Follow the From Left to Write Google Calendar to keep up to date on all of the book club events and dates.
November 2012
In November we are reading Vincent Lam’s lastest novel, The Headmaster’s Wager (Hogarth). We’re doing a bit of arm chair traveling as Lam whisks readers to Vietnam, specifically to Saigon in the 1960s. Inspired by his grandfather’s actual English academy during the same setting, Lam deftly creates Percival, a Chinese man living in Vietnam.
Here’s more about the novel:
Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English academy in 1960s Saigon, and he is well accustomed to bribing a forever-changing list of government officials in order to maintain the elite status of his school. Fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, he is quick to spot the business opportunities rife in a divided country, though he also harbors a weakness for gambling haunts and the women who frequent them. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, but when his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival faces the limits of his connections and wealth and is forced to send him away.
In the loneliness that follows, Percival finds solace in Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage whom he is able to confide in. But Percival’s new-found happiness is precarious, and as the complexities of war encroach further into his world, he must confront the tragedy of all he has refused to see.
Grab your copy of The Headmaster’s Wager now and join us on November 16 as we discuss the novel!
In the meantime, you can follow author Vincent Lam by visiting his website, Facebook or Twitter.
PAST BOOK CLUBS
For our second September book club selection, we’re headed to early 17th century for a fictional account of the Bohemian Hapsburg Court in Linda Lafferty’s The Bloodletter’s Daughter (A Novel of Old Bohemia). Read more and find out how you can win 1 of 5 copies of the book!
Inspired by a real-life murder that threatened to topple the powerful Hapsburg dynasty, the novel follows Marketa, a young woman who can only dream of being a bloodletter. Women were not allowed to become a bloodletter or a doctor, but as her father’s assistant Marketa studied as much as she could.
More about the book:
Within the glittering Hapsburg court in Prague lurks a darkness that no one dares mention…
In 1606, the city of Prague shines as a golden mecca of art and culture carefully cultivated by Emperor Rudolf II. But the emperor hides an ugly secret: His bastard son, Don Julius, is afflicted with a madness that pushes the young prince to unspeakable depravity. Desperate to stem his son’s growing number of scandals, the emperor exiles Don Julius to a remote corner of Bohemia, where the young man is placed in the care of a bloodletter named Pichler. The bloodletter’s task: cure Don Julius of his madness by purging the vicious humors coursing through his veins.
When Pichler brings his daughter Marketa to assist him, she becomes the object of Don Julius’s frenzied–and dangerous–obsession. To him, she embodies the women pictured in the Coded Book of Wonder, a priceless manuscript from the imperial library that was his only link to sanity. As the prince descends further into the darkness of his mind, his acts become ever more desperate, as Marketa, both frightened and fascinated, can’t stay away.
Are you intrigued? Grab a copy of The Bloodletter’s Daughter (A Novel of Old Bohemia) and join our book club members on September 25 when we discuss the novel.
This month, our book club members are reading The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy. In this novel we visit Germany during World War II and see the war unfold from a German teen’s perspective.
More about the book:
In 1945, Elsie Schmidt is a naive teenager, as eager for her first sip of champagne as she is for her first kiss. She and her family have been protected from the worst of the terror and desperation overtaking her country by a high-ranking Nazi who wishes to marry her. So when an escaped Jewish boy arrives on Elsie’s doorstep in the dead of night on Christmas Eve, Elsie understands that opening the door would put all she loves in danger.
Sixty years later, in El Paso, Texas, Reba Adams is trying to file a feel-good Christmas piece for the local magazine. Reba is perpetually on the run from memories of a turbulent childhood, but she’s been in El Paso long enough to get a full-time job and a fiancé, Riki Chavez. Riki, an agent with the U.S. Border Patrol, finds comfort in strict rules and regulations, whereas Reba feels that lines are often blurred.
Reba’s latest assignment has brought her to the shop of an elderly baker across town. The interview should take a few hours at most, but the owner of Elsie’s German Bakery is no easy subject. Reba finds herself returning to the bakery again and again, anxious to find the heart of the story. For Elsie, Reba’s questions are a stinging reminder of darker times: her life in Germany during that last bleak year of WWII. And as Elsie, Reba, and Riki’s lives become more intertwined, all are forced to confront the uncomfortable truths of the past and seek out the courage to forgive.
The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy is currently available in hardcover and in paperback. So grab your copy, in whatever format you prefer, and join our From Left to Write members onAugust 23 as we discuss the book.
In the mean time check out Sarah McCoy’s website or follow her on Twitter. She loves chatting with her readers and is super nice. Tell her we sent you!
We’re kicking off our summer reading with our very first graphic novel Getting Married and Other Mistakes by Barbara Slate (Other Press). Slate takes a raw, yet humorous look at what happens after a surprise divorce.
Here’s the description from the publisher:
Jo, the author’s stand-in protagonist, is a successful wedding photographer (of all things) who has been dumped by her husband and desperately needs to get on with her life. She follows her friends’ advice to get laid, see a shrink, go out more, and live a little. Nothing works. Eventually she realizes that she must stop listening to what everybody else tells her and follow her own voice instead. Jo’s struggle with female guilt and her quest for self-awareness, told in a series of hilarious panels, is the perfect book for any woman needing to take back control of her life, or remembering when she did.
For a peek of the first few pages, head over to the Getting Married and Other Mistakes Facebook page.
Pour yourself a glass of lemonade, pull up a chair next to the pool and grab Getting Married and Other Mistakes. Then join us on June 28 as From Left to Write members discuss our first graphic novel.
It’s not quite June yet, but I can’t wait to share with your our first June book club selection. For June, From Left to Write members are reading Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. This psychological thriller isn’t just about a possible murder, but examines how well we know our significant others.
For fear of spoilers, here’s the synopsis from the publisher:
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
Check out members’ discussion of Gone Girl.
We’re talking food for our second May book club selection, Julia’s Child: The Novel by Sarah Pinneo. Like many parents, I first considered organic foods when my firstborn started eating solids. What happens when making organic foods for young children become your passion? Julia, mother of two, starts a business selling her pre-cooked toddler meals with cute names like It’s Not Easy Being Green Beans and Gentle Lentils. The novel even contains recipes for kid-friendly foods.
More about the fun, light-hearted novel from the publisher:
A delectable comedy for every woman who’s ever wondered if buying that six-dollar box of organic crackers makes her a hero or a sucker. Julia Bailey is a mompreneur with too many principles and too little time. Her fledgling company, Julia’s Child, makes organic toddler meals with names like Gentle Lentil and Give Peas a Chance. But before she can realize her dream of seeing them on the shelves of Whole Foods, she will have to make peace between her professional aspirations and her toughest food critics: the two little boys waiting at home. Is it possible to save the world while turning a profit?
Julia’s Child is a warmhearted, laugh-out-loud story about motherhood’s choices: organic vs. local, paper vs. plastic, staying at home vs. risking it all.
For this book club selection, From Left to Write is proud to partner with Stonyfield a company that offers certified organic yogurt, smoothies, milk and much more. Stonyfield advocates that healthy food can only come from a healthy planet and is engaged in educating people on eating healthy.
Join us on May 24 as our From Left to Write members and Stonyfield’sYoGetters discuss Julia’s Child.
For our May book club selection, our members are reading I Am Forbidden, a new novel by Anouk Markovits. Raised in France in a Satmar home (a sect of Hasidism), Markovits broke from the fold when she was nineteen to avoid an arranged marriage. I Am Forbidden shows its readers what life in a Hasidic society is life. We then find out what can happen when a young woman decides to live her life differently.
Here’s the synopsis from publisher Hogarth Press, a new imprint from Random House based on the ideals of Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf’s press of the same name:
Sweeping from the Central European countryside just before World War II to Paris to contemporary Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I Am Forbidden brings to life four generations of one Satmar family.
Opening in 1939 Transylvania, five-year-old Josef witnesses the murder of his family by the Romanian Iron Guard and is rescued by a Gentile maid to be raised as her own son. Five years later, Josef rescues a young girl, Mila, after her parents are killed while running to meet the Rebbe they hoped would save them. Josef helps Mila reach Zalman Stern, a leader in the Satmar community, in whose home Mila is raised as a sister to Zalman’s daughter, Atara. As the two girls mature, Mila’s faith intensifies, while her beloved sister Atara discovers a world of books and learning that she cannot ignore. With the rise of communism in central Europe, the family moves to Paris, to the Marais, where Zalman tries to raise his children apart from the city in which they live.
When the two girls come of age, Mila marries within the faith, while Atara continues to question fundamentalist doctrine. The different choices the two sisters makes force them apart until a dangerous secret threatens to banish them from the only community they’ve ever known.
Join our bloggers on May 8, when I Am Forbidden is released, as From Left to Write members discuss religion, family, marriage, or any of the themes from Markovits’ novel.
Pre-order your copy of I Am Forbidden. It will be one of the best novels you read this year.
Would you let your 5 year old climb to a top of a 4,000+ foot mountain? How about 48 of those mountains? That’s what Trish Herr helped her daughter Alex accomplish. In our April Book Club selection Up: A Mother and Daughter’s Peakbagging Adventure, Patricia Ellis Herr and her daughter trekked New Hampshire’s mountains through rain, hail and snow. Alex persistence and her mother’s support enabled her to to bag all forty-eight peaks.
Here’s more about the book:
When Trish Herr became pregnant with her first daughter, Alex, she and her husband, Hugh, vowed to instill a bond with nature in their children. By the time Alex was five, her over-the-top energy levels led Trish to believe that her very young daughter might be capable of hiking adult-sized mountains.
In Up, Trish recounts their always exhilarating–and sometimes harrowing–adventures climbing all forty-eight of New Hampshire’s highest mountains. Readers will delight in the expansive views and fresh air that only peakbaggers are afforded, and will laugh out loud as Trish urges herself to “mother up” when she and Alex meet an ornery–and alarmingly bold–spruce grouse on the trail. This is, at heart, a resonant, emotionally honest account of a mother’s determination to foster independence and fearlessness in her daughter, to teach her “that small doesn’t necessarily mean weak; that girls can be strong; and that big, bold things are possible.”
Read From Left to Write members’ discussion of Up: A Mother and Daughter’s Peakbagging Adventure.
This month we’re diving into English teacher Natalie Taylor’s memoir Signs of Life. During the fifth month of her pregnancy of her first child she is devastated by the sudden death of her husband. In her book, readers will feel like they’re sneaking a peek inside her diary as she tries to deal with her emotions.
Here’s the official description from Broadway, the publisher:
Twenty-four-year-old Natalie Taylor was leading a charmed life. At the age of twenty four, she had a fulfilling job as a high school English teacher, a wonderful husband, a new house and a baby on the way. Then, while visiting her sister, she gets the news that Josh has died in a freak accident. Four months before the birth of her son, Natalie is leveled by loss.
What follows is an incredibly powerful emotional journey, as Natalie calls upon resources she didn’t even know she had in order to re-imagine and re-build a life for her and her son. In vivid and immediate detail, Natalie documents her life from the day of Josh’s death through the birth their son, Kai, as she struggles in her role as a new mother where everyone is watching her for signs of impending collapse. With honesty, raw pain, and most surprising, a wicked sense of humor, Natalie recounts the agonies and unexpected joys of her new life. There is the frustration of holidays, navigating the relationship with her in-laws, the comfort she finds and unlikely friendship she forges in support groups and the utterly breathtaking, but often overwhelming new motherhood. When she returns to the classroom, she finds that little is more healing than the honesty and egocentricity of teenagers.
Drawing on lessons from beloved books like The Color Purple and The Catcher in the Rye and the talk shows she suddenly can’t get enough of, from the strength of her family and friends, and from a rich fantasy life—including a saucy fairy godmother who guides her grieving—Natalie embarks on the ultimate journey of self-discovery and realizes you can sometimes find the best in yourself during the worst life has to offer.
Read From Left to Write members discussion of Signs of Life by Natalie Taylor.
Thanks to our global market, even during the winter we can find our favorite non-seasonal produce in the supermarket. Now that eating locally is trending, should we feel guilty for eating fresh peaches in the dead of winter?
In our second book club selection for February, we’re reading about Barbara Kingsolver’s journey to only live off her land as documented in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. In more detail:
Author Barbara Kingsolver and her family abandoned the industrial-food pipeline to live a rural life—vowing that, for one year, they’d only buy food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an enthralling narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat.
For this book club selection, From Left to Write is proud to partner with Stonyfield a company that offers certified organic yogurt, smoothies, milk and much more. Stonyfield advocates that healthy food can only come from a healthy planet and is engaged in educating people on eating healthy.
Our book club selection for February. Jan-Philip Sendker’s The Art of Hearing Heartbeats is a beautifully written story about a girl in search of her father, but discovers much more.
Grab your favorite chair, as Sendker’s novel will take you to the exotic country of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma):
A poignant and inspirational love story set in Burma, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats spans the decades between the 1950s and the present. When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be…until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago, to a Burmese woman they have never heard of. Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father’s past, Julia decides to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion that will reaffirm the reader’s belief in the power of love to move mountains.
Join us on February 1st as From Left to Write book club members discuss The Art of Hearing Heartbeats (The Other Press).
JANUARY 2012 BOOK CLUB
Our first book for 2012 is Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain.
About the book:
Did you know that thirty to fifty percent (depending on which study you consult) of Americans are introverts? That’s one out of every two or three people you know. If you’re not an introvert yourself, you probably work with or love one. But much like women in a man’s world, the quieter half of the population is routinely discounted because of a trait that goes to the core of who they are.
Yet many of the achievements that have propelled society, from the theory of evolution to the invention of the PC, from van Gogh’s sunflowers to the Cat in the Hat, came from people who were quiet, cerebral, and sensitive. Even in less obviously introverted occupations, like finance, politics, and activism, some of the greatest leaps forward were made by introverts: Eleanor Roosevelt. Al Gore. Warren Buffett. Gandhi.
None of this is an accident. There are specific physiological and psychological advantages to being an introvert. In my book I’ll tell you what they are — and what we can all learn from the introverts among us, including how to be more creative, think more carefully, love more gently, and organize our schools and workplaces more productively. I’ll also challenge contemporary myths of human nature, including the belief that creativity is fundamentally collaborative, and our preference for charismatic leaders.
Visit Susan Cain’s site.
AUGUST 2011 BOOK CLUBS
In Stitches by Anthony Youn, M.D.
In August 2011, the From Left to Write bloggers will be reading and discussing the book In Stitches by Anthony Youn, M.D.
About the book:
Tony Youn grew up up one of two Asian-American kids in a small town of near wall-to-wall whiteness. Too tall and too thin, he wore thick Coke-bottle glasses, braces, Hannibal Lecter headgear, and had a protruding jaw that one day began to grow, expanding Pinocchio-like, protruding to an unthinkable, monstrous size. After high school graduation, while other seniors partied at the shore or explored Europe, Youn lay strapped in an oral surgeon’s chair as he broke his jaw, then reset it and wired it shut for six weeks.
Ironically, it was this brutal makeover that led him to his life’s calling — and the four years of angst, flubs, triumphs, non-stop studying and intermittant heavy drinking that eventually earned him an M.D. Thanks to a small circle of close friends and an obsessive drive to overachieve, Youn transformed from a shy, skinny, awkward nerd with no confidence and no clue into a renowned and successful plastic surgeon.In Stitches is a heartfelt, candid, and laugh-out-loud memoir of one man’s bumpy road to becoming a doctor and learning to be confortable in his own skin.
You can find out more about this book and its author, Andrew Youn, on his website.
Interested in reading along with us? Buy the book through our Amazon affiliate program!
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The Costume Trunk by Bob Fuller
Also in July 2011, the From Left to Write bloggers will be reading and discussing The Costume Trunk by Bob Fuller. We can’t wait to share this children’s book with our little ones!
About the book:
Courtney’s birthday is finally here, and she has invited all of her friends to the celebration! After blowing out her candles and making a wish, the kids go outside to play. Suddenly, Courtney’s runaway balloon sends her running deep into the forest, where she discovers an old tree house and a mysterious costume trunk. The trunk provides the perfect costume for Courtney and each of her friends. It also becomes the passageway to the enchanting land of Paddywhack Lane, where you can be anything you want to be. All you have to do is believe! In Paddywhack Lane, one by one, each of Courtney’s friends have their most cherished hopes, wishes and dreams come true… …but, what about Courtney? Will Courtney’s special birthday wish come true before it’s time to leave Paddywhack Lane and head back home for bedtime?
You can find more information from the publisher of this book on their website.
JUNE 2011 BOOK CLUBS
Unexpected Circumnavigation by Christi Grab
On June 28, 20111, the From Left to Write bloggers will be reading the book Unexpected Circumnavigation by Christi Grab.
About the book:
No one expected these thirty-something professionals to give up their successful careers to pilot their own small boat around the world, especially because they started with almost no boating experience. Instead of the expected sailboat, they chose a 43 foot trawler powerboat, which many believed was incapable of crossing oceans. Most people expected them to fail. But they surprised the skeptics when they successfully circumnavigated the globe in two years, visiting 110 places along the way in thirty-four countries.
Part 1 of “The Unexpected Circumnavigation” follows Christi and Eric daily as they travel to eighteen exotic South Pacific islands that few people ever see. You will experience the local food and cultures, participate in island tours and adventure activities (include going to the rim of an active volcano!), and feel what it is like to be on long sea passages. Learn about the challenges, rewards and the surprises that come with both traveling and boating.
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
On June 06, 2011, From Left to Write bloggers will be reading the book The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey.
About the book:
Elisabeth Tova Bailey tells the inspiring and intimate story of her uncommon encounter with a Neohelix albolabris—a common forest snail. While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches as the snail takes up residence on her nightstand. She discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater understanding of the interconnections between species and her own human place in the natural world. Intrigued by the snail’s molluscan anatomy, cryptic defenses, clear decision making, hydraulic locomotion, and mysterious courtship activities, Bailey becomes an astute and amused observer, providing a candid and engaging look into the curious life of this overlooked and underappreciated small animal. Told with wit and grace, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is a remarkable journey of survival and resilience, showing us how a small part of the natural world illuminates our own human existence.
Visit the author’s website
Check out other From Left to Write upcoming book clubs and follow the From Left to Write Google Calendar to keep up to date on all of the book club events and dates.
MAY 2011 BOOK CLUBS
Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson
On May 28, 2011, the From Left to Write bloggers will be discussing the book Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson.
About the book:
When their mother catches their father with another woman, twelve year-old Blessing and her fourteen-year-old brother, Ezikiel, are forced to leave their comfortable home in Lagos for a village in the Niger Delta, to live with their mother’s family. Without running water or electricity,Warri is at first a nightmare for Blessing. Her mother is gone all day and works suspiciously late into the night to pay the children’s school fees. Her brother, once a promising student, seems to be falling increasingly under the influence of the local group of violent teenage boys calling themselves Freedom Fighters. Her grandfather, a kind if misguided man, is trying on Islam as his new religion of choice, and is even considering the possibility of bringing in a second wife.
But Blessing’s grandmother, wise and practical, soon becomes a beloved mentor, teaching Blessing the ways of the midwife in rural Nigeria. Blessing is exposed to the horrors of genital mutilation and the devastation wrought on the environment by British and American oil companies. As Warri comes to feel like home, Blessing becomes increasingly aware of the threats to its safety, both from its unshakable but dangerous traditions and the relentless carelessness of the modern world. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is the witty and beautifully written story of one family’s attempt to survive a new life they could never have imagined, struggling to find a deeper sense of identity along the way.
APRIL 2011 BOOK CLUBS
29 by Adena Halpern
In April 2011, the From Left to Write bloggers will be reading the book 29 by Adena Halpern.
About the book:
What if you closed your eyes, blew out the candles and your wish came true?
Ellie Jerome is a young-at-heart 75-year old who relates more to her 25-year old granddaughter Lucy than to her 55-year old daughter Barbara. Ellie’s done everything she can to stay young, and the last thing she wants is to celebrate another birthday. So when she finds herself confronted with a cake full of candles, Ellie wishes more than anything that she could be twenty-nine again, just for one day. But who expects a wish like that to come true?
Visit the author’s website
Check out other From Left to Write upcoming book clubs and follow the From Left to Write Google Calendar to keep up to date on all of the book club events and dates.
Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard
In April 2011, the From Left to Write bloggers will be reading the book Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard.
About the book:
In Paris for a weekend visit, Elizabeth Bard sat down to lunch with a handsome Frenchman–and never went home again.
Was it love at first sight? Or was it the way her knife slid effortlessly through her pavé au poivre, the steak’s pink juices puddling into the buttery pepper sauce? LUNCH IN PARIS is a memoir about a young American woman caught up in two passionate love affairs–one with her new beau, Gwendal, the other with French cuisine. Packing her bags for a new life in the world’s most romantic city, Elizabeth is plunged into a world of bustling open-air markets, hipster bistros, and size 2 femmes fatales. She learns to gut her first fish (with a little help from Jane Austen), soothe pangs of homesickness (with the rise of a chocolate soufflé) and develops a crush on her local butcher (who bears a striking resemblance to Matt Dillon). Elizabeth finds that the deeper she immerses herself in the world of French cuisine, the more Paris itself begins to translate. French culture, she discovers, is not unlike a well-ripened cheese-there may be a crusty exterior, until you cut through to the melting, piquant heart.
Peppered with mouth-watering recipes for summer ratatouille, swordfish tartare and molten chocolate cakes, Lunch in Paris is a story of falling in love, redefining success and discovering what it truly means to be at home. In the delicious tradition of memoirs like A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun, this book is the perfect treat for anyone who has dreamed that lunch in Paris could change their life.
Visit the author’s website.
FEBRUARY 2011 BOOK CLUBS
- Exploiting My Baby by Teresa Strasser
On February 17, 2011 the From Left to Write bloggers will be reading the book Exploiting My Baby by Teresa Strasser.
About the book:
Teresa Strasser made her baby a spleen and some eyebrows.
He got her a book deal.Everyone loves babies-and pregnant women-so TV and radio personality Teresa Strasser decided to use this obsession to her advantage. She came up with a way to provide for her newfound family and help other mommies-to-be with this down- and-dirty memoir about first-time pregnancy.
An award-winning writer, Teresa is achingly honest about the motherhood she begins experiencing at age thirty-eight. With a biting sense of humor and heart, she portrays the tribulations that come with each trimester, from nausea, weight gain, and bladder infections to dealing with those other kinds of pregnant women. (You know the ones. The ones who glow-and gloat about it.)
Exploiting My Baby is a must-read for anyone pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or who is just more crazy than baby-crazy. Hopping on a trail pioneered by such lions as Laura Ingalls Wilder, Erma Bombeck, and Tori Spelling, Teresa has no problem using her pregnancy, childbirth and difficult relationship with her own mother for material. It’s her blunt and plain-spoken approach to exploiting her family for literary success that sets her apart.
Visit the author’s website.
Pre-order your copy of Exploiting My Baby by Teresa Strasser.
JANUARY 2011 BOOK CLUBS
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
On January 12th, the From Left to Writebloggers will be reading the book The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova.
About the book:
Andrew Marlow, a psychiatrist, has a perfectly ordered life–solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when the renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes Marlow’s patient.
When Oliver refuses to talk or cooperate, Marlow finds himself going beyond his own legal and ethical boundaries to understand the secret that torments this silent genius, a journey that will lead him into the lives of the women closest to Robert Oliver and toward a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.
Moving from American museums to the coast of Normandy, from the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth, from young love to last love, THE SWAN THIEVES is a story of obsession, the losses of history, and the power of art to preserve human hope.
Visit the author’s website.
Become a fan of Elizabeth Kostova on Facebook.
Purchase your copy of The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova.
On January 19th, the From Left to Write bloggers will be reading the book YOUNG MANDELA: The Revolutionary Years by David James Smith.
About the book:
Nelson Mandela is well-known throughout the world as a heroic leader who symbolizes freedom and moral authority. He is fixed in the public mind as the world’s elder statesman–the gray-haired man with a kindly smile who spent 27 years in prison before becoming the first black president in South Africa. But Nelson Mandela was not always elderly or benign. And, in YOUNG MANDELA, award-winning journalist and author David James Smith takes us deep into the heart of racist South Africa to paint a portrait of the Mandela that many have forgotten: the committed revolutionary who left his family behind to live on the run, adopting false names and disguises and organizing the first strikes to overthrow the apartheid state. YOUNG MANDELA lifts the curtain on an icon’s first steps to greatness.
Visit the publisher’s and author’s websites.
Like YOUNG MANDELA on Facebook.
Pre-order your copy of YOUNG MANDELA: The Revolutionary Years by David James Smith (the book will be released December 6).
Take the Cake by M.F. Chapman
On January 5th, the From Left to Write bloggers read the book Take the Cake by one of our very own book club members M.F. Chapman. See what they had to say here.
About the book:
TAKE THE CAKE takes on the challenge of being a modern working mom with solutions that tackle everything from where you want to be in five years to how to make the balanced to do list. Gain tips, employ exercises to get balanced today. Learn how to put the smart phone away, focus on goals even with daily demands and to find time for YOU. Take a moment to sit on the happy. Reflect about where you are and savor it just as you might a big piece of chocolate cake. It’s yours to have. Grab a slice today. Part Zen with a no nonsense attitude, TAKE THE CAKE delivers the goods to have our cake and eat it, too. It’s never too late to live the life you want.
Visit the author’s website.
Follow M.F. Chapman on Twitter.
Purchase your copy of Take the Cake by M.F. Chapman.
NOVEMBER 2010 BOOK CLUBS/COOKING CLUBS
On November 17th, the From Left to Write bloggers joined forces with the popular blog This Week for Dinner,written by the lovely and talented Jane Maynard, to read (and cook from!) the book The Earthbound Cook by Myra Goodman. This was our very first joint Book Club/Cooking Club and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Read what the From Left to Write bloggers had to say about The Earthbound Cook here.
About the book:
As a busy working mom and creative cook, Myra Goodman knows how to make food taste good. And as the co-founder of Earthbound Farm, she knows how producing food sustainably can do good. Put those two things together, and you have her new cookbook, The Earthbound Cook: 250 Recipes for Delicious Food and a Healthy Planet.
In this, her second cookbook, Myra weaves all new recipes into an Earth-friendly theme from starters to seafood, meat to side dishes, breakfast to dessert. For example, there’s a chapter devoted to Vegetarian Entrées; the Vegetable and Grains Salads chapter shows imaginative ways to create tasty salads with substance; and there’s a Baking chapter full of wonderful breads, pita, and pizza.
Together with the delectable food, Myra includes easy guidance for conscientious shoppers about making eco-friendly choices at the market, plus primers on cooking methods and tools, sidebars with insightful ingredient information — and tons of Green Living tips, too.
Visit Earthbound Farm’s website with information about The Earthbound Cook.
Visit the publisher’s website.
Purchase your *autographed!* copy of The Earthbound Cook.
Follow @earthboundfarm on Twitter.
Read about author Myra Goodman.
OCTOBER 2010 BOOK CLUBS
The Kids Are All Right
On October 12th, the From Left to Write bloggers discussed the book The Kids Are All Right by Diana and Liz Welch, with Dan and Amanda Welch. Read what they had to say here.
About the book:
“Perfect is boring.”
Well, 1983 certainly wasn’t boring for the Welch family. Somehow, between their handsome father’s mysterious death, their glamorous soap opera star mother’s cancer diagnosis, and a phalanx of lawyers intent on bankruptcy proceedings, the four Welch siblings managed to handle each new heartbreaking misfortune together. But all that changed with the death of their mother. While nineteen year-old Amanda was legally on her own, the three younger siblings—Liz, 16; Dan, 14 and Diana, 8—were each dispersed to a different set of family friends.
Told in the alternating voices of the four siblings, this memoir tells their poignant, harrowing story of growing up as lost souls, taking disastrous turns along the way, but eventually coming out right side up. The kids are not only all right; they’re back together.
Visit The Kids Are All Right website.
Pre-order your copy of The Kids Are All Right by Diana and Liz Welch, with Dan and Amanda Welch (the paperback will be released September 14).
SEPTEMBER 2010 BOOK CLUBS
Room by Emma Donoghue
On September 27th, the From Left to Write bloggers discussed ROOM by Emma Donoghue. Read what they had to say here.
About the book:
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it’s where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it’s not enough…not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son’s bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.
Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.
Visit Emma Donoghue’s website.
Fan Emma Donoghue on Facebook.
Purchase your copy of ROOM by Emma Donoghue.
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Following Polly by Karen Bergreen
On September 14th, the From Left to Write bloggers discussed Following Polly by Karen Bergreen. Read what they had to say here and the interview with Karen Bergeen here.
About the book:
Would you call Alice Teakle a stalker? Or just someone with an, um, healthy obsession with golden girl Polly Linley Dawson? No one much notices Alice: not her boss, not the neighbors, not even her Mother.
Besides, everyone follows Polly: her business selling high-end lingerie you can imagine only her elegant self wearing, her all-over-the-social-pages marriage to movie director Humphrey Dawson, her chic looks, her wardrobe. Alice just follows her a little more….closely.
And when she loses her job and starts to follow Polly Dawson one Manhattan autumn afternoon, Alice stumbles on the object of her attention sprawled dead on the floor of a boutique. Alice is forced to become truly beneath anyone’s notice. Invisible, in fact. Because she’s accused of murder.
But can another obsession help save Alice with the fallout? Charlie is Alice’s longtime unattainable crush. He might be able to help her out of the mess she’s in…in return for a favor or two, that is. And how will Alice find out if Charlie is really the man Alice thinks he is?
Visit the publisher’s website and Karen Bergreen’s website.
Follow Karen Bergreen on twitter.
Purchase your copy of Following Polly by Karen Bergreen.
On September 2nd, the From Left to Write bloggers discussed the book Cowboy & Wills: A Remarkable Little Boy and the Puppy that Changed His Life by Monica Holloway. Read what they had to say here.
About the book:
In this exceptionally touching memoir, critically acclaimed author Monica Holloway shares the extraordinary, deeply moving story of Cowboy, the golden retriever puppy who changed her son’s life.
The day Monica learns that her lovable, brilliant threeyear- old son, Wills, has autism spectrum disorder, she takes him to buy an aquarium. It’s the first in a string of impulsive trips to the pet store to buy animals as a distraction from the uncontrollable, crushing reality of Wills’s diagnosis. But while Wills diligently tends to the growing menagerie, what he really wants is a puppy. And one Christmas, when Wills is six, Cowboy Carol Lawrence joins their family.
Like all dynamic duos, Cowboy and Wills complement each other perfectly. Wills is cautious, fastidious, and irresistibly tenderhearted. Cowboy, a rambunctious golden retriever, is overeager, affectionate, and impulsive. And from the moment Cowboy enters their lives, Monica sees her son step a little farther into the world.
Soon, the boy who could barely say hello to his classmates in kindergarten is sharing stories of his new “sister” Cowboy during morning circle. Children crowd around them at the park, and instead of running away, Wills, holding Cowboy’s leash in his sweaty fist, proudly answers all of their questions. With Cowboy, he finds the courage to invite kids over for playdates, overcomes his debilitating fear of water to swim along beside her in the family pool, and, after years of gentle coaxing, Wills finally sleeps in his own bed with Cowboy’s paws draped across his small chest. Through it all, Cowboy is there, dragging him toward other children, giving him the confidence to try new things and the courage to face his worst fears. And when Cowboy turns out to need her new family as much as they need her, they discover just how much she has taught them—about devotion, about loyalty, and about never giving up.
Sometimes it’s what you don’t know to hope for that saves you. For Monica, her husband, Michael, and their son, Wills, salvation came in the form of a puppy with pale blonde fur, chocolate brown eyes, a fondness for chewing the crotch out of underpants, and a limitless capacity for love.
Visit Monica Holloway’s website and the publisher’s website.
Fan Cowboy & Wills on Facebook.
Pre-order your copy of Cowboy & Wills by Monica Holloway.
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AUGUST 2010 BOOK CLUBS
On Wednesday, August 11th, the From Left to Write bloggers discussed the book The Stuff That Never Happens by Maddie Dawson. Read what they had to say here.
About the book:
What if you were married to a wonderful husband for twenty-eight years but in love with another man? What if you were in love with them both?
Annabelle McKay knows she shouldn’t have any complaints. She’s been in a stable marriage that’s lasted almost three decades and has provided her with two wonderful children, thousands of family dinners around a sturdy oak table, and a husband so devoted that he schedules lovemaking into his calendar every Wednesday morning. Other wives envy the fact that Grant is not the type of man who would ever cheat on her or leave her for a younger woman. The trouble is Annabelle isn’t sure she wants to be married to Grant anymore. The trouble is she’s still in love with someone else.
In the early tumultuous years of her marriage, Annabelle carried on a clandestine affair with the one person whose betrayal would hurt her husband the most. When it ended, she and Grant found their way back together and made a pact that they would never speak of that time again. But now years later, with her children grown and gone, and an ominous distance opening between them, she can’t help but remember those glorious, passionate days and wonder if she chose the right man.
Then, when called to New York City to help care for her pregnant daughter, Annabelle bumps into her old lover. Offered a second chance at an unforgettable love, she must decide between the man who possesses her heart and the husband who has stood squarely by her side. A journey into the what-ifs that haunt us all, The Stuff That Never Happened is an intricate, heartfelt examination of modern marriage that brims with truths about the nature of romantic love.
Visit Maddie Dawson’s website and the publisher’s website.
Follow Maddie Dawson on Twitter.
Purchase your copy of The Stuff That Never Happened by Maddie Dawson.
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On August 17th, the From Left to Write bloggers discusses the Figures in Motion children’s activity books Dinosaurs on the Move and Famous Figures of Ancient Times by Cathy Diez-Luckie. Read what they had to say here.
About the books:
Dinosaurs on the Move: Make prehistoric times come to life with extraordinary dinosaurs that once roamed the earth! Cut-and-color or pre-colored action figures really move as you bring Tyrannosaurus Rex, Allosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and others to life.
Move their jaws, clash their teeth, and make their powerful legs run as you act out your own dinosaur battles—or make up your own stories about these mighty creatures that ruled the planet.
Use this creative learning tool to introduce and reinforce the wonder of natural history and inspire a love of paleontology with hands-on activities for children ages 6 to 12.
Famous Figures of Ancient Times: Emperors! Conquerors! Philosophers! These 20 peopleshaped history and our world today. Now you can make real moving figures of these world-changing individuals from thousands of years ago. Cut-and-color or pre-colored action figures really move as you play out the lives of Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Jesus, King David, Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (builder of the Great Wall of China), Hannibal (and his elephant!) and others.
Their stories are right in the book – or make up your own stories about these powerful men whose fame has lasted for thousands of years.
Yes, they really move! All you need is this book, a hole punch, and easy-to-use fasteners for assembly. Move their arms and legs, use their swords and shields and act out the real stories of history or make up your own and travel through time.
Famous Figures of Ancient Times by Cathy Diez-Luckie is the National Bronze Medal Winner of the 2009 Independent Book Publishers Awards in the Children’s Interactive Book Category.
Visit the Figures in Motion website.
Purchase your copies of Figures in Motion books by Cathy Diez-Luckie.
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JULY 2010
On Tuesday July 20th, the From Left to Write bloggers discussed the book This Is Not the Story You Think It Is by Laura Munson. Read what they had to say here.
About the book:
When Laura Munson’s essay was published, The New York Times was so flooded with responses that they had to close down the comment feature. Readers wrote in saying that they had sent the column to all of their friends. Therapists wrote Munson to tell her that they were passing it out to their clients.
What did Munson write that caused such a fervor?
Laura detailed what happened when her husband of more than twenty years told her he wasn’t sure he loved her anymore and wanted to move out. And while you might think you know where this story is going, this isn’t the story you think it is. Laura’s response to her husband: I don’t buy it.
In this poignant, wise, and often funny memoir, Munson recounts a period of months in which her faith in herself-and her marriage-was put to the test. Shaken to the core after the death of her beloved father, not finding the professional success that she had hoped for, and after countless hours of therapy, Laura finally, at age forty, realized she had to stop basing her happiness on things outside her control and commit herself to an “End of Suffering.” This Is Not The Story You Think It Is… chronicles a woman coming to terms with the myths we tell ourselves-and others-about our life and realizing that ultimately happiness is completely within our control.
Purchase your copy of This Is Not the Story You Think It Is by Laura Munson here.
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On Tuesday, July 6th, the From Left to Write bloggers discussed the book If You Knew Suzy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Reporter’s Notebook by Katherine Rosman. Read what they had to say here.
About the book:
Faced with the loss of her mother, Suzy, to cancer at sixty, Wall Street Journal reporter Katherine Rosman longs to find answers to the questions that we all wrestle with after losing someone we love. So she does what she does best: she opens her notebook and starts investigating.
Thumbing through her late mother’s address book, Rosman begins to discover a woman whose life was intricately connected to a host of characters her daughter hardly knew. Her reporting skills at the ready, she embarks on a cross-country odyssey, tracking down total strangers from whom she hopes to learn about a woman she once thought she couldn’t know better. Venturing into the heart of some colorful communities, Rosman interviews friends and acquaintances of her mother’s, as well as people whose relationships with her were more complex though no less potent—among them a former golf caddie, a legendary Pilates instructor, an eBay glass collector, and an immigrant doctor at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. As Rosman attempts to fill in the blank spaces that may explain her mother’s motivations and philosophies in building a life and in facing death, she comes to understand this woman as she never imagined she could.
Blending humor, honesty, and old-fashioned reporting, Rosman grapples with the bittersweet reality that sometimes we can’t truly know someone until after she is gone. At once comforting, candid, and very funny, If You Knew Suzy is a heartfelt memoir against which readers can consider themselves and the lives of all those they love.
Author website:
http://www.katherinerosman.com
Publisher website:
http://www.harpercollins.com/books/If-You-Knew-Suzy-Katherine-Rosman/?isbn=9780061735233
Purchase your copy of If You Knew Suzy by Katherine Rosman here.
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