Moral Illumination :: Quote Of The Week

“The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you the knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.” - Elizabeth Hardwick

No Advantage :: Quote Of The Week

“The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” - Mark Twain

A charming echo :: Quote Of The Week

“The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Quote Of The Week

“From every book invisible threads reach out to other books; and the mind comes to use and control those threads the whole panorama of the world’s life, past and present, becomes constantly more varied and interesting, while at the same time the mind’s own powers of reflection and judgment are exercised and strengthened.” - Helen E. Haines

{I think we're onto a good thing...}

Happy reading!

Book No. 11

The Time Traveler's Wife is the love story of Henry and Clare DeTamble, a young married couple living in Chicago. Their lives together are complicated by a mystifying and exasperating genetic condition that causes Henry to involuntarily time travel. While Clare is left wondering if the man she always knew she would marry is safe from harm, Henry is taken on journies that are unpredictable, and alternately harrowing and amusing. While Henry strains to live as normal a life as he can, pursuing goals that will be familiar to most — a steady job, love, good friends, children of his own — Clare has always known that their love was pre-destined, having already met Henry as a young girl when he would timetravel from their present to her past before they met.

Their bizarre life and the challenges they face are the same burdens that ultimately we all must deal with the inability to have control over their lives. However, what Henry's affliction does provide them is a glimpse to their final hours and to the novel's breathtaking ending. The TimeTraveler's Wife is a story about adoration, separation, and ultimately about how time defines so much in our lives.

Happy New Year & Book No. 11

Happy New Year clubbers!

Trusting that you've all had a safe and happy holiday season, it's time for a much needed update! Because everyone is so busy individually, let alone with a book club we're going to aim to read four books this year and potentially have the same amount of Book Club meetings - virtual or in person.

We'd LOVE to see more commenting on the blog and more members. Invite your friends, family, colleagues - anyone. The great incentive we applied last year still stands, and that is that every new member gets a copy of the current read sent to them for free.

Last year Casey and Teresa benefited from this generous incentive, so we implore you to rope in your hombrés and take full advantage!

The invitation to suggest new books to the book club reading list is also open. So please email thebookclub.est09@gmail.com or tweet us here with your titles.

Our Book No. 11, number one read for this year is the enchanting novel

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenger.

We also plan to share many interesting, bookish facts and current happenings within the literary world.

So stay tuned, and expand your minds!

Book No. 10

A teenage girl confronts the crises of growing up -- some typical, some unusual -- in this drama. Josie is the 17-year-old daughter of Christina Alibrandi, a single mother and member of a large extended family of Sicilian immigrants living in Sydney, Australia.

While Josie loves her mother, she's grown weary of her strict family, especially her grandmother Nonna Katia. The fact that her relatives still have issues with Christina raising her child out of wedlock hasn't made Josie's life any easier.

A good student, Josie has earned a scholarship at a top private school, where she has to deal with Carly, a racist who often taunts Josie for her Sicilian heritage. Josie is also suffering from the tribulations of teenage romance, as she finds herself attracted to both clean-cut John and working class Jacob.

Meanwhile, the house is abuzz over a visit from Michael, who Josie soon learns is Christina's old flame -- and her father. Looking for Alibrandi was based on a novel for young people by Melina Marchetta, which was a major best-seller in Australia. Marchetta also wrote the screenplay for this film adaptation.