Month: February 2016

And the winner is…

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Originally posted on present perfect book club:
In honor of the Oscars, I’ve finally decided which books we’ll read next. Start placing your library holds now!! Special thanks to everyone who weighed in! Got more suggestions? Comment here. Need some help with Reading Challenge recs? Ask here! *Note that there may be more categories for each book, but as I haven’t read them yet, I’m going off of goodreads and amazon synopses… March: Dark Places, Gillian Flynn Discussion begins March 26 (Easter weekend) Categories: a murder mystery There was an overwhelming cry for Gillian Flynn books, so here it is. Let’s do this! April:Safekeeping, Jessamyn Hope Discussion begins April 24 Categories: takes place in Europe, takes place on an island (if Manhattan counts…), May:Bel Canto, Ann Patchett Discussion begins: May 22 Categories: NYTimes Bestseller, has a blue cover ? June: a Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche book….help me decide which! Discussion begins: June 25 Categories: tbd ? ? Guys, if we stick with this plan, all the books we read will have been by women. How cool is…

Station Eleven Discussion!

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Originally posted on present perfect book club:
This week (or whenever you can join us!), we are discussing Station Eleven by Emily St James Mandel. To participate: It’s very simple: share your ideas and responses in the comments section of this post!!! If you blog and feel so moved to write your own post, feel free to share the link. If you are responding to someone’s comment, be sure to use the reply button (rather than making a new comment) so things stay clear. You can respond to my questions, or go rogue and bring up your own topic of discussion: the world is our oyster here! P.S. Sometime this week, I’m going to choose our books for the next couple of months. Please share any author/genre/titles you’re interested in HERE! Discussion Questions Use these as starting points, but don’t feel obligated to stick to them! (Some of these questions are stolen or modified from other online discussion groups and the reading guide published at the end of my edition of the book) Q1: Reading this book at the…

Better Know a French Woman: George Sand

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After researching several ‘grands hommes’ for Better Know a Frenchman, my series about the people behind the names on streets signs and buildings all across France, I found out about FemiCité, a feminist movement to put more WOMEN’S names in those places of honor. In solidarity, I have decided to begin highlighting amazing French Women along with the Frenchmen I have already been profiling. Who do you think deserves recognition?! Leave a comment! George Sand Lived: 1804- 1876 Spotted: rue George Sand is in Paris’ 16th arrondissement and a handful of cities across France including Tours, Le Havre, and Voirons. A quick search turned up about three or four lycées named for her in all of France. Important Contributions: George Sand is the pseudonym for the controversial writer, essayist, and “romantic rebel” Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin who wrote over 80 novels, dozens of plays, and thousands of letters during her lifetime. Her first independent novel, Indiana (1832), is about a woman in a passionless marriage, and broadly addresses themes such as female desire, social constraints concerning women in marriage, and women’s equality in …