I never watched “Friends”, but that was priceless! Still laughing.
If Hamilton is put in the freezer, can we prevent him from a tragic outcome? Would not have thought of that as a way to protect a character.
I think Jo would have felt obligated to help her parents as both sisters married and were carrying on their own lives and Beth died and obviously left a huge void.
I personally can’t fault a dying person who tries to have someone volunteer to fill the gap she knows her death will leave. Yes, it’s hard for the survivor who commits or feels obligated to fill the gap but I suspect the survivor would have felt obligated to try to fill it in any case.
Dying people aren’t saints and totally selfless—there may be some who are but many/most are simply human and trying to depart the world without being overly burdened by sorrow and worries about the survivors.
We can start thinking about our December selection at any time!
As always, though, this thread is still active for anyone with further comments about Little Women or Behind a Mask.
@mary13 that you tube clip is so perfect. Loved it !thanks
Re December, although we’ve had Educated and Cheaper By the Dozen on the back burner, I would suggest only one book for December. We just did a duet and December is usually a busy month for one and all.
My second suggestion is that we choose something new, since we just came off a double-classic.
I scouted some possibilities…Here are a few ideas culled from random browsing of the internet, a look at prior suggestions, and a glance at a few of the new(ish) books sitting around my house, unread:
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (I believe we modified the by-laws and lifted the restriction on repeat authors with Once Upon a River ;).)
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Recursion by Blake Crouch
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
My choice would be “Recursion”. I would veto “The Far Field”. I would add Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
I just finished The Nickel Boys. It is excellent, and very disturbing.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Recursion by Blake Crouch
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
As always, I’ll read almost anything. That said, I would put “The Nickel Boys” at the bottom of my list, simply because I’m personally not up for anything “very disturbing” at the moment. (Timing is everything, right?)
^ I’ll take that as a veto – there’s plenty else to choose from for this round.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Recursion by Blake Crouch
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Also it wasn’t that long since we read The Underground Railroad. I don’t have time to look at this list until tomorrow, but I’m up for something fun.
Fun would be nice.
I’ve already read An American Marriage, so I’d prefer to skip that.
My favorites that I’ve read with this group have been A Gentleman in Moscow and The Weight of Ink. I guess I like good, deep historical novels that I learn from. (Although I didn’t love Pachinko.) Do any of those on this list resemble these historical novels?
Since it will be December, is there any holiday themed book that might interest anyone. I would suggest “A Christmas Carol”, but it is a classic, and we just did that.
At a glance: *Daisy Jones and the Six/i or either The Dutch House or Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.
Adding The Disappearing Earth.
Not so interested in The Water Dancer - as @mathmom points out, we recently read The Underground Railroad.
And echoing others, I’m not up for depressing/disturbing for a December selection.
I’m shamefully not finished with either of this time’s selections. (Beth just passed away this morning - in my world.) I got sidetracked with Invincible Louisa and finished it yesterday. The biography mentions the turbulent relationship between Louisa and the youngest sister May as young girls, citing a similarity of personality. However, as adults the sisters were close. May passed away shortly after giving birth to a daughter Louisa May Nieriker.
The little girl called Lulu
Louisa was also close to oldest sister Anna and her two boys, Anna’s husband dying when the children were young. So though Louisa never married she had a family of her own.
For some reason that makes me happy.
If I may, I’d like to veto Daisy Jones and the Six. I recently read this book and I’m not a fan.
I don’t want to give away too many details about a book many of you may like. My biggest peeve was the interview style narrative - it made the book flat and boring.
For the holidays, I’d really like a happy book, thanks. I’m not familiar with any of these.
With the vetoes above, we’re down to five titles. I added the Amazon links, in case anybody wants more info. I’m open to suggestions for additional-- happy–books (although generally speaking the lighter the book, the less there is to discuss, at least for modern works if not for classics).
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
https://www.amazon.com/Dutch-House-Novel-Ann-Patchett/dp/0062963678
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
https://www.amazon.com/Woman-No-Man-Novel/dp/0062699768
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
https://www.amazon.com/Disappearing-Earth-novel-Julia-Phillips/dp/0525520414
Recursion by Blake Crouch
https://www.amazon.com/Recursion-Novel-Blake-Crouch-/dp/B07HDSHP7N
Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
https://www.amazon.com/Eleanor-Oliphant-Completely-Fine-Novel/dp/0735220697
The “happiest” is Elinor Oliphant. But have a lot of you already read it?
@ignatius, sadly, Lulu was only 8 when her aunt Louisa May died, and then she was sent to live with her father in Switzerland. There must have been a lot of such shuffling about of youngsters in those days, with the life expectancy being what it was.
@mary13 many thanks for those links, how easy to quickly check out the suggested books.
I’ve read Eleanor, but would be fine with it as next selection. Agree it looks like the Most upbeat option.
Also, @ignatius It please me to know that a Louisa May Alcott, had Lulu in her life, what joy that must have been for her. Also, her sister, May was quite a respected artist, with European trips and excellent art schools, provided by Louisa.