Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas

My Tuesday Book Discussion Group talked about Tallgrass today. Thumbs up from everyone. What failings there were in the story were forgivable and minor in the general scheme of things. What we liked was the story, the plot, the characters, the mystery, most of the sappy touching stuff, and the human scale of the story.

Some scenes resonate Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, such as the father facing down a lynch mob with the aid of his wife. The story served as a springboard to discuss prejudice, the War, small town life, the difference between growing up 'country' or 'city,' and how some of us are offered the rare opportunity to act above ourselves in aid of the oppressed.

The book discussion group on Ragtime

Currently reading:
The 47th Samurai
by Stephen Hunter
Genre: Thriller
Reason: Judged by its cover.
Waiting: Pale Horse Coming
by Stephen Hunter

My discussion group met this morning to discuss Ragtime which I enjoyed. It got mixed reviews. Some found it disjointed and hard to follow, the sex put some off, and others couldn't say exactly why they didn't like it, they just didn't.

It is an unusual book in that Doctorow makes no use of quotation marks throughout the book. Dialog is made clear contextually, and for me it worked. I am a forgiving reader, if the story grabs my interest I seem to get inside the story and enter without my critical reader tools. As long as the author does not ask me to suspend belief for an impossibly implausible turn of events I am willing to work with him or her to get to the end of the story.

Next, we are reading St. Agnes' Stand by Tom Eidson which the publisher daringly compared to Larry McMurtry and which looks from its cover like it might have shades of Two Mules for Sister Sara (Shirley MacLaine and Clint Eastwood) in it. Following St. Agnes' Stand we will be reading In Cold Blood then Kite Runner.

As we wrapped up the gathering, I distributed a list titled: The 112 Best of the American Novelists, Novels. We used the list to discuss possible titles for the next series of books we will discuss.

What I liked about the list was that it wasn't compiled by scholars or literary critics who usually head their list with Ulysses by James Joyce which everyone agrees they haven't read. At the time I Googled for the list I did not pay much attention to the source of the list, I was more interested in what was on the list as far as being fair and representative and not especially leaning towards the scholarly. I will stand by the list for breadth and inclusiveness and hope I don't take too bad a licking when you see where it did come from.

Read any good books lately?

I am always on the lookout for a good book. I have my favorite authors - Lawrence Block, Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Lee Child, Giles Blount, Larry McMurtry, Mankell Henning, Ken Bruen, and so forth. But they all write more slowly than I would have them write so I either reread somebody or I keep looking for new authors to read. Every once in a while one of them dies, knock on wood, and the output dies with them (not always, sometimes publishers keep finding lost manuscripts.) So when they die I have an opening that can be hard to fill.

Remember when John D. MacDonald died? I was bummed for a long time that there would never be another Travis McGee story, and I find now that Travis has not aged well and that they do not bear up well on a reread. Tony Hillerman rereads well, as do Connelly and Block.

This morning the American Libraries Direct e-newsletter offered up Books Toolbox: 50+ Sites for Book Lovers. It covers Book Reviews, Book Communities, Publishing, Book Search, and more. I am going to try a few of the recommendations for finding leads to new authors and a site named Douban as a place to keep track of what I have read and want to read.
My book discussion group is reading E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime for the next discussion and I am enjoying it more than I thought I would. Very little dialog which I thought would drag down the story but it has not. The characters and setting are fascinating. Thankfully I do not remember the movie based on the book, so the ending will be a surprise.

The book list I selected for the discussion group has had a mixed reception but this should be one of the best. We started with Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird which is so easy to use to elicit even the most timid 'discusser' but it is a tough act to follow. Will anyone make suggestions for the next list for the discussion group?