Welcome to the San Ramon Valley RWF Book Nook. Every month we feature several books we feel are worth your time and have something important to say or teach us new information. This is your page too; we welcome input on books and suggestions for other books bring to the members attention.
MARCH BOOKS
The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain. This is the author's telling of the relationship between Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. Much of what Ms.McLain writes comes from her reading of A Moveable Feast, Hemingway's later book about his life in Paris. I found this novel interesting as it gives a glimpse of life in Europe before WWII for Americans living abroad.
A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway. After reading The Paris Wife I felt I must read the book it is based upon and I am glad I did. Hemingway is a fascinating character and his reminisces of his life in Paris as a young author is fascinating. I can see how it prompted Ms. McLain to write The Paris Wife.
The George Washington Series by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. Before Mr. Gingrich was in Congress he was a history teacher so his interest in history is natural. There are four books in this series: To Try Men's Souls, Valley Forge, Victory at Yorktown and To Make Men Free.
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. A story of a young boy who is dealt blow after blow starting with the death of his mother and his accidental acquisition of a painting of a goldfinch. This book won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
APRIL BOOKS
Lazy B-Growing up on a Cattle Ranch in the Arizona Southwest by Sandra Day O’Connor and her brother H. Alan Day. Roxanne says, “It’s wonderful and clearly shows the qualities she developed and brought to the Supreme Court".
Dead Wake, by Erik Larson. This is about the last crossing of the Lusitania. If you enjoy spy and adventure stories, this true account of the torpedoing of the Lusitania May 1915 is a must read. Where was Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty that Friday?What was President Wilson doing that afternoon? The Germans were determined to challenge the supremacy of the British Navy, and the rules of naval warfare were changed that afternoon. Did this action bring the US into WW1?
The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. This is a chilling picture of a feminists’ nightmare society: women are strictly controlled, unable to have jobs or money and assigned to various classes: the chaste, childless Wives; the housekeeping Marthas; and the reproductive Handmaids, who turn their offspring over to the "morally fit" Wives. The tale is told by Offred (read: "of Fred"), a Handmaid who recalls the past and tells how the chilling society came to be.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiquoro. Imagine a lovely boarding school in England, but with a secret that is slowly revealed; the shocking truth is known in part by the students but as it is revealed to the reader one wonders how the students dealt with the situation.
The Mockingjay Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins. These three books, “The Hunger Games”, “Catching Fire”, and “Mockingjay”. tell a morality story about good and evil and the struggle good people endure to keep their integrity and values in the face of incredible evil.
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