'What Alice Forgot' book discussion questions

From http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/what_alice_forgot.html

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Did you like the younger Alice best? Or did you relate more to the older Alice?


2. What would your younger self of ten years ago think of the person you are today?


3. What would surprise your younger self most about the life you're currently leading? What would disappoint you?


4. What would you think of your children? Are they how you imagined they would be? Are you the parent you envisioned? Why or why not?


5. Alice is shocked by many transformations—her gym-toned body, her clothes, her house. Are you more or less polished than you were a decade ago? And do you think there's any deeper significance to such change?


6. Do you think it was realistic that Alice ended up back with Nick? Were you happy with that ending? Do you think they would have ended up together if she hadn't lost her memory?


7. In order for Nick to be successful at his job, was it inevitable that he would spend less time with his family and thereby grow apart from Alice?


8. How did you feel about the sections written from the perspectives of Elisabeth and Frannie? Did they add to your enjoyment of the book, or would you have preferred to have it written entirely from Alice's point of view?


9. Do you think it was unavoidable that Elisabeth and Alice had grown apart, because of the tension caused by Elisabeth's infertility versus Alice's growing family? Or do you think their rift had more to do with the kind of people both of them had become?


10. It's not only Alice who changed over the last decade. Elisabeth changed, too. Do you think she would have been so accepting of the new Alice at the end if she herself didn't get pregnant?


11. Out of all the characters in the book, who do you think had changed the most over the past decade and why?


12. The film rights to the book have been sold to Fox 2000—who do you think would be good in the lead roles?


13. If you were to write a letter to your future self to be opened in ten years, what would you say?

Meet Liane Moriarty

From http://www.lianemoriarty.com/

Liane was born on a beautiful November day in 1966 in Sydney. A few hours after she was born, she smiled directly at her father through the nursery glass window, which is remarkable, seeing as most babies can’t even focus their eyes at that age.

Her first word was ‘glug’. This was faithfully recorded in the baby book kept by her mother. (As the eldest of six children, Liane was the only one to get a baby book so she likes to refer to it often.)
As a child, she loved to read, so much so that school friends would cruelly hide their books when she came to play. She still doesn’t know how to go to sleep at night without first reading a novel for a very long time in a very hot bath.

She can’t remember the first story she ever wrote, but she does remember her first publishing deal. Her father ‘commissioned’ her to write a novel for him and paid her an advance of $1.00. She wrote a three volume epic called, ‘The Mystery of Dead Man’s Island’

After leaving school, Liane began a career in advertising and marketing. She became quite corporate for a while and wore suits and worried a lot about the size of her office. She eventually left her position as marketing manager of a legal publishing company to run her own (not especially successful) business called The Little Ad Agency. After that she worked as (a more successful, thankfully) freelance advertising copywriter, writing everything from websites and TV commercials to the back of the Sultana Bran box.

She also wrote short stories and many first chapters of novels that didn’t go any further. The problem was that she didn’t actually believe that real people had novels published. Then one day she found out that they did, when her younger sister Jaclyn Moriarty called to say that her (brilliant, hilarious, award-winning) novel, Feeling Sorry for Celia was about to be published.

In a fever of sibling rivalry, Liane rushed to the computer and wrote a children’s book called The Animal Olympics, which went on to be enthusiastically rejected by every publisher in Australia.

Liane and sister Jaci

Liane (right) and sister Jaci today

She calmed down and enrolled in a Masters degree at Macquarie University in Sydney. As part of that degree, she wrote her first novel, Three Wishes. It was accepted by the lovely people at Pan Macmillan and went on to be published around the world. (Her latest books are published by the equally lovely people at Amy Einhorn Books in the US and Penguin in the UK)

Since then she has written four more novels for adults, as well as a series of books for children.
In August 2013 Liane’s fifth novel The Husband’s Secret was released in the US and within two weeks had climbed the charts to become a #1 New York Times Bestseller. Much champagne was drunk.

Liane's youngest sister Nicola Moriarty has also released 2 novels, a wonderful, gripping story called Free-falling and her brilliant follow up novel, Paper Chains published by Random House.
Liane is now a full-time author. She lives in Sydney with her husband and two small children who like to climb all over her while she tries to write helpfully smashing their fists against the keyboard and suggesting she might like to watch the Wiggles instead.

Once upon a time she went heli-skiing and skydiving* and scuba diving. These days she goes to the park and ‘Gymbaroo’ and sings ‘I’m a Little Cuckoo Clock’ at swimming lessons. She has discovered that the adrenaline burst you experience from jumping out of a plane is remarkably similar to the one you get when your toddler makes a run for it in a busy car park

*She should disclose that she only ever went skydiving once and has no intention of ever doing it again. She just likes to give the impression that she once led an incredibly active, athletic life to make up for all the hours she now spends lying around reading novels and eating Turkish Delight. 

July 2014 book: "What Alice Forgot"

"For July, I am picking 'What Alice Forgot' by Liane Moriarty," said Becky. "I read 'The Husband's Secret' by her about a year ago and liked it a lot."

 

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, THE HUSBAND’S SECRET...

A “cheerfully engaging”* novel for anyone who’s ever asked herself, “How did I get here?”

  

Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child.

 

So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over…

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

See http://www.lianemoriarty.com/

Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of five internationally best-selling novels, Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot,
The Hypnotist's Love Story and
The Husband's Secret.

Writing as L.M.Moriarty, she is also the author of the Space Brigade books for children, (published in the US as the Nicola Berry, Earthling Ambassador series).

 

 

Gordon Parks: Videos & his photos

- Here is a link to the Gordon Parks Foundation, which includes galleries of his photos.

http://www.gordonparksfoundation.org/archive/


- Here are links to videos about Gordon Parks:

In the Footsteps of Gordon Parks

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200144650563724&set=vb.468638133168346&type=2&theater

- 1996 Clip of Gordon Parks with the TPT Don't Believe the Hype! Crew. — at Twin Cities Public Television.

One Minneapolis One Read on Comcast Newsmakers

On Comcast Newsmakers, Kevyn Burger interviews Kim Ellison, One Minneapolis One Read vice chair, and Robin Hickman, the great-niece of  "A Choice of Weapons" author Gordon Parks, about Minneapolis' community read.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLCyoZBQHvs&feature=share&list=UU1IHi7mIMbFhZo4j_H6QIsA

A Choice of Weapons discussion questions

Courtesy of Hennepin County Book Discussion Guide.
http://oneminneapolisoneread.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/2013_discussion_guide.pdf

1. As you started reading this memoir, what set the

tone for you in how Gordon Parks wrote his story?

 

2. What is the impact of the history of the Great

Depression being told through personal stories?

How is the effect different than reading a

textbook about those years?

 

3. How much of Gordon’s story is shaped by self-

determination, fate or luck?

 

4. What words would you use to describe Gordon? 

 

5. How much did Gordon mature over the course of

the story?

 

6. How would the author’s life have been different

if he were a young person of today?

 

7. How do the relationships between Gordon and

his family shape his perspective and his actions?

Think about his mother, father, sisters, uncles,

father- and mother-in-law.

 

8. What was the “hawk over the ghetto”? Is it still

flying over urban areas today?

 

9. How are the faces of racism different from placeto place in Gordon’s story? (Kansas, Minnesota, Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C. and Florida)

 

10. Gordon wrote, “Minnesota Negroes were given

more, so they had less to fi ght for. Negro and white boys fought now and then in the Twin Cities,but the fights never amounted to much” (p. 52). Do you agree with his statement? Do you think this is different today than in the times he is writing about?

 

11. Creativity and talent are evident throughout

Gordon’s life. What are some examples? How has

creative expression helped you in trying times?

 

12. What were the weapons that Gordon found “one

by one,” and how did their presence comfort him?

 

13. During the stream of consciousness scene

(pp. 110-114), what happens? Why is it written that

way? What do you think of the language used?

 

14. Why is this story important to us today?

 

15. Were you familiar with Gordon’s story before

reading this book? Were you inspired to learn more

about Gordon and his weapons afterwards?

 

May 2014 book: Blowback

Cindy has announced her selection for May 2014: Blowback by Valerie Plame. "My choice is one I have been thinking about for some time since I heard a review of the book and interview of author," she said.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Introducing Blowback, an exhilarating new espionage thriller by former CIA ops officer Valerie Plame and thriller writer Sarah Lovett.

Covert CIA ops officer Vanessa Pierson is finally close to capturing the world’s most dangerous international nuclear arms dealer: Bhoot, alias the ghost. One of her assets has information about Bhoot’s upcoming visit to a secret underground nuclear weapons facility in Iran—in only a few days. But just as Pierson’s informant is about to give her the location, they’re ambushed by an expert sniper. Pierson narrowly escapes. Her asset: dead.

Desperate to capture Bhoot and the sniper before they inflict more damage, Pierson enlists all of the Agency’s resources to find them. But with each day, the pressure of the manhunt mounts, causing her to push her forbidden romance with a fellow ops officer to its limit when she asks him to do the impossible. Despite the risks, she refuses to halt her pursuit of the terrorists, and she puts her cover and her career—and her life—at risk.

With rapid-cut shifts from European capitals to Washington to the Near East, and with insider detail that only a former spy could provide, Blowback marks the explosive beginning of the hunt for Bhoot, the villain whom Vanessa Pierson devotes her life to capturing, dead or alive.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
There is another book out there that talks about who she is. Here is that book description:

On July 6, 2003, four months after the United States invaded Iraq, former ambassador Joseph Wilson's now historic op-ed, "What I Didn't Find in Africa," appeared in The New York Times. A week later, conservative pundit Robert Novak revealed in his newspaper column that Ambassador Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame Wilson, was a CIA operative. The public disclosure of that secret information spurred a federal investigation and led to the trial and conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, Scooter Libby, and the Wilsons' civil suit against top officials of the Bush administration. Much has been written about the "Valerie Plame" story, but Valerie herself has been silent, until now. Some of what has been reported about her has been frighteningly accurate, serving as a pungent reminder to the Wilsons that their lives are no longer private. And some has been completely false -- distorted characterizations of Valerie and her husband and their shared integrity.

Valerie Wilson retired from the CIA in January 2006, and now, not only as a citizen but as a wife and mother, the daughter of an Air Force colonel, and the sister of a U.S. marine, she sets the record straight, providing an extraordinary account of her training and experiences, and answers many questions that have been asked about her covert status, her responsibilities, and her life. As readers will see, the CIA still deems much of the detail of Valerie's story to be classified. As a service to readers, an afterword by national security reporter Laura Rozen provides a context for Valerie's own story.

Gordon Parks exhibit at Mill City Museum

Hey all! There's an exhibit of Gordon Park's photographs at the Mill City Museum through June. Anyone interested in going?

See more:

http://www.millcitymuseum.org/choice-weapons-exhibit

A Choice of Weapons: A Living Legacy

Free

Through June 8, 2014

Located in Mill Commons (museum’s main lobby)

View an exhibit of photographs created by Minneapolis high school students alongside images by photographer Gordon Parks, on loan from the Gordon Parks Foundation. . The exhibit is part of One Minneapolis One Read which has chosen Parks' autobiography A Choice of Weapons as its 2013 selection. Taking inspiration from the book, the students worked with acclaimed photographer Jamel Shabazz at Juxtaposition Arts to create their own photographs. Shabazz worked with the students in early October during a week-long artist residency.

June 2014 book: Divergent

Amy has picked Divergent by Veronica Roth for us to read in June 2014. It's a book that's getting a lot of attention lately, and was just released in March 2014 as a movie.

ABOUT THE BOOK
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the YA scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

Biography

Veronica Roth was born in a Chicago suburb, and studied creative writing at Northwestern University. She and her husband currently live in the city that inspired the setting of the Divergent Trilogy.

A Q&A with Author Veronica Roth

Q: What advice would you offer to young aspiring writers, who long to live a success story like your own?
Roth: One piece of advice I have is: Want something else more than success. Success is a lovely thing, but your desire to say something, your worth, and your identity shouldn’t rely on it, because it’s not guaranteed and it’s not permanent and it’s not sufficient. So work hard, fall in love with the writing—the characters, the story, the words, the themes—and make sure that you are who you are regardless of your life circumstances. That way, when the good things come, they don’t warp you, and when the bad things hit you, you don’t fall apart.

Q: You’re a young author--is it your current adult perspective or not-so-recent teenage perspective that brought about the factions in the development of this story? Do you think that teens or adults are more likely to fit into categories in our current society?
Roth: Other aspects of my identity have more to do with the factions than my age. The faction system reflects my beliefs about human nature—that we can make even something as well-intentioned as virtue into an idol, or an evil thing. And that virtue as an end unto itself is worthless to us. I did spend a large portion of my adolescence trying to be as “good” as possible so that I could prove my worth to the people around me, to myself, to God, to everyone. It’s only now that I’m a little older that I realize I am unable to be truly “good” and that it’s my reasons for striving after virtue that need adjustment more than my behavior. In a sense, Divergent is me writing through that realization—everyone in Beatrice’s society believes that virtue is the end, the answer. I think that’s a little twisted.
I think we all secretly love and hate categories—love to get a firm hold on our identities, but hate to be confined—and I never loved and hated them more than when I was a teenager. That said: Though we hear a lot about high school cliques, I believe that adults categorize each other just as often, just in subtler ways. It is a dangerous tendency of ours. And it begins in adolescence.

Q: If you could add one more faction to the world within Divergent, what would it be?
Roth: I tried to construct the factions so that they spanned a wide range of virtues. Abnegation, for example, includes five of the traditional “seven heavenly virtues:” chastity, temperance, charity, patience, and humility. That said, it would be interesting to have a faction centered on industriousness, in which diligence and hard work are valued most, and laziness is not allowed. They would be in constant motion, and would probably be happy to take over for the factionless. And hard-working people can certainly take their work too far, as all the factions do with their respective virtues. I’m not sure what they would wear, though. Overalls, probably.

Q: What do you think are the advantages, if any, to the society you’ve created in Divergent?
Roth: All the advantages I see only seem like advantages to me because I live in our current society. For example, the members of their society don’t focus on certain things: race, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation, etc. I mean, a world in which you look different from the majority and no one minds? That sounds good to me. But when I think about it more, I realize that they’re doing the exact same thing we do, but with different criteria by which to distinguish ourselves from others. Instead of your skin color, it’s the color of your shirt that people assess, or the results of your aptitude test. Same problem, different system.

Q: What book are you currently reading and how has it changed you, if at all?
Roth: I recently finished Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma, which I would call “contemporary with a paranormal twist,” or something to that effect. It’s about a girl whose sister has a powerful kind of magnetism within the confines of a particular town, and how their love for each other breaks some things apart and puts other things back together. It was refreshing to read a young adult book that is about sisterhood instead of romance. It’s one of those books that makes you love a character and then hate a character and then love them again—that shows you that people aren’t all good or all bad, but somewhere in between. Imaginary Girls gave me a lot to think about, and the writing was lovely, which I always love to see.