Lynn Leissler
Book Club Christmas meeting
Since the new year is a time to catch up and it's better late than never, I wanted to briefly tell of our December meeting. We gathered at Jan Griffin's home, talking of favorite books and nibbling on yummy treats. Instead of exchanging gifts this year, however, we brought either food for ACCESS or toys […]
A Gentleman in Moscow, our November read
Sometimes life throws curveballs; sometimes it seems the whole ball field is hurling your way. So it was for Count Alexander Rostov, a “Former Person,” a few years after the Russian Revolution. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles tells of the count’s life imprisonment in Moscow’s splendid Hotel Metropol (in an attic room, not […]
The Sleeping Dictionary
Twelve women gathered for Book Club at Lynn Leissler’s home on October 11 to discuss The Sleeping Dictionary by Sujata Massey. All agreed they hadn’t learned much in school about the Raj–the Imperial British rule in India. A sleeping dictionary, by the way, refers to British men learning local language via mistresses and prostitutes. Pom, […]
The Book Group enjoyed Lizette’s List by Susan Vreeland
On a warm September afternoon, eight women gathered at Lynn Leissler’s home to discuss Lizette’s List by Susan Vreeland. The author weaves a tale of art, love, and war, set in Provence, France during WWII. Instead of overpowering, the war provides a menacing backdrop for this richly themed story. Lizette is barely in her twenties […]
November 2015 Book Club read The Paris Architect
As an architect, Lucien Bernard (a Gentile) longs for success, for awards and recognition. His marriage is failing, and France is under Nazi occupation. So when wealthy Monsieur Manet (also a Gentile) approaches him to design a hiding place for a Jew and offers a large sum of money, Lucien reluctantly agrees, despite fear of […]
July 2015 Book Club enjoyed Empty Mansions
Our Book Club members had a very interesting discussion about the book Empty Mansions by Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. It starts with the story of W. A. Clark who was born in a log cabin yet became incredibly wealthy through copper mining, developed the city of Las Vegas, and served in the […]
May 2015 Book Club, The Goldfinch.
Eleven women met at Robin Oquist’s home on May 13 to discuss Donna Tartt’s third novel, Pulitzer Prize winner, The Goldfinch. 13-year old Theo Decker, lives in a New York City apartment with his mother, his father having abandoned them. When the two visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there’s an explosion and his mother […]
May Book Club discussion of What Alice Forgot
Book club gathered at Lynn Leissler’s for a discussion of What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. 39-yr old Alice Love falls off an exercise bike at a spin class, bonks her head and instantly loses ten years of her life. She thinks she is pregnant with her first child, she hates exercise, she is deliriously […]
October 2013 Book Club – The Light Between Oceans
In M. L. Stedman’s debut novel, The Light Between Oceans, Australian Tom Sherbourne carries scars from having done things in war he wants to forget, but cannot. The demons rise to haunt his dreams and taint his daylight musings. When World War I ends, he seeks distance from the battlefields, ready for time to do […]