Book Discussion: My Husband by Maud Ventura

 What parts of the narrators through processes did you relate to?

In what ways did you find the narrators viewpoint unreliable?

-“With the exception of my unexplained itching and my all-consuming passion for my husband,” she says, “my life is perfectly normal.” 

What were your initial thoughts of the husband? Was there a point when your feelings about him changed? Well, aside from the ending of course!

Why does the husband manipulate the wife?

Is she truly in love or just have an obsession?

In what ways does their relationship work?

-an obsessive mind is never satisfied

How did you feel about the ending? Was it effective? Would you have preferred the twist sooner in the story?

On page 34 she pretends her name is Grace while at the hairdressers and continues to keep up the rouse. What is her motivation for this?

What was her most cringy action or thought in the novel? What was her most egregious act?

What are the significance of the colors she chose for each day of the week?

Does the cover art make you want to pick the book up? Is it a good representation of the book? What else could have been on the cover?

On page 101 she quotes the philosopher Blaise Pascal "If we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable that we will never be so." How do you agree or disagree with that sentiment? Is the narrators preparations towards her husband what keep her happy.

This book has some similar relationship themes and dynamics to Annie Bot which we read over the summer. What are some similarities?

Why does the narrator cheat on her husband?

Book Discussion: Stories From the Tenants Downstairs by Sidik Fofana

Flip back to the "Intro." The final lines of the opening poem are "Everybody got a story, everybody got a tale/ Question is: is it despair or prevail?" As described in "Rent Manual," Banneker Terrace is under new ownership and a rent hike is looming. When you reached the end of the collection, did you feel optimistic about the future of Banneker Terrace and its residents? Why or why not?

In "Rent Manual," Mimi keeps a running tally of her finances as she goes from gig to gig to make rent. Why might the author have chosen to begin the collection with Mimi's story? What are some themes that are introduced here, that will recur throughout the book?

Gentrification is a central theme in this collection; it is also a central economic pressure in nearly every American city. What is gentrification? How have you observed its effects for yourself?
"lite feet" is the only epistolary story (a story written in the form of a letter) in the collection. Why might the author have chosen to write this story in this way? How does the story's epistolary form affect your reading experience?

In "Camaraderie," we encounter Darius for the first time since "Rent Manual." How have Mimi's decisions from "Rent Manual" impacted Darius?

At the beginning of "The Young Entrepreneurs of Miss Bristol's Front Porch," Kandese Bristol is confident that the news station will report on their candy store. All the young entrepreneurs need to do to make it happen, she says, is write them a letter. A response from the news station arrives at the end of the story, and the story's narrator assumes the worst, even before she's read it. In your opinion, what purpose do these details serve in the story? What might the hope for news coverage represent, and what can we make of the narrator's pessimism at the end?

In the following passage, Ms. Dallas describes teachers like Mr. Broderick: "They fresh out of college with a magic wand. They done read all the articles. Believed every news show that said public schools and teachers in the ghetto is falling apart like pie crust. Watched every feel-good movie, thinkin about twenty-two they can come in here and set the world right in minutes. All the while, they bidin they time til law school." Later, she says "I also believe that people who don't learn lessons should still get taught." In your opinion, what is the "lesson" she wants Mr. Broderick to learn?

In the final story Mr. Murrary says he deosn't know why anyone didn't ask his opinion before taking up arms for his cause of being allowed to play chess across the street from the restaurant. What ways have you seen people in society take up another persons cause without consulting? Is it helpful or harmful?

Book Discussion: Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

 In what ways do you think some of the details of an AI Robot might become a reality in our world?

There has been a lot of talk lately about ChatGPT, AI, and the future. Do you think “robot partners” are a possibility? Do you think they are a good idea? Can you imagine who would want to buy them? Do you think they would look and act like Annie?  

While you were reading the novel, at what point, if ever, did you start to see Annie as essentially human?

Considering that we get to know Doug in the privacy of his own home through the gaze of a robot, how reliable is the portrayal of him?

• Why do you suppose he evokes such powerful reactions? 
• Is he familiar, normal, a monster, or something else? 
• How does Doug’s ability to command Annie change him? 

Doug designs Annie to resemble a specific person from his past. Why is this important? What does this tell us about Doug’s character, his understanding of women, and his desire for control?  

What are the different episodes of betrayal that happen in the novel, and do the reactions to betrayal seem justified to you?

Doug is highly motivated to keep Annie, and she has no choice in the matter. In real life, couples stay together for many reasons even when their relationships are unhealthy. What are some of those reasons, and do you think the novel treats the issue of domestic abuse sensitively?

How do Annie’s other relationships—with Fiona, Christy, Delta, and Cody—cause her trouble or help her grow? How do you think third parties can affect, for better or worse, romantic relationships?

How do the concision and pace of Annie Bot add or detract from the novel? Are there places where you wish you knew more?

The novel includes references to many other books, writers, and poets. Have you read any of the mentioned works? How do you think the allusions mirror the situations and themes of Annie Bot? How are the books, and Annie Bot, related to the ways men and women are socialized in our culture?

• Borges "The Labyrinth Stories"
• The Lottery
• Hills Like White Elephants

What does Doug feel after finding out Annie Cheated? Is Doug responsible for Annies betrayal because he designed and trained her?

Were you surprised by the ending? Was it satisfying? What events do you imagine might follow?

How would this novel have been different if a human woman had purchased a robot boyfriend, or if the relationship involved LGBTQ+ partners?

What leads annies desire to learn programming?

What do you think of Dougs friend Roland?

On Page 66 Doug gets angry with Annie and tells her to never tell him what to think of feel again. Why do you think he reacted so strongly in this instance?

Why does Doug want Delta to think Annie is a human. Do you think Delta knew?

At the end what changes for Annie that she distrusts Doug?

How does her feeling about the way he treats her change over time?

Book Discussion: While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence by Meg Kissinger

Would you recommend this book to another reader? Why or why not?

How does this book compare to different memoirs you have read in this genre?

Did you find the author’s writing style easy to read or hard to read? Why? How long did it take you to get into the book?

Who was your favorite character? What character did you identify with the most? Were there any characters that you disliked? Why?

Did any part of this book strike a particular emotion in you? Which part and what emotion did the book make you feel?

Did the book change your opinion about anything, or did you learn something new from it?

Did the direction of the book surprise you?

Were there any parts of the book that frustrated you?

Did you highlight or bookmark any passages from the book? Did you have a favorite quote or quotes? If so, share which and why?

How would you adapt this book into a movie? Who would you cast in the leading roles?

Were there any instances in which you felt the author was not being truthful? How did you react to these sections?

Book Discussion: The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel

Colossal Labs aims to introduce mammoth genes into the Asian Elephant for conservation purposes. The project claims: "The return of the Woolly Mammoth to the Arctic tundra it roamed thousands of years ago has significant benefits for combating climate change. Mammoths will stir up the icy surface of the landscape, stomp out-thick, low-oxygen trees, and expose healthy, carbon-trapping grasses. That action can restore the tundra, which in turn protects the climate and balances greenhouse gasses."

Read more: https://colossal.com/how-de-extinction-works/#:~:text=The%20return%20of%20the%20Woolly,healthy%2C%20carbon%2Dtrapping%20grasses.

My critiques:

• Dialog is clunky and unbelievable. All three female characters have the same voice and personality. 

Eve’s and Vera’s young lives involve constant travel: “They had grown up on the road, on the move, in countries all over the world. They had been brave, or else they had had no choice.”

What does this nomadic life give to Jane and Sal’s daughters, and what does it take away?
Consider how the family functions when they are abroad versus when they are home in Berkeley. Which lifestyle do you think is better for them as individuals or as a family?
Jane is the only female scientist on her research team. In what ways does her gender hold her back? Do you think this phenomenon is limited to science? What does it mean that Jane’s daughters observe this kind of sexism in action? Do you think Jane would make the same daring choices in response to it all if her daughters weren’t in the picture?


How would you describe Eve and Veras relationship to each other. What do each of them desire in life?

How do Eve and Veras vision of the future differ?

In what ways does Jane fail and succeed at parenting the girls?

• Jane is a woman achieving alongside her family, not in spite of it
• When Pearl is born why isn't Jane documenting anything. Is this a science experiment or just a wild, fun adventure for her?
• On page 121 why all of the sudden does Jane give the girls a pass for drinking but reacts so strongly about Eve being sexually active?
• When Pearl is born Jane is totally unprepared. Has no idea what to feed her.
• Jane is constantly texting Helen about Pearl when Helen is in the hospital with George. She texts as if she is the priority.
• When Jane sends the girls out to get baby formula and coconut milk why didn't she think to tell them to get a bottle too!
• pg 211 the girls escape from the boat with a hole convinced Helen is trying to kill them all only to then go their mom and ask if they can leave her there alone and go find the place their dad died. If they were so concerned why on the next page are they trying to leave their mom alone with perceived danger?
• Jane avoids ever asking for her husbands police report of his death. Why?

Okay WTF is up on page 123 with Eve artificially inseminating herself with caveman DNA. Was that believable?

Also WTF is up on page 180 when Jane instinctually tried to breast feed Pearl?

Describe Vera’s relationship with Lars. In what ways does this teenage romance point to shifting dynamics between Eve and Vera? Jane’s reaction to learning that they are dating causes Vera to do something very unusual with the remnants of her father’s research. What do you think she is trying to prove to her mother—and more importantly, to herself?


For a nonspeaking character, Pearl plays an essential role in this story. What did Pearl make you feel? What did she symbolize for you? What do Eve’s and Vera’s reactions to Pearl show us about their feelings toward their mother and their status in the family?


Do you think Helen was trying to kill the girls by sending them out on a boat with a hole in it? What motives would she have?


What events lead Eve and Vera to start becoming distrustful and suspicious of Helen and george?


Did The Last Animal make you think at all differently about the history or future of the planet?

What do you think of the idea of bringing back extinct species? What might happen if science takes gene editing more into its own hands?

Book Discussion: Death Valley. by Melissa Broder

Has anyone been to the Mojave dessert or Death Valley?

How did you find the short chapters in the book?

What were some memorable humorous moments in the novel?

On page 1, the narrator’s friend texts her this philosophical quote from Kierkegaard: “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” How does this idea resonate throughout the rest of the book? How can we as humans embrace that philosophy?

What is the narrator’s relationship with her father like? Consider the quote: “It is easier to have an intimate relationship with the unconscious than the conscious, the dead than the living. As my father slumbered, I created a fantasy version of him --- resurrecting the man from my youth” (page 4). How does this fantasy of her father come to play a role in the novel?

What does the giant cactus represent to the narrator?

• asylum for both her greatest wishes and everything she was attempting to escape.

How does this novel of transformation in wilderness solitude differ from other books within that genre like Wild or A Walk in the Woods?

• sometimes the peace of solitude can reveal horrors

What are some of the coping mechanisms the narrator uses to deal with her father's convalescence?

Why do you think the author chose to not reveal the narrators name?

What do you think is the difference between empathy and compassion? Which is harder to achieve?
empathy-when we experience the same thing or feel what another person is feeling. We need to pur ourselves in their shoes to relate. Compassion you don't need to put yourself in their shoes in order to have sympathy.

 
On page 59 the narrator says "realization: love is not always a feeling, sometimes its a verb." What does the narrator mean by that?

In chapter 18, Jethra brings up the five love languages when talking about her own father’s passing. What is your love language?

On page 56 the narrators says “Being human, always new things to forgive”. Where do we see forgiveness in the novel?

Have you ever found yourself in a dangerous situation because you underprepared? How did you handle it?

At one point while lost, our narrator remarks: “It dawns on me then that I must really want to live. And it surprises me” (page 162). How does a brush with her own mortality influence her outlook on life?

What was your impression of the narrator’s novel-in-progress? Why do you think she is stuck figuring out the “desert section”? Does her own time in the desert lead to some sort of epiphany?

Throughout DEATH VALLEY, the protagonist longs to feel less alone and talks to receptionists, anonymous Reddit users and even rocks. What does she get out of these interactions? Why is it sometimes easier to talk to strangers than the people we love? Do you think the talking rocks are an example of magical realism or a fabrication of our lonely narrator’s imagination?

Book Discussion: Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

What foundation is Tommy Orange, the author laying in the Prologue?

While Jude Star is at Fort Marion, he talks about white visitors coming to see them “perform being Indian.” How do we see the commodification and fetishization of Native people represented throughout the book?

The story begins with Jude and then unfolds across seven generations into the present, ending with baby Opal. Why is it important that the story is told through multiple generations in one family?

Charles Star, right before he died, thought about how tired he was of enduring. Where else do you see both that strength and exhaustion in his descendants?

the prologue and first several chapters of Wandering Stars not only set up the novel but provide us with the important history of how American colonial settlers orchestrated and executed the genocide of the indigenous people already living on the land. Did you learn anything new from these opening chapters? How did this painful history affect you? What parallels, if any, do you see with modern conflicts around the world, including Yemen, Ukraine, Gaza, Haiti, and Sudan?

it says, “I didn’t think stories were made to comfort. I believed what my father told me. Stories do more than comfort. They take you away and bring you back better made.” What do stories offer you? What do you feel is your responsibility as a reader?

What was the reason for the character of Sean in the story? What did he represent and how does he fit into the rest of the story.

-p. 130 Sean describes being non-binary. men are a secret cult

Chapter 19 is called “Who Can Say Indian?,” and opens with Sean wondering whether or not he can say the word around Orvil, because Sean learned, through a DNA test, that he has a significant amount “Indian blood.” What did you think of the conversation between Sean and Orvil, and their subsequent friendship? In what ways did the genocide of Native Americans factor into how these boys see themselves and their history? Then, there is this line: “Sean thought it was so weird, this idea of the heritage being in the blood, but then not as weird as it only being in remnants, or relics, old art and artifacts meant to be seen behind museum glass” (197). In what ways do you feel close to or disconnected from your own heritage? How well do you know your older relatives and their stories?

Why do you think the character of Richard Henry Pratt, the founder of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School showed remorse about his role in "rehabilitating" Indians. 

There’s still a lot of stigma around addiction and in many cases it’s seen as a personal failing. What circumstances beyond their control brought these characters to substance abuse? In what ways do racism, depression, fatigue, and generational trauma factor in? What gives you hope for these characters to break the cycle?

What is the significance of Opal giving Charles a traditional burial? How does the story shift with the end of this chapter?

Chapter 12 follows Victoria Bear Shield and is told in the second person. Why? What feeling does this switch invoke?

What effects does interracial adoption have on Native people and communities as represented in the book?

How do Orvil, Loother and Lony each respond to trauma? In what way is this affected by their disconnection from their Indigenous community?

Why did Opal keep cultural knowledge and family stories from the boys? At the end of chapter 25, Opal asks herself that question. What is the reasoning behind her shift in opinion?

What similarities do you see within each characters’ stories and experiences? How do they reflect the effects of intergenerational trauma?

Stars and birds are woven throughout the entire novel. What do they symbolize?

At the end of chapter 2, Jude describes how he chose his name and how struck he was by a Bible verse concerning wandering stars. Why do you think it impacted him? Why was it used for the title of the book?