What R U Reading? Fall Book Club Pix

We've had an incredible fall with our book club picks.  I've been in this book club since my daughter was born. She just turned 15 so we are in our 14th year.  Here are our fall reads.

1. Look Alive Out There: Essays by Sloane Crosley.  Do you like memoir?  Do you like quick reads?  If so this book is for you. I admit I am not the audience for these types of books. It was tolerable.  But that is what book club is partly for right?  Not just to see your friends, eat a great meal, laugh and talk, but too also read against your normal picks.  

2. Circe by Madeline Miller My favorite in the stack.I love Greek mythology. I love stories where the women find their power.   I've taught The Odyssey for years where CIRCE is this small character, but Miller blows that out of the water with this telling of Circe's long rich life.  Perhaps I am drawn to some of our original fantasies which is why I love stories related to myths of all cultures.  

3. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See  I loved how this book opened some windows into China and tea growing.  I learned about the different peoples that make up the Republic of China and how some of the groups have been homogenized as one group.  It is a beautiful story and it is tough at times to realize that the events that See documents have happened and are still occurring in China in my lifetime.

4.  The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict  I did love this story, but sadly Einstein himself is no longer a personal hero. His first wife, Maria, was a bad-ass mathematician too. This historical fiction novel examines their life together. It paints an ugly portrait of him. Perhaps humanizes this person we put on a poster pedestal during our modern times.  Basically he earned his Nobel Prize on the shoulders of his wife, who REALLY did receive monies from him related to the Nobel earnings as part of the divorce settlement.  

To check out our other reads, check out these blog posts

• 8 Years Strong
• A Decade of Meeting