The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

This locale choice, plus a plot line of flowers and greenery gives this book a guaranteed recommendation from the likes of us.  However, in a broader marketplace, will this book entertain a nationwide audience?

 

 

Besides an education in plant and flower meanings, this book also delves into the experiences surrounding birthing and early post-natal care.  Is there a connection with all the magnificence of Mother Nature?  Is this theology as well as philosophy?  Is it the nurturing theology of Gaia, Mother Earth?A book with something for everyone: even some gourmet cooking.

 

RR Senior Center

Monthly Book Club

3rd  Tuesdays @ 1:30

•    Jan 16     The Language of Flowers

                                by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

•    Feb 20    A Wild Sheep Chase

                                by Haruki Murakami

•    Mar 20    Mrs. Dalloway

                                by Virginia Woolf

•    Apr 17     The Haunting of Hill House

                                by Shirley Jackson

•    May 15   Detroit is our Beat

                                by Loren D. Estleman

•    Jun 19     Rain Dogs

                                by Adrian McKinty

•    Jul 17       Out of Africa

                                by Isak Dinesen

•    Aug 21    Being Mortal

                                by Atul Gawande

•    Sep 18    The Dharma Bums

                                by Jack Kerouac

•    Oct 16     Crossing to Safety

                                by Wallace Earle Stegner

•    Nov 20   The Remains of the Day

                                by Kazuo Ishiguro

•    Dec 18    The Lathe of Heaven

by Ursula K. Le Guin

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff

 

BIG QUESTIONS

·      Is the Wolff guy a hack?

I don’t think so.  I’ve read more than a thousand books in the past decade, and I’d put him in the middle of the lot.

The bar is pretty low for DC tell-alls.  No one takes 2-5 years to “polish” his or her book.

It’s what he says it is: a chaotic story, written mid-chaos, which he’s tried to make cohesive and flowing in narrative form.

·      Is there anything To Learn here?

It depends on how deeply you’ve followed the White House this past year.   I haven’t followed at all – 30 minutes a day on the five o’clock news.

For Me, this book filled in the details that I’ve only read in headlines. I learned about the back-room machinations and “rationales” for what was happening.  I now understand the personalities better.

·      How partisan is it?  Should it only be read by Dems?

It’s a tell-all: -Wolff gossips about everyone.  Currently in the White House are Republicans, so that’s mainly who he gossips about.  There’s some good gossip, but most gossip is bad gossip. 

Read it if you want to know what goes on in Washington D.C.  It’s not that much different than, “The West Wing”, I enjoyed the read, but it does bog down at times, mainly because life in DC is insanely boring.

·      Peter’s politics

A Barry Goldwater guy (early ‘60’s); then worked for Morris Udall’s campaign (techie-a decade later).  Ross Perot (interviewed-80’s, voted ‘92); then Gore 2000.  Obama 2008 -- Kamala Harris 2020.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

I write this, 300 pages into a 400-page novel.  That’s deeply enough to proclaim the author’s stunning writing ability to turn a phrase: metaphors, descriptive words, uncommon thoughts.  The author is unusually inventive: in scenes, conversations, and plotline.  Likewise, with 100 pages to go, I won’t be writing any spoilers.

With, I’m sure, hundreds of books coming off the presses with a 2018 publishing date, how did I select this one?  Ahh, the power of a good author to influence their readers.  Louise Penny, a favorite of mine, wrote a recommendation that sold me.  That’s not to say I didn’t also order [Jan 1^st] and am reading: “The Nothing” by Hanif Kureishi [an NPR recommendation], and Wolff’s, “Fire and Fury” [a Donald Trump anti-recommendation].

Finn’s book is particularly relevant for our Guerneville book groups and book program on local KGGV FM-radio.  That’s because these groups are loaded with psychologists and … ..

the protagonist of this book is a child psychologist, and the plotlines revolve around the families with children living around her, as well as her own, and she is deeply struggling with agoraphobia, and … ..

she is self-medicating with prodigious quantities or powerful drugs (medications), and washing them down with bottles of wine.

Nonetheless, the reader sympathizes with her: “she needs the meds”, “she can handle the wine”.  She’s in control: wins at chess and runs an online mental health chat line.