What are you reading now?

What are you reading this summer? Tell us your favorite book or help select our next book club pick. Post your comments here or e-mail me at alisonwoo@yahoo.com.

Potter pandemonium

Anticipation builds over book’s final installment
by Siva Ramesh and Alison Woo

In the Charlotte area, the signs have become clearer as the end draws near. The bookstores have laid out their witch hats, wands and brooms. Bookstores around the Queen City are barely suppressing excitement over nothing less than the most coveted book this year—the seventh and final Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” Potter pandemonium begins this week with the release of the “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” movie. In the meantime, bookstores around the area are getting ready to party.

Bewitching night
In Charlotte, Barnes & Noble at Sharon Corners on Fairview Road will fill a model train with Berts jellybeans to prepare for the release at midnight on Friday, July 20. Local Borders also will have a midnight celebration with a Harry Potter costume party and potion-making classes. But the largest event in the Charlotte area will be Joseph-Beth Booksellers’ “Marauding at Midnight” party.

The signature event will include a concert with Seth Boulton & the Dream Machine, in an homage to a band Dumbledore selected for a concert. Other attractions include a hedgemaze and kits that determine who is a dark wizard. Bronte’s Bistro will offer treats for adults including Hufflepuff muffins and Butterbeer.

At the 2005 event to promote Potter scribe J.K. Rowling’s previous tome, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the store had more than 1,000 visitors – at least that many are expected this year. “Charlotte readers tend to make their decisions at the last minute but we encourage people to buy tickets before the event,” said Jamie Thurman, the store’s public relations coordinator.

If staying up late isn’t your thing, consider Park Road Books who will open at 8 a.m. Saturday . “We think more people will want to be fresh and ready to read Saturday morning. We’re planning to be the place for those readers,” said Park Road Books co-owner Frazer Dobson, who plans to have plenty of copies on hand.

Most branches of the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County will hold Harry Potter-themed events, ranging from showings of Harry Potter movies and costume parties to a huge release celebration at ImaginOn, where fans can purchase copies of the book, learn about owls and play a Harry Potter trivia game.

For more information on any of the stores mentioned in this article, visit the following:
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, http://www.josephbeth.com/; Park Road Books, http://www.parkroadbooks.com/; Borders, http://www.bordersstores.com/; and Barnes & Noble, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/.

If you are interested in visiting a library branch for a Harry Potter event, go to www.plcmc.org/programs/harrypotterprograms.asp. Some events require registration.

July 2007 Featured Book Club Pick: What You Have Left

Meet Will Allison. A native of Columbia, S.C., and a former Charlotte resident, Allison’s debut novel “What You Have Left,” released this June from Simon & Schuster’s Free Press, is taking readers by storm in 210 unforgettable pages.

Take me home, country road

Allison tells the story of Holly Greer, whose father, Wylie, leaves her in the care of her grandfather on the day of her mother’s funeral in 1976. Thirty years pass before Holly sees her father again. Through Holly’s search to reconnect with her dad, Allison deftly weaves the stories of three generations grappling with the effects of love, loss, disappointment and forgiveness. Set in the author’s hometown, the book’s country roads and NASCAR dirt tracks echo the coarse exterior of the novel’s characters and belie the story’s strong undercurrent of emotion.

The book was eight years in the making, beginning with a short story that became the novel’s penultimate chapter. “I asked myself, ‘What else do I want to know about these characters?’” Allison said. “Then I wrote each succeeding chapter using whatever time period and focal character best allowed me to answer that question. The method was a bit haphazard, like putting together a jigsaw puzzle or a collage.”

Allison, who now lives in South Orange, N.J., with his wife and daughter, admitted that a fair amount of the novel’s setting came from his South Carolina childhood. “My dad was a big NASCAR fan; he knew Cale Yarborough as a teenager and volunteered as a track steward at Columbia Speedway in the 1960s,” he recounted. “He used to take me and my brother to races all over the South.” In addition to racing research, Allison’s father read over the manuscript to make sure the facts were straight.

The description of the farm belonging to Holly’s grandfather, Cal, was inspired by Allison’s grandfather’s dairy farm on the outskirts of Columbia. “My grandfather’s full name was William Elmer Allison, same as mine, but he went by ‘Skeet,’ after the sound of cow’s milk hitting the pail,” Allison explained. “I wish I could have named Holly’s grandfather Skeet, which I’ve always loved as a name, but Cal (the character) isn’t at all like Skeet, and it would have just been too weird.”

A good story

The former executive editor of Story and a staff member at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Allison has penned short stories that have appeared in Zoetrope: All-Story, Glimmer Train, One Story, Kenyon Review and other magazines. He has taught creative writing at various universities and, in addition to working as a freelance editor, writer and ghostwriter, also has been everything from a busboy and landscaper to a process server and baseball card dealer.

Given his past of “cobbling together whatever work” he could, Allison is grateful for the chance to write and the warm reception his debut novel has received. “It’s so hard for first novels to get attention,” he said. “Mostly I’m just grateful to the readers and booksellers who’ve taken to the book, and to Free Press, which has done a bang-up job publishing it.” He is currently working on another novel, set in New Jersey, for Free Press.

As for “What You Have Left,” Allison said, “I hope (readers) find it compelling and moving,” he said. “That’s all I’m ever shooting for – to tell a good story.”

Want to go?

Join the Charlotte Weekly Book Club on Monday, July 23, at 7 p.m., for a phone chat with Will Allison and a discussion of “What You Have Left.” R.S.V.P. for the event at www.thecharlotteweekly.com.

June 2007 Featured Book Club Pick: A Thousand Splendid Suns

The success of a best-selling book can be a double-edged sword. Khaled Hosseini’s first book, “The Kite Runner,” became an international bestseller by spending 103 weeks perched at the top of the best-seller’s list. It also set the bar very high. Readers anticipating the author’s next book wondered if he could capture lightning in a bottle. Hosseini’s latest book, “A Thousand Splendid Suns” actually manages to do something few authors can: follow up a best-selling book with another probable one. This searing portrait of love, loss, friendship and survival is Charlotte Weekly’s book club selection for June.

Like his previous book, “Suns” is set in war-torn Afghanistan and focuses on the lives of Mariam and Laila, two women brought together by war and fate. As they endure dangers in the midst of their war-torn city, they form an inextricable bond with one another that helps them get through unimaginable circumstances. Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to self-sacrifice — a decision that ultimately becomes the key to her survival. The story of a country at war is one that is a difficult story to tell. But it is Hosseini’s masterful ability to weave words as poetry that exalts their struggle and ultimately makes this literary classic a book that is difficult to put down.

Hosseini’s own life story is fodder for his literary prowess. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965 to a father who was a diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry and a mother who taught Farsi and history at a high school. After a short relocation to Paris, his family returned to Kabul in 1980 shortly after the invasion of the Soviet army. The Hosseini’s sought and were granted political asylum in the United States and moved to San Jose, Calif. Hosseini became a doctor but used his background in Afghanistan as the backdrop of his first novel, “The Kite Runner” in March 2001. Last year in recognition of his ability to capture the essence of refugees’ plight, a United Nations Refugee Agency named him a goodwill envoy.

Join Charlotte Weekly Monday, June 25, at 7 p.m. at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at SouthPark to discuss this story you won’t soon forget. R.S.V.P. at www.thecharlotteweekly.com.

Book review: "This Year I Will..."

‘This Year I Will… How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution or Make a Dream Come True’ by M.J. Ryan

When was the last time you thought of your New Year’s resolutions? With just eight months left in 2007, there might not be a better time to determine if this is how you want to live the rest of the year.

Books can change lives by inspiring or saying something to you at the right time. “The Year I Will…” shows readers the steps to take if they want to change and how to make that change permanent.

“The human mind is conditioned to make choices that are easy, known or safe,” said author M.J. Ryan. Known to the publishing world as the editor who launched the “random acts of kindness” trend, Ryan said the lack of illumination in her own life inspired her to make a major change. She began practicing the stuff her books preached and went from “a very negative person to one that finds joy in everything, everyday,” she said. “I was 50 years old and had never exercised a day in my life but I realized that if I wanted to be around for the next 10 years and beyond, something had to give.”

Ryan was inspired by medical data which showed that even after life-threatening events, only 10 percent of patients who had suffered from a heart attack made permanent changes. She began to wonder just what it would take to really make people change.

“Fear can only be used as a motivator for the short term,” she noted. “In order to make long-term changes stick you have to have positive incentives.” Ryan breaks the sometime-scary concept of change into three easily digestible sections: preparing to change, getting into action and keeping going. And if readers just need to jump into making these changes, they can skip to the end where she offers “12 tips to keep your promise to yourself.”

Ryan suggests picking just one big goal at a time and working on it until you reach the finish line. Feel inspired? E-mail me at alison@thecharlotteweekly.com and let me know what you’ve decided to change this year.

Pick up the book at Charlotte Weekly’s display at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at SouthPark

May 2007 Featured Book Club Pick: "Special Topics in Calamity Physics"

Charlotte Weekly’s ‘Speaking Volumes’ book club pick for May is completely different than any other book we’ve ever read before. This Ashville author Marisha Pessl’s first novel took critics by storm. I interviewed her shortly after her hardcover came out last summer the day before Janet Maslin of the New York Times published her review of Pessl’s work. It’s amazing what a difference a day can make! Overnight Pessl went from dreaming to be a novelist while slaving away at her day job in financial services to a celebrated writer.

Pessl’s book received rave reviews, both by myself and Maslin, who loved the freshness and invention of Pessl’s voice. “Special Topics in Calamity Physics” is modeled after the syllabus of a college literature course—36 chapters are named after everything from Othello to Paradise Lost to The Big Sleep—that culminates with a final exam. Narrator Blue Van Meer, the daughter of an itinerant academic, has an impressive vocabulary and a knack for esoteric citation. Following the mysterious death of her butterfly-obsessed mother, Blue and her father, Gareth, set out on a tour of picturesque college towns, never staying anyplace longer than a semester. This doesn't bode well for Blue's social life, but when the Van Meers settle in Stockton, N.C., for the entirety of Blue's senior year, she befriends a group of eccentric geniuses (referred to by their classmates as the Bluebloods) and their ringleader, film studies teacher Hannah Schneider. As Blue becomes enmeshed with Hannah and the Bluebloods, the novel becomes a murder mystery so intricately plotted that, after absorbing the late-chapter revelations, readers will be tempted to start again at the beginning in order to watch the tiny clues fall into place.

Think of this book as taking the best elements of Harry Potter and Agatha Christie twisted together with a dash of Vanity Fair magazine for pop-culture mentions. Last year, the book was named one of the New York Times’ best ten books for 2006.

Pessl, a native of Ashville, will join our book club meeting to talk about her exhilarating ride to success and the inspiration for one of the most unconventional and unusual books of the year. Join us for dessert and coffee on Monday, May 21 at 7 p.m., at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at SouthPark to discuss this brilliant book. R.S.V.P. by visiting http://www.josephbeth.com/.

April 2007 Featured Book Club Pick: "A Light on the Runway"

“A Light on the Runway” by Janet Haack

One of the most intriguing qualities about Janet Haack is the life she has led. Acknowledged as a community leader and patron of the arts, Haack may not be as widely recognized for the adventuress’s heart that beats beneath her persona. She tells her inspiring stories in her new book, “A Light on the Runway,” Charlotte Weekly’s book selection for April.

Definitely a woman well before her time, in 1955 Haack studied women’s journalism while many of her peers were at home giving birth to the baby boomers. She credits her father for choosing that path for her and her sister after focusing on opportunities available to women in the postwar boom. After marrying, Janet and husband Donald bundled up into their two-seater plane and flew to British Guiana where they learned firsthand about mining and trading precious gems. That legacy and knowledge became the foundation of a legendary career.

After more than 50 years of marriage, Haack says that being each other’s best friend was one of the secrets to the couple’s success. “We learned to depend on one another in a way we might not have if we were living a conventional life,” she said. “When you’re in the States, you have support people like a (parent), a (sibling) or a friend. We learned to be all of that for each other.”

“Runway” is the female perspective of their adventure saga. Donald wrote “Bush Pilot in Diamond Country” about their life together. But after reading the book, many wondered how a woman could live through such adventures and hardships and still raise a family. Hence, the book “Runway” was born.

The two continue to work together as owners of Donald Haack Diamonds in SouthPark. The store offers everything from everyday jewelry to magnificent gems and everything in between.

The author says she’s the first to concede that their life together – surviving in the jungles of South America and readjusting to “normal” life in the States – has been challenging. If you’ve ever dreamed of living exotic adventures, this book offers an honest appraisal of what it takes to live your dreams.

Meet the author
Join Charlotte Weekly at an exclusive cocktail party with author Janet Haack at Donald Haack Diamonds at 4611 Sharon Road on Monday, April 16, at 7 p.m. Seating is limited to the first 25 readers who R.S.V.P. us at http://www.thecharlotteweekly.com/

For more on the author, visit http://www.donaldhaack.com/.

– Alison Woo

March 2007: Eat, Pray, Love

Every story of finding one’s self starts with a quest. It’s enmeshed in all great tales from the sacred – Moses’ search in the desert – to the secular – Luke in “Star Wars.” The outer journey mirrors the inner journey; it is as if placing one foot in front of another helps one delve deeper into the heart, mind and soul.

When faced with a devastating divorce and a life that just wasn’t working, author Elizabeth Gilbert decided to plunge into new possibilities. The book, “Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia” is Gilbert’s bold pursuit for herself; it is also Charlotte Weekly’s book pick for March.

After trying unsuccessfully to conceive, Gilbert realized that there was a huge chasm between the idyllic life she fantasized about and the reality she lived. Following a divorce, she decided to trek to foreign lands where she hoped to be imbued by each chosen city’s unique offering to salve her soul. She chooses Rome to teach her about pleasure, Mumbai (formerly Bombay) to inspire her spiritual longings, and Bali to find balance.

What makes the book sing is Gilbert’s fresh voice, which transcends the “somebody done somebody wrong song” tone which self-help books can sometimes take, and vaults it into true introspective territory. During the yearlong journey, Gilbert learns about herself, and her quest may even inspire readers to begin a journey, even if from the safety of an armchair.

Gilbert is an accomplished writer and memoirist. Her story for GQ magazine about her early bartending days was made into the movie “Coyote Ugly” and it appears that lightning has struck twice: In November, Paramount Pictures announced plans to turn “Eat, Pray, Love” into a movie starring Julia Roberts.

Join CW’s book club as we meet to discuss “Eat, Pray, Love” on Monday, Mar. 19, at 7 p.m., at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in SouthPark. R.S.V.P by visiting http://www.thecharlotteweekly.com/.

January 2007: Pride and Predjudice

A new year and an old book!

January we read one of my all-time favorites: Pride and Predjudice by Jane Austen.

The story of love found, lost and won is a classic that rings true to every romantic. If you don't have time to read the book, run, don't walk, to Blockbuster or Netflix the A & E version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Don't even bother with last year's remake with Kiera Knightly. The six-hour miniseries captures Austen's light and beauty and I think Jane, herself, would approve greatly!

My Top 10 Books of 2006

What's a year in review if you can't have lists?

This past year was a banner one for books. From series endings to noteworthy
nonfiction to brilliant literary debuts, 2006 offered it all and then some.

Here’s Charlotte Weekly/Union County Weekly’s list of this year’s
favorites.

10. “A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveler” by Frances Mayes. Broadway Books, $26.

Mayes, also the author of “Under the Tuscan Sun,” uses her venerable talent on other exotic locales and captures the nuances and subtleties that make travel books such enchanting reads.

9. “The End: Book the Thirteenth (A Series of Unfortunate Events)” by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Brett Helquist. HarperCollins Children’s Books, $12.99.

Fans of the famed Lemony Snicket series found that all good things do come to an end. And in this last book, aptly named “The End,” the book found its just desserts. Too delicious to put down, even for adults!

8. “The Audrey Hepburn Treasures: Pictures and Mementos from a Life of Style and Purpose” by Ellen Erwin and Jessica Diamond. Atria Books, $49.95.

Before Angelina Jolie made caring for the world’s forgotten children a cause célèbre, Hepburn raised awareness of humanitarian causes. The proceeds from this incredibly inventive and well-designed book go directly to her UNICEF fund.

7. “State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III” by Bob Woodward. Simon & Schuster, $30.

The journalist who wrote so eloquently for the Washington Post and broke the story of Watergate continues his series on another president. This book looks at the first days George W. Bush thought seriously about running for president through the recruitment of his national security team, the war in Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq and the struggle for political survival in the second term.

6. “Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia” by Elizabeth Gilbert. Viking, $24.95.

Gilbert tries to mend a broken heart, induced by divorce and love gone awry, by traveling to three centers that offer rejuvenation for her spirit, mind and body. Ultimately on her search for both pleasure and passion, she finds romance, but that’s the bonus of this earthy read.

5. “Heat: An Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany” by Bill Buford. Knopf, $25.95.

Love The Food Network? Wonder what it takes to become a world-famous chef? Journalist Buford takes readers into the kitchen of chef extraordinaire Mario Batali and acclaimed New York restaurant “Babbo.” The drama and great characters in this book alone are worth it for
even nonfoodies.

4. “Brothers” by Da Chen. Crown, $25.

At the height of China’s Cultural Revolution, a powerful general fathered
two sons. Tan was born to the general’s wife and into a life of comfort and luxury.
His half brother, Shento, was born to the general’s mistress, who threw herself off a
cliff in the mountains only moments after delivering her child. The brothers end up
falling in love with the same woman and move toward the explosive moment when
their paths converge.

3. “Special Topics in Calamity Physics” by Marisha Pessl. Viking,
$25.95.

North Carolina native Pessl’s first literary work – one of the most inventive books of
the year – made her a best-selling author. In this murder mystery set at a boarding
school, each chapter is named for a literary classic. Read this mostly for Pessl’s stylistic
writing and quick wit.

2. “The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama. Crown, $25.
This sobering and visionary view on how the nation might tackle some of its most serious challenges comes from potential presidential candidate and current U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.

1. “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill,
$23.95.

This beautiful love story takes place during the Depression. Gruen said she
felt compelled to write “Water for Elephants” after seeing a photograph of circus performers during that era. “This is an era that’s disappearing from memory and it’s an important part of American history,” she said. The book is a delightful read with characters that remain on the mind long after the last page is read.

December 2006: The return of Adriana Trigiani

Turns out you can go home again.

Best-selling author Adriana Trigiani revisited her most succesful series with a great book, "Home to Big Stone Gap." The ever-gracious Adriana was a phone guest and is much beloved to our book club as she helped launch it in June 2006. Welcome home!

November 2006: The Mermaid Chair

This is an amazing book from the author of "The Secret Life of Bees," It was a true favorite of mine and we even had a chance to meet author Sue Monk Kidd at Myers Park Presbyterian Church. She was awesome! Sadly she wasn't able to join us at book club but Nancy Horn, our guest book club editor did a smashing job.

The Return of The Book Blogger

The hallmark of a great blog is many, many postings!

Hello blog readers!

I've returned. It's been a very busy few months. But without further adieu, let me catch everyone up with all that we've read.

Thanks for e-mailing and asking about our whereabouts. Our book club has been going on stronger than ever but many have missed our blog component. I've learned that people are somewhat shy in cyberspace. While they won't post, they will e-mail. Please feel free to do either and contact me directly at alison@thecharlotteweekly.com or at alisonwoo@yahoo.com.

Happy reading everyone!

Alison

October 2006 Selection: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

I hope you’re enjoying “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” by Kim Edwards, CW’s book club selection for October. We’ll be talking to the author via phone on Monday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in SouthPark. Please RSVP by visiting http://www.thecharlotteweekly.com/ and bring a friend.


When I get several e-mails in one day recommending the same book, I know there’s something to it. The nationwide buzz around “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” has vaulted the paperback by author Kim Edwards to the top spot on the New York Times’ best-selling list for the past 15 weeks. It’s a haunting family tale that examines the consequences of actions.

The story unfolds on a snowy evening as Caroline Henry prematurely gives birth at home to twins – a healthy son and a daughter with Down syndrome. Remembering how difficult his life had been with a chronically ill sister, Caroline’s husband, who is
a doctor, makes a split-second decision to give away the daughter and tell his wife, when she awakens, that their daughter was stillborn. The guilt nags at him for the rest of his life and the family dynamic slowly unravels as a result. The book’s central theme asks us to look at how decisions we make at pivotal moments can color every aspect of our lives.

Join us Monday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at Charlotte’s South-
Park mall to discuss the book. Light refreshments will be served. Don’t forget
to RSVP at www.thecharltoteweekly.com.

A brief word about author Leah Stewart

Hello all,

I know I haven't blogged in a bit but a lot has happened, including a wonderful new job as editor of Union County Weekly, sister paper to Charlotte Weekly.

I want to thank author Leah Stewart for being such a marvelous and cool person!

She's incredible.

She delighted our book club and regaled us with tales from her life that left an indelible impression on us all. The great part was in addition to being an amazing creative person, she's also a really cool human being.

Kudos Leah! If you haven't read her books, run, don't walk to your local bookstore now and buy them!

The best part of helming the book club is getting to meet these truly talented folks and meeting our readers. Let the good reading roll!

AW

September 2006 Book Pick: "The Myth of You and Me"

Recently, the first friend I ever made in elementary school, Alessandra Scornaenchi, e-mailed me. We had been friends for almost two decades but had lost touch. We met on the first day of first grade when we were both five. I remember thinking how cool it was that I had found my first best friend. From that point on, we were inseparable. I vividly remember spending sun-drenched summers spent running around the block, eating ripe tomatoes from her dad’s garden, and feasting on her mother’s homemade pizzas and pastas. For someone like me, who never had a sister, I never forgot how wonderful it was to have someone to share all your secrets, your ambitions and dreams with someone who just understood you.

Female friendships are the stuff legends are made of. That’s why we’ve chosen Leah Stewart’s magical “The Myth of You and Me” as our book club selection this month. The story delves into the lives of two young women, Cameron and Sonia who meet in their teens and share a deep bond. The story starts many years later after the women have gone their separate ways after an incident that ended their friendship. Cameron receives a letter from Sonia and becomes inspired to track her down and deliver a mysterious package to her. From that point the adventure begins. The book is mainly told in flashback but looks at the heart and humor of what it takes to sustain a friendship. “The Myth of You and Me” is a celebration and portrait of a friendship that will appeal to anyone who still feels the absence of that first true friend.

Join us on Monday, October 2nd at 7PM at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at SouthPark Mall. We will be hosting an exclusive evening with the author, Leah Stewart. She will be discussing and signing copies of this marvelous book. Please RSVP at www.thecharlotteweekly.com

Fall 2006 Book Pick

Hi everyone,

Our next book pick will be "The Myth of You and Me" by Leah Stewart.

We will be meeting exclusively with the author at our next event on Monday, October 2nd at 7PM.

Save the date!

More will be posted saspo!

Alison

Listen to the Podcast with author Rebecca Lee

If you couldn't make it to our last book club event, or if you were intrigued and want to hear more, click on to the podcast with author Rebecca Lee, author of "The City is a Rising Tide."

Just click on the title of this post, or this link:
http://www.archive.org/details/BBBRebeccaLeeInterview

August 2006 Pick: "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

While the immigration issue seems to be on the back burner for a bit, the discussion of what it means to be American still lingers in the air. My family emigrated to the U.S. when I was just 10-days-old. We moved here from Hong Kong for the great American dream. My mom chose New York City because she had always seen it in movies and thought it looked like a great place. I was always aware that to be here was a privilege one should not take it lightly. I never thought we were any different until I went to school. While other kids ate chocolate cake and Twinkies my parents, who both grew up in British boarding schools, made sure I knew how to prepare tea and scones properly and that 4PM was the correct time for such delicacies. It was just one of the little things that made my family different from many of the Italian and Jewish families that mostly lived in my neighborhood by the sea in south Brooklyn.

This month, we’ve chosen a book that explores one writer’s perspective on what it means to become an American family. Nominated by CW Book Club Member, Katie Creighton, “The Namesake” by Pulitzer Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri is a refreshing look into the push/pull that comes from assimilation and the clash of generations all striving for the American dream. We join the the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their challenging transformation into Americans.

On the heels of their arranged marriage, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An engineer by training, Ashoke adapts rather quickly while his wife resists all things American and pines for her family. Naming their first son becomes a clash of old world values and new choices. They decide on naming him for a Russian writer in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name. Through Gogol the book unfolds as we walk with him as he stumbles along a first-generation path strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and heart-wrenching love affairs.

Please join us on Monday, August 21st at 7PM at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at SouthPark Mall to discuss this enchanting novel. Don’t forget to RSVP at http://www.thecharlotteweekly.com

July 2006 Book Pick: The City is a Rising Tide

Summer is the perfect time for lots of travel. If you can’t hop on a plane or a train, you can certainly take your mind abroad and read great books that bring those glamorous locations to you. Our July book club pick is North Carolina author Rebecca Lee’s debut novel, “The City is a Rising Tide”. The author, who lives between North Carolina and New York, takes the readers from Central Park to the Three Gorges Dam in China’s Yangtze River.

It’s the story of young woman’s obsession with her boss and the great lengths she will go to secure his love and attention. In the midst of this, they are working together to create a holistic center in the middle of the building of a great dam, considered by the environmental community to be one of the most dangerous things of modern world, is being constructed. Just how far will Justine go for love and how can you fall for someone without losing yourself are just some of the questions this book asks.

Please join us for summery evening of wine and tasty tidbits on Monday, July 17, 2006 at 7PM at Joseph-Beth Booksellers where we will chat with the book’s author. Because it’s summer, we’re going to mix it up and this event is open to everyone, boyfriends, brothers, husbands or anyone else who would like to come to a summery cocktail party. Please RSVP at: http://www.thecharlotteweekly.com/