Snowflakes

Great wine, good appetizers and FANTASTIC cupcakes were eaten at Shauna Foster's Book Club on Wednesday when we went to discuss Sharon Butala's Girl In Saskatoon. All of us ladies had very high hopes for this book and sought it out after the one and only major book store sold out of it two times, and other stores were also selling out. I ended up getting my copy off Amazon. I was excited to get into this piece of historical fiction placed in the city I am currently living, but after only a few pages what I thought the book was about and what the book was really about it became a chore to finish it.

Most of us in book club tried to push through and finish it, hoping that it would pull together in the end, but it did not happen. The disappointment and some anger came from many of the ladies at the book club including myself.

There were gaps in the narrative, which really parallel Butala's connection with the main character of her story Alex. They were never really friends, just simply went to the same school. She had never really hung out with her or remembered anything really specific. Her book really isn't about Alex, but more about the connections between Sharon and Alex's similar origin, they were both in drama club and Sharon had a summer job where Alex would have a future job as a nurse. The story seemed to be more about Sharon and her life, comparing her life to that of Alex's along the way.

The part of the book that is really wonderful was the description of the time about living in Saskatoon, and all the description of how life was for girls/women in that time. The book left many ties still undone and so many unanswered questions. I thought that this story would have better been told as a fiction story, take the idea of Alex's death and make it a fiction story rather then filling a true story with maybes and assumptions.


Shauna picked the next book: Marley and Me by John Gorgan. I picked it up that night and have had a hard time putting it down and in the first 5 chapters I have already shed some tears. I'm looking forward to this book much more, something fun and heartwarming.


I can't wait till the next meeting to see what the rest of the ladies have to say!

Last night I attended my first "Shauna Foster's Book Club" (SFBC) where we discussed Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and ate fabulous cupcakes by Cakes G'lore. I was one of the newbies there last night so I was a little nervous but everyone was very friendly and welcoming.
It was a very interesting discussion and I was intrigued by what others thought about the book as a piece of literature and as well discussing the characters actions.

I really enjoyed the book and the movie as well. It did jump around, which most people don't like but I really enjoyed the style of the book. Krakauer style of writing in this book is similar to that of a magazine article which this book sprang from.

The book tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a young man from a well-to-do family who, after graduating from college, donated all of the money in his bank account to charity, changed his name to "Alexander Supertramp," and began a journey in the American West. Nearly two years later, McCandless was found dead in the Alaska wilderness. In the book, Krakauer draws parallels between his own experiences and motivations and those of McCandless.

We discussed many things in book club about why we thought Christopher would have gone away and not contacted anyone in his family and if any of us have ever thought of packing it all up and leaving. Everyone agreed that they would not be able to leave their family and especially not live in the wilderness. I also agree--I want to travel and I would love to back pack and live in tents and hostels. But I would not burn my money and I would phone or send messages back home to my family to let them know I was okay.

I really liked what one lady said last night about how she could relate to Chris not so much in a literal way but on the level where she was so focused on a goal like he was and nothing was going to stop her.
After our discussion Shauna drew for some prizes, Cd's and books and tickets. I didn't win anything. :( I have not been lucky with draws lately. Shauna had picked someone from the group to pick the next book for us to read. The next book is "The Girl In Saskatoon" by Sharon Butala.
It's a true story set right here in this city writen by a local author about the unsolved murder of Alexandra Wiwcharuk.
I'm looking forward to reading it. It's all sold out in the city already but I have my name on the list when they get more in.

In the meantime I'm still working on the Harry Potter books and I should crack open some textbooks and study.