We certainly reached a consensus this week: we all felt an air of disappointment wiht "The Alchemist," however we weren't able to decide why that is. It's quite possibly that the book requires more careful consideration and processing time than we all allowed ourselves in reading (it was only 160-something pages long -- we all waited until this week to read so it would be fresh.) It could also be that the beauty of the book was lost in translation, as it was originally written by a Brazillian in his native tongue. It's possible too that we all got so hyped up by the rave reviews that we were simply disappointed as the book wasn't able to live up to our expectations. We couldn't quite decide why, but "The Alchemist" just wasn't the book we had hoped for.
I think I'm going to keep mine on my nightstand to read in small segments... bits and pieces of wisdom and contemplation. If I were a meditating woman, I would meditate over this book! lol.
Next book choice: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. Gerald's sister recommended it to him, and he is in turn recommending it to us. We're planning to read the first half for next week (or however far you manage to get... it always seems that someone is ahead and someone else behind! No big deal!)
It has also been suggested that, after finishing a book, we each bring a brief (one paragraph more or less) book review of the reading. If you're not much of a writer, this is not a requirement! Just a suggestion :)
Happy Reading!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
AHEB - Final Meeting (sort of)
So... after a low turnout rate for the AHEB meetings (mostly due to its lack of availability in our small town USA)... and due to the fact that two of our three regular meeting members won't be able to attend the next two meetings, we've decided to suspend the book club meetings until February 22. Yes, we'll be having book club withdrawal by then!
If you haven't been able to join us recently, (especially if it's because you can't get your hands on the book,) we've chosen a widely available, hugely successful, much-acclaimed, banned-in-Iran superstar bestseller of a book called "The Alchemist" by Brazillian author Paulo Coehlo. It's available everywhere: Borders, Target... no problems with this one! Thin little paperback, only 208 pages! I feel like a salesman...
The plan is to read the whole entire book before the February 22 meeting. We'll have a final discussion of AHEB (for those of us that haven't quite finished yet) briefly at the beginning of the meeting, then delve into Paulo Coehlo's (alleged) literary masterpiece.
In the meantime, be on the lookout for a lighthearted, laugh-out-loud-funny book for our next read... and come prepared to make suggestions to the February 22 meeting! We're looking for a good fantasy/sci-fi read too...
Hope to see everyone on the 22nd... in the meantime, Happy Reading!
-Nikki
If you haven't been able to join us recently, (especially if it's because you can't get your hands on the book,) we've chosen a widely available, hugely successful, much-acclaimed, banned-in-Iran superstar bestseller of a book called "The Alchemist" by Brazillian author Paulo Coehlo. It's available everywhere: Borders, Target... no problems with this one! Thin little paperback, only 208 pages! I feel like a salesman...
The plan is to read the whole entire book before the February 22 meeting. We'll have a final discussion of AHEB (for those of us that haven't quite finished yet) briefly at the beginning of the meeting, then delve into Paulo Coehlo's (alleged) literary masterpiece.
In the meantime, be on the lookout for a lighthearted, laugh-out-loud-funny book for our next read... and come prepared to make suggestions to the February 22 meeting! We're looking for a good fantasy/sci-fi read too...
Hope to see everyone on the 22nd... in the meantime, Happy Reading!
-Nikki
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)