“The House at Otowi Bridge: The Story of Edith Warner and Los Alamos” Peggy Pond Church

Every now and then, a small book comes our way –  resonates with readers and sparks extensive discussions. Such is the 1987 version of Edith Warner’s life in New Mexico. This publication serves as a backdrop for a friendship of two remarkable women who lived and loved the area known as Los Alamos and Bandolier National Monument, land nestled in the Jemez Mountains near the confluence of the Rio Grande and Rio Chama Rivers. The book is part biography, part natural and cultural history, as well as a good story. Included are some of Edith’s Christmas letters, a few of the author’s poems and artist Connie Fox Boyd’s charming pencil sketches

Edith Warner, a single woman from Pennsylvania, visited San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico in 1922. Six years later, she began her life in a loaned-out small house near a bridge. For more than 20 years Edith was neighbor and friend to the Native Americans, Hispanic and Anglo settlers, and to the international scientists at Los Alamos. Her entire time in New Mexico can be described by her love of the natural world, her innate leaning toward a simple life and her tenacity to maintain a little tea room for all who needed to stop, rest and enjoy a piece of chocolate cake.

Through this remarkable book, the reader becomes acquainted with some of New Mexico’s historical sites, such as the Los Alamos Ranch School that later became the site for the Manhattan Project. Woven into the history are names the reader may recognize: Robert Oppenheimer and Nils Bohr, along with their families. A local name is also important to the story: Tilano Montoya, former governor and elder of the nearby Pueblo. He and Edith share a long and complex companionship.

Though Peggy Pond Church’s story ends with Edith’s death in 1951, the University of New Mexico’s library has additional information on the state’s changing land use in a changing world.

"A Tale for the Time Being" Ruth Ozeki

There was a consensus among the group that this was a complex book, and the discussion was lively.  Some were frustrated and turned off by the adolescent language while others thought it captured the age well.  Many were impatient with the book in the beginning and then became absorbed.  There was discussion about how Ozeki created such a multifaceted book and about how much Ruth reflected her own character.  It seems likely that Ozeki began the book with an idea and then let the characters write their story.  It is likely that the characters Ruth and Oliver presented facets of the author's personality and that of her husband.  There was questioning about whether one can change the past as Ruth impacted the lives of Nao and her father.  Certainly we all have different perceptions of events and that fact impacts our understanding of the past.  There were questions about the disappearance and then the reappearance of the words in Nao's diary.  There was much discussion about quantum theory and how matter exists as both wave and particle and how Schroedinger's cat was both dead and alive simultaneously.  Perhaps multiple realities can exist at the same time, and one's attention might have the power to alter reality.  As Kiko said "up down, same thing".  Many agreed that their favorite character was Kiko and that events at her temple were refreshing after the heaviness of Nao's life.  Another topic of conversation involved disgust at the bullying that goes on, especially through social media, among adolescents.

"The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" Gabrielle Zevin

      Have you always been in love with interesting bookstores? Your whole life? Do you look for independent bookstores wherever you go? I would say that all of our book group on Tuesday would answer "yes, yes, yes"!  Joan, Zanna, Annie, Mary, Paige, Marylib, and Libby all confessed that they have a life long love of these special independent interesting bookstores, or really any bookstore.  And they all agreed that the book "The Storied Life of AJ Fikry" was fun because it was about connection through books, love of books, sharing books, discovering books, and learning about life through books. The main character AJ is having a hard time in life, losing his wife, lonesome, angry and a bit of a picky snob. His motto is "No man is an island; Every book is a world."
      The story is fast paced and interesting, with plot twists and quirky characters. Marylib pointed out that lots of time and happenings were left out or left to the imagination, but that was OK. It didn't harm the enjoyment of the book. In the end loose ends are tied up, there is a consistent animated feeling, a light tone, and some good old fashioned love and joy, especially because AJ acquires a baby and a wife, and in the end, the ol bookstore carries on even after AJ's death, even though it is on an island. It was definitely optimistic about the continuation of love of books and bookstores.
     From this simple story about an island bookstore, our conversation wandered all over many subjects, about communication and books, the ways we can love books, be inspired by them, and share them. As Annie says "I love how discussion just sort of flows in all kinds of interesting ways. That is the beauty of books, isn't it." Well said.  We talked about libraries; certain bookstores that give us a feeling of reverance and new ideas; other bookstores that don't. We talked about different ways to communicate; texts, emails, the almost lost art of letter writing. Maybe texts in the future will become like precious haiku poems. Joan talked about her brother who doesn't read but can see things in three dimension. Annie talked about finding a precious old letter from her mother, choking all of us up, and we wondered if in modern ways of communication, things will be lost in the wind, so to speak (and not to mice). We wondered if we process things differently listening to a book vs reading one. We all agreed that books have taught us a whole lot of wonderful things about life!

"H is for Hawk" Helen Macdonald

So, "H is for Hawk" was a book I did not love, but was glad I read . Well written, even poetic. The author has a deep love of nature, and I enjoyed her vivid descriptions of the country she explored with her hawk, Mabel. Her 'relationship' with Mabel was fascinating, and she trained her well and humanely. I do have some difficulty with the 'humaneness' of holding such a wild thing captive. I think the author would have been a real candidate for suicide had she not embarked on this challenging journey of training a goshawk, one of the most difficult raptors to train. I did get a little weary of her endless angst, as well as her frequent departures to talk about the life of TH White, who she revered as a child. He wrote, The Man Who Would Be King, and raised a goshawk as well.
The book stimulated a great discussion at book group. It was just different enough.

Annie

"All the Light We Cannot See" Anthony Doerr

We gathered together on a warm spring afternoon, unusual for this time of the year, to talk about our latest read, “All the Light We Cannot See”.  To a person, we all immensely enjoyed this book.  Maddy even went to the point of saying it was the most perfect book she had ever read.   Chapters were short, perspectives shifted, time shifted back and forth.  Sometimes we felt that we were exploring our own puzzle, similar to the ones Marie- Laure’s father constructed for her.  Lost in the story, getting glimpses of past and future, encountering various characters and piecing together their lives, their perspectives, how the war affected them;, we groped our way as a blind person does to our understanding of the thrust of history and the novel itself.

Someone asked if Maurie-Laurie had to be blind.  My answer and the answer of others was yes, absolutely.  She is the metaphor for the story.  She sees the light  even though she is blind.  She is blind and we feel her blindness, we feel her helplessness as others in this story were helpless to their plights.  The war machine was ruthless.  It changed people and ground up people and destroyed lives, yet empathy was alive among these characters and among many affected by this war.  Anthony Doerr does a beautiful job of exposing this light, this empathy, that comes shining through his characters.

I wondered why the story was told in such a fashion, switching backwards and forwards in time and it dawned on me that he was creating the puzzles Marie-Laurie ’s father created for her for each of her birthdays.  Tiny, intricate puzzles which had to be solved and unlocked for the prize inside.  Each chapter, though short, was a facet of this puzzle.  One had to be patient and feel ones way to understand and appreciate the gem that was locked inside.

We loved Doerr’s writing style, his metaphorical and poetic writing, his descriptions.  We decided that a movie could not do justice to this novel.  A hollywood movie would have a perfect and happy ending and would destroy the beauty of the tension and the truth of this tale.  People died who we had hoped would not but this was World War II, and so many died.  People suffered and others ignored their suffering but these people lived with fear and the choices they were faced with.  We came to understand at a deeper level the complexities of World War II.  How the Germans used propaganda and the power of radio to exploit the helplessness  and hopelessness of people.  We learned how they pitted young people against each other asking them to punish the weakest among them much as ISIS today uses and warps young people to their ends.  We talked of War and the “good War” and wondered if all our subsequent wars have been carried on the coattails of this war, masquerading as “the good War” too.

Werner grew up in an orphanage, and that led Marylib to comment and question who teaches empathy in an orphanage.  Yet Werner had empathy though he lacked the courage to attempt to save Frederick.  Still he visited Frederick and loved his friend and showed deep remorse for his failings to his friend.  And he finally was able to recognize the power of choice and make a good choice in not revealing the broadcast coming from number 4 rue Vauborel.

We also had our favorite characters in this novel: Marie- Laure’s father, Madame Manec, and dear Uncle Etienne.  Why did her father have to die?  Answer:  It was war.  It was natural for him to die.  It wouldn’t have been a true story without his death…..  Madam Manec, whose courage led her to take Maurie-Laurie to the sea and whose fierceness and bravery led her to lead the resistance to the Nazi’s.  We loved her.  And Uncle Etienne, who finally found his courage when Madam Manec died and he took up the flag of the resistance and climbed to the 6th floor to broadcast the codes for the resistance.  Etienne, who for years couldn’t leave the house, finally found the courage to venture outside into the world.

I will end by giving a quote from the book about time.  Werner is dying and is thinking his last thoughts…”He thinks of the old broken miners he’d seen in Zollverein, sitting in chairs or on crates, not moving for hours, waiting to die.  To men like that, time was a surfeit, a barrel they watched slowly drain.  When really, he thinks, it’s a glowing puddle you carry in your hands; you should spend all your energy protecting it.  Fighting for it.  Working so hard not to spill one single drop.”

"A Thousand Veils" by D. J. Murphy

What an amazing event we had for our February book club gathering. Dennis Murphy, the book’s author attended, along with his wife Deborah Sullivan. As if that wasn’t enough, Dennis provided an incredible lunch for all of us who were able to attend (Joanie, Linda, Annie, Zanna, Maddy, Libby, Margie, Sheri, Elise  -friend of Margie-  and Mary Lib via Skype). He also had provided us each with a handout that included an introduction of himself, book discussion questions, and the allegory of the book.
Dennis began our discussion of the book by asking us to each relate our impressions of the book. As we went around the room, one at a time, sharing our reactions and thoughts Dennis interjected questions and provided information and explanation regarding his process for developing the novel. It seemed that all of us were taken with the story feeling it was suspenseful and interesting and that it moved along well. There was some conversation regarding the vocabulary included within the book – those of us who used a Kindle were happy to have the dictionary feature!
Some remarked about how masterfully Dennis described the desert and the sand storm as well as how he so aptly set the stage for what was coming with incredibly sparse language. A comment was made and everyone readily agreed that this book humanized Arab women for the reader.
Parts of our discussion centered on the various characters, whether they were likable, their influential strength, and how they changed throughout the course of the book.
There was a good bit of time spent on the pros and cons of not including scenes of a sexual nature in the story. There also was conversation centering around the parts/scenes that seemed believable, and those that may have seemed “over the top.” It did astonish us to learn the real story that was the basis for A Thousand Veils, as well as specific scenes that were surprisingly valid and had been based on Dennis’s work with clients who had been refugees for political asylum.
It was so insightful and interesting to listen as Dennis described the writing and editing process he went through to bring this book to fruition. It was truly a special event and once that will be remembered for a long time.

"THE INVENTION OF WINGS" Sue Monk Kidd

This vivid, layered story was as rich and colorful as the quilts that Handful's mother, Charlotte, created. It was a book about family, friendship, gender roles, race relations, religion, and at its very foundation, prejudice. It was about freedom, 'finding wings'; which perhaps had a different meaning for the two main characters, Sarah Grimke and Hetty (Handful).
We all found the 'Author's Note' at the end of the book to be most educational, as it gave depth and meaning to the story itself. These two, larger than life sisters truly did exist in the early 19th century, and became the first outspoken voices for women's rights as well as racial equality. What a premise in which to build a fascinating novel!
There was much discussion about the many characters in the book. Most of us felt great admiration for Charlotte and her independent nature, and the way she brought up daughter Handful. We felt that both were more psychologically free than the reluctant aristocrat Sarah, who grew up in a repressive family culture. Someone in our group pointed out that Charlotte and Hetty were true artists, as witnessed by the quilts and beautiful dresses they created with their own hands. Hetty was audacious. Who else would so boldly take a bath in the precious copper bath tub! Hetty and Sarah had a complicated relationship. Not a friendship, which it never could be, but there was a strong connection based on promises and circumstances, and they needed each other.
We talked at length about slavery, abolition, and what is the difference between racism and prejudice. Is power the root of slavery? Why did slavery last so long? How is it that humans are capable of such cruelty to each other, then and now?
And, of course, our own experiences with growing up in the 60's and 70's, and how the world treated women and girls then. And how the world treats women and girls now...
It is difficult to pen all the thoughts and ideas that were generated by this book. Maybe we need to take a field trip to Charleston, and immerse ourselves in the culture for a few days....??
**Annie