"Unbroken" {by Laura Hillenbrand} Book Club Ideas

February 2013 Book Club

"When he thought of his history, what resonated with him now was not all that he had suffered but the divine love that he believed had intervened to save him."

— Laura Hillenbrand (Unbroken)

If you get a chance, watch this amazing video of Louis Zamperini talking about his life before and after "Unbroken" was published. He is beyond amazing!

 This month we tried something different for our menu. We asked everyone to find a recipe off Pinterest to inspire their food choices and we got some TASTY treats!

I believe many people were asking for recipes so please leave a comment in this post if there was one you were wanting!

Each month our book club continues to grow and add new members and this month was no exception! We are so excited to see April at book club again! life gets crazy sometimes and we totally understand needing to take a break from things until your ready to jump back in!

 we would also like to welcome Brooke's good friend Elizabeth! We hope you find yourself feeling at home with all of us and we are so glad to have you!

Lastly, we are SO happy to welcome Summer to our great group of girls who just moved BACK here from California after 5 years! We are thrilled to have you back Summer!

On a different note...

I decided it was time for our blog to get a face lift. Its important to me what our blog looks, feels and navigates like. Our blog is an extension of our "book club home" on the Internet, and I want it to be as welcoming and inviting as we are in person.

So I enlisted the help of my fabulous book club members to raise the money needed to purchase a custom blog design. And to my great joy, by the end of the night we'd raised ALL the money for us to get our blog the face lift it needs!

And thanks to Ashley at Ashley Ella Designs on Etsy, we will have our new custom blog by next book club meeting! (Eeeeps, I'm so excited!)

{Check out Ashley's blog to see more of her work.}

For every $5 donated, members got to add a ticket into the drawing for this beautiful leather bound copy of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea."

NOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE BOOK!

A little "DID YOU KNOW," about Louis Zamperini:

An athlete and a World War II vet, Zamperini cheated death in numerous and harrowing ways, shook Adolf Hitler's hand, and ran one event for his fourth time ever at the Berlin Olympics. Incidentally, at the age of 95, he is still alive and living in Southern California.

The following are astounding facts about Zamperini in chronological order:

• At 19 years old, Zamperini qualified for the Olympics in track and field after racing 5,000 meters for the second time ever.
• He wound up finishing in eight place at the Berlin, Germany, games in 1936. There, he met Adolf Hitler, who requested a meeting.
• He stole Hitler's personal Nazi flag, which he still has to this day. (See picture below)

The flag he snagged from the Reich Chancellery while running in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Zamperini joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941, later flying several dangerous missions across the Pacific.

In the summer of 1943 he was the only man of an 11-man crew to ultimately survive an attack on their B-24 over the ocean.

Initially, Zamperini and two other crew members survived on a raft for several days, collecting rain water for drinking as well as the blood of the birds they would kill bare handed. Sharks would circle and brush up against their raft. One crew member died on day 33. The other two survived a total of 47 days.

They drifted 2000 miles to the Marshall Islands, where they're taken as prisoners by the Japanese.

Allied prisoners of war, who had the misfortune to reach Kwajalein, were usually killed. That is the reason it was known as "Execution Island."

Zamperini became a prisoner of war, enduring constant torture and starvation for two years.
He returned home to his family after the war ended in 1945 and married a Miami debutante a year later.


Louis Zamperini
Age 22 and 95

Questions That came up during our discussion were, “What makes it so hard to let resentment go?”  “What did Louie’s experience demonstrate to us?”  “What life lessons can we glean from his story?”  Want to know our answers to these questions and many more?

Read our full book review & star rating for Unbroken HERE



"Unbroken" {by Laura Hillenbrand} Book Review

Title:  Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Author:  Laura Hillenbrand
Number of pages:  406   (457 w/notes)
Year Published:  2010
Genre:  Non Fiction

SUMMARY:  This is the incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, a troubled delinquent youth, who channeled his rebellious anger and energy into becoming a world class runner.  He went on to compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  The Second World War broke out destroying his dreams of the next Olympics and he was drafted into the Army as an airman.  The story that follows is almost unbelievable in its scope.  Despite the fact that Louie survived a plane crash in the ocean, near drowning and then set adrift on a raft for more than a month, this was only the beginning.  The trials that would soon follow would test the limits of Louie’s endurance as well as the resiliency of the human spirit.

Delicious Reads Star Rating: 4.75 Stars  

OUR GROUP REVIEW:  Unbroken was definitely one of the more popular books our members have read.  Out of 17 ratings, there were only four- 4 star reviews, and the remainder were higher with eight of them being 5 stars.  Many commented that while reading they had to keep reminding themselves that this was a TRUE story!  A majority of those reading were surprised at how little they knew of the suffering the POW’s experienced by the Japanese in the Pacific Theater.  We acknowledged that WWII usually brought the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust to our remembrance.  Reading about the “lost” soldiers who had suffered so horrifically was difficult to contemplate but allowed us to have a greater understanding of this portion of our history.  I think many of us felt honored to recognize and acknowledge the sacrifices of these brave American soldiers and other patriots that endured so much. 

This book generated many different discussions for our group.  Questions were posed such as, “What makes it so hard to let resentment go?”  “What did Louie’s experience demonstrate to us?”  “What life lessons can we glean from his story?”    Here are some ideas that were expressed:  Often times, small triggers in our lives can activate old wounds and all the emotions can return instantly.  As long as we carry them around in our hearts we become enslaved to them, and we are never truly free.   Many of us saw hope and a positive outlook as key elements in Louie’s life that allowed him to survive along with his courage and tenacity.  We observed that the many obstacles he was able to conquer were achieved because of previous training or trials that had strengthened him and gave him the confidence to face the next challenge.  The idea that “mindset” can mean the difference between life and death --giving in to despair or using work and mental exercises as an empowering force to rally the spirit.   As Louie and his companions were adrift on the ocean and losing hope of rescue, this quote reveals how attitude can make all the difference.

“Though all three men faced the same hardship, their differing perceptions of it appeared to be shaping their fates. Louie and Phil's hope displaced their fear and inspired them to work toward their survival, and each success renewed their physical and emotional vigor.  Mac's resignation seemed to paralyze him and the less he participated in their efforts to survive, the more he slipped. Though he did the least, as the days passed, it was he who faded the most. Louie and Phil's optimism, and Mac's hopelessness, were becoming self-fulfilling.”

Interspersed throughout the book, Hillenbrand’s writing painted some beautiful moments.  Here she describes the scene that Louie and Phil saw when they reached the “doldrums” while drifting on the raft close to the equator in the Pacific Ocean.

“It was an experience of transcendence.  Phil watched the sky, whispering that it looked like a pearl. The water looked so solid that it seemed they could walk across it. When a fish broke the surface far away, the sound carried to the men with absolute clarity. They watched as pristine ringlets of water circled outward around the place where the fish had passed, then faded to stillness. For a while they spoke, sharing their wonder. Then they fell into reverent silence. Their suffering was suspended. They weren’t hungry or thirsty. They were unaware of the approach of death.”

A large portion of the story focuses on the treatment and abuse of the prisoners and is often difficult and heart-wrenching to read.  Equally as shocking were the number of Army Air Force deaths that occurred because of accidents that had nothing to do with battle situations.  Almost 36,000 men lost their lives without ever seeing any action.   After all the POW’s suffered during their imprisonment, their troubles did not end with the war. 

“They carried unspeakable memories of torture and humiliation…”  Their dignity had been obliterated, replaced with a pervasive sense of shame and worthlessness.”  “Coming home was an experience of profound, perilous aloneness.

We discussed the tragedy that PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) was not fully understood during that time period.  Thousands of servicemen floundered in the years following the war without proper treatment.  The story also gave us a new awareness and sensitivity of the difficulties returning servicemen experience in not being able to relate to others about what they’ve been through. 

Many terrible things happen during war and as a group we talked about them, but when our readers were asked what emotions they felt after finishing this story, some of their responses to this book were interestingly varied.

 Inspired * Shocked * Humbled * Determined * Compassion * Moved * Awe-struck * Gained a new perspective on life * Learn to live in the moment * Hopeful * Faith promoting.

Hillenbrand has told an amazing story that could have been written many different ways by other authors.  Her research and attention to detail is monumental and well documented.  But what really sets this book apart, is her talent, insight, and sensitivity to write about an extremely difficult subject.   She has created a beautifully crafted story that draws its readers in and doesn’t let them get mired in all the tragedy. 

Why did this book resonate with so many of us?  Because Louie’s life story embodies everything that it is to be human.  We recognize Louie as one of us…an imperfect, fallible, strong willed, compassionate, loving, hopeful being.  How can we not root for him and his indomitable spirit?  How can we not embrace someone whose life inspires each of us to NEVER give up!

CONTENT:

Language/ Profanity: Moderate

Sexuality: Mild/ None

Violence:  Heavy   (War violence/ torture)

Drug/Alcohol use:  Moderate   (Drinking alcohol, smoking)

Intense/Scary Scenes:  Heavy   (war/torture)

Reviewed by Delicious Reads Member: Karen

SEE OUR PICTURE RECAP OF "UNBROKEN" HERE

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" {by Oscar Wilde} Book Review

Delicious Reads

 

TITLE OF THE BOOK: The Picture of Dorian Gray

AUTHOR: Oscar Wilde

NUMBER OF PAGES: 241

YEAR PUBLISHED: Febuary of 1890
PUBLISHER: Random House / Penguin Classics

READING LEVEL: According to scholastic.com this book is a 9^th grade

reading level and appropriate for young adults and older.

GENRE: Young Adult Fiction

 

SUMMARY:   The picture of Dorian Gray is the story of one beautiful innocent young man’s seduction, moral corruption, and eventual downfall.  He is convinced that beauty is all he has to offer the world so he trades morality and happiness to maintain his youth and splendor.  He soon realizes that all of his darkest secrets appear as decay on a portrait of him at the height of his beauty.  In the end he finds that beauty alone is never enough.
 

Our Star Rating: 3.5 stars

 

OUR GROUP REVIEW: This was a book with a moral to the story.  Immediately we all realized that there was wisdom in what Wilde was writing.  The characters all seemed very familiar to us; these were characters right out of our own lives and all too often we are the dimwitted Dorian’s of this world.  Most readers in our book club were struck by the blatant homosexual undertones of the book and many wondered if that was a “picture” into the author’s life.  Thanks to our fabulous moderator Kelly we quickly found that in fact he was attracted to men in his lifetime and was scorned considerably because of that.  Most frustrating to our book club about this book was entire chapters that seemed disconnected, unimportant, and honestly, boring.   Again our moderator clarified this for us; research shows that this portion of the story was to illustrate the mindlessness of Dorian’s days, he had no purpose in life other than finding beauty and as quickly as he found a subject to obsess over he had moved on because it was no longer of value to him. For 18 years, capriciousness was a way of life for Dorian "certainly, to him, Life itself was the first, the greatest, of the arts." No matter how intensely Dorian embraces a subject, "no theory of life seemed to him to be of any importance compared with life itself. He felt keenly conscious of how barren all intellectual speculation is when separated from action and experiment."  Like Lork Henry, he considers pleasure and aesthetic value more important than anything else.  Wilde engrains this image of Dorian over and over again but that passage that makes it most clear is

“Yes: there was to be . . . a new Hedonism that was to re-create life, and to save it from that harsh, uncomely puritanism. . . .”

If Lord Henry was the little Devil on Dorian’s shoulder then Basil was the Angel on the other shoulder. As a group we recognized his sadness at watching his friend spiral into darkness and evil and we related to these feelings as we have all lost a friend or loved one to one bad choice or another.  But what was even more apparent was that Lord Henry was a coward.  He did not have the courage to experiment with the evil he preached therefore he lived vicariously through Dorian and pushed his evil on him repeatedly just to watch as the consequences unfolded before him.  He was a narcissistic, secretly immoral, coward.  Finally, Dorian is faced with the true extent of his evil when he murders Basil.  However, rather than take responsibility he casts it onto the portrait and in a moment of rage stabs the portrait and only then does he realize the connection between he and the portrait is greater than he had ever known.  As expected Dorian is the cause of his own demise.  There are valuable lessons and reminders in The Picture of Dorian Gray.  These are not new principles but true no matter the generation of the reader.  The world is full of evil and if we are not careful we too can be convinced by the Lord Henry’s in our lives to place a higher value on unimportant things and that can eventually lead to our downfall. 

Our overall rating was a bit lower than expected because of the disconnected and uneventful middle chapters, however, for the most part we enjoyed the story.  This was a super fun book club read, especially at Halloween!!  The decorations were fantastic, the food was delicious, and the company was incomparable!  It was a night to remember!    


CONTENT RATING:                                     

Language/Profanity:  There are a few mild swear words throughout the book.  Nothing more than the average 5^th grader has been exposed to.

Sexuality: This book is heavy on homosexual innuendoes and references.

Violence:  There are two murders/suicides in the book and the mention of other violence throughout the book though they are written in such a way that it is not terribly gory or intense.

Drug/Alcohol Use:  The main character frequents Opium Den’s and all of the characters drink throughout the book.  Again the focus of the book is how bad his life is so the rating remains mild.

Intense/scary scenes:  As mentioned above there is murder but again the writing style makes it less intense therefore the rating remains mild. 

 

See our full picture recap HERE!

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" {By Oscar Wilde} Book Club Ideas

 NOVEMBER BOOK CLUB:

"The Picture of Dorian Gray"

by: Oscar Wilde

 "You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit."      

Wilde claimed that Lord Henry represented his public image but that the author actually was more like Basil and secretly yearned to be more like Dorian.

FOOD & DECOR:

This table represented all of Dorian's travels and indulgences from Chapter 11 and 12.

Dorian travels the world in an attempt to find refuge from his gnawing guilt. Indeed, Dorian lives a life marked by fear and suspicion. He finds it difficult to leave London, giving up the country villa he shares with Lord Henry for fear that someone will stumble upon the dreaded portrait in his absence. One can argue that Dorian turns to the study of perfumes, jewels, musical instruments, and tapestries as a source of comfort.

Certainly Dorian’s greatest reason for indulging in the studies that Wilde describes at length is his disenchantment with the age in which he lives.

We spotlighted a Shakespeare book on the decor table because of the many references through out book to his plays.

I started taking note of the plays mentioned through out the book which were:
1.  Romeo and Juliet
2. As You Like it
3. Cymbeline
4. The Merchant of Venice
5. Much Ado About Nothing
6. King Lear
7.  Othello
8.  Hamlet

We had a spooky Halloween themed menu since our meeting fell on October 30th!
We had:
-Rotten Fruit
-Cranberry and cheese sandWITCHES
-Blood Soup
-Witch finger bread sticks
-Ghoulish Guacamole and chips
-Sinister Cider Punch
-Gillyweed Salad
-Putrid Pumpkin dessert

YUM!

MEET DORIAN GRAY:

Bethany had the genius idea to have our own portrait of Dorian Gray at book club!
Through out the evening, people used the markers provided to add some "sinful details" to his portrait and the end result is shown above!

DISCUSSION TIME!

Contraryto the reviews' charge that the novel was immoral, Wilde was concerned that the novel was too moral, that it was didactic in its portrayal of the wages of sin.

As Dorian’s sins grow worse over the years, his likeness in Basil’s portrait grows more hideous. Dorian seems to lack a conscience, but the desire to repent that he eventually feels illustrates that he is indeed human. Despite the beautiful things with which he surrounds himself, he is unable to distract himself from the dissipation of his soul.



While Wilde’s own homosexual inclinations were well known in his day, there is no explicit mention of homosexuality in the novel. In conservative 1890s England, such openness in print would have made the novel unpublishable. Still, the homoerotic relationships between the male characters are vital to the novel.



Under the influence of the “yellow book,” Dorian’s character begins to change. He orders nearly a dozen copies of the first edition and has them bound in different colors to suit his shifting moods.

I put together a book quiz and the prize was a signed copy of our February 2013 book, "The Diviners" by Libba Bray!



Bethany was the well deserved WINNER!

THE PORTRAITS OF DELICIOUS READS MEMBERS:

Bethany set up a photo booth in my front room so member could take their own portraits through out the evening!
Below are a few of my favorite portraits.

Kellie and I got a little silly at the end of the night!

Thank You SO MUCH Bethany for all your help with the photo booth, decorations, inspiration and overall awesomeness!!

This is a video clip from the 1945 movie of the Picture of Dorian Gray when he makes the pact with the devil which changes the course of his life forever.

This video clip is from the 2009 movie with Ben Barnes and Colin Firth where Dorian decides that he is done being a slave to his portrait and ends the pact.

{This movie clip takes artistic liberties and is not exactly how the books describes the ending but the result is the same.}

Read our full book review HERE.