I hope you enjoyed this month’s book club read. I know I did.
This month’s read, “About the Night,” had us diving into a love affair between an Arab and a Jew right before the wall in Jerusalem went up in 1947. Two newlywed lovers are forced to find ways to secretly see each other, before it is inevitable that they have no choice but to try and move on with their lives behind their respective side of the wall.
Years go by. One continues to hold a flame for the other, the other decides to move on with life, thinking the other will do the same. For both, they share a special kind of love. This is the type of love people search for their entire lives. It’s the kind of love that carries one through to the end of their life, no matter how long they have to live severed from the other.
Questions.
What did you think of the book? Did you like it?
Did you think this story was realistic? If you found the love of your life and were separated from them, would you wait for them or would you move forward with your life?
Have you met the love of your life? Could you relate to that special love these two shared?
Did the historical aspect of this story help you to relate to the issues facing Israel today? Did you get a sense of the racism and cultural differences between Arabs and Jews? Did it help you to understand the struggles facing an Arab and a Jew falling in love?
Lila is a woman with great strength. When life handed her lemons, she did the best she could do with them to keep on shining, even when they were tossed at her door. In her heartbreak, we see Lila rising above to help people, even if it wasn’t the popular opinion of the people in her community. Did you find her character an inspiration?
Did you think Elias made the right decision after he was beaten by the police? Could you do the same?
What were some of your favorite quotes in the book?
Would you recommend this book to others?
Feel free to leave your answers below, on GoodReads (see the link to the PW book club on the right), or on the PW Facebook page.
How is everyone’s summer so far? We’ve been graced with this absolutely perfect 70+ degrees weather in NYC. With Father’s Day this weekend, I’m sure there will be a lot of feasting, barbecuing and I Love You’s all across America.
Here is my weekly wrap up of some of my favorite things that caught my eye this week. Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there. Kids, make sure to spoil your daddy!
Feel Good Stories to Read This Weekend
I always love reading the good stories out there. It really makes our hearts smile.
1. Some Amusing Little Things in the US You have to read this just for the laughs. It’s funny to read stories of newcomers to the US and how things are so different here for them. I always find it funny discovering differences when I travel to new countries. I remember learning “Take Away” meant “To Go” in Ireland and London. I remember standing there going, “HUH?” when she asked me about take away. Then I saw there was a sign up that displayed two different prices for dining in and taking away. Then it made sense. Take away meant TO GO!
When you ask for hot sauce in some countries, they give you some weird version of sweet salsa (it’s disgusting) [Prague, Czech Republic]. When you’re in Africa, wee-fee means wifi. In Ireland, there are XXXX number of ways to use one curse word. Believe me when I say within the first 5 minutes of arriving in Dublin, I learned about 20 different ways to use one curse word. I’m sure the woman had more meanings to it, too. I was just like…welcome to Ireland.
2. Bucky Fucking Dent. Need something for your book loving Dad this Father’s Day? Does he like baseball? This book came on my radar this week when I attended an event with the author, David Duchovny (you know, Agent Fox Mulder and Hank Moody). Who knew that this actor has a serious background in literature? That’s what he went to Princeton and Yale for.
Here’s the Amazon synopsis:
Ted Fullilove, aka Mr. Peanut, is not like other Ivy League grads. He shares an apartment with Goldberg, his beloved battery-operated fish, sleeps on a bed littered with yellow legal pads penned with what he hopes will be the next great American Novel, and spends the waning days of the Carter administration at Yankee Stadium, waxing poetic while slinging peanuts to pay the rent.
When Ted hears the news that his estranged father, Marty, is dying of lung cancer, he immediately moves back into his childhood home, where a whirlwind of revelations ensues. The browbeating absentee father of Ted’s youth tries to make up for lost time, but his health dips drastically whenever his beloved Red Sox lose. And so, with help from Mariana―the Nuyorican grief counselor with whom Ted promptly falls in love―and a crew of neighborhood old-timers, Ted orchestrates the illusion of a Boston winning streak, enabling Marty and the Red Sox to reverse the Curse of the Bambino and cruise their way to World Series victory. Well, sort of.
David Duchovny’s richly drawn Bucky F*cking Dent explores the bonds between fathers and sons and the age-old rivalry between Yankee fans and the Fenway faithful, and grapples with our urgent need to persevere―and risk everything―in the name of love. Culminating in that fateful moment in October of ’78 when the mighty Bucky Dent hit his way into baseball history with the unlikeliest of home runs, this tender, insightful, and hilarious novel demonstrates how life truly belongs to the losers, and that the long shots are the ones worth betting on.
Bucky F*ckingDent is a singular tale that brims with the mirth, poignancy, and profound solitude of modern life.
I purchased a copy of the book after hearing Duchovny talk about writing. Not acting, just writing. I’ll have more on that talk this weekend.
3. About the Night. I’ve been reading this book for the past couple of weeks. It’s the current selection for next month’s PW Book Club. I had downloaded the Kindle version, but then ordered the book when it was released to the public on 6/1. This was one of those books that had so many deep, heartfelt words that I had to buy one for my personal library. I wanted to be able to highlight all of the beautiful words that touched my soul. This is a story about an Arab man falling in love with a Jewish woman and then a wall divided them in Jerusalem. It’s such an incredible story. I’m only 2/3 of the way through it.
If you’ve ever loved someone greatly and then they were ripped away from you…you will understand this suffering.
Battle of the Bastards. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, you know the battle between Jon Snow and Ramsay Bolton is coming.
Orange is the New Black Has Dropped. Well, apparently all your plans this weekend have been cancelled for Netflix. OITB was dropped today. Let the binge-watching commence!
3. Oscar de la Renta. If you saw my Instagram post of this beautiful necklace, you’re probably wondering why I’m wearing a necklace valued at $990 to the office. And then there are some who say, “HOW?” or “WHY would you pay that much for a necklace?”
RTRU is a great way to add couture designers to your daily wardrobe without adding to your clutter. For those who Kon Mari’d their wardrobe, you don’t really want to add any more items to your closet. Renting is great for those who have minimized their closets, but still want something new to wear every now and again. For $139/month, you can rent couture designer items (3 out at a time).
[If you click on the Rent The Runway Unlimited link in this post, you can take $30 off your first month. You can cancel at any time.]
A Better You to Try Out This Weekend
My Most Simple, Most Effective Productivity Technique. For those who are looking for ways to focus and get things done, take a look at this article. I’ve been practicing this technique. It is a challenge, but it will help you to focus on the task at hand so you can get more things done.
The May Amazon Kindle First selection is Anat Talshir’s “About the Night.” Here is a description of the book.
On a hot summer day in 1947, on a grandstand overlooking Jerusalem, Elias and Lila fall deeply, irrevocably in love.
Tragically, they come from two different worlds. Elias is a Christian Arab living on the eastern side of the newly divided city, and Lila is a Jew living on the western side. A growing conflict between their cultures casts a heavy shadow over the region and their burgeoning relationship. Between them lie not only a wall of stone and barbed wire but also the bitter enmity of two nations at war.
Told in the voice of Elias as he looks back upon the long years of his life, About the Night is a timely story of how hope can nourish us, loss can devastate us, and love can carry us beyond the boundaries that hold human beings apart.
For Amazon Prime members, you can get the book now for FREE a month before it is released to the general public. For those not Amazon Prime members, you can pick up a copy of the book on June 1, 2016. We’ll be discussing the book on July 15, 2016.
For those who would like to join the discussion, sign up in the PW Book Club email box to the right. Details will be sent to you as the date draws nearer.
For those who would like to join our next book club discussion, Roger Pulvers’ “Star Sand” will be discussed on June 15, 2016 to give people, that weren’t able to get an early release copy through Amazon’s Kindle First, time to read the book. Also, if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, the book is a free Kindle Unlimited book. The Kindle price is $5.99, paperback is $9.91.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them either in the comment section below or on the Facebook page. Looking forward to hearing from you!
