Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb

Book #57 Hosted by Erin

It's 1964 and ten-year-old Felix is sure of a few things: the birds and the bees are puzzling, television is magical, and this is one Christmas he'll never forget.

LBJ and Lady Bird are in the White House, Meet the Beatles is on everyone's turntable, and Felix Funicello (distant cousin of the iconic Annette!) is doing his best to navigate fifth grade-easier said than done when scary movies still give you nightmares and you bear a striking resemblance to a certain adorable cartoon boy.

From the Funicello family's bus-station lunch counter to the elementary school playground (with an uproarious stop at the Pillsbury Bake-Off), Wishin' and Hopin' is a vivid slice of 1960s life, a wise and witty holiday tale that celebrates where we've been-and how far we've come. ~Barnes and Noble

About the Author

The author of the number one New York Times bestsellers She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, Wally Lamb still contributes time as a volunteer facilitator at the York Correctional Institution. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Christine. His third novel is The Hour I First Believed.Lamb grew up in the looming shadow of Norwich State Hospital, a sprawling facility for the mentally ill. Now closed, the institution played a part in Lamb's family history. As an adult, Lamb learned that the grandfather he had never known had been locked up in the hospital for a violent attack on his wife. He later discovered that his grandfather had died of brain cancer and wondered if illness had provoked the violence. Unsurprisingly, the themes of incarceration and mental illness play important roles in his stories. ~about the author

Reviews

"We might as well call Wally Lamb the man with the golden pen...[Wishin’ and Hopin’] will leave you laughing and thinking nostalgically about your own school days and holidays past” (BookPage )

“Both heartwarming and laugh-out-loud funny…a cast of characters that are both uproarious and unforgettable…a poignant reminder that family and friends are the greatest gift of all.” (Hartford Books Examiner )

“Lamb...proves he can be short, sweet and funny” (USA Today )

“Lamb’s vividly detailed portrait of the 1960’s and the inner workings of a Catholic schoolboy’s mind puts his first Christmas book on par with his previous three novels.” (Miami Herald )

“Wishin’ and Hopin’ from Wally Lamb reminds us of what innocence was like.” (Body and Soul )

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Book #56 Hosted by Nancy

Twilight is told by 17-year-old Bella Swan, who moves from Phoenix to the small town of Forks, Washington, to live with her dad for the remainder of high school. There, she meets Edward Cullen and his family, who possess an other-worldly and irresistible beauty and grace to which Bella is drawn. Twilight is the tale of Bella and Edward's burgeoning relationship, brimming with standard teenage drama alongside the unexpected, because, after all, Edward and his family are vampires. These undead friends have chosen to deny their urge to drink human blood, instead slaking their thirst with the blood of animals. Bella soon finds out, however, that not all vampires in her life are constrained by such scruples. ~The Book Review

Pros

• Highly entertaining, fast-paced story of romance and suspense
• Relatively clean for a teenage vampire love story
• The concept of good vampires is unusual and intriguing

Cons

• The writing can be clunky at times
• Edward's perfection can be over-the-top, even for a fictitious super-human
• At times, Edward and Bella's relationship can seem more like that of a father and daughter

About the Author

Stephenie Meyer's life changed dramatically on June 2, 2003. The stay-at-home mother of three young sons woke up from a dream featuring seemingly real characters that she could not get out of her head.

Three months later she finished her first novel, Twilight. With encouragement from her older sister (the only other person who knew she had written a book), Meyer submitted her manuscript to various literary agencies. Twilight was picked out of a slush pile at Writer's House and eventually made its way to the publishing company Little, Brown where everyone fell immediately in love with the gripping, star-crossed lovers.

Twilight was one of 2005's most talked about novels and within weeks of its release the book debuted at #5 on The New York Times bestseller list.

Stephenie lives in Arizona with her husband and three sons. ~authors website

The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Book #55 Hosted by Tiffany

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own. ~goodreads

About the Author

Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Alabama with a degree in English and Creative Writing, she moved to New York City where she worked in magazine publishing and marketing for nine years. She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and daughter. The Help is her first novel. ~http://kathrynstockett.com

Praise for the book

Set in the rural South of the 1960's, THE HELP is a startling, resonant portrait of the intertwined lives of women on opposite sides of the racial divide. Stockett's many gifts a keen eye for character, a wicked sense of humor, the perfect timing of a natural born storyteller shine as she evokes a time and place when black women were expected to help raise white babies, and yet could not use the same bathroom as their employers. Her characters, both white and black, are so fully fleshed they practically breathe no stock villains or pious heroines here. I'm becoming an evangelist for The Help. Don't miss this wise and astonishing debut.

~Joshilyn Jackson, Bestselling author of Gods in Alabama

I came across another book in this genre that sounded interesting:

Year the Colored Sisters Came to Town by Jacqueline Guidry

When the sleepy town of Ville d'Angelle is jolted by the arrival of two black nuns to teach at the local school, 10 year old Vivian and her sister Mavis are exposed to hatred and fear they never knew existed. ~barnes and noble review

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Book #54 Hosted by Indu
January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name. ~authors website

About the Authors

Annie Barrows is the author of the children’s series Ivy and Bean, as well as The Magic Half. She lives in northern California.

Her aunt, Mary Ann Shaffer, who passed away in February 2008, worked as an editor, librarian, and in bookshops. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was her first novel.

Send a Letter
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society has inspired many of you to go back to the old way of correspondence. Now you have the opportunity to send a letter to one of your friends with this electronic Guernsey stationery. -->

http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/guernsey//send-a-letter/

Annotated List of Important Books in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Jane Austen- Pride and Prejudice. Isola plans on speaking about it at a meeting but her goat eats her notes (p. 234).

Emily Bronte- Wuthering Heights.One of Isola’s favorite books. She talks about Anne and Charlotte Bronte as well but doesn’t mention specific titles (p. 53).

Thomas Carlyle- Past and Present. The first book that Will Thisbee enjoys helps him “get a grip on Faith.” (p. 101).

Geoffrey Chaucer- The Canterbury Tales. Sidney’s favorite favorite book; the topic of a Society meeting (p. 243).

Charles Dickens- The Pickwick Papers. Amelia’s favorite – it lifts her spirits during the Occupation (p. 50).

Charles Lamb- Selected Essays of Elia. Dawsey has Juliet’s old copy; reason for his first letter to her (p. 9).- More Essays of Elia and Selected Letters. Juliet sends to Dawsey (p. 11).

Wilfred Owen- The Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen. Owen’s poetry helps Clovis Fossey to describe his experiences in WWI (p. 72).

Rainer Maria Rilke- Collected poetry (exact title not specified). A gift from Christian to Elizabet6h, with the inscription, “For Elizabeth, who turns darkness into light.” (p. 259).

Seneca- Letters of Seneca. John Booker writes that Seneca and the Society keep him from being a drunk (p. 88).

William Shakespeare- Selections from Shakespeare. Eben Ramsey’s favorite book. He quotes Shakespeare when talking about the German troops landing on Guernsey (p. 63).

Oscar Wilde- An important author in the book—he writes a series of letters to Isola’s grandmother—but none of his works are specifically mentioned.

Photo Gallery of the Island