OCTOBER'S BOOK CHOICE

LAMB: The gospel according to Biff, Christ's childhood pal by Christopher Moore

In order to lighten the mood of the last two books which were "Manic" and "A Map of the World," I have decided to pick something that is humorous. I have read about a hundred pages into it, and I think it's very funny. You have to put aside the fact that it deals with religion in a humorous way. I believe that if God didn't want humor, he wouldn't have created it. It's a fun and funny look on the gospel, religion, and life of God through the eyes of his "best friend" Biff. It is also educational, giving facts from the Bible that we already know.

I hope you enjoy reading this book. The next book club is October 18th, 9:00 am, Fat Man's. Keep watch for posts about the current selection.

Thoughts on MAP

The Breakfast Club discussed the book "A Map Of The World" on September 20th, 2008 at Fat Man's.

The general agreement was that the book was a good pick all in all. At times, not so much a happy book. It sparked up good conversations. One idea was what kind of a person the mother was who was supposed to be watching her best friend's children, didn't pay attention to them, and let the child drown.

Another topic was the idea of how a small group of people, clics if you will, can be so terrible, and not the ideal thing that makes things better. Like people gossiping and spreading runors about the mother, who is a nurse, doing wrong by others children in the school. It's sad that these clics do exisit, and the discussion said that they are all over.

Attitudes about the mother were questioned. Attitudes about before the accident, after, in jail, and in general.

Two members really liked the book, and said it was a good character piece.

My opinion is that it was a good book. It was difficult reading it, because I kind of kept thinking, "this could and more than does likely happen somewhere, at somepoint."

CLUB RATING: *** out of *****

Map of The World Discussion Questions

We get very little objective sense of the characters in A Map of the World in relation to each other and their environment; their accounts are extremely subjective and heavily tinged with emotion. How do you respond to this interiority?

1)How well do you feel you know Alice? Howard? Theresa? Does Alice come across the same way through Howard's eyes as she does through her own? How consistent is your impression of Howard?

2)Do you trust Alice and Howard's versions of the events of the novel? What do you imagine they seem like to the people around them?

3)What is the function of Howard's narration? Does his perspective change your feelings about Alice and what happens to her? Is it clear why he doubts her?

4)What do we learn about Alice from her interaction with the other prisoners? What does she learn about herself?

5)At the point of the novel when Alice is arrested, she is still completely overwhelmed and incapacitated by Lizzy's death and her role in it. How do the accusations against Alice and her time in prison change her and help her to deal with what happened to Lizzy?

6)Do you feel as though things are resolved at the end of the novel?

7)Which character in the novel do you respond to the most?

8)Compare the characters of Aunt Sid in The Book of Ruth and Aunt Kate in A Map of the World. Do they serve the same function for Ruth and Alice?

Map of the World Movie

CURRENT BOOK SELECTION-SEPT 2008

Map of the World is our current book selection. Please read this book, and if you would like comments to be sent to the book club, please comment by September 17th.

My thoughts, and possible our members thoughts to come.

Welcome to our book club page

First of all, I want to welcome everyone to the page. It's not that spectacular yet, but with a few adjusments, and a little bit of learning, I am hoping to get there. First off, this is a welcome. A welcome to our current book club members. Without the support of everyone, the book club wouldn't take place.

Also, this is a welcome for other people who may stumble upon the blog, and might want to read some of the things that we have read. Even see how things go. They can become a virtual member of our book club. They can see what we are reading, read the book, and then comment. It is encouraged. If you would like to do so...by all means PLEASE DO! I can take the comments to book club, and share with the members at the meeting.

The blog will be thoughts on the current book, and hopefully if our members want to participate, write something about their favorite books, the books we HAVE read, or whatever is on their mind. I will be posting what the club has said, as an insight to the site. Also, my thoughts on different books, the current club selection, and other fun stuff.

I hope you enjoy the web site/blog. Keep reading, and don't be afraid to comment. We like comments for our books!