[Hac-announce] Book Discussion Group Announcements

[Dan Blinn]

Our next discussion will be on Sat, Oct. 20 at 3:00 pm.  We will be
discussing "Galapagos" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
<http://www.amazon.com/Galapagos-A-Novel-Delta-Fiction/dp/0385333870/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348677646&sr=8-1&keywords=galapagos+kurt+vonnegut>

For our November book, we will be picking among the three following
options.  To "vote" for the book you would like to read, you will need to
respond to a survey <http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SH6X6BT>.  The choices
are:


*"She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders"  by Jennifer Finney
Boylan<http://www.amazon.com/Shes-Not-There-Life-Genders/dp/0767914295/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348677880&sr=1-1&keywords=she%27s+not+there+by+jennifer+finney+boylan>
*

*The provocative bestseller She’s Not There is the winning, utterly
surprising story of a person changing genders. By turns hilarious and
deeply moving, Jennifer Finney Boylan explores the territory that lies
between men and women, examines changing friendships, and rejoices in the
redeeming power of family. Told in Boylan’s fresh voice, She’s Not There is
about a person bearing and finally revealing a complex secret. Through her
clear eyes, She’s Not There provides a new window on the confounding
process of accepting our true selves.*
*
*
*“Probably no book I’ve read in recent years has made me so question my
basic assumptions about both the centrality and the permeability of gender,
and made me recognize myself in a situation I’ve never known and have never
faced . . . The universality of the astonishingly uncommon: that’s the
trick of She’s Not There. And with laughs, too. What a good book.” —Anna
Quindlen, from the Introduction to the Book-of-the-Month-Club edition.*



*"Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy by
Joseph Stiglitz<http://www.amazon.com/Freefall-America-Markets-Sinking-Economy/dp/B007SRWER0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348677959&sr=1-1&keywords=free+fall+stiglitz>
*

*An incisive look at the global economic crisis, our flawed response, and
the implications for the world’s future prosperity.  The Great Recession,
as it has come to be called, has impacted more people worldwide than any
crisis since the Great Depression. Flawed government policy and
unscrupulous personal and corporate behavior in the United States created
the current financial meltdown, which was exported across the globe with
devastating consequences. The crisis has sparked an essential debate about
America’s economic missteps, the soundness of this country’s economy, and
even the appropriate shape of a capitalist system. Few are more qualified
to comment during this turbulent time than Joseph E. Stiglitz. Winner of
the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, Stiglitz is “an insanely great
economist, in ways you can’t really appreciate unless you’re deep into the
field” (Paul Krugman, New York Times). In Freefall, Stiglitz traces the
origins of the Great Recession, eschewing easy answers and demolishing the
contention that America needs more billion-dollar bailouts and free passes
to those “too big to fail,” while also outlining the alternatives and
revealing that even now there are choices ahead that can make a difference.
The system is broken, and we can only fix it by examining the underlying
theories that have led us into this new “bubble capitalism.” *

*The Age of Reason" by Thomas
Paine<http://www.amazon.com/Age-Reason-Thomas-Paine/dp/1603863419/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348678121&sr=1-3&keywords=the+age+of+reason>
*
*
*

* The Age of Reason challenges institutionalized religion and challenges
the legitimacy of the Bible, the central sacred text of Christianity.
Published in three parts in 1794, 1795, and 1807, it was a bestseller in
the United States, where it caused a short-lived deistic revival. British
audiences, however, fearing increased political radicalism as a result of
the French Revolution, received it with more hostility. The Age of
Reason presents common deistic arguments; for example, it highlights what
Paine saw as corruption of the Christian Church and criticizes its efforts
to acquire political power. Paine advocates reason in the place
of revelation, leading him to reject miracles and to view the Bible as an
ordinary piece of literature rather than as a divinely inspired text. It
promotes natural religion and argues for the existence of a creator-God.*

*Most of Paine's arguments had long been available to the educated elite,
but by presenting them in an engaging and irreverent style, he made deism
appealing and accessible to a mass audience. The book was also inexpensive,
putting it within the reach of a large number of buyers. Fearing the spread
of what they viewed as potentially revolutionary ideas, the British
government prosecuted printers and booksellers who tried to publish and
distribute it. Paine nevertheless inspired and guided many British
freethinkers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freethought> of the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries.*


*
*
*"Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David
Guterson<http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Falling-Cedars-David-Guterson/dp/067976402X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348678448&sr=1-1&keywords=snow+falling+on+cedars>
*

*Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award  American Booksellers Association Book of
the Year Award.  San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, is a place so
isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies.  But in
1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese
American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder.  In the course of
the ensuing trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than a
man's guilt. For on San Pedro, memory grows as thickly as cedar trees and
the fields of ripe strawberries--memories of a charmed love affair between
a white boy and the Japanese girl who grew up to become Kabuo's wife;
memories of land desired, paid for, and lost. Above all, San Piedro is
haunted by the memory of what happened to its Japanese residents during
World War II, when an entire community was sent into exile while its
neighbors watched.  Gripping, tragic, and densely atmospheric, Snow Falling
on Cedars is a masterpiece of suspense-- one that leaves us shaken and
changed.*
The descriptions of the books are from the publisher, except for the
description of "The Age of Reason", which was modified from the Wikipedia
entry.  You can see reviews of the books by clicking on the titles to get
to the Amazon links.  Please rank the books in the order of your
preference; we will select the most popular book overall by assigning 3 pts
for each first choices, 2 pts for second choices, and 1 pt for third
choices.

You can reach the survey at this link<http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SH6X6BT>
.

If anyone wants to suggest a book for future consideration (and if they are
willing to moderate a discussion of the book), please let me know.

Thanks -

Dan Blinn
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