Stiff by Mary Roach

It's October so it's the month of spooky...what better book to read than one all about the lives of dead bodies. It's not just cadaver labs for those who donate their bodies to science. You have no idea how useful bodies can be after people are done with them. I loved this book. It's one of the most fascinating non-fiction books I've ever read. Slightly squeamish but totally eye opening. Enjoy it. It's not as bad as you think and way better than you expect.

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

"Cannery Row in Monterey California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream." -John Steinbeck Cannery Row This book is fiction, though in reality the place and the people are all real, written about a place Steinbeck lived and the people he knew there. The book was required reading for me in college before I went and spent a spring term studying Marine Biology in Monterey just down the street from Cannery Row itself. As we'd go out collecting animals from the same tidepools, I liked to imagine that my professor was Doc himself, the good parts about him at least. The place has changed from a row of factories to a tourist town, but many of the buildings and feelings the surroundings give are the same and reading this book brings back magical memories in my mind of one of the most wonderful summers in my life. It was almost like we read the book and then lived out our own version of it for a summer. Obviously everyone won't have the same feelings about this book as I have, but I still love it, the characters, the descriptions, and the ideals of a simple life in a friendly community, making do with what you have and enjoying it. Don't expect much of a plot, it's more about a place that Steinbeck loved and him trying to convey the feelings it created. I get it, maybe it's because I also experienced and fell in love with the same place, but hopefully you guys can relate to it on some level. Enjoy!

The Poisonwood Bible

"We came from Bethlehem, Georgia bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle."

So we read a book that was told from the alternating perspective of a boy and a girl, then we read a book told from a mother and daughter, but that was all just practice. Next we're going to read a book told from the perspective of a mother and her four daughters. Usually this writing style would be unique, but for our fine book club it is not. (because we are oh so smart and experienced over here at Cheese and Candy) Combine that was the fact that this will be the second book we've read by Barbara Kingsolver, though this one is fiction, we should have lots to talk about before we even get to the story portion.

The Poisonwood Bible is one of the best books I've read in the past couple of years and I'm excited to have you guys read it and see what you think. The story is about the Price family and begins in 1959 when their fanatically religious father has uprooted the family from Georgia and taken them to the Congo for a year to preach religion to the unenlightened souls of Africa. It them follows them till the 90s and shows the impact this move had on each of their lives. Each chapter alternates between the daughters and the mother, the daughters telling the story in the present tense and the mother narrating in past tense and each being extremely different in personality and perspective. Prepare yourselves for humorous parts, outrageous parts, sad events, historical bits, and loads of hidden meanings, themes, and symbolism just waiting to be discussed and debated by our highly intellectual and thoughtful minds.

I listened to the audio book and can highly recommend it if that's something you want to try. The narrator does an excellent job. As far as I know the plan is to meet together on August 18th at Megan's house.
(Also, they describe an African staple of food called manioc which I ate once at some African friends' home and I cannot even tell you how gross it was. Probably the sickest thing I've ever had to force down. Please Megan, when you make treats, do not make this. It's like eating a glue stick.)

Tata Jesus is Bangala!!

Catch 22 - November's Book

Enough with froofy feminine books, new-releases, feel good novels, love stories, and non-fiction books. Next month the book is going to be a classic, something you'd find on every single list of "books-you-must-read," one of those books you see parodied on an episode of The Simpsons, one that has turned into a cliche phrase everyone uses whether or not they've read the book or know what it means. It is not going to be G-rated so be prepared. Reading it may put a little hair on your chest but in the end it'll give us character, making us well rounded and better informed about the world around us and the literature that has helped to form the society we live in today. The book we will be reading and discussing at our meeting on November 18th will be Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. (Or as my favorite and former nephew-in-law once said, "People, we are going to be disgusting things. Not as in when things are gross, but as in when we talk about them.")

Everyone read it, everyone come. Here are two quotes from Catch 22. Let's hope our discussion leans a little more toward the latter one... but without the quarreling and the tears. Crying makes me uncomfortable. Crazy is ok.

"Dunbar was lying motionless on his back again with his eyes staring up at the ceiling like a doll's. He was working hard at increasing his life span. He did it by cultivating boredom."

"As always occurred when he quarreled over principles in which he believed passionately, he would end up gasping furiously for air and blinking back bitter tears of conviction. There were many principles in which Clevinger believed passionately. He was crazy."

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

"But answer me this, how can a story end happily if there is no love?"

First of all I want to say I LOVE THIS BOOK. I have read it out load to people multiple times and given it away as gifts always to later get rave reviews from the recipient, so I'm fairly confident you will all love it. After the "heavy" book we read last month, a more easy to read and family friendly story was picked for this month. (how did I end up picking the book again?)Although I think you could argue that for a children's book this is pretty heavy in its own way. In the spirit of kids book that can make you cry (think The Giving Tree, Charlotte's Web, or The Velveteen Rabbit...) this book will break your heart not just once but a few times before the end. In our last book we got a good look at the special love that can develop between a husband and a wife, but this book looks deeper into different aspects of love, letting yourself be loved, and learning to love others. Plus, with Easter coming up it's about a bunny, I mean rabbit, (Edward hates being called a bunny) so it can help us all get into the spirit of soft furry ears and long whiskers. The pictures are beautiful as well, I wish all books had pictures...

This book will take you maybe 2 days to read. A few hours if you're Candi, or maybe a week if you're Candi reading it to her kids. Maybe you could read it to yourself, then read it again out loud to someone else. All the books I've read by Kate DiCamillo have been great although this is by far my favorite. Don't let Candi tell you she stopped writing after Despereaux either because this book came out a few years later and she has a new one being published this fall so she's still writing. Now if she would only do something about her hair and eyebrows she'd be the perfect children's author. I'm sorry, but I can't get past it. I've been traumatized by nightmares of Shel Silverstein for too long and I just can't take one more odd looking children's author. I'm shallow, I know, but maybe if I read the story of Edward one more time I can get over it...and maybe not... "Is my hat still on my head?"

Please Please Please enjoy this book and meet us next month April 15th at Gina's house for a discussion and some "good old rabbit pie."

The Time Traveler's Wife

"It's hard being left behind. I wait for Henry, not knowing where he is, wondering if he's okay. It's hard to be the one who stays. "

Just so you all know, even though I loved it, I'm reluctant and hesitant about being the one to recommend this book. My sister recommended me this book a few years ago which, after reading it, surprised me since it's not just about time travel but about librarians, art, punk rock, sex, Chicago, and alcoholics. I think after awhile it got to her that she'd told me to read it with all that stuff in it because she called me up and said, "If you haven't read that book yet, maybe you shouldn't, and if you do can you not tell anyone I gave it to you?" It's true there's some questionable parts, but whatever. I think what she liked about it besides the art, and what I liked about it too, was the love story between Claire and Henry. It's very unique and different from any other story I've read. They are so different in so many ways, but make it work and then seeing how their love gets stronger and changes in every situation was really neat to follow. They know each other so well and their love never seems to diminish and since I was married at the time I read this, I thought that was awesome and I remember wanting to be a little more like them in my marriage...maybe next time :)

...And then there's the time travel part. It's a totally different take on what time travel could be like and it creates some really funky situations which are the basis for the whole story. The author organizes the book with really neat foreshadowing and she revisits the same scenes again and again from each perspective. I found myself going back to the beginning again and again to read parts over when they came up later in the book. The format takes awhile to get used to but when you do it's a really different reading experience which I thought was a fun change. If you're confused for awhile just keep reading, you'll figure it out.

Also they just made a movie of it that'll be coming out soon so maybe we could have a night out this summer and go see it. (I didn't want to post pictures from it to sway your imagination, but I liked this one. It's so exactly how I pictured it. )

A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky

"I joined the baboon troop during my twenty-first year. I had never planned to become a savanna baboon when I grew up; instead I had always assumed I would become a mountain gorilla."



The second book has been chosen and it's a fantastic one. After a classic Victorian novel last month, we're going to be reading an exciting and fascinating non-fiction book. A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky. I first heard of this book on NPR which has never steered me wrong so far. Robert Sapolsky is a neuroscientist and he writes about his experiences in Africa over the course of his life as he studies a troop of baboons. He is currently a professor at Stanford but all of the science portions are explained extremely well at a level that anyone can follow. In addition to the hilarious stories about the baboon troop he has chapters on some compelling African history and social structure as well as a few tourist stories and travel logs of side trips he takes around the continent. The chapters don't always build on each other as they talk about different topics but they progress in time towards a memorable and emotional ending. It's funny, sweet, scary, and sad all at the same time. I learned so much from this book about a place in the world that I think is really intriguing. I hope I don't get your hopes up too high about it because I want you all to love it as much as I did. I can't wait to read it again and talk about it with all of you next month.

Our next meeting has been changed from the usual 3rd Thursday of the month due to The Office. It will be on the third Wednesday instead. October 15th at Gina's house. See you all there!