The Book Club Chronicles

The Book Club Chronicles PDF Author: Joan H. Parks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1475929919
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
In a University town during the present time, ladies have a book club where they are studying The Tale of Genji, the worlds first novel written by a lady from Heian Japan, with a graduate student. The ladies are going through tumultuous times that echo those of the book they are reading; a husband is dying, a marriage is falling apart, a decision about retirement has to be made. Old loves re-appear, the bereaved are able to love again, though not in the same old way, new men appear and court the ladies, loved ones sicken gradually. Houses that were used to bring up children are too large and too complicated for the lives they now lead. Their graduate student goes away for a quarter, perhaps into exile. Will there be a happy ending for any of our ladies? Do our ladies believe in the concept of happy endings? Will they continue reading The Tale of Genji together?

The Book Club Chronicles

The Book Club Chronicles PDF Author: Joan H. Parks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1475929919
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 285

Get Book Here

Book Description
In a University town during the present time, ladies have a book club where they are studying The Tale of Genji, the worlds first novel written by a lady from Heian Japan, with a graduate student. The ladies are going through tumultuous times that echo those of the book they are reading; a husband is dying, a marriage is falling apart, a decision about retirement has to be made. Old loves re-appear, the bereaved are able to love again, though not in the same old way, new men appear and court the ladies, loved ones sicken gradually. Houses that were used to bring up children are too large and too complicated for the lives they now lead. Their graduate student goes away for a quarter, perhaps into exile. Will there be a happy ending for any of our ladies? Do our ladies believe in the concept of happy endings? Will they continue reading The Tale of Genji together?

The Book Club Chronicles, Part Four - Macbeth

The Book Club Chronicles, Part Four - Macbeth PDF Author: Joan H. Parks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1491770066
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 98

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Book Description
The ladies having completed their study of Romeo and Juliet move on to Macbeth. It is February in Chicago, a dreary month that seems to last forever. The skies are grey, the streets cold and dangerous, a setting that mirrors Macbeth. The three witches who make their target Macbeth, the ghosts who torment Macbeth and his consort Lady Macbeth resonate with what is happening in their own lives. Katherine is haunted by the certainty that her cancer will recur, and is terrified that she will die alone. Franny is tormented by the ghosts from her past that she thought she had escaped by marrying Sam. Annie, reconciled with Bill is worried about the fate of the artists, writers, and doctors in a culture that exploits those who do the actual work. Claire is disturbed by the play and the pain it is causing her and her friends. All are intensely aware of how little time is left to them and how precious that remaining time is. Changes, welcome or not, come to all the ladies. The Book Club and their friendships provide sustenance and comfort in this unsettled time of their lives.

The Book Club Chronicles—Part Six—The Tempest

The Book Club Chronicles—Part Six—The Tempest PDF Author: Joan H. Parks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1532045964
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 122

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Book Description
The storms of autumn arrive, and the storms of their lives continue. The ladies decide to study Shakespeares The Tempest, wrongly thinking that a comedy will be easier than another of the big tragedies. Finding a suitable filmed version is difficult; reading the text is even more difficult. They struggle, seeing in this late play parts that mirror their own experiences. Claire and Henry struggle in their late-life marriage with the debris and assumptions from their earlier marriages. Annie fights against the physical constraints that come with her aging as Bill wrestles with what he will do after retirement. Katherine is haunted by her past and her brush with cancer and has trouble accepting that Mark is in her life for the duration. Frannie now has grandchildren and a measure of happiness because she has faced the demons of her upbringing. The new members of the book club, Sally and Clarissa, have their own issues as their long-standing friendship shatters. Clarissa is rejuvenated by one new passion and one old passion. All this occurs and is illuminated by their reading of the glorious music and the strange plots of The Tempest.

The Book Club Chronicles - Part Five - Hamlet

The Book Club Chronicles - Part Five - Hamlet PDF Author: Joan H. Parks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1532002912
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 125

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Book Description
It is early fall when the ladies reconvened their book club. At Katherines suggestion they continued with Shakespeare and studied Hamlet using the text and the version filmed with Sir Patrick Stewart as Claudius as their base. Surprised at their reaction to the characters in Act 1, they quickly realized that seen through the filter of their age and gender that they were the ones most able to mount a defense of Gertrude. They added the Sir Kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet as contrast. Their study of the play is reflected in the talks with the males in their lives: Claire is newly married and her Henry isdetermined to hold on to his corner office; Annies husband, Bill, is facing theend of his career which will effect her in unpredictable ways; Franny, slowly recovering with the help of her therapist, wants to reconcile with Sam and her children; Katherine is convinced that her liaison with Mark will not endure and is determined to enjoy her remaining time with him. A new member, welcomed gingerly into the book club, turns out to be a good addition. The ladies struggled with both the play and with the awareness that because of their age, they and all their friends and mates were seen as obsolete.

Trygve

Trygve PDF Author: Joan H. Parks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1663242860
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 103

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Book Description
Part 10 of the Late Bronze Age Stores has the kin near the great trade route in what today is Northern Lebanon. Times are desperate. Predators attack from both sea and land. Trygve of the Northerners has to decide about joining with the Kin. The leaders of the Kin have to decide about joining with Trygve and his people. Dalil, the storyteller, has returned to the Kin after many years of roaming. The two groups learn each other’s languages and stories, as they prepare for what may be another great migration.

Penelope and the Lawyers

Penelope and the Lawyers PDF Author: Joan H. Parks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1663264511
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 94

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Book Description
Penelope asks for help from the lawyer she once knew. He is retired, but his nephew takes care of her. She pays a call to the old gentleman in his aerie above Lake Shore Drive. Thus, this tale of a love deferred commences in all its humor, realism, sweet moments of recounting the drama of their long lives and finally, acceptance of their fates.

Sigrid

Sigrid PDF Author: Joan H. Parks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1663262853
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 99

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Book Description
Sigrid, a Healer, after enduring rapes and beatings in her captivity cannot bear to be touched, until an Egyptian soldier wins her trust. This volume again meditates on the nature of heroism, how myths are made, and how this small tribe survives and attracts the talented in the midst of the tumult of their time.

The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition

The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition PDF Author: Judy Gelman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101560568
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description
“Part cookbook, part celebration of the written word, [The Book Club Cookbook] illustrates how books and ideas can bring people together.” —Publishers Weekly "We are what we eat, they say. We can eat what we read, too. The Book Club Cookbook by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp (Tarcher/Penguin, $21.95), first published in 2004 and now newly updated and revised, offers up dozens of new recipes inspired by book clubs’ favorite books, their characters and authors." —USA Today "It's pretty much a no-brainer why we love something like The Book Club Cookbook - it combines two of our all-time favorite things: food and books. Even better - the recipes in the book let us get a fuller experience of our favorite novels by thinking up recipes either inspired by the story or literally contributed by the author as essential to the book." —Flavorwire "The Book Club Cookbook excels at offering book groups new title ideas and a culinary way to spice up their discussions." —Library Journal Whether it's Roman Punch for The Age of Innocence, or Sabzi Challow (spinach and rice) with Lamb for The Kite Runner, or Swedish Meatballs and Glögg for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, nothing spices up a book club meeting like great eats. Featuring recipes and discussion ideas from bestselling authors and book clubs across the country, this fully revised and updated edition of the classic book guides readers in selecting and preparing culinary masterpieces that blend perfectly with the literary masterpieces their club is reading. This edition features new contributions from a host of today's bestselling authors including: Kathryn Stockett, The Help (Demetrie's Chocolate Pie and Caramel Cake) Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants (Oyster Brie Soup) Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper (Brian Fitzgerald's Firehouse Marinara Sauce) Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone (Almaz's Ethiopian Doro Wot and Sister Mary Joseph Praise's Cari de Dal) Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Annie Barrows's Potato Peel Pie and Non-Occupied Potato Peel Pie) Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See's Deep-Fried Sugared Taro) The Book Club Cookbook will add real flavor to your book club meetings!

Nahid

Nahid PDF Author: Joan H. Parks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1532027869
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
The Late Bronze Age Stories part seven, Nahid, continues the story of this family who are descended from Thutmose, the eighteenth dynasty Egyptian artist. It is unsafe for the kin to remain in northern Mesopotamia for a tribe led by an ambitious man threatens their very existence. Petros the Wise and Kaliq have devised an intricate strategy to move the outnumbered kin to a safer place, but because they have a traitor in their midst, they can tell no one of their plans. Nahid, a young jeweler, sets out along the trade route to locate and bring back lapis. Will his great gifts for jewelry be damaged by the violence he sees? Much is changed during the course of the adventures. Nahid matures as a man and as an artist. The Bedouin and Serena thrown together by his injury become closer, their lives forever intertwined. The kin have to decide whether to honor the traditions of their kin or succumb to the surrounding violence and chaos.

Dalil

Dalil PDF Author: Joan H. Parks
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1491762535
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description
After their adventures in the land of the one river, the kin set out to return to their families. Along the Great Green Sea, they shelter in a valley from a sudden storm and come upon a fever ridden traveler, who under Dalils care survives and regains her heath. A band of rough men arrive intent on capturing her, for reasons that are mysterious. She needs protection but finds it hard to trust the people whom she has fallen among. They protect her time and time again from those who would seize her. She gradually comes to trust Dalil and to see that she must tell him and all their companions why she is being hunted. The girl tells them of her past and her name. Knowing her story and why she is in danger, the kin devise strategies to insure her safety. If she wishes to remain with them, they vow to protect her. Dalil discovers that she is the true partner in his craft of story telling and that she, like he, can change her appearance and speech into that of another. On the journey to Ugarit and then on to where the kin reside on the ancient trade route, they develop their story telling gifts. The rest of the kin look at them with wonder, and then appreciation. Petros and Kaliq, the protectors, plot how their emerging gifts can be of use to the kin.