The afternoon book discussion group is reading The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama. On the eve of the Second World War, a young Chinese man is sent to his family's summer home in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. He will rest, swim in the salubrious sea, and paint in the brilliant shoreside light. It will be quiet and solitary.
But he meets four local residents-a beautiful Japanese girl and three older people. What then ensues is a tale that readers will find at once classical yet utterly unique. Young Stephen has his own adventure, but it is the unfolding story of Matsu, Sachi, and Kenzo that seizes your attention and will stay with you forever.
Tsukiyama, with lines as clean, simple, telling, and dazzling as the best of Oriental art, has created a small, moving masterpiece. from the book jacket
There's always time to listen to the Hopkinton READS! book -- in the car, at the gym, on the couch, on the team bus.... Audio versions of Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, are available from these sources:
Please join us at 7:00PM on October 22nd, or at 2:00PM on October 23rd, as the afternoon and evening reading groups tackle Michael Pollan's thought-provoking work, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Expect some lively conversation, moderated by Kevin Flynn and Mike Timm.The best-selling author of The Botany of Desire explores the ecology of eating to unveil why we consume what we consume in the 21st century.Hopkinton READS!, our annual community-wide reading celebration, will soon be in full swing. Be sure to check out the HTL home page for additional activities and program information.
"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another, this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't, which mushrooms should be avoided, for example, and which berries we can enjoy. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance.
The cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet has thrown us back on a bewildering landscape where we once again have to worry about which of those tasty-looking morsels might kill us. At the same time we're realizing that our food choices also have profound implications for the health of our environment. The Omnivore's Dilemma is best-selling author Michael Pollan's brilliant and eye-opening exploration of these little-known but vitally important dimensions of eating in America.
We are indeed what we eat, and what we eat remakes the world. A society of voracious and increasingly confused omnivores, we are just beginning to recognize the profound consequences of the simplest everyday food choices, both for ourselves and for the natural world. The Omnivore's Dilemma is a long-overdue book and one that will become known for bringing a completely fresh perspective to a question as ordinary and yet momentous as "What shall we have for dinner?" -- from the publisher's summary
The afternoon and the evening groups will be reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak for our September meetings. Come in and pick up a copy!Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist - books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story of the ability of books to feed the soul. -- Randomhouse.comThe Book Thief: Wednesday September 16th at 1:00pm OR Tuesday September 29th at 7:30pm.
The evening group is reading Rabbit, Run this month. John Updike (1932-2009) originally created the character of Harry 'Rabbit' Engstrom in 1960. Tuesday evening June 30th at 7:30pm.
This unique study of cultural introspection unfolds in a series of meditative essays about time and change in New England that reveal how profoundly cultural memory affects our lives. Mansfield meanders through the small historical museums of New England; he peers into the past and present of the town meeting; he visits Lowell, Massachusetts, and the Jack Kerouac Memorial; he contrasts two views of Walden Pond and he causes us to consider seriously the passing of old-growth trees. -- From the publisher's summaryThis May and June, we have partnered with the New Hampshire Antiquarian Society in celebrating the work of local author, Howard Mansfield. Don't miss these related events:
Elizabeth Bennett has a great amount of pride in her family - even though they aren't nearly as wealthy as Fitzwilliam Darcy. Darcy, for his part, holds a certain prejudice against those of lesser rank and fortune; Elizabeth is prejudiced against his snobbery. How these 2 can ever fall in love can only be the work of Jane Austen, who masterfully arranges their story, the humorous characterizations, and a caricature of English society. It is a truth universally acknowledged that Austen changed the course of novels with her examinations of ordinary people in everyday life, and Pride and Prejudice stands as entertaining evidence to that fact. -- From the publisher's summary.
Join us on Tuesday, March 24th, at 7:30 PM, to explore Agatha Christie's classic whodunit, Murder on the Orient Express.Savor one of the most clever of Christie's suspenseful classics. An American businessman is stabbed to death aboard a luxury train, the Orient Express, snowbound in the middle of Europe. Nothing escapes the eagle eye and quick intelligence of the great Hercule Poirot, and clues abound. Sorting through a dozen perfectly respectable passengers, all suspects, Poirot is tenacious in his pursuit of the truth.
Don't miss other titles in the Hercule Poirot series. -- From the publisher's summary.
Join us on Wednesday, March 18th, at 1:00 PM, to explore Joanne Harris' compelling novel, Five Quarters of the Orange.When the widowed Framboise moves back to the village of Les Laveuses, where she grew up, she is pleased to discover that no-one recognises her. She soon forges a new life for herself there, and before long has established a profitable creperie.
All is going well, until her profiteering nephew realises that money can be made by publishing a collection of Framboise's increasingly popular recipes, left to her by her mother, a woman despised throughout the village. For the book to be a success, her true identity must be revealed, opening the flood gates to a past life and painful childhood memories. -- From the publisher's summary.
Join our book discussion group on Wednesday, February 18th, at 1:00 PM, as we tackle Maya Angelou's classic work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.Maya Angelou's childhood in a small, rural community during the 1930s. Filled with images and recollections that point to the dignity and courage of black men and women, Angelou paints a sometimes disquieting, but always affecting picture of the people, and the times, that touched her life. -- From the publisher's summary.
