Timeline

Entries 3140 of 85, most recent first

Thunderstruck

by Erik Larson

February 2016

We liked

Devil in the White City

so much; also Susan has been reading another Larson book, called

Dead Wake

about the sinking of the Lusitania; we decided to read

Thunderstruck

.  It tells two intertwined stories about the invention of radio and its role in capturing a murderer trying to flee.

In Cold Blood

by Truman Capote

January 2016

We wanted to continue in the murder/crime spree theme we started last month.

In Cold Blood

is considered the book that started the genre of true crime novels.

Book Cover: "On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.

As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence."

Of Mice and Men

by John Steinbeck

November 2015

Several in the group have not read this classic book for high school English book reports and Susan wanted to read it.  I read last in 11th grade when we had to act out a scene in the book.

The Haunting of Hill House

by Shirley Jackson

October 2015

It's that time of year again...it's Spooky Book month at the ol' Book Club!

“Makes your blood chill and your scalp prickle…Shirley Jackson is the master of the haunted tale.” (

New York Times Book Review

)

“Now widely regarded as the greatest haunted-house story ever written.” (

Wall Street Journal

)

“Shirley Jackson is unparalleled as a leader in the field of beautifully written, quiet, cumulative shudders.” (Dorothy Parker,

Esquire

)

Lost on Planet China

by J. Maarten Troost

September 2015

We've read a book by Troost previously.  It recorded his time living on the islands of the nation of Kiribati.  We read it in

April 2013

.  The new book relates his travels to China.

The Giver

by Lois Lowry

August 2015

The Giver by Lois Lowry is a Young Adult novel and is short.  It is the first in a series of four books.

There is an audiobook version on Audible.

There is a movie version coming out mid-month.

A Confederacy of Dunces

by John Kennedy Toole

July 2015

This book has been on our list for a long time.   Meeting is July 13th.

Description from Amazon:

A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole's hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is "huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans' lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures" (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).

Hijacked

by David Hirschman

June 2015

This is the story of the hijacking of a FedEx Flight 705 in 1992.  It describes the early days of FedEx and the stories of the three pilots attacked by a fourth, disgruntled co-worker.  The author is a report for the Memphis newspaper.  The book does read like an extended, investigative newspaper article.

Old Man and the Sea

by Ernest Hemingway

May 2015

We wanted a short classic for this month.  It is short.  It is a classic.  It did win the Pulitzer Prize for Hemingway.  It is slow.  I put it on the radio for travel in Florida.  It is such a slow book that my son was asleep within minutes.

Julia found versions on Youtube that included interesting art.