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The Mile Square City Readers Book Club Half-Year Review

19 Oct

In addition to the Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club, which my colleague Aimee Harris created and facilitates, the Hoboken Public Library has the Mile Square City Readers. This book club, led by me and Rosary, reads mostly new releases and bestselling fiction, plus the occasional classic.

On March 19, 2015 the Mile Square City Readers had its first meeting. At that time, the name of the group was The Hoboken Public Library New Book Club. In September we reached our six month anniversary and decided the “New” label was, well, old. Our amazing members suggested names and voted on Mile Square City Readers.

Here is a review of the titles we have read so far this year.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

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The first book we read is The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. The girl is Rachel, who finds herself involved with the disappearance of a woman whose house she passes while riding the commuter train to London. The main question of the story is: Can the reader trust Rachel as a narrator? The group enjoyed this book, and it was a great title for starting off the book club.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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In April we read Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird ahead of the release of the prequel Go Set a Watchman. I joked that the book club was going “back to school”, as this title appears on many schools’ reading lists. Nearly all members of the group have read this book before, and are fond of the legendary characters Scout and Atticus Finch that Lee created.

Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin

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We experimented with a nonfiction title in May. Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin (also known for The Happiness Project) is about how we create habits, good and bad. An interesting discussion came from this book, including theories on how astrological signs can factor into our habits. However, the group wanted to return to fiction so the nonfiction experiment has been shelved.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

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All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr was our June pick. We decided to read this after the announcement that it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2015. The Pulitzer website describes the book as “…an imaginative and intricate novel…” The group loved this book and thought it was a beautifully written work of fiction.

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

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In July we read Judy Blume’s In the Unlikely Event, which is based on three plane crashes that happened in Elizabeth, New Jersey in the early 1950s, and how residents were impacted. There are many characters in this book, which the group expressed some difficulty keeping track of, but they enjoyed the story overall, particularly the accurate details included by Blume.

Go Set a Watchmen by Harper Lee

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Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman, our August pick, was the most controversial book in the Mile Square City Reader’s Book Club (albeit short) history. There was intense discussion about how Atticus Finch’s character was so drastically different in To Kill a Mockingbird, and how involved Harper Lee was in this work. The group consensus was that this book was better left unpublished.

The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza

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The September meeting brought the group’s first author visit: The Knockoff co-author Jo Piazza participated in our discussion over Skype chat! We had a lot of fun talking about the real-life people the characters in The Knockoff are based on (there is an Eve out in the world, yikes!), and how women of a certain age can relate to feeling irrelevant in the workplace when technology changes daily and younger people enter every day.

Looking ahead, we are reading A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay. Please join us at our next meeting on Thursday October 29 at 7:30 PM.

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Titles for each month are announced ahead of time, and we offer copies of the book plus, depending on availability, eBooks available through eLibraryNJ and/or the library’s Technology Lending program.

To keep up with the Mile Square City Readers, send an email to reference AT hoboken DOT bccls DOT org to be added to the mailing list.

-Written by Kerry Weinstein, Reference Librarian and Mile Square City Readers Book Club co-founder

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Inspired by Hurricanes: Stormy Books and a Documentary to Check Out

7 Oct

Hurricanes have been on my mind lately. Last week Hurricane Joaquin appeared to be heading to the East Coast, which brought back stressful memories of living through Hurricane Sandy nearly three years ago without electricity and heat for several days. I spent $25 at Target on batteries to prepare for any power outages.

August 29, 2015 marked ten years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast region. While Katrina goes down as one of the worst natural disasters to hit the United States, it is memorable to me for a personal reason: here in New Jersey, my family welcomed a new baby a few days after that storm.

My feelings ran the spectrum that week. I adored my newborn niece and her chubby, dimpled cheeks. I was horrified by the news reports about the appalling conditions at the Superdome and Convention Center in New Orleans, which were not prepared for shelter and relief. I was angry that the people in these regions were failed at nearly all levels of government after the disaster. I am nothing if not empathetic.

Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath have inspired a multitude of books, articles, films, documentaries, and art in the past ten years. Here, I will suggest some materials if you are interested in reading about Katrina.

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink

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In Five Days at Memorial, Sheri Fink tells the story of a New Orleans hospital where the staff struggled to care for patients (living and deceased) without power and depleting resources while trying to evacuate as the floodwaters rose after Katrina. The stories from doctors and nurses evacuating newborns from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) by helicopter are intense. Please be aware that this book is not a light read, and raises some ethical questions. It will make you think about how you would respond if placed in a similar situation.

A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld

a.d.

This graphic novel is a quick read, but still a powerful nonfiction account of seven people who lived through Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Notice Neufeld’s use of color throughout this book: blue is used during the storm, sickly green represents the filthy floodwaters, red and acid yellow depict the heat and humidity and desperation of people who were virtually abandoned by FEMA and the government.

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

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When the Levees Broke (2006) is an Emmy Award-winning four part miniseries from acclaimed director Spike Lee that examines Hurricane Katrina, the inadequate responses by the local and federal governments, and the storm’s impact on poorer residents of New Orleans. Stories of New Orleans residents struggling to recover are featured.

Ok, this isn’t the lightest blog post I’ve written here. For levity, I will share a picture of the baby I mentioned earlier. She is now ten years old and still has those chubby cheeks and dimples.

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-Written by Kerry Weinstein, Reference Librarian

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