Oh, well. Better later than never, I say!
The Wednesday after Christmas we met at Rock Bottom Brewery, which is a chain restaurant that brews it's own beers. There are 35 restaurants located in the US and each one brews different beers. I love brewery's like this, but haven't visited Rock Bottom that much, so I was excited when it was suggested. (Also? I really like beer. It's kind of ridiculous).
I was first introduced to breweries like this when I lived in Kansas City. We would would go to McCoy's in Westport all the time and I fell in love with their raspberry brew. Now, I cannot get enough of it, and I can never seem to find it! I think Court Avenue Brewery (for you locals) downtown has it sometimes, but not all the time.
So, enough about beer and the "bars" part, let's talk about the "books" part, shall we?
In December we chose to read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This book had been sitting on my shelf unread for quite a while now, so I was excited that we chose to read it. Unfortunately, I did not manage my time well in December and on the day we were scheduled to meet, I still had 250 pages to go...Luckily, I did it. Yes, I skimmed quite a bit, but I don't feel like I missed anything! I had a little time before meeting to scan some reviews and summaries online, and from what I can tell I didn't miss anything.
Everyone in the group enjoyed it, a few of us weren't finished (hello, December is BUSY!) so we didn't discuss too much.
What we did discuss was the unique aspects from this WWII book we did enjoy. First of all, it's narrated by Death. I had to remind myself several times that it's not the main character talking, it's Death talking!
I also wasn't prepared for the main character to be a young German girl. I just naturally assumed it would be a Jewish protagonist. I began to adore her though, and really wanted to just hug her so many times. It's so easy to assume that during WWII all German's were bad (obviously a vast generalization), but it is so shocking to me how little they knew. How many lies they were told. It's heartbreaking.
Overall, this is definitely a book I recommend, not only for the content, but for the unique perspective and the unique way it is written!
For January we are switching gears a little and reading some non-fiction to appeal to some of the male members of the group (hi, guys!) and attract more members! C'mon guys, don't you want to be in a book club?! (lol)So, we are reading Packing for Mars by Mary Roach and we're meeting on Tuesday, January 31st at Raccoon River Brewing Co. (another brewery - I am a happy girl!). Check out the event page here! If you're in the area, I hope you consider joining us!
Happy Reading!
4 comments:
I totally wish I was in your area! I would come to one of these!
I really liked the Book Thief. You are right, the narrator being Death was a little strange at first. I also like Rock Bottom! The first time (and only times, I guess) that I went there was in Des Moines. I love the roast chicken, but have never had their beers because I only went for lunch!
I can't wait to read the Book Thief! I have it from the library, but am reading a book that I have on my nook right now from the library. I am hoping to read it next!
Book Thief is still sitting on my nightstand...when I taught about the Holocaust, I wanted to read it, {one of my kids did a presentation on it, and intrigued me!} but I just dont want to be sad...will I cry?? I'm a baby when it comes to WWII novels.
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