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2003
|
| Jan |
We met at Bill and Andi's house to hear Leah Ruekberg, a professional storyteller and a preacher's daughter, present a program called "Good and Guilty: Sex, Shame, and Spirituality."
Later that month we met at Garrett and Darcie's house to enjoy a potluck supper and to consider proposals for discussion books for the period from May 2003 through the end of 2004. Here is the
list of candidates and here are the voting results.
|
| Feb |
Dr. Emil Homerin, author of Umar Ibn al-Farid: Sufi Verse, Saintly Life, led a discussion on Sufi poetry.
|
| March |
Kindred by Octavia Butler, 264 pages, 2004. Led by Barb W.
A novel about a modern-day black woman who time-travels to the pre-Civil War South to save a life. This book was the "If All of Rochester Read the Same Book..."
selection for 2003.
|
| April |
The meeting was postponed because an ice storm closed the church. A few hardy souls gathered nearby at Bill and Andi's house for coffee and cookies.
|
| May |
The House Gun by Nobel-Prize winner Nadine Gordimer, 294 pages, 1999. Led by Bill F.
A progressive white South African couple is appalled to discover that the police are stupidly accusing their son of murder. Slowly the truth dawns on them. New York Times: "The murder is not a political act, but this elegantly conceived, flawlessly
executed novel surely is, for it arrives in the heat of a major South African debate.... Along the way, using to brilliant effect the jagged abruptness of her prose style, Gordimer tells a love story
unlike any I have ever read."
|
| June |
The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis de Bernieres, 383 pages, 1997. Led by Garrett H.
This novel, by the author of Corelli's Mandolin, is set in a fictitious Latin American country. The Independent (Britain) says it is, "A fat, juicy tropical fruit of a narrative... There is astonishing landscape. There are numerous good jokes. And, indispensably in such a novel, there is magic."
|
| Oct |
John Adams by David McCullough, 768 pages, 2001. Led by Dick J.
Publishers Weekly says of this best-selling biography, "Here a preeminent master of narrative history takes on the most fascinating of our founders to create a benchmark for all Adams biographers." This best-selling book was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. The author has won several literary prizes, including the Pulitzer.
|
| Nov |
The Chosen by Chaim Potok, 304 pages, 1967. Led by Pam J.
In Brooklyn in the 1940s, two young men, one with an intellectual Zionist father, the other the brilliant heir to a Hasidic rebbe, form a deep friendship despite intellectual and spiritual clashes between fathers, between sons and fathers, and between themselves. This is the most widely read novel by one of the most prominent chroniclers of Jewish life.
|
| Dec |
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan, 272 pages, 1998. Led by Rachel S.
Two strangers are thrown together while trying to prevent a tragic accident. One of them, a deeply disturbed Christian enthusiast, becomes obsessed with the other, a non-believer.
Washington Post: "McEwan has fashioned a remarkable novel, haunting and original and written in prose that anyone who writes can only envy." Kirkus Reviews: "A sad, chilling, precise exploration of deranged love... Painful and powerful work by one of England's best novelists."
Later in the month, LAVA members toured the "Poetic Images" exhibit at the George Eastman House, which was curated by Rachel.
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2002
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| Jan |
Anile's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje, led by Deanna A.
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| Feb |
The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks, led by Darcie H. This book was the "If All of Rochester Read the Same Book..." selection for 2002.
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| March |
Ancient Child by Scott Momaday, led by Peggy H.
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| April |
Lost in Translation by Nicole Mones, led by Gaylene M.
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| May |
Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel, 368 pages, 2000. Led by Garrett H.
Based on 124 surviving letters between Galileo and his daughter, this book was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. USA Today: "A fascinating history lesson disguised as family drama... The book's beauty grows out of Maria Celeste's
letters, so revealing of everyday life in 17th century Italy."
|
| June |
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, 245 pages, 1990. Led by Andrea D. "A tragic, spiritual portrait of a perfect English butler and his reaction to his fading insular world in post-war England."
|
| Oct |
Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky, 472 pages, 1866. Led by Linda R. "A desperate young man plans the perfect crime -- the murder of a despicable pawnbroker. Is it not
just, he reasons, for a man of genius to commit such a crime?" The Vintage Press translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is recommended.
|
| Nov |
Passage to Juneau: A Sea and Its Meanings by Jonathan Raban, 435 pages, 2000. Led by Garrett H. Kirkus Reviews says Raban, "is one of the English-speaking world's great travelers and travel writers. Here he crafts a wonderfully literate account, full of thoughtful observation and self-deprecating humor, of a sailing trip up the Inside Passage from the Puget Sound to the Alaska Panhandle."
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| Dec |
One Man's Meat by E. B. White, 279 pages, 1977. Led by Bill F. Essays by the author of Charlotte's Web and co-author of the Strunk and White guide to good writing. White, a writer for the New Yorker, moved to a small farm in Maine in the 1930s where he wrote this collection of essays celebrating rural and small-town life. They were published monthly in Harper's between 1938 and 1943.
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2001
|
| Jan |
We met at the Little Theater for supper in the cafe followed by our choice of movies and then dessert at Pam's. |
| Feb |
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling,
led by Jean N. |
| March |
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, led by Darcie H. This was the first selection by Writers & Books for their annual "If All of Rochester Read the Same Book..." program.
|
| April |
Dreams of My Russian Summers by Andrei Makine,
led by Barb W. |
| May |
The Hours by Michael Cunningham, led by Andrea D. The book is based on Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, so some of us read that also.
|
| Jun |
Plainsong by Kent Haruf, led by Bill F.
|
| Oct |
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, led by Pam S.
|
| Nov |
We were scheduled to discuss Anil's Ghost but, in the wake
of the Sept 11 tragedy, we postponed it and heard Dr. Homerin's lecture on Islam at the church instead.
|
| Dec |
Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, led by Bill F.
Holiday party at Garrett and Darcie's with an Elizabethan theme and
a special appearance by Duncan Inches, who portrays Shakespeare around the country.
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2000
|
| Jan |
We saw Moborosi, a Japanese film, at Bill and Andi's house.
Later that month writer Steve Street visited us to discuss his short stories, a meeting arranged by Linda R.
|
| Feb |
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, led by Andrea D. |
| March |
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, led by Edna B. |
| April |
The Color of Water by James McBride, led by Jean N and Betty McC.
Dessert party at Jean N's house and a film called A Family Thing.
|
| May |
The God of Small Things by Arundhita Roy, led by Andrea D. |
| June |
The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester, led by Hugh and Deanna A. We met at the house of Joyce and Richard H. for this meeting and shared a pot luck supper. |
| Oct |
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner, led by Judy H. |
| Nov |
The Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw, led by Garrett. |
| Dec |
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, led by Betty McC.
Holiday party at Garrett and Darcie's.
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1999
|
| Jan |
Shakespeare in Love, film at the Little,
preceded by dinner at Savory and Thyme. |
| Feb |
The Age of Innocence, novel by Edith Wharton, led by Dave S. Later that month we saw the film version of Age of Innocence at Bill and Andi's house, with period dinner by Andi.
|
| March |
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes, led by Darcie H. A snow storm closed the church, so we gathered at Bill and Andi's house.
Twelfth Night (video) by Shakespeare, at Jean N's house.
|
| April |
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, led by Pam S. |
| May |
Voyage of the Narwhal by Andrea Barrett, led by Garrett. |
| June |
American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis, led by Andrea D. |
| Oct |
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, led by Dave and Joyce S. |
| Nov |
A River Sutra by Gita Mehta, led by Bill F. |
| Dec |
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Album, led by Darcie H.
Holiday party at Garrett and Darcie's house, with a reading by Bill
from the first chapter of The Black Mountain by Bruce Chatwin.
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1998
|
| Jan |
Angels and Insects, film (video) adapted from the novel by A. S. Byatt, led by Jim B. |
| Feb |
Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher, led by Betty McC. |
| March |
A Mythic Life by Jean Houston, led by Anita J. |
| April |
Hamlet by Shakespeare, plus portions of two Hamlet videos at Garrett and Darcie's house, led by Garrett. |
| May |
Paula by Isabelle Allende, led by Joyce Z.
|
| July |
We traveled to Syracuse for an Imax movie about Mt. Everest
and a dinner on Armory Square. |
| Sept |
The Dilbert Principle by Scott Adams, led by Richard H. |
| Oct |
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres, led by Garrett. |
| Nov |
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, led by Darcie M. & Joyce Z. |
| Dec |
Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies, led by Bill F.
Holiday party at Garrett and Darcie's.
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1997
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| Jan |
By a nice coincidence, we were able to hear Michael Ondaatji speak about his creative process at RIT two days before we saw the film version of his novel The English Patient at the Little Theater, which was preceded by dessert at Bill F's house. Ondaatji's talk was wonderful; I felt like he was speaking directly to me across a coffee table in someone's living room.
|
| Feb |
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard, led by Bill F. |
| Mar |
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins, led by Garrett. |
| April |
The Sweeter the Juice by Shirlee Taylor Hazlip, led by Janis M. |
| May |
Candide by Voltaire, led by Joyce L. |
| Aug |
Koyaanisquatsi, a film at the Dryden by Godfrey Reggio, with music by Philip Glass. |
| Oct |
Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatji, led by Darcie M. |
| Nov |
Resistance, Rebellion and Death by Albert Camus, led by Andrea D. |
| Dec |
The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx, led by Bill Fugate.
Holiday party at Garrett and Darcie's house, with readings from Truman Capote short stories.
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|
1996
|
| Jan |
Calvin & Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book by Bill Waterson, with color slides and discussion led by Garrett. |
| Feb |
Emerson's Journals by Ralph Waldo Emerson, led by Garrett. |
| March |
A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, led by Garrett, with group attendance at a local production. |
| April |
Mozart, a biography by Maynard Solomon, led by Garrett. |
| July |
Trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake to see the play Rashamon.
The trip was organized by Betty McC. |
| Oct |
New Passages by Gail Sheehy, led by Joyce Z. |
| Nov |
Beloved by Toni Morrison, led by Janis M. |
| Dec |
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder, led by Bill F.
Holiday party at Garrett's, with a group reading of A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas.
Rashamon, a film by Kurasawa, at the Little Theater.
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|
1995
|
| Feb |
Dubliners by James Joyce, led by Garrett. |
| Mar |
Collected Stories by Franz Kafka, led by Garrett. |
| April |
Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, led by Garrett. |
| May |
Beethoven, A Biography by Maynard Soloman, with music by Linda R. and Jonathon W., led by Garrett. |
| Oct |
The Bridges of Madison County (novel & film), led by Garrett. |
| Nov |
The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, followed by video on Darwin at Betty McC's house, led by Garrett. |
| Dec |
Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain, led by Garrett.
Holiday party at Garrett's house, with a group reading of
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
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1994
|
| Jan |
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, led by Garrett. This was LAVA's first meeting. |
| Feb |
Much Ado about Nothing (play & film),
by Shakespeare, led by Garrett. |
| March |
A Natural History of the Senses by Dianne Ackerman, led by Garrett. |
| April |
The Hidden Life of Dogs by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, led by Garrett with assistance from a professional
dog trainer. |
| May |
If I Had My Life to Live Over, I'd Pick More Daisies by Sandra Martz, led by Garrett. |
| Oct |
The Piano (book & film) by Jane Campion, led by Garrett. |
| Nov |
Soul Mates by Thomas Moore, led by Garrett. |
| Dec |
The Journal of Lewis and Clark, led by Garrett. |