July Selection

Marta has selected Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill for our July discussion. The genre is fantasy/fable/fairy tale.

From the publisher's web site:

The publication of Joe Hill’s beautifully textured, deliciously scary debut novel Heart-Shaped Box was greeted with the sort of overwhelming critical acclaim that is rare for a work of skin-crawling supernatural terror. It was cited as a Best Book of the Year by Atlanta magazine, the Tampa Tribune, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and the Village Voice, to name but a few. Award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling Neil Gaiman of The Sandman, The Graveyard Book, and Anansi Boys fame calls Joe Hill’s story of a jaded rock star haunted by a ghost he purchased on the internet, “relentless, gripping, powerful.” Open this Heart-Shaped Box from two-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Hill if you dare and see what all the well-deserved hoopla is about. 

Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre: a cookbook for cannibals . . . a used hangman's noose . . . a snuff film. An aging death-metal rock god, his taste for the unnatural is as widely known to his legions of fans as the notorious excesses of his youth. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest purchase, an item he discovered on the Internet: I will sell my stepfather's ghost to the highest bidder . . . For a thousand dollars, Jude has become the owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no metaphorical ghost, no benign conversation piece. Suddenly the suit's previous owner is everywhere: behind the bedroom door . . . seated in Jude's restored Mustang . . . staring out from his widescreen TV. Waiting—with a gleaming razor blade on a chain dangling from one hand . . .

The Book Snobs gathered at Marta's house on Monday, July 29. Marta served home made Mexican food that was outstanding.

June Selection

Becky has chosen Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans for The Book Snobs June discussion. The genre is science fiction.

From Richard Paul Evans' web site:

To everyone at Meridian High School, Michael Vey seems like an ordinary 14-year-old–he likes waffles and video games, hates homework and gets bullied at school. But Michael is anything but ordinary. He was born with special electrical powers.

When Michael’s best friends, Ostin Liss and cheerleader Taylor Ridley, make an accidental discovery, the trio learns that there are other children with electric powers–and that someone, or some thing, is hunting them.

After Michael’s mother is kidnapped, Michael will have to rely on his wits, powers and friends to combat the powerful Elgen and free his mother.

Michael Vey, The Prisoner of Cell 25 is the first book in a seven-book series by #1 bestselling author Richard Paul Evans. At a time when the YA (Young Adult) genre is flooded with increasingly darker and hostile themes, Michael Vey is an adventure story about hope, loyalty, courage and a son’s love for his mother. With strong, likeable characters, genuinely realistic and frightening villains and “high energy” tension, Michael Vey is a series that will resonate with youths and adults alike.

The Book Snobs Gathering:

The Snobs will gather at Becky's home on Thursday, June 20, at 6:30 p.m. 

April & May 2013 Selection

Lisa has chosen Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell as our classic selection for April and May.

From the Margaret Mitchell House web site:

Atlanta native Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel, Gone With the Wind, occupies an important place in American literature. After breaking publishing records with one million copies sold within six months, the novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, has been translated into over forty languages, and remains one of the best-selling novels of all time.

Even before the book’s publication, producer David O. Selznick had secured the film rights at Mitchell's asking price of $50,000, which was more than any studio had paid for the rights to an author’s first novel.

With its detailed atmosphere of a vanished age, its compelling characters, its forceful narrative, its description of human survival, and its portrayal of the persistence of romantic dreams, Gone With the Wind continues to entertain and sometimes exasperate readers. As well as being a novel of epic proportions, it is valuable as an historical document, though one that should be carefully read. A depiction of life and conflict in the nineteenth-century South, the novel also documents twentieth-century emotions about the region’s past and memories of a way of life that many considered gone with the wind.

March 2013 Selection

Charlene has selected The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman as our March book from the category of general/popular/mainstream fiction.

From Simon & Schuster:

The debut of a stunning new voice in fiction— a novel both heartbreaking and transcendent.

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

 Tom, whose records as a lighthouse keeper are meticulous and whose moral principles have withstood a horrific war, wants to report the man and infant immediately. But Isabel has taken the tiny baby to her breast. Against Tom’s judgment, they claim her as their own and name her Lucy. When she is two, Tom and Isabel return to the mainland and are reminded that there are other people in the world. Their choice has devastated one of them.

M. L. Stedman’s mesmerizing, beautifully written novel seduces us into accommodating Isabel’s decision to keep this “gift from God.” And we are swept into a story about extraordinarily compelling characters seeking to find their North Star in a world where there is no right answer, where justice for one person is another’s tragic loss.

The Light Between Oceans is exquisite and unforgettable, a deeply moving novel.

The Book Snobs Gathering

We met at Charlene's home on Monday, March 25, for dinner and discussion. Charlene served Australian Meat Pie with salad and, of course, wine.

This novel led to a great discussion which included mental health and post-partum depression. We talked about how isolation could lead to a warped sense of right and wrong and how a decision like the one in this book could have far-reaching impact on other people.

We concluded the evening with a delicious dessert which I believe was called Better-Than-Sex.

February 2013 Selection

Theresa has selected Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn as her selection from the mystery/detective/suspense genre.

From the author's web site:

Marriage can be a real killer. One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn, takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. As The Washington Post proclaimed, her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit with deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick Dunne’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick Dunne isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but hearing from Amy through flashbacks in her diary reveal the perky perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister Margo at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was left in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

Employing her trademark razor-sharp writing and assured psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.

The Book Snobs Gathering:

The Snobs gathered at Theresa's home on Monday, February 25, for dinner, drinks, and discussion. The evening started with wine and a delicious warm artichoke dip. Our hostess served an excellent dinner that included pasta salad and tomato soup along with hot bread sticks.

After dinner, the discussion began. Generally, everyone enjoyed Gone Girl. There were mixed reviews about the writer's style using alternating chapters from each of the two main characters to tell her story. We were also somewhat divided on the book's ending. This was an excellent book for discussion. The topics we covered included a wide variety included spoiled children, mental illness, marital infidelity, and compulsive liars to mention only a few.

January 2013 Selection

Vicki has chosen Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for The Book Snobs January reading and discussion.

From the author's web site:

Internationally acclaimed with more than 5 million copies in print, FAHRENHEIT 451 is Ray Bradbury's classic novel of censorship and defiance, as resonant today as it was when it was first published nearly 50 years ago. 

Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires...The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning ... along with the houses in which they were hidden. 

Guy Montag enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs nor the joy of watching pages consumed by flames... never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. 

Then he met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think... and Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do!

The Book Snobs Gathering:

The Snobs will gather at Vicki's house on Monday, January 28. Details will be emailed to The Snobs.

November 2012 Selection

Sandra selected The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan for our November reading.

From the author's web site:

It is the summer of 1914 and Europe is on the brink of war, but Grace Winter’s future finally seems secure as she and her new husband set sail for New York, where she hopes to win over a disapproving and status-conscious mother-in-law. When a mysterious explosion sinks their ship, Grace is thrust into a lifeboat by a quick-witted crew member, who climbs in after her even though the boat is already filled beyond capacity.

As the weather deteriorates and the passengers are forced to choose sides in a brewing power struggle, Grace realizes that her survival could depend on whether she backs the ruthless but experienced John Hardie or the enigmatic but increasingly forceful Ursula Grant. Over the course of three perilous weeks, the lifeboat passengers plot, scheme, gossip and console one another while questioning their deepest assumptions about goodness, humanity and God.

Grace is finally rescued, only to be put on trial for her life. Unsure what to make of their client, Grace’s attorneys suggest she write her story down. The result is a page-turning tale of moral dilemmas, and also a haunting portrait of a woman as unforgettable and complicated as the events she describes.

The Book Snobs Gathering:

The Snobs gathered at Sandra's home on Monday, December 3rd for wine, dinner, and discussion. Sandra served a wonderful pasta primavera with grilled chicken breasts, Caesar salad, and garlic bread.

The Snobs discussed The Lifeboat. We talked about each of the main characters and what their motivation for their actions might have been. We also talked about whether we could survive being stranded at sea. We also discussed why some of the characters might have been moved to sacrifice themselves to save others. It was a good book for discussion.