The Pocono Book Club

We're wrapping up our 2024 with a 1934 perpetual bestseller! Pennsylvania, Christmastime, and a resonating observation of American life, all wrapped up in one. After traveling down through the decades to us, does this slimmer novel hold gravitas with our group today?

May the conversation ensue around a table filled with good friends, good food, and good drink! Happy Holidays, everybody!

From Goodreads:

The writer whom Fran Lebowitz compared to the author of The Great Gatsby, calling him “the real F. Scott Fitzgerald.”

One of the great novels of small-town American life, Appointment in Samarra is John O’Hara’s crowning achievement.

O’Hara did for fictional Gibbsville, Pennsylvania what Faulkner did for Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi: surveyed its social life and drew its psychic outlines, but he did it in utterly worldly terms, without Faulkner’s taste for mythic inference or the basso profundo of his prose. Julian English is a man who squanders what fate gave him. He lives on the right side of the tracks, with a country club membership, and a wife who loves him. His decline and fall, over the course of just 72 hours around Christmas, is a matter of too much spending, too much liquor, and a couple of reckless gestures. That his calamity is petty and preventable only makes it more powerful. In Faulkner, the tragedies all seem to be taking place on Olympus, even when they’re happening among the low-lifes. In O’Hara, they could be happening to you.

Brimming with wealth and privilege, jealousy and infidelity, O’Hara’s iconic first novel is an unflinching look at the dark side of the American dream—and a lasting testament to the keen social intelligence of a major American writer.

With the Holiday Season in full swing, we will be having our 9th annual Holiday Book Grab Bag to stay in tune with holiday spirits! This is our most popular event of the year!

Here's how it works:

1. Select a work of fiction or narrative non-fiction that is under 500 pages that has really meant a lot to you. New or used, it's all good, just as long as we haven't previously read it for the book club and it's in good shape.
2. Wrap the book like a Christmas present and bring it with you to our meeting.
3. We'll put all the wrapped books into a big bag.
4. We'll draw lots to see in what order we pick a book; whoever picks 1 will go first and on down the numeric line.
5. Everyone unwraps their picks at the same time and chaos ensues, lol, j/k! If you want to swap the book you pulled out (for example, you own it or have already read it), then feel free to.
6. It's yours now, you won it! Read it and bring your present back to our January meeting to give us your thoughts :-).

This is always a fun time! See you there!!!

**Important note! If we're snowed in, we'll have this meeting on Zoom and I'll email you the invitation.**

This particular gathering, our 9th annual, will be different from our other meetings: Instead of everyone reading and discussing one title, we'll each be reading and discussing our own book with the group!

Whichever book you won at our December Holiday Book Grab-Bag is the one you'll bring to this meeting. Let us know what you thought of it! We'll each take a turn to talk about our book and see what conversation ensues. With your giver having read the book, at least two people will be able to provide insights!

This is a great opportunity to start compiling a TBR (To Be Read) list for the new year if you're looking for other books to read outside of book club!

This 2014 psychological suspense book was adapted by Netflix in 2018 into a popular 5-season tv series. The debut novel stood out among the sub-genre for its realism and plot, accumulating accolades by everyone from the esteemed National Book Critics Circle to Stephen King. It was so successful that the author has published three best-selling sequels, with the reading public clamoring for more. Shall we see what all the praise is about?! Strap in for a taut reading ride!

From Goodreads:

When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.

There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.

As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.

A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation.

A modern American classic that has always remained in print since its 1966 publication, this shorter novel has also had its share of controversy with regular calls for banning. Get ready for a unique read that will have all your emotions going--prepare those around you for potential outbursts, lol. If you need anymore encouragement, 680,000+ readers have collectively rated this book a very high 4.2 out of 5 stars. Also, it has been adapted into a 2000 film starring Matthew Modine and Kelli Williams, if you want to follow up the book with a viewing.

From Goodreads:

Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, the powerful, classic story about a man who receives an operation that turns him into a genius...and introduces him to heartache.

Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence – a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?

Our group enjoys historical fiction, and this story promises to please from an author many of our members have admired for previous novels. New York City, a globally-renowned landmark, and two exciting decades: three ingredients that have pulled in 30,000+ satisfied readers. Will our club also enjoy the journey back in time?!

From Goodreads:

In her latest captivating novel, nationally bestselling author Fiona Davis takes readers into the glamorous lost art school within Grand Central Terminal, where two very different women, fifty years apart, strive to make their mark on a world set against them.

For the nearly nine million people who live in New York City, Grand Central Terminal is a crown jewel, a masterpiece of design. But for Clara Darden and Virginia Clay, it represents something quite different.

For Clara, the terminal is the stepping stone to her future, which she is certain will shine as the brightly as the constellations on the main concourse ceiling. It is 1928, and twenty-five-year-old Clara is teaching at the lauded Grand Central School of Art. A talented illustrator, she has dreams of creating cover art for Vogue, but not even the prestige of the school can override the public's disdain for a "woman artist." Brash, fiery, confident, and single-minded—even while juggling the affections of two men, a wealthy would-be poet and a brilliant experimental painter—Clara is determined to achieve every creative success.

Nearly fifty years later, in 1974, the terminal has declined almost as sharply as Virginia Clay's life. Full of grime and danger, from the smoke-blackened ceiling to the pickpockets and drug dealers who roam the floor, Grand Central is at the center of a fierce lawsuit: Is the once-grand building a landmark to be preserved, or a cancer to be demolished? For Virginia, it is simply her last resort. Recently divorced, she has just accepted a job in the information booth in order to support herself and her college-age daughter, Ruby.

But when Virginia stumbles upon an abandoned art school within the terminal and discovers a striking watercolor hidden under the dust, her eyes are opened to the elegance beneath the decay. She embarks on a quest to find the artist of the unsigned masterpiece—an impassioned chase that draws Virginia not only into the battle to save Grand Central but deep into the mystery of Clara Darden, the famed 1920s illustrator who disappeared from history in 1931.

We turn from historical fiction to historical non-fiction. Adventure on the high seas, mystery, true crime, courtroom drama, and maritime biography, all told in a narrative format that flows like a novel. Receiving a number of nominations and awards, this sounds like a gripping account sure to hold our attention. Two years after its publication, we delve into the ocean blue just before summer vacations begin. Will you enjoy a bit of history? Let's find out...

From Goodreads:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on the Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty's Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as "the prize of all the oceans," it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.

But then . . . six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes - they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death--for whomever the court found guilty could hang.

The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann's recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O'Brian, his portrayal of the castaways' desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann's work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.

We about-face by turning from historical fiction and non-fiction to speculative fiction that looks forward into the future...at the present...and into the past...all at the same time. This month, we'll be re-acquainting ourselves with the interesting flavor of light science-fiction through a unique time-travel predicament. One of 2024's most eagerly anticipated titles--and debut novels--various reviewers describe this story as "thought-provoking", "heartfelt", "simple yet amazing", "fantastically original", and "quietly lingering long after being read". Will you agree with all or any of these sentiments? Let us know when we get together!

From Goodreads:

A literary speculative novel about an isolated town neighbored by its own past and future

Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. On the other side, it’s the same valley, the same town--except to the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.

When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasn’t supposed to see, she realizes that the parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border from the future, on a mourning tour, to view their son while he’s still alive in Odile’s present. Edme––who is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly see Odile––is about to die. Sworn to secrecy in order to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseil’s top candidate, yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, imperiling her entire future.

Kristin Hannah is regularly listed among our membership as a favorite author; so when her latest work debuted in February 2024, it was bound to find a place on our schedule relatively quick. The last time we read Hannah, she took us to the frontier bays of 1970s Alaska, and now we find ourselves in 1960s Southern California and war-torn Vietnam. Hopefully this will be another enjoyably page-turning summer-read for you!

Just a note: This is a longer book for us, coming in at 480 pages. You may want to plan extra time for reading this selection.

From Goodreads:

An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

Our second foray into non-fiction this year will be a headline-grabbing true crime memoir published two years ago this month. It has been recommended by everyone from Oprah to the New York Times to the National Book Critics Circle. It has also been recommended as a nice pairing with our upcoming September selection. Life's highs and lows co-mingle for an interesting life story. Let's see if we're as equally enamored with this account as so many others before us have been!

From Goodreads:

No one expects the police to knock on the million-dollar, two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac housewife. But soccer mom Lara Love Hardin has been hiding a shady secret: She is funding her heroin addiction by stealing her neighbors’ credit cards.

Lara is convicted of thirty-two felonies and becomes inmate S32179. She learns jail is a class system with a power structure somewhere between an adolescent sleepover party and Lord of the Flies. Furniture is made from tampon boxes, and Snickers bars are currency. But Lara quickly finds the rules and brings love and healing to her fellow inmates as she climbs the social ladder to become the “shot caller,” showing that jailhouse politics aren’t that different from the PTA meetings she used to attend.

When she’s released, she reinvents herself as a ghostwriter. Now, she’s legally co-opting other people’s identities and getting to meet Oprah, meditate with The Dalai Lama, and have dinner with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. But the shadow of her past follows her. Shame is a poison worse than heroin—there is no way to detox. She must learn to forgive herself and others, navigate life as a felon on probation, prove to herself that she is more good than bad, and much more.