Man Booker Prize

A nice article about the author and book that won the Man Booker Prize.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/books/anna-burns-interview-booker-prize-milkman-no-bones.html

Mary

Books from Ginny

Ginny sent me this last month 
“I just finished reading a book for my book group entitled “Empty Chairs.”  It’s written by a Madison author, Anne Davidson Keller.  I really liked it and I thought you might enjoy it too.  It takes place in 1944 and is about a family living on a farm in North Carolina.  It’s told from the perspective of the youngest boy - age 11-13.  It was easy to get into and I found it to be a fast read. “
I didn’t find this at the Milwaukee Library, but it is available from Amazon as a paperback or on Kindle.  Sounds good.

Another book Ginny mentioned that her group read is Tortilla Curtain by T C Boyle.  Her group liked it. I read it when it first come out.  Has anyone else read it?  I don’t think we’ve read any of his books in bookclub. 
This is what Wikipedia and the Chicago Tribune have to say about it.

The Tortilla Curtain is a novel by U.S. author T.C. Boyle about middle-class values, illegal immigration, xenophobia, poverty, and environmental destruction. In 1997 it was awarded the French Prix Médicis 
Étranger prize for best foreign novel. 


"A compelling story of myopic misunderstanding and mutual tragedy."
--Chicago Tribune
Jackie

The LIbrary Book

At book club I mentioned the The Library Book by Susan Orlean as recently published and getting great reviews.  There was another good review in the Sunday Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  Here's a link:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2018/10/16/susan-orlean-library-book-1986-fire-los-angeles-central-library-book-review/1611675002/
And the listing on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/The-Library-Book/dp/B07DQT7Y4X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540658332&sr=8-1&keywords=the+library+book+susan+orlean
Perhaps it's a book we should read in the future.  I've downloaded it in audible form, so I'll let you know my thoughts after I finish it. 
Mary

The Great American Read

Some of you may not be aware that the results of the Great American Read were announced on Tuesday, Oct 23rd.  Here's a link to the results.  
https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/results/
I only voted for one book, and it was the winner!  No surprise that it was To Kill a Mockingbird--one of our favorites.  Jean will be happy to see that Pride and Prejudice was in the top five.
Mary

Destinations for Bookworm Globetrotters

Nice story from Fodor's travel.  Some interesting places to include on your travels.
https://www.fodors.com/news/photos/beyond-the-page-10-fascinating-literary-destinations-for-bookworm-globetrotters

Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee

For you crime enthusiasts, Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee is just a month away.
This year's daylong celebration of chilling crime and thrilling mystery takes place on Saturday, November 3, from 9 am - 5 pm, at the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center, just west of Marquette University.

Here's a link to their website with information on the authors who will be present.  As they say, the line-up is criminally good!  It also gives info on registration and location.

http://www.murdermayhemmilwaukee.com/

Golden Man Booker Prize

If you haven't seen it, The Booker Prize Foundation launched the Golden Man Booker Prize to mark its 50th anniversary. This special one-off award crowned the best work of fiction from the last five decades of the prize, as chosen by five judges and then voted for by the public.

Since it was first awarded in 1969, the Man Booker Prize has become the leading prize for quality fiction in English, with the winning books setting a benchmark against which other novels are judged. The Golden Man Booker put all 51 winners – which are all still in print – back under the spotlight, to discover which of them stood the test of time, remaining relevant to readers today.

The ‘Golden Five’, selected by the prize’s five judges to showcase the winning books from Man Booker history  were: In a Free State by V. S. Naipaul; Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively; The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje; Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel; and Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.  One book was selected from each decade.

And the winner was The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje--one we have not read.  Should we?

House rentals

Jean checked out the rentals that Bette sent.  It looks like we’re going to have a tough time finding enough single beds in a house.  Not a surprise, I guess.  There are other rental services we can check. But we also need to start looking at hotels that can accommodate us.  Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks, Jean.

Thanks to Mary Beth for pointing us to this blog-A Lady in London-about the Chelsea Flower Show.  It will be going on while we’re in London next year.

We might want to start a possible things to do list.

You might want to check out other posts on this blog.

https://www.aladyinlondon.com/2010/05/lady-at-chelsea-flower-show.html

London

Either of those dates could work for me.  As for rental houses, we’ve rented houses in foreign countries with VRBO/HomeAway or AirBnB with excellent results.  I think we’d at least want to compare prices and availability.

Places to stay in London

Thanks to Bette for this information on home rentals in London.  There are some that look interesting for our group.

https://www.tributeportfoliohomes.com/?nck=25639710&ck=23614305&lk=1000275303

Getting Ready for London

Here's a link to the WSJ article that Jean found about the Bloomsbury area of London and its literary connections.  Hopefully you'll be able to get to the article without having a WSJ subscription.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-walking-tour-of-londons-most-literary-quarterwith-pub-stops-1514203200
And a map of the area.
http://www.booksabouttown.org.uk/?action=ViewTrail&Id=3
And one more article about London bookshops.
https://www.aladyinlondon.com/2018/02/london-literary-walk.html

Best Loved Novels from PBS

There are some expected titles on this list, and some surprises.  We’ve read a lot of these books. http://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/quiz/
 I was happy to see Lonesome Dove and surprised to see White Teeth.  What do you think?

From Gentleman in Moscow-Pork Stew with Dried Apricots and Prunes

I thought I would give this a try since it still felt like winter this weekend!  Very tasty.



https://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Pork-Stew-with-Dried-Apricots-and-Prunes

Amor Towles

Thanks to Barb Kozminski for forwarding this article.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/realestate/amor-towles-a-gentleman-in-gramercy-park.html

Live chat with Colson Whitehead

Thanks, Jean, for the following information

https://www.jsonline.com/insider/events/2018/01/03/bookmarkthis-chat-live-colson-whitehead/1000497001/