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Chapter Quotes from "Small Great Things"

11/29/2018

The book Small Great Things is divided into the following chapters, each with a thoughtful
quote. Now that I've finished the book, I am revisiting these chapter introductions......

Stage One - EARLY LABOR
"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are."
-Benjamin Franklin

Stage One - ACTIVE LABOR
"Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced."
- James Baldwin

Stage One - TRANSITION
"The piano keys are black and white but they sound like a million colors in your mind."
-Maria Cristina Mena

Stage Two - PUSHING
"She wanted to get at the hate of them all, to pry at it and work at it until she found a little
chink, and then pull out a pebble or a stone or a brick and then a part of the wall, and, once
started, the whole edifice might roar down and be done away with."
-Ray Bradbury, The Illustrated Man

Stage Three - AFTERBIRTH - 6 Years Later
"People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love."
-Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

And the Title "Small Great Things"
"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way."
Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Join the discussion this Thursday at 10 AM....

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Picoult Mother Daughter Writing Team

11/29/2018

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Thursday next we discuss Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult. Did you know that the author's
daughter (in 2012) had the following book idea and suggested a collaboration with her mother:

"...What if, when a book closed,
the characters still lived in their world as people with interests and ideas different from
the roles they played onstage?' And what if a prince in a fairytale was desperate to
get out of his fairytale, but couldn't get a reader to see him as anything but the prince
in the story...until a teenage girl with a crush on that character noticed him trying to
communicate with her?"

And it happened! At least in the imagination of this mother/daughter writing team.
The book Between the Lines was rated by readers at GoodReads at 3.58 Stars.
(Small Great Things was rated 4.35 Stars).

The book tells the tale in separate voices of 16 year old Prince Oliver and 15 year old Delilah,
a solitary teenager who is obsessed with the Prince and the book; Delilah works to free the Prince from the pages. In 2015 a second book from the Between the Lines series was
released as Off the Page --  Delilah and Oliver are united but find they are not allowed to re write
their story, they discover what it takes to have a happy ending.

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After Thanksgiving, Unwind with a Book....

11/20/2018

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Thanksgiving is upon us, let us put the focus on gratitude. I am grateful for the freedom to
read whatever I chose, I am grateful for the abundance of books available to me, I am grateful
for a reading community to share book discussions with. Black Friday is not a day of shopping for
me, I would rather spend quality time re centering and finding myself in a book. What to read?
Oh the choices available to us in our land of plenty...

Are you familiar with BookBub? Book Group Member Shelia H. introduced us a year ago.
BookBub "is a free service that helps you discover books you'll love through unbeatable deals,
handpicked recommendations and updates from your favorite authors." In a recent Blog
posting BookBub suggested 10 books to travel with over this holiday season. Here are their suggestions:

The Proposal (The Wedding Date #2) by Jasmine Guillory (Oct. 2018). 3.75 GoodReads Stars (2,401 ratings), 336 pages.
Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oats (Nov. 2018). 3.26 GoodReads (47 ratings), Stars, 336 pages.
Long Road to Mercy (Atlee Pine #1) by David Baldacci (Nov. 2018). 4.13 GoodReads Stars, (691 ratings), 416 pages.
River Bodies (Northhampton County #1) by Karen Katchur (Nov. 2018). 3.79 GoodReads Stars (2,616 ratings), 302 pages.
The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa (October 2018). 4.29 GoodReads Stars, (5,359 rating), 288 pages
A Marriage in Four Seasons by Kathryn Abdul-Baki (Nov. 2018). 3.20 Stars (10 ratings).
A Year of Extraordinary Moments (Magnolia Grove #2) by Bette Lee Crosby (Oct. 2018). 4.67 GoodReads Stars (216 Ratings), 318 pages.
The Same River: A Novel by Lisa M. Reddick (October 2018). 4.75 GoodReads Stars, (12 ratings), 256 pages.
Blood is Blood (Barker & Llewelyn #10) by Will Thomas (Nov. 2018). 4.3 GoodReads Stars (40 ratings), 320 pages.
The Kingdom of Copper (Daevabad Trilogy #2) by S. A. Chakraborty. 4.44 GoodReads Stars (79 ratings), January 2019 Expected Publication.
To read the book descriptions:
www.bookbub.com/blog/2018/11/15/books-to-read-while-traveling?email_link_source=article_primary&source=blogdigest

Eat, Drink & Be Thankful,
and
Read! Read!! Read!!!

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Jodi Picoult is Reading & Recommending.....

11/15/2018

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When you have enjoyed a satisfying book, you want to share it; and, in book group we can
discuss it. How fortunate we are! After I read a good book, I'm hooked and looking for that
next one. Sometimes I treasure hunt and browse the shelves, sometimes I read reviews but
the best recommendations come from others.
What would our next author Jodi Picoult recommend?
Here is her list of book recommendations:

Willing Spirits by Phyllis Schieber (1998). "Beautifully written, full of wit and wisdom and heart." (3.31 Stars - GoodReads)
Housewrights by Art Corriveau (2002). "The most wrenching New England love triangle I've read since Ethan Frome...Exquisite." (3.81 Stars - GoodReads)
Summer by the Sea by Susan Wiggs (2004). "Susan Wiggs paints the details of human relationships with the finesse of a master." (4.03 Stars - GoodReads)
The Rock Orchard by Paula Wall (2005). "The most unlikely things grow in The Rock Orchard --prosperity, love, faith and friendship...and some deep Southern characters whose turns of phrase and approach to life will have you laughing out loud." (3.85 Stars - Goodreads) (I have read this book and loved it - don't miss the next one: The Wilde Women: A Novel (2007))
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (2005). "Kim Edwards has created a tale of regret and redemption, of honest emotion, of characters haunted by their past. This is simply a beautiful book." (We discussed this book in 2007.) (3.65 Stars - GoodReads)
The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman (2008). "Alice Hoffman is my favorite writer." (3.57 Stars - GoodReads) (In 2011 we discussed The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman.)
Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian (2008). "Rich in character and gorgeous writing." (3.99 Stars - GoodReads)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (2010). "Such beautiful writing." (3.20 Stars - GoodReads) "...luminous tale about the enormous difficulty of loving someone fully when you know too much about them." GoodReads Description
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova (2011). "Remember how you couldn't put down Still Alice? Well, clear your schedule - because you are going to feel the same way." (3.92 Stars - GoodReads)
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (2011). "Laugh-out-loud." (Who doesn't need a good laugh?!!) (3.92 Stars - GoodReads)
The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin (2018). "An explosive debut." (3.79 Stars - GoodReads). "...Gorgeously written and fearlessly provocative." GoodReads Description
The Summer of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman (2017). "Beautiful." (4.04 Stars - GoodReads)
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (2017). "I read Little Fires Everywhere in a single breathless sitting." (4.14 Stars - GoodReads) This was our discussion book last month.
Love and Ruin by Paula McLain (2018). "Paula McLain cements herself as the writer of historical fiction." (3.85 Stars - GoodReads) We discussed the author's book The Paris Wife in 2012, that was centered on Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson. Love and Ruin tells the story of Hemingway's third wife, Martha Gellhorn.
Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich (2018). "...The Novel is a terrific reinvention of an already brilliant piece of art." Note - this was an Tony award winning musical. (4.17 Stars - GoodReads) "A simple lie leads to complicated truths in this big-hearted coming-of-age story of grief, authenticity and the struggle to belong in an age of instant connectivity and profound isolation." GoodReads Description
To view the complete list for Jodi Picoult Recommends: www.fantasticfiction.com/p/jodi-picoult/

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Our December 6th Book Discussion.....

11/8/2018

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Our next discussion book is by Jodi Picoult, author of 27 novels. This is my first Picoult book
and I am beginning to fall under her spell, the way she weaves words, characters & plot together.

Did you know.......
That Picoult named Gone with the Wind as her favorite book as a teenager, and credited
author Margaret Mitchell as inspiring her to "create a whole world out of words"
like she did. A love of books was fostered by her mother, "a teacher and an avid reader --
she was always holding a book in her hand." Picoult remembers an early memory of "learning
how to sign my name so I could get a library card."
(GreatBooksSummer.com 2013 interview)

In a 2016 NPR interview Picoult explains how the story told in Small Great Things came about:

"And then in 2012, I read a news story that came out of Flint Mich., and there was an
African-American nurse there with 20 years of labor and delivery experience who
helped deliver a baby. And in the aftermath, the father called her supervisor into the
room and asked that she not touch the baby nor anyone who looked like her. He pulled
up his sleeve to reveal a swastika tattoo. There was a Post-it note left on the baby's file
that said no African-American personnel to touch this infant. And the nurse wound up
suing the hospital. She settled out of court. I hope she got a very large payout."

"But it became a seed for me that grew...What would happen if she had to make a decision
that could result in her going to trial and being defended by a white public defender who,
like me and like many people I know would never consider herself to be a racist? And
I began to think about trying to tell the story from three different points of view -- the
African-American nurse, the white public defender and the skinhead father --as they all
confronted their beliefs about power and privilege and race."

In an interview, Picoult stated " I didn't write this novel because I thought it would be fun or easy.
I wrote it because I believed it was the right thing to do, and because the things that
make us most uncomfortable are the things that teach us what we all need to know...
There is a fire raging and we have two choices: we can turn our backs, or we can try
to fight it." (jodipicoult.com)

Visit the author's website at: www.jodipicoult.com/

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Book Group Members are Reading and Recommending......

11/6/2018

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Need a book recommendation? Take a peek at what fellow readers are recommending:

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (August 2018). North Carolina / Mystery / Coming of Age
Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee (Sept. 2018). Non Fiction / Design / Happiness / Psychology
The Husband Hunters: American Heiresses Who Married into the British Aristocracy by Anne De Courey (August 2018). Non Fiction / Social History / Women
Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown (August 2018). Biography / British Monarchy / History
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan (Feb. 2017). England / Historical Fiction / Women / Village Life / Music / WW2
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1867). Classic / Russian Literature / Existentialism / Crime / Murder
The Wife Between Us by Hendricks / Pekkanen (October 2018). Suspense / Psychological Thriller / Mystery / Marriage / Divorce
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women by Kate Moore (March 2018). Non Fiction / History / Science / Women / WW1
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (2016). Non Fiction/ Poverty / Sociology / Homelessness / Housing / Milwaukee / Social Justice
A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison (2012). Historical Fiction / Human Trafficking / India / Prostitution / Slavery / Tsunami / Sisters
The Girl who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow (2010). African American / Biracial / Chicago, Coming of Age / Identity, Suicide / Portland Race
The Private Lives of the Impressionists by Sue Roe (2007). 19th Century / Art History / France / Cassatt / Cezanne / Degas / Manet / Monet / Pissarro / Renoir / Sisley / Morisot
What are you reading and recommending......?

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Chapter Quotes from "Small Great Things"

Picoult Mother Daughter Writing Team

After Thanksgiving, Unwind with a Book....

Jodi Picoult is Reading & Recommending.....

Our December 6th Book Discussion.....

Book Group Members are Reading and Recommending......

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