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This is the online counterpart to Mahopac Library's Monday Evening Book Group, which meets at 7:30 on the first Monday of every month, unless otherwise noted. Books are available the Circulation Desk.



This blog is intended as a supplement for the monthly book club meetings - feel free to follow along and contribute even if you are unable to attend!

Book Choice for March: The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James

"The Turn of the Screw" is an intense psychological tale of terror. It begins in an old house on Christmas Eve. It is the story of a Governess who comes to live with and take care of two young children. The Governess loves her new position in charge of the young children, however she is soon disturbed when she begins to see ghosts.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Was it the book or the weather?

Well for the first time in over five years of this book club's existence we had a zero turnout for our meeting on Monday.  Of course many of us were still digging out from the latest snowstorm but I also heard some negative comments about Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong even though it was voted as one of the most popular books by readers in a BBC poll a few years ago.  Maybe we have overdone it on World War 1 novels this year with Itani's Deafening and Pat Barker's Regeneration both of which we discussed a few months ago.
However I very much enjoyed Birdsong and would love to discuss it with someone so catch me at the library or post to this blog with your thoughts.
Next month's book will be a complete change of pace with a whimsical contribution from Alexander McCall Smith The Sunday Philosophy Club.  Hope to see some of you then.
Sheelagh Kaplan
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Posted by Mahopac Public Library at 6:48 AM

1 comments:

  1. Hi Sheelagh, I apologize for not making the book meeting and so sorry to hear that no one else was there! I am stunned to hear this as I'm sure others will be as well. About the book, I didn't care for the way it began. My usual complaint about how men authors tend to describe love affairs - focusing on the physical to the extreme. I have to amend this opinion to those authors who are also writing about war/military/espionage. "Molokai" was the obvious exception, but it wasn't a war etc. novel. Once "Birdsong" started discussing the war, the author was much more at home. I recently joined the book club & didn't read earlier WWI novels, so this was my first. It led me to the Internet to look up Sommes, Ypres and the monument discussed near the end of the book. I even found a book in our book shelves on WWI by John Keegan that my husband had purchased a while back! I plan to read it. I've found that I can't read these books just before going to bed :-( Very moving... war is horrible, particularly avoidable wars like WWI that led directly to WWII. THank you for all you do; hope to see you 4/5 but still have to get the book if it's available. Mary

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