Go Set A Watchman

Book Club #10.

About the Book:

Go Set a Watchman

 

 Summary: 

Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—"Scout"—returns home from New York City to Maycomb, Alabama to visit her aging father, Atticus. During a time of civil rights tension, new realizations found put her assumptions about her hometown and family members into doubt.

 

Characters:

• Jean Louise "Scout" Finch
• Atticus
• Jeremy ‘Jem’ Finch
• Aunt Alexandra
• Henry ‘Hank’ Clinton
• Joshua Singleton St. Clair
• Colonel Maycomb

Questions:

1. Where do you consider your hometown? When you go back how are things different or the same?

2. When have you not seen eye to eye with your parents? Was it resolved or did you agree to disagree?

3. When have you had to be a part of a group whose ideology you did not agree with? Did you learn anything from the experience?

4. Scout goes back to her hometown from New York. What did you think of Harper Lee's portrayal of her reaction and thoughts about being back? Have you been to a reunion after many years and had similar or different thoughts?

5. Scout has a bunch of flashbacks of very relatable growing up experiences, like finding out where babies come from and her big school dance. Did you like this sandwiching of past experiences in the current narrative?

6. The publishing of Harper Lee's second book was controversial. How do you think this second book affected her legacy? Did you enjoy it or find it interesting?

 

Conversation Summary:

Discussion topics:

• suspicions this may have been Harper Lee's first draft of TKAMB
• hometowns
• where would you want to live?
• differing ideologies
• flashback, narrative styles
• the book was written for the ending

3/3 bears finished book and 3/3 loved it

References:

1. RIP Harper Lee 1926-2016
http://www.nytimes.com/video/obituaries/100000004221331/harper-lee-1926-2016.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FLee%2C%20Harper&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=collection

02.2016 Go Set A Watchman

Introduction:

Happy New Year!
To Kill A Mockingbird is an American classic and required reading for most high school freshman students. This month we read Harper Lee's most recent book, a sequel to the classic.

Overview:

"Maycomb, Alabama. Twenty-six-year-old Jean Louise Finch—"Scout"—returns home from New York City to visit her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the civil rights tensions and political turmoil that were transforming the South, Jean Louise's homecoming turns bittersweet when she learns disturbing truths about her close-knit family, the town, and the people dearest to her. Memories from her childhood flood back, and her values and assumptions are thrown into doubt. Featuring many of the iconic characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman perfectly captures a young woman, and a world, in painful yet necessary transition out of the illusions of the past—a journey that can only be guided by one's own conscience."

Book Details:

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Harper; First Edition edition (July 14, 2015)
ISBN-10: 0062409859
ISBN-13: 978-0062409850

Get Book: 

Amazon
Overdrive

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Book Club #9.
Lesson: Be careful what and where you eat.

About the Book:

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

 

 Summary: 

Anthony Bourdain shares his initiation and experiences in the underbelly of the food industry as a culinary school graduate and eventually head chef. There is order and chaos in kitchen, industry secrets, and a wide variety of characters.

 

Characters:

• Anthony Bourdain
• BigFoot - mentor
• fellow workers

Questions:

1. Have you ever worked in the restaurant industry? If yes, in what capacity and was your experience reflected in the book?
2. Bourdain described his kitchen as a loud, lewd environment whereas he later visited another kitchen that was very quiet and had a woman in a higher kitchen position. Reality shows often depict head chefs as loud, angry, dictator types like Gordon Ramsey. Do you think this is a result of Bourdain, reflective of chef personalities, or simply for entertaining television? What do you think is the personality of most kitchens?

3. What do you think it takes to work in the professional food industry?
4. If you were to start a restaurant or food-related business, what would it be?

5. What advice from the book do you plan on implementing in your life? Do you plan on changing any of your dining habits after reading this book? What would you change?
6. Bourdain had a life-changing trip to Japan. Have you had a travel experience that had a great impact on your view of food or was particularly memorable for culinary reasons?

7. What did you feel was most compelling or memorable about the book? What did the author do that made it particularly memorable?

8. Anthony Bourdain describes lots of memorable characters in the book, then mentions them again at the end of the book. Who seemed most interesting to you?

9. Do you think it would be possible to succeed in the restaurant business without caffeine or drugs? They seemed like a big part of the restaurant culture.

 

Conversation Summary:

Discussion topics:

• running a kitchen and working a tough, time-sensitive industry like the culinary world takes a particular personality
• fans of bigfoot - establishing relationships with vendors, kitchen setup, efficiency
• changes to eating habits - no fish on Sunday, bread, eggs benedict
• stories from people who worked in the food industry
• signs of a bad restaurant - bathroom unclean, wide focus, changing menus, management turnover, etc.
• kitchen disasters and restaurant turnovers
• favorite food adventures and experiences
• well-written, bourdain has a easy-to-read and poetic writing style
• bourdain's media/celebrity climb

3/3 bears finished book and 3/3 loved it

References:

1. Anthony Bourdain tv shows: No Reservations, Layover, Parts Unknown

12.2015 Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Introduction:

Hooray! A memoir-type book. My favorite genre.
We live in an age where chefs are heralded as kitchen kings and Anthony Bourdain is a household name and mainstay on the travel channel. This was the book that put him and eventually the foodie lifestyle on the map.

Overview:

Last summer, The New Yorker published Chef Bourdain's shocking, "Don't Eat Before Reading This". Bourdain spared no one's appetite when he told all about what happens behind the kitchen door. Bourdain uses the same "take-no-prisoners" attitude in his deliciously funny and shockingly delectable book, sure to delight gourmands and philistines alike. From Bourdain's first oyster in the Gironde, to his lowly position as dishwasher in a honky--tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown (where he witnesses for the first time the real delights of being a chef); from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center, to drug dealers in the East Village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, Bourdain's tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable. Kitchen Confidential will make your mouth water while your belly aches with laughter. You'll beg the chef for more, please.

Book Details:

Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: Ecco; Updated edition (January 9, 2007)Published: 05/22/2000
ISBN-10: 0060899220
ISBN-13: 978-0060899226

Get Book: 

Amazon
Overdrive

Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City

Book Club #8. Lesson: not all Pulitzer Prize winners are built the same.

About the Book:

Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City

 

 Summary: 

"In 1927, Henry Ford, the richest man in the world, bought a tract of land twice the size of Delaware in the Brazilian Amazon. His intention was to grow rubber, but the project rapidly evolved into a more ambitious bid to export America itself, along with its golf courses, ice-cream shops, bandstands, indoor plumbing, and Model Ts rolling down broad streets."

 

Characters:

• Henry Ford
• Amazonians
• Workers

 

Questions:

1. What did you think about the book and author's writing style?
2. What were Ford's motivations for his actions?
3. Was Fordlandia a success? What is it's current state?
4. What does this say about American capitalism? Can it be successful in other parts of the world?
5. What are the economic and worldwide ramifications of Ford's innovative method of manufacturing and production?

Conversation Summary:

Discussion topics:

• book was full of random facts and details not necessary for narrative
• author thorough in research but style was difficult to read- lack of flow, ending jumps to ethical questions in completely different realms such as US invading Iraq
• Henry Ford background and rise to power
• Ford appeared crazy. Do rich, powerful people all become crazy and lose touch with reality or does that thinking bring them to power?
• Ford's production style - simplify production down to basic components and put people in charge of a small component. Method may only be beneficial for certain type of work and not translatable to certain industries or types of products.
• American capitalism harmful to Amazonians and broke down traditional, cultural values and lifestyle. Ford personally tried to control lifestyles of all aspects of life for workers. Focus on money and competition. Monetary gain does not correlate with increased quality of life.
• Fordlandia was size of small state. Large chunk of Amazon destroyed and now facilities deserted. Interested in lives of people raised and lived in Fordlandia. Children raised and educated by Fordlandia rules, lack future outside of plant operations, though born and raised in Brazil lack local culture. 
• Fordlandia was a fail

2/3 bears finished book and 0/3 loved it

References:

1.  Fordlandia (2008) - man born and raised in Fordlandia returns to see facilities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2SpGRuwqA4

2. Interview with Greg Grandin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsKukVL3Hms

2. Fordlandia in the Amazon - al Jazeera report
http://wn.com/fordlandia_in_the_amazon

Predictably Irrational

Book Club #7! Our first foray into the Non-fiction genre.

About the Book:

Predictably Irrational

 

 Summary: 

Dan Ariely performs research in behavioral economics and attempts to explain his observations and findings in plain language for the general public. People may know better but act completely irrational or be distracted by irrelevant factors from making rational decisions. Examples range from comparing two similar objects and being tricked by marketing decoys to procrastination to how the placebo effect may be effecting clinical trials and inflating drug prices.

 

Characters:

• Dan Ariely
• Irrational people like you and me

 

Questions:

1. Relativity says that if you provide a decoy (A-) that is slightly less enticing than the original (A), people will avoid comparing equally enticing options A and B and focus on the two options that are easy to compare (A and A-). People typically choose A. Several marketing examples were given in the book. Are there scenarios in which relativity/relative advantage does not work? Can you provide an example where you may think you may have fallen for relativity?

2. Americans have problems saving and getting out of debt. Is there anything you are saving for/debt you are trying to get out of and what technique are you employing? Is there anything you would add after reading this book?

3. Which lesson/advice was most meaningful to you or stuck out to you the most?

4. Dan Ariely recently published an article that about the increasing placebo effect and effects on FDA trials. Do you believe in Western medicine and/or supplements? Do you think they are effective? How do you feel about FDA trials?

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/medical-trials-are-jeopardy-due-extreme-hypochondria-americans-1523428

5. Free things and public/corporate trust seem at odds. There was a case that Dan brought up where he actually put money on the table and only 19% of people took the $50 bill from the table. Is there a situation when you were enticed by something free but didn't take advantage because of the fine print?

 

Conversation Summary:

Discussion topics:

• sections that stuck out: arousal affecting people's judgement, researchers observed college students more willing to try bestiality or deceiving women for sex
• favorite sections: procrastination, relativity, artificially affecting market demands, placebo effect
• experience: no longer being interested in free items, more skeptical, more in tune with market norms, comparing salaries
• things learned or plans for future change:
• to fight procrastination, make a plan/timeline based on what you know about yourself and employ an authoritative figure to make you stick to it
• do not be fooled by artificial market valuation, lab diamonds are just as good or better than natural diamonds
• consider all factors when comparing options, not just the factors that are easy to compare
• be wary of placebo effect
• other topics: vitamins/dietary supplements, doctors and patient satisfaction, clinical trials, lying/ altering truth, marketing

From now on, we will choose books 2 months in advance so there is more time to find the next book.

2/3 bears finished book and loved it

References:

1. Employees quitting over coworkers' pay raises

http://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/the-70000-minimum-wage-experiment-reveals-a-dark-truth.html/

2.  FDA clinical trials
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/medical-trials-are-jeopardy-due-extreme-hypochondria-americans-1523428

11.2015 Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City

Introduction:

Nonfiction we go! In a stranger than fiction story, "Fordlandia is the story of Henry Ford's ill-advised attempt to transform raw Brazilian rainforest into homespun slices of Americana." (Amazon)

Book Jacket:

In 1927, Henry Ford, the richest man in the world, bought a tract of land twice the size of Delaware in the Brazilian Amazon. His intention was to grow rubber, but the project rapidly evolved into a more ambitious bid to export America itself, along with its golf courses, ice-cream shops, bandstands, indoor plumbing, and Model Ts rolling down broad streets.

Fordlandia, as the settlement was called, quickly became the site of an epic clash. On one side was the car magnate, lean, austere, the man who reduced industrial production to its simplest motions; on the other, the Amazon, lush, extravagant, the most complex ecological system on the planet. Ford's early success in imposing time clocks and square dances on the jungle soon collapsed, as indigenous workers, rejecting his midwestern Puritanism, turned the place into a ribald tropical boomtown. Fordlandia's eventual demise as a rubber plantation foreshadowed the practices that today are laying waste to the rain forest.

More than a parable of one man's arrogant attempt to force his will on the natural world, Fordlandia depicts a desperate quest to salvage the bygone America that the Ford factory system did much to dispatch. As Greg Grandin shows in this gripping and mordantly observed history, Ford's great delusion was not that the Amazon could be tamed but that the forces of capitalism, once released, might yet be contained.

Book Details:

Length: 432 pages
Publisher: Picador; 1 edition (April 27, 2010)
Published: April 27, 2010
ISBN: 0312429622
ISBN13: 978-0312429621

Get Book: 

Amazon
Overdrive