Virtual Author cancelled

Sadly, our Monday book club meeting with Garth Stein was cancelled. 

I am looking forward to next month's meeting with virtual visition from Will Allison who wrote What You Have Left.

I am continuing to read Three Cups of Tea by Gret Mortensen.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

by Garth Stein

The story is narrated by Denny's dog Enzo.  It was very creative to see what Denny's and his family's life was like through the eyes of the dog over the years.  Denny has a passion to be a race car driver but is practical and has a mechanic job as well.  He meets and falls in love with Eve and they have a little girl named Zoe.  Denny struggles with family life and his passion for racing.

Challenges abound for Denny when Eve is diagnosed with a brain tumor and is terminally ill.  Enzo brings life and humor to Denny's life, as the dog. 

The book is written lightly and is easy to read.  I am looking forward to our book club's virtual author visit from Garth Stein this month.

4 out of 5 rating

Conference Speaker -- Jeffrey Zaslow

Randy Pausch died in 2008.  He co-authored a book by journalist Jeffrey Zaslow.  Jeffrey Zaslow was the keynote speaker for the 2010 Alliance Conference in San Antonio.

He shared interesting things about his writings in the Wall Street Journal about Life Transitions. 

He also shared thoughts and anecdotes about this book and the other 2 books he has written. 

Here are a few quotes that I gathered from his talk that will stick with me....

"Do the right thing every time because we don't know what can happen"

"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want"

"I have never found anger to make a situation better." Randy Pausch

Jeffrey Zaslow has written 2 more books that he reviewed.

The Girls from Ames - about women friendships

Highest Duty an autobiography about Captain Sullenburger who landed the US Airways plane in the Hudson River.

A Visit with Sandra Kring

Our book club, about 16 of us, at the Massillon Public Library had a Skype session and saw and spoke with author Sandra Kring.

We read her book Thank You For All Things. She gave us insight into her own life, how she started writing and how she writes. She has a new book coming out in April called "How High The Moon". She is also working on a sequel to her book "The Book of Bright Ideas".

Our next virtual author, in June, will be Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain which will be our book club selection.

Virtual Author visit at Massillon Public Library

Monday's book club will be discussing our book Thank You For All Things by Sandra Kring.

As an added bonus, Sandra Kring will be there to talk with us, virtually on Skype, about her books.

The Leisure Seeker

by Michael Zadoorian

The first thing I would like to say is I thought this book would be funnier. From the description I thought an ailing couple, travelling across the country in an old RV would be quite amusing. It has some funny parts but also was full of more sadness. It dealt with memories, illness, and alzheimers and being a care giver.

I was a little disappointed. I felt that the chapter per state was rather dull after Texas, anecdotes, places, etc on their driving trip. I thought I was reading someone's journal. The book was easy to read and follow.

That is about all I can say since I do not want to give away anything about the ending.

My book club discussion was all members over the age of 50 or so and many were widows or had taken care of ailing parents with disease or just old age. The discussion focused on caregiving and aging.

2 out of 5 rating

Happy New Year!

Well... it's time to start a new with a reading goal!

Last year I barely made my goal of 1 book a month but most of that was books on CD and tape. This year I hope to make and beat that goal.

I plan to schedule more time for reading, needless to say that will be less Facebook time and less Bejeweled game time, going up to bed early, and being more conscious of free time at lunch!

I love to read but time just keeps slipping away and the books just keep piling up :-)

Happy New Year and I hope to finish my current book The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian in time for book club on January 25th.

I look forward to at least 6 virtual author visits as part of our Library book club this year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!