Our end of year wrap up ended up returning to the zoom format because a few of us had close calls with exposures. In spite of not being together in person, this was a fun, joyous and energetic gathering.
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| Mid-meeting wine run |
We started the gathering with a great discussion of our final book for 2021, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage by Bette Howland. A book of short stories can be hard to discuss because of the lack of a through plot and common characters, but not this one. Ms. Howland created rich details that brought you into the space where her characters were. Dark and not uplifting was one comment but others found interest in the planning of a funeral, the frustration of obligatory time with family and other 'every day' life events. Certainly a worthwhile read.
We turned our attention to the discussion of our favorite and least favorite (never "worst") book of the year. I am still living in constant fear that the author of a "worst" book will again google themselves to find that our group of seven readers has mortally wounded their pride and that we may be invited to a duel. I don't like conflict and as I only dabble in sarcasm I am afraid of those who have mastered the art of prose. Therefore we will refrain evermore from the use of the word worst to describe our least favorite book of the year.
HOWEVER, with a solid majority and very little surprise or argument from the minority the clear winner of our least favorite was "50 words for rain". This book should have been a beautiful novel of love, loss, grace, forgiveness, finding one's purpose under the epic backdrop of post WWII for the ages, but it was not. Imagine the fan fiction journal of a millennial 15 year old who has never been kissed or left their hometown of Springfield, wherever writing about the complexities of racism in a country, culture and era never explored beyond watching an anime movie or two. Then throw in some plot twists like sexual assault that is almost instantly forgiven without any trauma, grief, blame and heck, let's just make the main character fall in love with that guy because he is of course, beautiful, rich and charming. 👀. Of course he is. Anywho...this was a literal car crash that needed an editor. Acknowledging that storytelling is hard, we are hopeful that as the author matures better content will come.
The discussion for the favorite book of the year was far more varied. The field of books that we loved was many in 2021. With the bonus reading titles off the table for consideration, the much appreciated "A Children's Bible" and "The Cold Millions" made room for the primary books.
Hidden Valley Road, No No Boy, Hamnet and Calm Seas and Prosperous Voyage all received ardent votes for favorite.
Damnation Springs and Unbound each were noted as "very good".
It's a good problem to have that we loved most of what we read in 2021. We decided to let our 'favorite' be a three-way-tie:
Hidden Valley Road, Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
No-No Boy John Okada
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Each was completely different and wonderful. HVR, is an exploration of mental illness in one family and a frustrating study in the pharmaceutical industry exploring that it is profits that drive innovation and not need.
No-No Boy explored the often ignored history of the American Japanese experience of the aftermath of the war and those who would not or could not join in to fight with the US in the land of their ancestors.
Hamnet is a fanciful dip into the household of William Shakespeare and the family he left behind to be a poet and play writer. He's not the main character of this story and it is marvelous.
