West with the Night and Circling the Sun – October CC Book Club Selection

Parent Cafe
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Our October selection is a duo based on the life of aviator Beryl Markham, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, east to west. We will be reading Markham’s 1942 memoir *West with the Night/i combined with the fictionalized version of her life, Circling the Sun by Paula McLain (currently #6 on the New York Times Best Seller list).

Writer Ann Patchett called Circling the Sun “beautifully written and utterly engrossing.”

Discussion begins October 1st. Please join us!

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Looking forward to it! Would anyone like to post about other things they have been reading in between CC book club selections?

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Crow Lake and Road Ends-Mary Lawson
The Unraveling of Mercy Louis -

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I’ve been reading some nonfiction:

King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild, about the Belgian Congo.

  • The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq* by Emma Sky. This was written by a Arabic-speaking, anti-war British woman who was an adviser in Iraq. It was particularly interesting to read after reading a biography of Gertrude Bell, because Emma Sky was called “the new Gertrude Bell” by some Iraqis.

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. I must admit that this memoir caught my eye because there is now a movie based on it with Kit Harington of Game of Thrones fame. :slight_smile:

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Currently reading Bordeaux: The bitter finish a mystery by Janet Hubbard Brown. It’s not great literature, but I know the author.

Then I’m going to reread Beth Hilgartner’s A Business of Ferrets and A Parliament of Owls, both fantasies. I’d mislayed my copies and then her publisher went bankrupt so they were unavailable, but I got copies last week direct from the author. They should be available as e-books soon too.

And after that the plan is to read Gibbon’s Neuromancer credited with creating the cyberpunk subgenre of sci-fi.

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I’m hankering for a Western and plan to read So Brave, Young and Handsome by Leif Enger, “a lively, big-hearted redemption tale; an unforgettable, picaresque Western yarn” – or at least that’s what Amazon promises!

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Great selection for October! West with the Night is stunnigly good; I didn’t know about Circling the Sun, so that’s exciting, too.

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I’ve now got both books: I’m going to give reading them simultaneously a try … just because. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just put one of them down for a bit. For what it’s worth, both look like quick reads.

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I’ve finished reading West With the Night, which is amazing and wonderful but leaves out a great deal of Beryl’s story. Reading it made me very curious about many details of her life that I don’t necessarily expect to find in Circling the Sun because it is historical fiction

Therefore, I decided to go whole hog on this Beryl Markham reading project and tackle a straight biography before I get into Circling the Sun.

Accordingly, I am now about 250 pages into the 366-page biography Straight on Till Morning:The Life of Beryl Markham by Mary Lovell. It is very interesting, but rather dry.

I can’t wait to finish the biography and get on to Circling the Sun to see how Paula McLain imagines the life of this fascinating and mysterious woman.

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I’ve read *West with the Night * long ago and thought it was beautifully written, so given that *Circling the Sun * is also written in the first person, I decided to read it first before reacquainting myself with the original’s voice. I also checked *Out of Africa * out of the library since I saw that Isak Dinesen/Karen Blixen makes an appearance in the book. *Circling the Sun * had better be a quick read since it was a seven day express book.

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I saw "out of Africa " recently, for the second ( maybe third) time and highly recommend before reading “circling the sun”
I finished that a couple weeks ago, and now reading West into the Night.
I happy to be reading “both” of these selections together !

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I’ve been waiting stubbornly for my copy of Circling to come back from the library. Since it seems to be stuck in the system, I’m probably going to start West with the Night this weekend. NJTM, I’m glad you’re reading the biography. You’ll have the scoop!

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Starting Circling the Sun tonight. Taking a break from my Maisie Dobbs’ series to read these two.

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I turned the last pages of Circling the Sun this morning, thereby completing both titles of the assignment. I now want photographs of the characters and east African settings :slight_smile:

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^If you search Google images, there are quite a few photos of Beryl and Isak Dineson, and some of Denys and Bror Blixen.

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If you watch the movie Out of Africa you’ll get lots of Denys (as an American! :-O) And tons of gorgeous scenery. There’s a young character named “Felicity” who they say was somewhat based on Beryl, but I have my doubts.

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Thanks, NJTM. I’ve been googling and seeing tons of images. My library copy of the biography Straight On Till Morning just arrived and it has photos, too, all nicely labeled :slight_smile:

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Ah yes, Straight on Till Morning has good photos. Glad you’re reading it, PlantMom.

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I am excitedly joining the CC book club this month. I just got both books today and was hoping that others might have advice on which to read first. I thought about reading them concurrently as someone mentioned, but as a general rule I like to read one book at a time. All thoughts and opinions are welcome!

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I’m the one who read both at the same time. Truly not my best idea: I’d advise against it.