November meeting : notes

November book & discussion questions

Title: Mao's last dancer
Author: Li Cunxin
Image from: Angus & Robertson

Discussion questions:

1. Can you pronounce the author’s name?
- Most of us: No. Li’s mother called him by a different name. Nat looked it up and it’s pronounced 'Lee Schwin Sing.' His nickname was to do with his place in the family (the order), i.e. 6th son.

2. How would you describe the author’s relationship with his family and his life in China?
- Very close to his family, especially his mother. Do you think he was spoilt? No. Nat thought he was a bit spoilt. He was close to his grandmother. He was given an opportunity and yet he was not the least bit interested in ballet and was sent away to school. Felt sorry for him having to go away and seeing his parents only once a year. It was an opportunity of a lifetime because he would not have got where he was if he did otherwise. In a way yes, because he was the second to youngest, and because she nearly killed him (remember that burn) so she appreciated him more because of that, maybe he wasn’t spoilt but he was a bit special and indulged. Was the mother putting one of the brothers outside in the snow to die? All the time he praises his mother. Even when he went back to China he visited his family in order of their birth. They didn’t seem to have a lot of food. It sounded awful. Ate a lot of something like yams. Is a bit like kumara. (Tosca: I tried yams while on holiday in New Orleans earlier this year and blech! Yuck).

3. Li’s account of his first visit to the west is a saga of culture shock. How different is his life from that as a young communist in China?
- He was taught that everything outside of China was bad. Life was quite simplistic. The way the book was written he makes himself to be a hypocrite and so Nat didn’t find him likeable. It could have been seen as a means of basic survival, his behaviour, but to Nat it seemed like hypocrisy. He felt he had let his family down because he was doing something he didn’t really want to do for quite a while. In the sort of circumstances he grew up in, and with the life in China was like, none of us can really comprehend what life was really like: the fear, the threat, the life (being shot for protesting etc.). We grow up without any fear in western society and so have no real comprehension. It must have been a terrible shock to his family when they arrived to see him perform in Houston. They’d come straight from the airport to see him prancing around with tights on and his father asked him why he didn’t have any pants on. He had an opportunity, though, that many western children would not have had. Here parents would need money to help their children pursue a career in ballet, yet Li was chosen and sent away and groomed for that exact purpose.

4. What do you think Li meant when he says, “There’s no doubt [that] without Ben I would still be in China,” Cunxin says. “Without him, I would not be where I am today. Without him, I wouldn’t be the dancer I was. He is one of the mentors of my life.”
- Li might have thought that Ben was his mentor but I still think the teacher at the academy was the real inspiration because Li never would’ve gotten to the US without him.

5. What was your impression of how Li handled his defection to the USA. What do you think Li gained and lost by hid decision to defect ot he USA?
- Not very well planned and seemed a bit impulsive. He had the opportunity to have a bit of freedom – something we take for granted – and so took for it. He was an artist first and foremost and that had to be expressed, too bad about the relationships, he was a true artist. He trained to be an artist so why wouldn’t he want to do what he had been trained to be extremely good at it, and he had more freedom to be so in the west. He saw hypocrisy when talking with the minister and he saw what freedom could be had elsewhere. He was a bit of a drama queen, he anguished over the silliest things while in school.

6. Rate the book out of 5 with 1 being terrible and 5 being excellent.
- 1 ½ 3 1/2 4 3 3 4 3 ½ 4 3 ½-4 3

7.Would you recommend the book? Do you think you will go to the movie when it comes out?
- Yes I would recommend the book; Lesley will go to see the movie which comes out in NZ in Feb 2010

Please note: Our next meeting is Saturday 23rd January 2010 here at Manurewa Library. Our next book is 'The 10pm question' by Kate de Goldi. Nat will request copies for the group. If each person could think of one question to phone/email/blog for Nat to compile for our discussion questions for the next meeting, please and thank you :)

Sites for book lovers

Hi friends

I have enjoyed browing through the favourite book sites you have linked. It is interesting to see what novels have received awards and new books in the pipe line for 2010. I have another site I really like which is: www.overbooked.org

I like this one because you can filter search by literary themes and the genres are extensive (e.g. black humour, fairytales etc.)

Finally thanks to the lovely ladies at Manurewa Library, Merrin, Natalie, Tosca and others for making this book club happen and being so engaged and enthusiastic.

News from the "Newby"

Hi,

So I've caught up, read 'Water For Elephants' and absolutely loved it. Sara Gruen is very good at making a heart heavy book seem morish and "easy-to-read", I didn't want to put it down. The glimpses back to the present and into the old folks home made it all the more richer and well rounded for me. Rosie was gorgeous, intelligent and emotive and made me fall in love with our elephant friends all over again. I was so relieved with the happy ending and felt it refreshing after the books I've read in the past that leave you wanting to crawl into a ball and stay there :-)

I've nearly finished the YA edition of 'Mao's Last Dancer' so may try and re-read it if I can get my hands on the un-abridged version before we talk about it in November. I have read The Memory Keepers Daughter in the last year but for the life of me can't remember the character's names :-) Will think up a chat question or two once I can get my hands on a copy and refresh my memory. Don't expect anything too profound from the newby :-)

There are a few books I'd like to suggest for next year...not sure if any of them were featured in 2009 or not but here goes:-

• 'The Time Travellers Wife' by Audrey Niffenegger
• 'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver
• 'Northern Lights' by Philip Pullman
• 'A Fine Balance' by Rohinton Misty

All are on the Whitcoulls Top 100 and 3 I've been wanting to read as they look really good. 'The Poisonwood Bible' I've already read and really enjoyed and think it might be worth discussing.

Bye for now :-)

Megan

Possible Books for Next Year

Hi Bookmates,
Yes we have skipped right over writing the Christmas List to instead plan next year's reading list.

The following list is just some of the titles and authors we have been recommending to each other throughout the year in our meetings. It is by no means exhaustive (as someone may have misplaced their notes) so please keep posting your choices or bringing titles along to the next few meetings.

Daughter of fortune by Isabel Allende (Fiction)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Fiction)
Secret Scripture by Sebastion Barry (Fiction)
Agatha Raisin by M C Beaton (Fiction)
Hamish Macbeth by M C Beaton (Fiction)
City of Thieves by David Benioff (Fiction)
Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett (Fiction)
People of the book by Geraldine Brooks (Fiction)
Downunder by Bill Bryson (Non Fiction)
The life and times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson (Non Fiction)
All this and a Bookshop Too by Dorothy Butler (Non Fiction)
Don't tell Mum I work on the rigs : she thinks I'm a piano player in a whorehouse by Paul Carter (Non Fiction) SBC pick for July 2009
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Fiction)
Mao’s last dancer by Li Cunxin (Non Fiction) SBC pick for November 2009
The 10pm question by Kate DeGoldie (Fiction)
19th Wife by David Ebershoff (Fiction)
The memory keeper's daughter by Kim Edwards (Fiction) SBC pick for October 2009
The Fraud by Barbara Ewing (Fiction)
Stairway to the moon by Colin Falconer (Fiction)
Book Book by Fiona Farrell (Fiction)
Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman (Fiction)
Two Pillars by Ken Follet (Fiction)
The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes Peebles (Fiction)
Scandal of the Season by Sophie Gee (Fiction)
Marley & Me by John Grogan Non (Fiction)
Water for elephants : a novel by Sara Gruen (Fiction)
SBC pick for September 2009
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (Fiction) SBC pick for June 2009
A spot of bother by Mark Haddon (Fiction)
Remember Me by Derek Hansen (Fiction)
Chocolat by Joanne Harris (Fiction)
Notes on a scandal by Zoe Heller (Fiction)
The Kite runner by Khaled Hosseni (Fiction)
A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseni (Fiction)
The Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson (Non Fiction)
Five Boys by Mick Jackson (Fiction)
Three men in a boat : to say nothing of the dog! Jerome K Jerome (Fiction)
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (Fiction) SBC pick for May 2009
Cathy Kelly (Fiction)
Marian Keyes (Fiction)
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Fiction)
The life of Pi: a novel by Yann Martel (Fiction)
The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (Fiction)
No Country for Old men by Cormac McCarthy (Fiction)
Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough (Fiction)
Atonement by Ian McEwan (Fiction)
Long way down by Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman with Jeff Gulvin by (Non Fiction)
The time traveler's wife : a novel by Audrey Niffenegger (Fiction)
Temeraire by Naomi Novik (Fiction)
Let me sing you gentle songs by Linda Olsson (Fiction)
The Bolter by Frances Osbourne (Non Fiction)
My sister’s keeper by Jodi Picoult (Fiction)
Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher (Fiction)
Nation by Terry Pratchett (Fiction)
The Godfather by Mario Puzo (Fiction)
Robert Rankin (Fiction)
Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Fiction) SBC pick for August 2009
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows (Fiction)
Anita Shreve (Fiction)
Longitude by Dava Sobel (Non Fiction)
The Planets by Dava Sobel (Non Fiction)
Q and A by Vikas Swarup (Fiction)
The meaning of everything : the story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester (Non Fiction)
The surgeon of Crowthorne: a tale of murder madness and the love of words Simon Winchester (Non Fiction)
P G Wodehouse (Fiction)

October Book is "The Memory Keeper's Daughter"

Hi bookmates,

Just a quick post to confirm that we will be discussing Kim Edward's The Memory Keeper's Daughter on the 31st October.

At our last meeting it was obvious that not everyone would get a copy of Mao's Last Dancer before the October meeting. So we decided that we should swap the books around for October and November.

Please let me know if you haven't received The memory keeper's daughter yet, as everyone should have managed to get a copy by now.

Also please don't forget that we decided that we could come up with our own group discussion questions, if you could please post them to the blog or telephone or email them to Merrin or myself that would be fantastic.
The questions will also be sent out with our monthly newsletter and posted on the blog on Tuesday 27th October so please send them in by the 26th October.

cheers Natalie

Water for Elephants

I have to say that Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants has been my favourite book so far. The circus scenes captured my imagination, and the seamless moving between the present and past felt right to me.
The fact that I was able to read the book right through without any of the aborted attempts which I had with several of the previous SBC choices is always a good litmus test for me.
I know from our SBC meeting some of us preferred the circus scenes compared to the rest home scenes but I can honestly say that the pace of WFE worked for me, the characters and situations lingered in my mind, long after I finished reading it.
So yes, I would definitely recommend this book to others, and for the bean counters amongst us, I gave it a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

I am currently reading:

I have just starting reading "The Selected Works of T S Spivet" by Rief Larsen. I first saw this novel in a bookshop and was attracted firstly by the colour and shape of the book and then the illustrations and side notations throughout the story. How interesting I thought, definitely worth further investigation.

So far, about 30 pages in, it is very engaging. T S Spivet, otherwise known as Tecumseh Sparrow Spivet, is the narrator and protagonist. He is a 12 year old boy living on a ranch in Montant who is obsessed with cartography. He appears to be a gifted child and his narration is very funny. The only negative so far is that trying to follow the text of the side bar notes and read the numerous charts and drawing requires one to manoeuveur the book to odd angles which is not so easy when you are reading under the covers!

These are my initial thoughts and I will keep you posted on how the journey goes. As you know, if a novel starts to bore me I don't bother finishing it and should this prove to be the case, my next post may be a short one!!

Lovely Bones

Hey all,
Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is our next SBC meeting.
This month we are discussing Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, hopefully you all received your copy in time.
I have to admit it took me a several attempts to get into it, but once I did it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Looking forward to all your opinions tomorrow.
The newsletter was sent out by post yesterday, and emailed today to the ones who preferred the electronic copy so in theory everybody should get a copy of it today.
This month we have used the discussion questions that were created by the publisher, but we are hoping that for the next few books we could create our own as a group similar to the way Merrin & I did for Paul Carter's "Don't tell mum I work on the rigs..."
Can't wait to hear what you all thought about the book, Natalie

Tosca's bookshelf

Hola! Yes, it's that time again - to give you a sneak peek at my bookshelf this month. It's only just barely August and I'm once again up to my eyeballs in books *sigh* It's so good being me LOL

Before I show you the books I just wanted to let you all know that we have a new NextReads newsletter starting up this week. It's the Romance E-interview newsletter which is, much as the title suggests, interviews conducted by email with some of New Zealand and Australia's hottest romance authors. Our first issue features Nalini Singh - New York Times Bestselling paranormal romance author who resides in Auckland. All of this came about as an idea I'd been kicking over the a couple of months. Finally, after too much sugar, I flicked Nalini an email and floated the idea past her. She responded within a couple of hours (I'm very impressed by that) in the affirmative. All of that got me thinking...how many other authors might be interested in allowing some of our subscribers a glimpse at the person behind the stories. I hunted up some 17 authors, not expecting that anyone would want to - all the time wondering if this could be a regular side feature in our current Romance newsletter. Well, like Topsy the idea growed and growed and, before I knew it, every single author said yes, and so the newsletter needed its very own space! Which of course has me wondering of I can pull this off for our other genre...

Bonneville : the Fastest Place on Earth by "Landspeed" Louise Ann Noeth

Two reasons I'm reading this book: I'm about to watch the movie Bonneville with Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen and I like cars. Fast cars, slow cars, pretty cars, beat up cars - I just like cars. When I was younger my dad was always restoring cars or motorbikes at any given time. If he wasn't driving one he was tinkering with one *rolls eyes* It's no surprise then that two of my sisters can take a car apart and put it back together without even breaking a sweat. Me, on the other hand, I much prefer to watch LOL While I can recognise most makes, models and years, I've got nothing on the 10 and 12 yr old nephews LOL

Blackmailed into a Fake Engagement by Leanne Banks

What kinda romance newsletter editor wouldn't be reading romances?! One or two things bother me about the cover - like the fact that he's leading her and not even paying attention to her, and she's looking at him with blind adoration. HOWEVER the story itself is quite funny and the characters aren't totally up themselves or all about money and sophistication. That said, he's a PR man for a big movie company that's family owned and she's an Oscar-winning retired actress-turned horse rescue rancher LOL Something about happy endings make me feel slightly less cynical and yes, even when they're cliche happy endings! This particular book is a part of the Hudsons of Beverly Hills series, and each book is written by a different author and some of them really do have quite distinct styles or voices. In fact, one of them in this series I read I didn't actually like the characters at all. Eek.

Who Writes This Crap by Joel Stickley and Luke Wright

Hilarious nonfiction book in which Stickley and Wright take all of the gaff we read in our normal day, and re-write it. In funny and satirical ways that keep you laughing from beginning to end. A lot of the stuff they've used is taken from emails, magazine advertising and packaging, text messages, junk mail. Here's an example: 'You don't have to be crazy to work here. But under EU law we will still consider your application.' Or how about: 'Warning! Any baggage left unattended will be removed and destroyed, no matter how unlikely it is that fanatical terrorists waging a holy war against Western civilisation would conceal an explosive device in a bright pink Miffy rucksack.' If you've read Is it just me or is everything shit : the encyclopedia of modern life by Steve Lowe then you've just got to try this gem.

That's it from me - I am reading much more but really, I'm trying not to bore you senseless! Feel free to comment, add your own bookshelf updates or even suggest a book for me to read. One thing I used to do a lot while working the front desk in our branches was actually read the books our customers suggested. I've read some of the strangest and best books that way :)

Authors and Reader Gender Bias

Hi all, thought I would post some of my thoughts in my lunchbreak before the IT Gestapo catch on and shut me down, lol!!

I remember the time when I discovered that one of my favourite authors was not a female, but a male! I was gobsmacked. I have followed the female characters so closely through out the series, grown to love and identify with them (in fact Mma Precious Ramotswe is quite an icon in the world of readers) that for some reason I assumed the author to be female. OK so the author's name might have given me a clue, Alexander McCall Smith, but no! The character of Mma Ramotswe is just so lovely and essentially female that I believe (and I'm sure Freud would agree) that I transferred these qualities to the author. Nevertheless, I still love Alexander McCall Smith, even if he is a bloke. He has given us the beautiful Precious in his series "The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'. Precious is a warm, wise, 'traditionally built' female detective in Botswana. McCall Smith delights me with simple gentle fables of everyday life in Botswana centred around virtue and compassion (within a lighthearted mystery). This experience leads me to wonder if knowing the gender of the author can make a difference to how we relate to a story. Similarly, do we identify with elements of a story through our own gender bias (as I did)?

Hey, its Friday, have a great weekend everyone.

Write Faster Damn You!!

Does anyone else have this problem? My favourite authors are just not spitting out their novels fast enough, do they think they are on a picnic, what happened to the 8 hour work day, surely a book or two a year isn't too much to ask for!! Case in point, Robert Rankin. Robert, I love you, I have read everything you have published, I follow your radio show on BBC, I belong to your fanclub. OK so I haven't attended any of your events recently but Brentford, England is just a little off the beaten track for me! The last novel you wrote was Necrophenia in 2008, that was a year ago Robert!! May I be so bold as to make a suggestion - instead of writing in longhand in an exercise book, try a wordprocessor man!! you will never look back. But wait, imagine my delight when the Order of the Golden Sprout alterted me to new Rankin novel in the wings. Retromancer is to be published this year! but hurry we are over half way through. I will let you off with a warning Robert, a book a year is not too bad but you could do better. I'm happy to whizz over and be your typist.

Bookmates, you can check out the Order of the Golden Sprout at http://www.thegoldensprout.com/

Hi Bookmates

Would like to add another to our reading list. "We Need To Talk About Kevin" Lionel Shriver. I have not read it but my daughter read it for NCEA and it is the only book I have seen her read from start to finish. I think it would be a good book to discuss as it looks at the controversial topic of nature vs nuture as the primary influence in one's behaviour. This book takes the form of a series of letters from Eva to her estranged husband Franklin after their son has committed a school massace. It documents how the mother struggles to come to terms with what her son has done. It is supposedly being adapted for film.

PS I have discovered what teenagers do for NCEA English when they don't want to read a book and analyse it, they choose a book that has been made into a movie, then they watch the movie at least 3 times, read the synopsis and bluff their way through it!!

Tosca's bookshelf

YES - I am egocentric and it's all about me! Kidding - thought I'd put up a post and list a few books/dvds I am currently reading/watching:

DVD: Who do you think you are? UK Series 4 - This series follows the journeys of well known UK personalities as they delve into their family history. This particular series features Natasha Kaplinsky, John Hurt, Griff Rhys Jones, Carol Vorderman, Alistair McGowan, Graham Norton and Sir Matthew Pinsent. If you're a fan of family history, or even just vaguely interested in genealogy, I recommend that you watch this series. Or at least start with season one and give it a go.

Book: Butterscotch by Lyn Loates - Recommended to me by Sandy. I'm not usually much of a fan of NZ authors but reading Mr. Pip with the group has made me judge less harshly. Although, I do have to admit that when I read Mr. Pip when it first came out I struggled with reading it. The group reading made it a bit easier. Butterscotch is about Helen Mainyard who, when she turns 21, discovers the real reason for her family's having abruptly left Christchurch 13 yrs ago. Is an interesting read and, although I haven't quite finished it, I won't be simply chucking it aside either. If any of the group are able to recommend another NZ author I might enjoy feel free to post a response. In fact, I look forward to it :)

Book: Pride and prejudice and zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith - Argh! The original Austen novel has to be one of my most favourite reads (right behind Gerald Durrell, my all time hero) and I had to admit that I read it for two reasons: Austen and zombies. I wanted to know how on earth they could fit together in the one book. But it works! Seriously crazy but I enjoyed it. It was funny, very grisly and irreverent. I laughed out loud (seriously, I laughed out loud on the bus, at my desk and walking through the shopping mall (yes, I read while I walk). I read somewhere that Grahame-Smith retained about 80% of the original book...he simply added a sword-toting hero/heroine. I love Love LOVE that Elizabeth retained her feistiness! If zombies and verbal play interest you then make this your next read.

Book: Branded by fire by Nalini Singh -I edit Manukau Libraries' Romance e-newsletter so it shouldn't be a big surprise that I'm reading romance :D Nalini Singh is a New Zealand author who lives in Auckland, and is also a New York Times Bestselling author. And (I just have to add this bit) she's agreed to an e-interview that we will roll out over our next 4 Romance issues. Nice little coup. Branded by Fire is part of her ever popular PsyChangeling series and, much like the others, is steamy, sensual and fun. If you're into paranormal romance - and everyday I'm more amazed by the huge readership attached to this subgenre, it grows by leaps and bounds every day - then you'll enjoy this story.

That's it from me for this week - keep your eyes peeled for another post in a few days. I'm an indiscriminate reader! I love books for the sake of it and anything and everything catches my attention. As you'll discover over the next few months. Feel free to post a response to any of the above, or even let us know what's on your current bookshelf :)

Book discussion - Don't tell mum I work on the rigs: she thinks I'm a piano player in a whorehouse

Greetings & salutations! It was a fantastic bookclub meeting today with some very animated discussion based around our July read: 'Don't tell mum I'm I work on the rigs: she thinks I'm a piano player in a whorehouse' by Paul Carter.

We're switching things up a bit for this post and adding in parts of the discussion generated by Carter's book. No names have been added (wouldn't it be a hoot if I had done that, though), and what I've done is enter the question/point and then people's comments. Feel free to let me know if you'd like to see this again, or if we should consign it to the devil!

Title: catchy; attention-grabbing; name taken from Discovery Channel programme about odd jobs; was waiting for him to work in a whorehouse; mum knew exactly what he did, probably knew a lot more than he thought she should.

Cover: if I’d seen it in the library I wouldn’t have picked it up; not even in the 920 biography section – 622s – machinery/technology section instead; cover makes it a 'blokey book', font is unusual and eye catching; my son never reads books – he read this – don’t think I've seen him with a book ever.

Would you rather your son worked on a rig or a piano player in a whorehouse: As long as he’s only playing a piano!

Comment: Worked in London briefly and had the opportunity to work on an oil rig, turned it down, after reading this book am now glad.

Comment: My brother worked on a rig on his OE and he loved the lifestyle.

Comment: Got the idea that safety was secondary; so many 'boy' bits in there; workplace and employee safety important in some countries more than others; safe as they can do it but it’s still got to be done - although it's still extremely dangerous; scene where guys went on training badly hungover – something we couldn’t realistically do here in our own jobs; workplaces are more paranoid now; rig men don’t do drugs but do play hard; good to know that when they were on site they were on site and sober.

NZ connection – Maori men – an interesting link (towards beginning); bit of a violent scene; liked some of the Australian bits.

Comment: it might be a tiny bit cynical – if he’s working for an ad company he probably embellished the story a bit; commentary on how people will hear a story and then retell it slightly different to someone else – make it funnier etc.

Comment: made me laugh out loud; sad about the monkey – and he said at the end that the monkey had more brains than them all; didn’t lock him up very well; he was a monkey so he was smarter than them; he had free range; used to smoke their cigarettes - suppose monkeys would get addicted to cigarettes, in the 1950s theyd have tea parties for monkeys and give them cigarettes at the zoo; can’t really treat animals like they belong only in cage because they’re more than that but neither can we treat them like people.

What is your favourite story in the whole book: Ah Meng the young orphaned orangutan – they had to leave and gave it to the zoo; Joe flying around the fan; the comment that the '...guy might’ve been an alcoholic but any double amputee who can fly through a train is good in my book...' and back he came to make sure his trolley still had wheels on it; was like listening to a really good storyteller; monkey story except for the sad ending; what the divers did when they changed the tapes.

Comment: made me think - when he was in Nigeria it was just so frightening; talked to my son who had been in Nigeria and he said it was really like that, a scary place to be; places oil is found in often end up becoming scary places; there is a serious side to oil; look at the places where it’s found – some have fairly unstable governments.

Comment: read book recently written by Australian woman – teacher – who spent four years in Saudi Arabia and found it really hard to live the way women do there – not the same type of freedom, bus services being discontinued because women were giggling and so curtains had to be installed before being reinstated.

Mixing occupation and family life: very difficult; had a good relationship with his mother and stepfather; hard on relationships because the person who stays behind lives a ‘normal’ life when you’re away; he could be told tomorrow that that day was it, so one day you’re doing shopping and the next you're gone.

How do you think he managed to get an advertising job: spontaneous, freelance kinda guy; looked up his website and he’s writing another book, he’s still working on the rigs although not quite as much, bit of a gap between this book and the new one; sometimes took short term contracts so may have been able to fit advertising stuff in between.

Motivating factor for working on the rigs: money; adventure; where was all his money?; possibly investments; travel; couldn’t be a 9-5 person; thrill – living on the edge; it would be very hard to settle; wouldn’t have to be a person dependent on mod cons.

Weather extremes: funny story where they’d throw their cup of tea up in the air and it would freeze before it hit the ground.

Surprised the book was set in chapters: anyone try and read it out of sequence? Mostly no; a couple chose to look at a few different bits before going back and reading; most biographies are set in parts of life rather than chapters, e.g. childhood, adolescence, career etc.

Style: suited the story; long, well constructed sentences wouldn’t have done at all; prostate story of the doctor with a torch was funny; stomach bug – vile story; this book is for men to read not women – is a boy’s book; tooth abcess – you could actually feel his pain, the way he wrote it; if he couldn’t handle it then how could I? How could any mere mortal? You have to trust in the medical help in whichever country you’re in – not always a safe thing to do so much as the only thing to do.

Rating - scale of 1-5:
Two
Two - the monkey murder was a bit of a downer
Two and a half - too many gross bits
Two and a half - would recommend it to my nehpew, very funny but I wouldn't remember it again this time next year
Three
Three - funny and irreverent
Three - he was a monkey murderer
Three and a half
Four
Four
Four

If anyone has any books that they’re reading and enjoying, email it through to Natalie and write why so it can be posted to the blog.

Next book is: Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold for August 2009

Book discussion questions for Don't tell Mum

Kia ora folks,
Since I have had the hard word and was a little slow in getting this month's newsletter out I have succumbed to the pressure and am posting some questions which we may or may not discuss this Saturday for
Don't tell Mum I work on the rigs : she thinks I'm a piano player in a whorehouse by Paul Carter
So without further ado...

What did you think of the title and how does it relate to the book?
What was your impression of Carter’s style of writing?
Carter’s descriptions of his fellow colleagues were memorable, the way they worked hard and partied hard and the danger they faced both physical and mental. Were you surprised by what you read?
Which story stood out for you?
What did you make of the New Zealand connection’s in the book, the four Maori in Leinster and Maurice?
How conducive do you think the occupation of an itinerant oil rigger would be to have a family life, compared to say a person serving in the army, working in advertising or in a graveyard shift such as nursing?
What would be the motivation to have a lifestyle, such as Carter’s?
Carter mentioned that he was invited to more parties in the advertising world than when he was working on oil riggers, and more drugs were taken in the advertising world did this surprise you?
Would you recommend the book, and if you did who would it be to?
Out of scale of 1-5 how do you rate the book?

July Book Club Meeting this Saturday (25th) at 11am

Just a quick reminder that this Saturday we will be discussing Paul Carter's book Don't tell Mum I work on the rigs : she thinks I'm a piano player in a whorehouse. Certainly an interesting book (and life, I feel very boring in comparison) but I have to admit I am curious with how our discussion will go, and I am wondering what your opinion of the book is. Looking forward to hearing from you all this Saturday. cheers, Natalie

40th Lunar Exploration Celebration

Greetings Earthlings, Yes I am a little fascinated with all hype surrounding the 40th anniversary of the moon walk. It seems that the trekkie in me loves the thought of going where no one has gone before, with the handball season on hiatus I have found myself spending a lot of time looking at the online footage of the landing and browsing the NASA website. I do find it a little unbelievable that NASA deleted the original tapes of Armstrong & co walking on the moon, and had to enlist the aid of newsrooms to collect footage in order to have tape ready for the 40th anniversary celebrations - forget about history when you need to save money! And I am also mightily intrigued by the list of artifacts that the Lunar Legacy project wish to collect and preserve if they get the chance. I wonder if any of this will end up on E-bay? Coming back down to earth, many thanks to our obsessive reader for giving us a list of her recommended books, these will be appearing shortly on the blog, once I figure a way to link them to the blog.
Beam me up Scotty

Shameless Plugs for Manukau Libraries No.2

Kia ora folks,

Seems like an age since I last pointed out how wonderful we are at Manukau Libraries, so I thought why not it must be time for another quick infomercial...

Did you know that...

1. Audiobooks are free, yes free! This is fantastic as I love being able to load them on to my ipod and playing them when walking little Millie.
2. DVD rentals cost $2 for a week - isn't that great news for the holidays?

Recap of the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

What a wonderful and lively discussion we had about Mark Haddon's book.
It was very interesting to see how different our reactions and opinions were towards the book. The way some of us were more sympathetic towards the Mother and how others of us felt more empathy towards the Father (I was definitely in the latter group despite his violence towards poor old Wellington - although if Wellington had been a corgi I may have ended up like Christopher and viewed Father as a murderer)
The differing views regarding Haddon's use of equations and diagrams to illustrate Christopher's thinking. My favourite digression was the explanation of the Monty Hall problem.
Overall I think it was a very readable book despite it's unusual style and it certainly did make me think about the way we are all different and how our perspectives of every day things can be astonishing, for example the way Christopher copes with the catching the train - signs have become such a form of visual noise for me - I have got to the stage I just ignore signs, so I find it amazing that someone would need to read every sign as a coping mechanism, amazing but understandable.
cheers Natalie

P.S. Quick fact today a genius was born a few lunar cycles ago, (okay if you want to be pedantic, last century, but what is a century between friends) kudos goes to who gives me the first correct answer.

Calling all Poets and writers

Did you know that there are two writing events open to Manukau residents that are currently happening in Manukau?

The first one is the Bernard Gadd Poetry Competition this closes on Friday 10th July 2009 at 4pm. Competiton details can be found here and the entry form here.

The second writing event is the very popular Write around Manukau workshops that Manukau Libraries is hosting for aspiring writers. If you are interested you need to book your workshop seat ASAP - these workshops fill very quickly.

Even if you are not a writer or poet these are great opportunities that you will definitely want to pass on to someone who is.

cheers Natalie

Make over time should be finished just in time for this Saturday

Greetings all,

Yes makeover time is nearly completed here at Manurewa, as you can see in the photo we are already using the new desk and returns room.

Quick Reminder: We meet in our Community Room this Saturday 27th June at 11am to discuss the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.

Personally I enjoyed reading the Curious Incident. The book certainly made me think about the way I perceive things and I am very keen to hear what everyone else thought this Saturday.

I have deliberately kept away from looking at the reviews online so as not to be influenced before our discussion - it was hard to do this as I know from chatting with people there is a heap of online reviews for the book, and apparently the book is studied at NCEA level.

wishing everyone the best of health

Spot the changes & dodge the obstacles

Phew, don't the weeks fly by when we are having fun...We have been kept busy with the renovations here at Manurewa. Shifting boxes to the community room, catching up with the backlog from our closure on Saturday 6th June (by the way I did mean to post that we would be closed then - hopefully none of you popped in but if you did a thousand apologies as my uncle used to say).

Then to top it off we shifted the fiction around...as one of the regulars was heard to say this is what happens when you let women be in charge they just love to keep changing the furniture around!

I have to say people have been really good about all the noise and location changes, which has been great for us but the count down is on for Friday's completion date.

The added bonus for us at SBC is that the library will be getting a new lounge area and if it is as good as it is supposed to be I am thinking it might be nice enough for our meeting place, but this is a decision for our next meeting.

Mr Pip

What a great discussion we had on Saturday. The best part was how we all had different insights and thoughts on Mr Pip. Some enjoying the book while it was based on the island, while others of us definitely needed the closure that the grown up Matilda provided with her following the trail of Mr Pip and Dickens.

Even more interesting was the discussion on New Zealand authors, the theme being that people either have a strong liking or disliking of New Zealand authors and will either read them or not...

Looking forward to the next SBC meeting on June 27.

Saturday Book Chat meeting this Saturday

Hiya,

Just a quick post to remind you that our next meeting is this Saturday. We will be discussing Mr Pip - having read the book I have to say it brought back memories of working at Special Collections, but I better stop before I end up pre-empting Saturday's discussion.

I should also put a plug in for teen author Tania Mills, she will be discussing her book "Don't Call Me JoJo" at Manurewa Library this Thursday at 4-5pm

By the way we are trying to find a way to allow all of our Book Chat members to create posts as well as comment - I have our technical whizz investigating to see whether this is possible.

In the meantime don't be shy with any comments as the blog is a living work and we will definitely make changes as we go along.

Shameless plugs for Manukau Libraries No.1

I know, I know, you are thinking yet another shameless plug and yes you are right. But hey, we just want to make sure that you do know because we all know how easy it is to assume that everyone knows and then when it turns out not everyone does know you end up feeling foolish.

Courtesy Emails
Did you know that from April 09 Manukau Libraries started sending out courtesy emails three days before your books are due?
To take advantage of the courtesy emails, all you need to have is have an email address (one that you need to regularly check) and ask for it to be added to your library record and our computers will send out an email notice reminding you that your books are due - wow, what's next - parking meters that text you that your time is up in 5 minutes so you better feed me or get on the road?


New Books
This is a monthly listing of the new books that have come into our library system. The list breaks the books up into topics and is a great way to find out what's new. If you are anything like me you will love this service as by the time I get to look at the new book shelf the best books are like Elvis and have left the building...


Next Reads - this great service started last year. It is an email newsletter that you can choose to subscribe to or just read online. The great thing is that there are a heap of Next Reads newsletters to choose from, fantasy - non fiction, and everything in between. The newsletter is a list of recommended book titles chosen by librarians working at Manukau Libraries with a passion for their genre, so there has to be a few gems in there worth checking out!

Welcome to the virtual home of Saturday Book Chat

Yippee we have our very own digital home for our book club.

The idea behind the blog is that it serves as our virtual meeting place, where we can post any thoughts about books, authors and allow us to keep track of any recommendations for good books that we have come across.

We will be adding links to other websites of interest, as well as a few shameless plugs for Manukau Libraries that we think may appeal to you.

So don't be shy come and blog with us.