Book Group
Due to Covid-19, the Sitting Room Book Group continues its meeting via Zoom
All welcome to participate. To get the Zoom invite, write to Joann Borri, joannborri@gmail.com
All welcome to participate. To get the Zoom invite, write to Joann Borri, joannborri@gmail.com
September 22, 2021
Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee. Discussion Facilitated by Karen FitzGerald (Please note - the September meeting will be on the 4th Wednesday as Yom Kippur begins on September 15 and some members would not be able to attend.)
The tumult of loving someone with a chronic mental illness can exhaust even the most caring person. Just ask Miranda, elder sister to Lucia, a brash, brilliant journalist whose periodic descent into severe psychosis has taxed their relationship and forced Miranda to confront the limits of family loyalty. Of course, she knows that Lucia can be attentive, charming, and kind, drawing in friends and colleagues—at least until the inevitable delusions take hold. It’s scary stuff. To Lee's credit, Lucia, the more compellingly drawn of the two siblings, never seems like a psychological case study. The book also exposes the helplessness of family members wishing to fix a fraught situation; the class dimension of health care delivery; and the rampant misinformation surrounding the treatment and diagnosis of illnesses like schizoaffective disorder. Lastly, vivid descriptions of the gentrifying Lower East Side of 1990s New York City, the heavily immigrant towns along the Hudson River, and several communities in Ecuador ground the characters in distinct locations.
October 20, 2021
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman. Discussion Facilitated by Lanette Hunter Reginelli and Linda Lampson
From pop-star crushes to meals for one, the life of an outsider is vividly captured in this joyful debut, discovered through a writing competition and sold for huge sums worldwide
...And what a joy it is. The central character of Eleanor feels instantly and insistently real, as if she had been patiently waiting in the wings for her cue all along. Most workplaces have an Eleanor: the slightly odd, plastic bag- clutching person who scuttles away from all communal enterprises; who rarely says a word that isn’t about the matter in hand; whose home life can only be speculated about, not always kindly. Eleanor’s entire existence is clear, orderly – and completely empty. She works all week, goes home on a Friday night, heats up a Tesco pizza, drinks two bottles of vodka and speaks to nobody until Monday morning comes round again. -The Guardian, 4 May 2017
...And what a joy it is. The central character of Eleanor feels instantly and insistently real, as if she had been patiently waiting in the wings for her cue all along. Most workplaces have an Eleanor: the slightly odd, plastic bag- clutching person who scuttles away from all communal enterprises; who rarely says a word that isn’t about the matter in hand; whose home life can only be speculated about, not always kindly. Eleanor’s entire existence is clear, orderly – and completely empty. She works all week, goes home on a Friday night, heats up a Tesco pizza, drinks two bottles of vodka and speaks to nobody until Monday morning comes round again. -The Guardian, 4 May 2017
November 17, 2021
TBD
December 2021
No meeting
January 19, 2022
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. Discussion Facilitated by Barbara Lesch McCaffry
