May's Meeting

It's almost time for our discussion on Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. Christina Yin will be leading the discussion at Susan Draper's house at 8pm.

76 Meadow Run Dr. 

Skillman, NJ 08558

our house is the one at the end of the road (looks like a ranch, though we do have stairs)

804-DRA-PERS

Laura's Choices for June

Laura will lead the discussion in June. Her choices are:

Marie Curie:  A Biography by Eve Curie

American Promethius:  The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin

Growing up Amish by Ira Wagler

May's Meeting Info -Gilead

May's discussion will be led by Christina at Susan's house on Thurs, May 10 at 8:00 pm. The book will be Gilead: A Novel, by Marilynne Robinson.  See you there!

April 2012- Cloud Atlas

Thanks to Allison for a great gourmet spread and an interesting discussion about Cloud Atlas. We talked about the different themes and motifs, like these quotes illustrate:

 “Why fight the 'natural' (oh, weaselly word!) order of things? Why? Because of this--one fine day, a purely predatory world shall consume itself. In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.”

“If we believe that humanity may transcend tooth and claw, if we believe divers races & creeds can share this world as peaceably as the orphans share their candlenut tree, if we believe leaders must be just, violence muzzled, power accountable & the riches of the Earth & its Oceans shared equitably, such a world will come to pass.” 

 “What wouldn't I give now for a never-changing map of the ever-constant ineffable? To possess, as it were, an atlas of clouds.” 

March 2012 - 'The Great Divorce" by C.S. Lewis

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done'." 

Thank you to Barbara for a great discussion on The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. We talked about the sins and pride that we have to give up to enter Heaven. Maybe we've all thought about this before, but CS Lewis has a way of making you see and feel it in a new light. We also had some delicious fruit pizza and pumpkin brownie/cake.

"Hell is a state of mind — ye never said a truer word. And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the creature within the dungeon of its own mind — is, in the end, Hell. But Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is Heavenly." 

February 2012- "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" by Beth Hoffman

“It's what we believe about ourselves that determines how others see us.” 

This month, we discussed Beth Hoffman's "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt."  Thanks to Larisa, who was a lovely hostess and provided delightful bruschetta and pasta salad, we had great discussion about life's trials and how best to deal with them.  We talked about the strength of women and how we manage to fill the holes in each other's lives.  We discussed how, over time, our culture has drastically adjusted its perception and treatment of those who suffer from mental illness.  We also discussed the deep impact mental illness can have on family life.  We discovered that in the process of "saving CeeCee,"  all the other characters in the book save themselves as well, a testament to how supporting our loved-ones heals us and makes us stronger.

“It's how we survive the hurt in life that brings us strength and gives us beauty.”