<![CDATA[Events - Jax Freestyle Book Club for Real Readers]]> Copyright 2002-2014 Meetup, Inc. Fri, 08 Aug 2014 15:14:11 EDT support@meetup.com (Meetup) <![CDATA[A sad topic but we'll try not to make it too heavy: World War I 100 years later]]> http://www.meetup.com/jax-freestyle-book-club-for-real-readers/events/189162512/ photoJax Freestyle Book Club for Real Readers

Our summer skip month of August will mark the centenary of the beginning of World War I, but that will be the theme of the September meeting. There are many excellent histories of the war, the conditions leading to it, and the aftermath. One thing most of those books have in common is length over 500 pages, which doesn't work with our format.  I've tentatively picked six books which I think provide a good range of choice:


Two memoirs covering memoirists' early lives, World War I experiences and early postwar years,


"Goodbye to all That" by Robert Graves and "Testament of Youth" by Vera Brittain


Two enduring autobiographical novels about war experiences,


"A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway and "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque 


Two nonfiction books focusing on specific aspects of the war,


"The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin Who Brought the World to War" by Tim Butcher and "The Zimmerman Telegram" by Barbara W.Tuchman


If you have a different suggestion, please do email me or post on the board. As always, please keep suggestions to books that you have read and recommend, or that you want to read and discuss at the meeting.

Jacksonville, FL - USA

Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00 PM

Attending: 12

Details: http://www.meetup.com/jax-freestyle-book-club-for-real-readers/events/189162512/

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Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:23:35 EDT
<![CDATA[Read up on spectral characters and chilled spines, discuss!]]> http://www.meetup.com/jax-freestyle-book-club-for-real-readers/events/199778202/ photoJax Freestyle Book Club for Real Readers


For the near-Halowe’en meeting, we have traditionally chosen a theme with eerie overtones.  This year, the focus is specific:  that spectral being who makes the easiest home-made costume: the ghost.

Did the romantic and Victorian eras, with their death obsession, mark  the height of the ghost tale? Is the ghost a figure that can change to reflect the preoccupations of different times and places? That’s a rhetorical question, of course it is! 

We usually have a nonfiction-heavy list, but not this time!  The list, subject to modification:

“Great Ghost Stories” by John Grafton (Editor) This is available in print, but there is a very cheap Kindle edition.

“Beloved" by Toni Morrison"

"The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James

Some more modern ghostly notes:


"Anya’s Ghost"a fun graphic novel if you like the genre or are short on time by Vera Brosgol


Everything old is new again:


"Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger

“The Ghost Writer” by John Harwood

If you are an absolute stickler for nonfiction, drop me a note, I have a couple of suggestions but in the spirit of the holiday I think it would be great to make the whole list from works of the imagination.

The 6:45 time is to let everyone mull over food choices and get food since it's counter service, but we won't get down to the talk before 7.

Jacksonville, FL 32216 - USA

Tuesday, October 28 at 6:45 PM

Attending: 8

Details: http://www.meetup.com/jax-freestyle-book-club-for-real-readers/events/199778202/

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Fri, 08 Aug 2014 10:42:20 EDT
<![CDATA[Big final meeting of 2014, books about eating, drinking & being merry or mindful]]> http://www.meetup.com/jax-freestyle-book-club-for-real-readers/events/199823272/ photoJax Freestyle Book Club for Real Readers

For the final meeting of the year (the Thanksgiving to New Years season is not prime time for book clubs) we have a selection of books about food and drink.

There is typically an attendance limit of 10 or 12 because a restaurant table makes discussion difficult for more than that.  Our more popular meetings usually have people who would like to attend but are crowded out. One solution (for a very special year end meeting only) is to get a private room and a co-facilitator or two and raise the limit.

I have tentatively booked a room for Restaurant Orsay, which will be serving their brunch menu. There is a minimum financial commitment, so I want to gauge interest NOW.  The limit will be 24, and if we don't have at least 20 commitments in 2 weeks, I will drop back to regular size and reserve a regular table. So...please commit as soon as you can.  If your SO likes books but does't usually come, feel free to invite and  RSVP for yourself and a guest.

The list:

“The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell” by Mark Kurlansky
As you already know if you are a Kurlansky reader, this writer typically takes a fairly narrow subject, drills deep and casts wide to bring you a variety of information.
"Relish: My Life in the Kitchen" by Lucy Knisley  
A graphic memoir by a talented cartoonist and cook for the time- pressed or anyone who likes the genre.
"Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think" by Brian Wansink We usually stay away from anything that looks like self-help or how-to, but his is based on real research and is plenty talk-worthy.

 "The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen" by Jaques Pepin The classic  memoir of undergoing traditional French culinary training

"Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl" The ultimate undercover critic memoir
"Shadows in the Vineyard" by Maximillian Peter   Real life skullduggery stalks the finest grapes of Burgundy

Jacksonville - USA

Sunday, November 16 at 2:00 PM

Attending: 12

Details: http://www.meetup.com/jax-freestyle-book-club-for-real-readers/events/199823272/

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Fri, 08 Aug 2014 15:14:11 EDT
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