Brown Bag Book Discussion - March 2002

A small town in upstate New York copes with the tragic deaths of several children in a school bus accident. Told in alternating points of view by Dolores, the bus driver; Billy Ansel, a widower and Vietnam vet whose twins died in the crash; Mitch Stephens, an aggressive lawyer; and Nichole Burnell, high school cheerleader turned parapalegic. Lots to say here regarding blame, guilt, retribution, and a town’s lost innocence. Authentic and moving.

A New York yuppie panics when she finds a lump in her breast and turns to an online chat room for support–striking up an otherwise unlikely friendship with a Midwestern cancer survivor. This book is at turns touching, difficult, and laugh-out-loud funny, especially descriptions of how to prepare oneself for annual mammograms (take off all your clothes and have a strong stranger slam each breast in the refrigerator door, for example).

Now that more and more children are being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and the related ADHD, the authors propose that these kids are not troubled so much as exceptional. Pulling together essays from doctors, counselors, and other experts, they portray indigo children as those who display new and unusual psychological attributes, revealing a pattern of behavior rarely seen before. They then suggest that parents and teachers change their treatment and upbringing of these special kids in order to achieve balance.

Photos and easy-to-follow directions for exquisite little paper boxes. Perfect for someone who already knows a little about the Japanese art of paper folding, or who would like to try a new hobby.

These wildlife photographers, on assignment for the Discovery Channel, build a compound in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains where they live with and study wolves, attempting to start their own pack from wolf cubs and learning that wolf social interactions are much more complex than originally thought. Skip over the bits about the Dutcher’s personal lives and get to the interesting story: the wolves.

An exploration of the Arab-Israeli conflict in Lebanon and Israel. Looks at what it’s like to exist with the daily threat of terrorism, going about the everyday highs and lows of one’s life set in a constant state of fear. Won the National Book Award in 1989 and considered still to be one of the most sensitive, insightful books ever written on the Middle East.

Heads up: Kingsolver’s latest book is non-fiction, a collection of essays which "considers a world of surprising and hopeful prospects" despite recent international tragedies. Her legions of fans will be asking about this one, which combines her usual insight, gravity, and wonder in some thought-provoking articles.

Parsons cooks up a tasty mix of facts and recipes that explain such mysteries as why pasta behaves in the way that it does, and what really is happening when you fry a potato in oil. Making a pie crust does not have to be scary and Parsons gives you all you need to know to make a flaky crust every time. Fun, insightful reading.

This story about the interconnected lives of the quirky residents of an economically depressed mill town in Maine looks at the mysteries of love and loss. Told by an author who holds great affection, humor and sensitivity for his characters. If you liked Nobody’s Fool (made into a movie with Paul Newman) you’ll enjoy this one, too.

Interconnected short stories trace the ownership of a fictional Vermeer painting and the meaning it holds for its owners. The novel begins in the present with the son of a Nazi officer who stole the painting from a Jewish family, then goes back in time, to the story of the Jewish daughter of a diamond merchant during the war, as so on, back to when the painting was originally created. Some stories are stronger than others, still, an interesting companion piece to Tracy Chevalier’s Girl With a Pearl Earring.

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