Book Groups

I recently attended a session at The Book Stall led by the Between the Covers Book discussion leaders. As a group, we talked about different reading personalities and what makes for a good discussion.

They suggested numerous titles for book groups, including: The Mars Room, Mothering Sunday, The Fact of a Body, Educated, You Think It, I’ll Say It, Reading with Patrick, The Immortalists, and A Gentleman in Moscow (on my own to be read list due to numerous recommendations), The Ninth Hour, The Friend, The Great Believers, and Exit West which is being considered for our Global Voices Senior English class. Other suggestions like Sing, Unburied, Sing, A Deadly Wandering, Killers of the Flower Moon, and The Devil and Webster might work as selections for the Good and Evil Senior class, too.

Attendees added some titles like these: Red Notice, The Submission, Nothing to Envy, Ginny Moon, Lucky Boy, The Storm, The Ensemble, and Who is Vera Kelly? 

And in addition, The Wall Street Journal recently offered suggestions, especially for online book clubs: 

http://girlsnightinclub.com/book-club/

http://andrewluckbookclub.com/ - Andrew Luck offers rookie or veteran selections and interviews with authors

https://modernmrsdarcy.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/179584-our-shared-shelf - focus on feminist works

The American Library Association provides numerous resources at their Book Club Central site (or here for a top 10 list). Plus, don’t forget Now Read This from NPR, PBS and The New York Times or The Great American Read.

Yes, so many books … so little time … Enjoy! 

Beauty in the Broken Places by Allison Pataki

BEAUTY IN THE BROKEN PLACES by Allison Pataki is my favorite book of the year so far. And when you realize that it is the story of Pataki’s youthful, athletic husband having a major debilitating stroke at age 30, you may wonder why. Pataki has written a moving, inspirational book, as she says, “a Memoir of Love, Faith, and Resilience.” Expecting a baby in Fall 2015, the couple left O’Hare on June 9th for a “babymoon” in Hawaii.  Instead, Dave Levy’s in-flight stroke precipitated an emergency landing and trip to a hospital in Fargo, North Dakota.  There, Levy (then a third-year resident in orthopedic surgery at Rush) regained consciousness, but a totally new journey had begun for them.

Pataki continues the story over the next year, discussing a range of emotions – fear, frustration and joy – as Dave begins the recovery process and daughter Lilly is born. Pataki shares “Dear Dave” letters which she began to record daily events and progress, alternating those sections with chapters about their life together in college, their wedding and early career years. The couple have a strong, caring relationship and supportive network of friends and family, providing a solid past from which to fight for their future together, but it was still an extremely difficult process as Pataki points out.

I found the faith and frankness that Pataki expressed to be very moving. In addition, I liked the local connections to Rush and RIC (Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, now called Shirley Ryan AbilityLab). There are numerous reviews online (like these from NPR and The Today Show), plus you can greet Allison Pataki in person since she is coming to The Bookstall on May 15 at 6:30pm.  I am really looking forward to meeting her – in part to talk about this book and in part to learn what exciting new projects she plans to pursue.