Books we discussed: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier
Below is a brief summary of what we thought of the books. Since it was almost a week ago I can't remember exactly what everyone said.
-The Great Gatsby
There were mixed reviews about this book. Some thought that the book was overrated and not a "great" classic book while others enjoyed the book and thought that it was a good read. There was a consensus that the book depicted that time period really well and it was probably a great book for that time. We also figured that F. Scott must have been really wealthy and living the life like the Buchanans or Gatsby to be able to write about it. It was also mentioned that this book seems to be referenced quite a bit in popular culture. Everyone agreed that the book was easy to read and was a fast read.
-The Measure of a Man
This book had mixed reviews too. Some of us were disappointed that Sidney didn't get into more details of his life and felt like he just scratched the surface. We did figure that he may have covered more details in his previous book and that is why this book didn't go further in depth. The fact that Sidney asked a lot of rhetorical questions in the book bothered some members, but others liked the questions because they were asking themselves the same ones. Sidney's life was interesting and we liked how he respected his family so much and what he did for them. We concluded that this book would probably get better reviews from actors who are or have gone through what he has versus the non actors :)
Nathan didn't enjoy either book because he thought that they didn't have big bright colorful pictures in them. He also likes the book pages hard so that he can chew on them.
The next book that we are reading is Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. Click on the book in the upper left corner and it will take you to Amazon.com where you can read about the book and perhaps buy it.
PLEASE DO THE POLL (on the left)
-I thought that having our first book club of the year on a weekend instead of a weeknight might get a better turnout. We miss having everyone there and it would be nice to all get together for at least one meeting. I was thinking that we could meet on the weekend and have a potluck lunch. Tells us what you think by doing the poll on the left. Once we determine if we want the first meeting of the new year on a weekend or weeknight then we will go from there on picking a date (most likely it will be the end of January or in February).
