Against Medical Advice by James Patterson and Hal Friedman

Against Medical Advice

Mostly in book clubs what we read is fiction, but this book was a rare non-fiction book we chose to read.

The story is that of a child who suffers with tourettes, a syndrome characterized by tics, usually physical but often verbal too. The book is written as if the boy is writing the story, but actually it's written by his father.

The story is that of his struggles with tourettes, but also with the medication that is prescribed, in particular with the side effects of the medication.

As a parent of an ADHD child and an autistic child, I was surprised in the discussion how little most people know about syndromes that affect today's children and as such the book was a good education for many book club members.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet by Jaime Ford

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Set in Seattle, this is the story of a friendship between Henry, a Chinese boy, and Keiko, a Japanese girl, just as the Second World War breaks out. The story switches between that time and 1986, when the Hotel Panama is opened up and the belongings of Japanese families are rediscovered. They stored their valuables just before being interned, but many didn't come back for them.

Henry remembers his friendship for Keiko while searching the hotel for any physical momentos, and flashes back to the story of their growing friendship in an environment where the Japanese were the enemy. It is both a narrative of those times and a delightful story of human nature and emotion.

Personally I started the book on a plane on my way to my first ever visit to Seattle. I knew it was coming up to read for book club, so I saved it for that moment. Reading the book in Seattle and visiting the city at the same time led me to understand a little about the culture of that city. The book describes the jazz scene of the 1940s and the ethnic communities of the time really well.

This book led to one of the best discussions I have had in a book club. Not just the story of Henry and Keiko, but the whole dilemma of different races in the United States, and whether the decision to lock away those of Japanese descent was a good one or not. This is the best type of book for a book club, a great story that leads to an active discussion.

Book Club Questions for The Sacred Thread by Adrienne Arieff

Here is my review of this book

The Sacred Thread by Adrienne Arieff

When looking for book club questions for this book, I couldn't find any, so I wrote my own, so here they are:

1. Did you enjoy the book, The Sacred Thread?

2. What would you have done if you couldn’t carry a baby to term?

3. Do you know anyone who has used a surrogate, or been a surrogate?

4. Do you know anyone who has had IVF?

5. What were the risks in Adrienne having her baby in India?

6. How do you think Vaina felt about the whole transaction?

7. The book is a successful story with a happy ending. What could have gone wrong with her plan?

8. Given that the cost of a surrogate in the US is about $100,000 and the cost of a surrogate in India is about $50,000, is the fact that American women are using Indians to help them achieve a family helping or abusing Indian women?

9. What is the Sacred Thread?

10. In what way were the parents prepared/not prepared for parenthood?

11. Would you ever have a baby for someone else, either paid or unpaid?

12. What is the limit of what you would do to provide for your own children?

13. Why do many women think they have a right to have a child?

14. Has the book changed your views on IVF or surrogacy?

15. How much did the book sell the idea of International surrogacy for others in the future?

16. Did you cry at any point when you were reading the book, which part?

17. Overall, how much did you enjoy the book?

The Sacred Thread by Adrienne Arieff

The Sacred Thread: A True Story of Becoming a Mother and Finding a Family--Half a World Away

As someone who has not struggled with infertility, the thought of adoption, IVF and surrogacy doesn't even occur to me. So I was very pleased to be educated about it by reading Adrienne Arieff's journey of miscarriages, infertility, and eventual surrogacy with a donor in India. It is a world I would not have known anything about had it not been for this book.

The book is short and easy to read, I myself read it in two days. I didn't read the details of whether or not she was successful before starting the book, so I was very keen to reach the end and thus I read it fairly quickly.

When we discussed it as a group we wanted to know more details like, "How did she get from the three miscarriages to the idea of surrogacy?" Generally though, we would have liked more details of many things that were only briefly mentioned in the book. The author said that it started as a journal for her daughters to read, but the book did read more like a journal than a book.

As a book club group, we had a great discussion about IVF, surrogacy and the desire to be a mother. The book definitely gave us a lot to talk about.

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

The Red Garden

I started listening to this on a CD in the car, but then realized it was a series of related short stories. Listening to a book makes it more difficult to realize when one story finishes and another starts, and so I got the book and decided to read it instead. 

The story is that of Blackwell, Massachusetts, from the founding of the town to the present day. The town is imaginary, but it is typical of others in the area. The first few chapters are the founding of the town, and the separate stories are sometimes linked to previous ones and sometimes stand alones. 

Some of the stories were classics and memorable, but when it came to discussing the book many people couldn't remember a lot of the individual stories. While previous stories were often referenced to, I would have liked more of a flowing feel to the book. It was a little too strange for my linking, and not one of the favorites we have read. 

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go

This was a book that I never would have read had it not been a book club book. Firstly, it's science fiction and I didn't realize it until half way through the book. The people in the book are different from other people, but you don't realize how or why until the second half. 

It's set in England in the 1990s and centered around what appears to be a normal boarding school until one of the teachers lets slip that there's really no point in educating the students in the school. When the teacher suddenly no longer works there, the students become suspicious and wonder what is different about themselves and their school.

I can't tell you any more without spoiling the plot. It's one of those science fiction books that you wonder if it could come true one day. After I read the book I watched the movie and found it very true to the book, but still just as haunting.

Here's the movie:

Never Let Me Go

La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith

La's Orchestra Saves the World

Personally, I didn't like this book. It is set in pre war and then during the Second World War. La is a woman who was educated with a Cambridge degree and I was frustrated that she didn't do anything significant with that degree. A woman with a Cambridge degree in pre war years was just about unheard of and she must have been someone special to achieve one. Yet through the book she doesn't appear to act so well educated. 

Without spoiling the plot, she finds herself alone during the war years in a rural community and with enough money to live on. So she volunteers to help the war effort by assisting an elderly farmer with his chickens. Then she also starts an orchestra. There's actually not much written about the orchestra except that everyone loved it. I was past half way in the book before I read about the orchestra being formed. I thought it would take more space in the book, being mentioned in the title. Also I wondered how they could have had decent performances when they only practiced once a month. 

The first chapter is significant in the story of the plot. So, when you have finished the book, go back and read the first chapter.