Bapetsi, is worried that the man who claims to be her father is a fraud taking advantage of her generosity. "All he does," she says, "is sit in his chair outside the front door and tell me what to do for him next." To which Mma Ramotswe replies, "Many men are like that" [p. 10]. What is Mma Ramotswe's view of men generally?
9. How do men behave in the novel?
10. Why does Mma Ramotswe feel it is so important to include her father's life story in the novel?
11. What does Obed Ramotswe's life reveal about the history of Africa and of South Africa?
12. What does it reveal about the nature and cost of working in the mines in South Africa?
13. Mma Ramotswe purchases a manual on how to be a detective. It advises her to pay attention to hunches. "Hunches are another form of knowledge" [p. 79]. How does intuition help Mma Ramotswe solve her cases?
14 . When Mma Ramotswe decides to start a detective agency, a lawyer tells her "It's easy to lose money in business, especially when you don't know anything about what you're doing. . . . And anyway, can women be detectives?" To which Mma Ramotswe answers, "Women are the ones who know what's going on. They are the ones with eyes. Have you not read Agatha Christie?" [p. 61]. Mma Ramotswe suggests women are more perceptive than men? Is she right?
15. Where in the novel do we see Mma Ramotswe's own extraordinary powers of observation?
16. How does she comically undercut the lawyer's arrogance in this scene?
17. Why does Mma Ramotswe marry Note?
18. Why does this seem so out of character for her?
19. In what ways does her love for an attractive and physically abusive man make her a deeper and more complicated character?
20. How does her marriage to Note change her?
21. Mma Ramotswe imagines retiring back in Mochudi, buying some land with her cousins, growing melons, and living life in such a way that "every morning she could sit in front of her house and sniff at the wood-smoke and look forward to spending the day talking with her friends. How sorry she felt for white people, who couldn't do any of this, and who were always dashing around and worrying themselves over things that were going to happen anyway. What use was it having all that money if you could never sit still or just watch your cattle eating grass? None, in her view; none at all" [p. 162]. Is Mma Ramotswe's critique of white people on the mark or is she stereotyping?
22. What makes her sense of what is important, and what brings happiness, so refreshing?
23. What other differences and similarities between black and white cultures does the novel make obvious?
24. Mma Ramotswe does not want Africa to change, to become thoroughly modern: "She did not want her people to become like everybody else, soulless, selfish, forgetful of what it means to be an African, or, worse still, ashamed of Africa" [p. 215]. But what aspects of traditional African culture trouble her?
25. How does she regard the traditional African attitude toward women, marriage, family duty, and witchcraft?
26. Is there a contradiction in her relationship to "old" Africa?
27. How surprising is Mme Ramotswe's response to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's marriage proposal?
28. How appropriate is the ending of the novel?
29. Is this a feminist novel?
30. How well does the author represent a woman's character and consciousness in Mma Ramotswe?
Edited: Sat April 22, 2006 at 3:08 PM by MRW01
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MRW01
Junior Member
Posts: 18
Joined: Aug 2004
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Sat April 22, 2006 3:08 PM
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Love by Toni Morrison
Book Discussion Questions
What are some of the causes that led to the destroyed Bill Cosey's hotel?
What destroys the friendship between Christine and Heed? What finally puts an end to their lifelong struggle with each other?
Why is Junior so obsessed with Bill Cosey?
How is parental love important in the story?
Whom does Bill Cosey love?
Why is the novel called Love?
Who dies at the end of the novel?
Does Junior feel any guilt at the end of the novel? Are her crimes forgivable?
The next meeting on May 20, 2006, at 11:00 a.m., will be in Spanish, when we'll be discussing Mi Pais Inventado: Un Paseo Nostlgico por Chile by Isabel Allende, RC 54978, (English translation, My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey through Chile RC 58348, BR 15508). This title is available in regular print. The next meeting in English will be on June 17, 2006, at 11:00 a.m., when we'll be discussing Dive From Clausen’s Pier by Ann Packer, RC 54324. This title is available in large print, and regular print. Happy Reading!
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