Talk Amongst Yourselves

Well Hello There!!  A book discussion?  I think I may have forgotten how to put that together (though I was never any good at it in the first place).  So, the book that we read during March & April was “St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves” by Karen Russell.  I know a few of you did read this book and at least one of you really enjoyed it.  I have never been a fan of short stories but I figured I would give it a chance for two reasons; one being it had the winning vote by Planet Books readers and two, it was a gift from my sister.

A few of you posted some great questions to get us started so I would like to re-post them here for us to work from.

Care asked these questions:  What was your favorite story, your favorite main character, which moral dilemma bothered you the most, did you read this in order, and what did you think of the use of setting as character? 

Beastmomma asked:  What did you think of the animals that were selected for each story?  What did the animal add to the moral dilemma?

My questions to you is:  If this book brought you out of your reading comfort zone, were you happy to be there?  Was it hard to get involved with these stories because they were so short or did that quick relationship seem more appealing to your busy schedules? 

My favorite story was “Children’s Reminiscences of the Westward Migration”.  It was smack dab in the middle of the book and I found myself very surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  The description of the journey the families made together to make a better life for themselves was full of great visuals and strife.  The Minotaur father who saw the prospects of living on acres and acres of land instead of his little home near the local asylum was such a strong character who tolerated so much due to his physical appearance.  His wife’s first thoughts of moving out west were fueled by the idea of not being the butt of jokes because her husband was part human and part beast.  The relationships between the family members were strong as well as their relationships with the people in the wagon train. 

I also enjoyed “Z.Z.’s Sleep-Away Camp for Disordered Dreamers”, “Haunting Olivia” and the title story, “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves”. 

I came across this RADIO INTERVIEW with author Karen Russell on NPR as well as this INTERVIEW over at BookBrowse.com.

 

Strange Stories

Well, this morning I completed our March/April book, “St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves” by Karen Russell.  Boy was it strange.  I do have a favorite story and some that I liked mroe than others but I will wait till the last week of April to discuss them. 

Have you gotten started on this book yet?  If you have which stories have you read and have you liked them or not?  What else are you reading?  I haven’t decided on what I’m going to read next but I will probably know by the end of the weekend. 

I am anxiously awaiting Martha Stewart’s new cookie cookbook to arrive in the mail next week.  I discovered that on www.marthastewart.com you can watch all her shows so I have been addicted to that.  I was able to catch a few of her episodes while we were in the States for Christmas and really liked the simplistic style of which it was done so I am very excited that I can watch all the episodes now.  I’m trying to be a better house keeper and a way that is helping me is asking myself, “What would Martha do?”

Alligators, Glowworm Grottos, & Restless Nights

If you are reading “St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised By Wolves” then you understand the title of this post.  I have read the first three stories in this ten story collection by Karen Russell and so far, I’ve been confused, curious, and charmed.  I was very confused by the first story, “Ava Wrestles The Alligator” and wasn’t too sure if I was going to enjoy the rest of these short stories all set in the Florida Everglades.  The first one had so many hidden meanings and was just plain strange. 

I really enjoyed the second story, “Haunting Olivia”.  I was saddened by the brothers search for their sister as well as hopeful for a happy ending of some kind.  Russell’s descriptions are so vivid and I felt a bit damp by the end of the second story.

The third story is titled, “Z.Z.’s Sleep-Away Camp for Disordered Dreamers”.  My favorite paragraph in this story, and really so far is:  “This isn’t the ashes to ashes of our dreams.  This is Merino, our living, bleating lamb, now a heap of meat and sweaters.”  To describe the dead carcass of a lamb as meat and sweaters is just so clever to me. 

I began the fourth story, “The Star-Gazer’s Log of Summertime Crime” this afternoon and so far it’s not one of my favorites but it’s only just begun so maybe it will turn around.  I’ll be sure to let you know. 

How are you doing?  Have you picked your copy up yet, and if so, which stories have you read so far?