"The Ayatollah Begs to Differ" by Hooman Majd

This very timely book explores the culture, religion, government and politics of Iran. The writer, Hooman Majd, has a unique perspective as he was born in Iran, but raised in the West-- the United Kingdom and United States. He currently lives and works in New York City, but travels frequently back to his homeland. Mr. Majd's writing style has a light touch, and his stories are easy to relate to. He shows us that people all over the world are very much the same. The structures of government, religion and culture may be unique and create a different point of view, yet he reminds us that the best way to learn about ourselves is to read and learn about others. As one member of our reading club stated, "Books inform us about different people and places, and this authors wry sense of humor make this book a wonderful read."

Recommended Related Titles:

No god but God: the origins, evolution, and future of Islam by Reza Aslan

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

The Faith Club: a Muslin, a Christian, a Jew: three women search for understanding by Ranya Idliby

"Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner

"Anyone who reads is to some extent a citizen of the world." -- Wallace Stegner

Stegner's Pulitzer Prize winning novel was the subject of our February discussion, which also happened to be his 100th Birthday! This complex book has powerful and memorable characters and deals with several major themes: East vs West; Civilization vs Opportunity; Past vs Present; Exploiter vs Civilizer, Boomer vs Nester, and Old vs New. Stegner uses the narrator, Lyman Ward, to describe the lives of his grandparents Susan and Oliver Ward. The story of Susan Ward is based on the life of pioneer Mary Hallock Foote, whose personal correspondence Stegner had access to. In the lives of Stegner's characters, we get a sense of Stegner's passion for history, his interest in family roots, and what holds a family together as they experience conflict. The essence of the book is described beautifully in this quote: "I'm not writing a book of Western history.... I've written enough history books to know this isn't one. I'm writing about something else. A marriage, I guess.... What interests me in all these papers is not Susan Burling Ward the novelist and illustrator, and not Oliver Ward the engineer, and not the West they spend their lives in. What really interests me is how two such unlike particles clung together and under what strains, rolling downhill into their future until they reached the angle of repose where I know them." A truly fantastic book that we can all highly recommend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY TO WALLACE STEGNER--today is officially "Wallace Stegner Day" in Salt Lake City due to Proclamation by both the Mayor of Salt Lake City, Ralph Becker, and the Governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman, Jr.


Come checkout a great display on Level 2 of the Main Salt Lake City Public Library from the Marriott Library Multimedia Archives Department at the University of Utah. The display includes wonderful photographs of Wallace Stegner and his family, his original notes on "Angle of Repose" and much more. The display will be here until mid-March 2009.

"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen

Another great read with the Mainly Reading Book Club! We all enjoyed this novel about a life in the circus, growing old, family and love. The main character, 93-year old Jacob Jankowski, relives an adventure filled time during the Great Depression when he joined the Benzini Brothers Circus. Here he meets the love of his life and many unforgettable characters, including a wonderful elephant, Rosie. This novel is full of layers and subplots which add a richness and depth. Readers follow Jacob on an incredible journey of love, loss, family, and loyalty. The chapters on his life in the circus are contrasted by his present day life in a nursing home. The author, Sara Gruen, provides a well-researched glimpse into the closed-community of the circus, thereby demonstrating how each of us build our own sense of community, home, networks and roots.

"The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman

We had a excellent discussion on the possibility of a world without humans. The author, Alan Weisman, presents a very readable book that blends science, history and speculation. He explores different areas of the world where human impact has been so severe that it is difficult to imagine how the natural world would recover after us. Mr. Weisman gives specific examples of this through-- the disaster at Chernobyl, the Korean DMZ, Varosha on the Island of Cyprus, the Kingman Reef, Rocky Flats and many more. Our discussion focused on specific passages and many questions. Of particular interest--Should we as humans be concerned about extinctions as a part of global progression and what is our responsibility in the world due to our actions? We found that the smallest of actions is interconnected and will impact the world for generations past and present. Some of our favorite passages are: "More crucial to us still here on Earth, right now, is whether we humans can make it through what many scientists call this planet's latest great extinction-- make it through, and bring the rest of life with us rather than tear it down." and "A species as creative and arguably intelligent as our own should somehow find a way to achieve a balance. We have a lot to learn obviously, but I haven't given up on us." I personally am voting for the microbes that have adapted to our environmental misteps, and may solve many of our problems.

Getting Started.....

The Mainly Reading Book Club meets at the Main Library of the Salt Lake City Public Library on the 1st Saturday of each month at 10am. This is an open, engaging group of booklovers who have been meeting for the past 2 years. We have a democratic process for choosing our titles, both fiction and nonfiction. Each book club member suggests titles for discussion on a quarterly basis, then the title with the most votes is chosen and the others kept on a list of future possibilities. Library staff serve as host and discussion leader by advising members of library programs, future author visits, and award- winning titles that may be of interest. Biographical information is found on each author and presented by staff. Book club members highlight favorite passages of each book and submit them in advance to library staff. These passages are then compiled and form the basis for discussion, with members indicating why particular passage were chosen. This is a great method for engaging all members and facilitating discussion.

We welcome new members to the Mainly Reading Book Club at any time and look forward to an online discussion as well on this blog. Some of the goals of this blog are to keep members informed of previous book discussions, seek dialog online, and notify members of literary events that may be of interest. Now let's get this online discussion started!

MAINLY READING BOOKS:

2008
December-- The World Without Us, Alan Weisman
November-- Dreams from my Father: a Story of Race and Inheritance
Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
both by Barack Obama
October--Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
September-- Reconciliation:Islam, Democracy and the West, Benazir Bhutto
August-- Loving Frank, Nancy Horan
July-- Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
June-- Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Erick Larsen
May-- We Need to Talk about Kevin, Lionel Shriver
April-- The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
March-- Square Sails and Dragons, Celia Lund
February-- The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
January-- The Jane Austen Book Club, Karen Joy Fowler