At book group today, we had a fine discussion of Willa Cather's excellent, elegiac My Antonia. Kris noted we're approaching our one-hundredth meeting. In commemoration, here's a list of every book we've read during the past eight years.

THE ELM STREET BOOK GROUP READING LIST
(The very best books — in terms of quality of text and discussion — are in bold; the worst are in italics.)

02 Nov 96: ISHMAEL by Daniel Quinn
07 Dec 96: THE DISPOSSESSED by Ursula LeGuin
11 Jan 97: A THOUSAND ACRES by Jane Smiley
08 Feb 97: THE RIVER WHY by David James Duncan
08 Mar 97: BELOVED by Toni Morrison
12 Apr 97: THE HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE by John Irving
10 May 97: A LESSON BEFORE DYING by Ernest J. Gaines
21 Jun 97: THE RAPTURE OF CANAAN by Sheri Reynolds
26 Jul 97: HOUSE MADE OF DAWN by N. Scott Momaday
16 Aug 97: Media Month: THE MEDIUM IS THE MASSAGE by Marshall McLuhan and
FOUR ARGUMENTS FOR THE ELIMINATION OF TELEVISION by Jerry Mander
13 Sep 97: DAKOTA: A SPIRITUAL GEOGRAPHY by Kathleen Norris
11 Oct 97: LILA: AN INQUIRY INTO MORALS by Robert Pirsig

15 Nov 97: COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier
13 Dec 97: WALDEN by Henry David Thoreau
10 Jan 98: TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald
02 Feb 98: THE SONGLINES by Bruce Chatwin
07 Mar 98: A MIDWIFE'S TALE by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
04 Apr 98: SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS by David Guterson
09 May 98: ANGELA'S ASHES by Frank McCourt
27 Jun 98: SHE'S COME UNDONE by Wally Lamb
18 Jul 98: GEEK LOVE by Katherine Dunn
22 Aug 98: Ecoterrorism Month: ANTARCTICA by Kim Stanley Robinson and
THE MONKEY-WRENCH GANG by Edward Abbey
19 Sep 98: THE POWER OF ONE by Bryce Courtenay
17 Oct 98: A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SENSES by Diane Ackerman

14 Nov 98: HUNGER by Knut Hamsun
12 Dec 98: ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoy
09 Jan 99: DUNE by Frank Herbert
06 Feb 99: BRAIN SEX by David Jessell and Dr. Anne Moir
14 Mar 99: UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN by Frances Mayes
10 Apr 99: MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden
21 May 99: SILENCE by Shusaku Endo
19 Jun 99: THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES OF 1998
25 Jul 99: MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie
11 Aug 99: THE DEBT TO PLEASURE by John Lanchester
18 Sep 99: THE SELF-AWARE UNIVERSE by Amit Goswami
16 Oct 99: THE DIAMOND AGE by Neal Stephenson

13 Nov 99: STONES FROM THE RIVER by Ursula Hegi
18 Dec 99: STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert Heinlein
22 Jan 00: THE MILL ON THE FLOSS by George Eliot
13 Feb 00: THE READER by Bernhard Schlink
26 Mar 00: REBECCA by Daphne DuMaurier
16 Apr 00: COMING OF AGE IN THE MILKY WAY by Timothy Ferris
13 May 00: THE CIDER HOUSE RULES by John Irving
11 Jun 00: THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS by Arundhati Roy
16 Jul 00: ISHMAEL by Daniel Quinn
26 Aug 00: HARRY POTTER series by J.K. Rowling
24 Sep 00: MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY trilogy by Nordhoff and Hall
22 Oct 00: THE POISONWOOD BIBLE by Barbara Kingsolver

18 Nov 00: AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
16 Dec 00: THE SUGAR ISLAND by Ivonne Lamazares
20 Jan 01: THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING by Milan Kundera
17 Feb 01: HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG by Andre Dubus III
10 Mar 01: LOLITA by Vladmir Nabokov
08 Apr 01: THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS by Ursula LeGuin
19 May 01: PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION by Isaac Asimov
09 Jun 01: INTO THIN AIR by Jon Krakauer
07 Jul 01: ANIL'S GHOST by Michael Ondaatje
25 Aug 01: LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI by Mark Twain
16 Sep 01: THE LAST REPORT ON THE MIRACLE AT LITTLE NO-HORSE by Louse Erdrich
27 Oct 01: THE SPIRIT CATCHES YOU AND YOU FALL DOWN by Anne Fadiman

17 Nov 01: CONTACT by Carl Sagan
15 Dec 01: ALL THE PRETTY HORSES by Cormac McCarthy
12 Jan 02: SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION by Ken Kesey
09 Feb 02: PERFUME by Patrick Suskind
23 Mar 02: TITUS GROAN by Mervyn Peake
12 Apr 02: 1984 by George Orwell
17 May 02: NINE PARTS OF DESIRE by Geraldine Brooks
22 Jun 02: ANGLE OF REPOSE by Wallace Stegner
20 Jul 02: COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier
18 Aug 02: THINGS FALL APART by Chinua Achebe
20 Sep 02: A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving
19 Oct 02: GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING by Tracy Chevalier

23 Nov 02: MOBY DICK by Herman Melville
15 Dec 02: THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
10 Jan 03: THE BUTCHER BOY by Patrick McCabe
08 Feb 03: LIVES OF THE MONSTER DOGS by Kirsten Bakis
08 Mar 03: POST CAPTAIN by Patrick O'Brian
12 Apr 03: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury
10 May 03: PASSAGE TO JUNEAU by Jonathan Raban
01 Jun 03: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS by H.G. Bissinger
18 Jul 03: SWANN'S WAY by Marcel Proust
18 Aug 03: HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy by Phillip Pullman
20 Sep 03: TENDER AT THE BONE by Ruth Reichl
18 Oct 03: WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams

16 Nov 03: ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe
13 Dec 03: ASK THE DUST by John Fante
24 Jan 04: DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA by Alexander de Tocqueville
22 Feb 04: MAUS and MAUS II by Art Spiegelman
21 Mar 04: EXPLAINING HITLER by Ron Rosenbaum
18 Apr 04: AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS by Flann O'Brien
15 May 04: READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN by Azar Nafisi
13 Jun 04: RED MARS by Kim Stanely Robinson
10 Jul 04: ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez
07 Aug 04: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen
19 Sep 04: CROSSING TO SAFETY by Wallace Stegner
16 Oct 04: A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess

13 Nov 04: BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
11 Dec 04: MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather
15 Jan 05: A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT by Sebastian Japrisot (Kris) at Mary's
12 Feb 05: A PLACE OF MY OWN by Michael Pollan (Craig) at Kris and J.D.'s
March 05: Lynn's pick
April 05: THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry Adams (J.D.) at ???
May 05: Lisa's pick
June 05: Jenn's pick

I am amazed that this group has lasted so long. Members have come and gone. We've had golden ages, and periods during which we thought the group would fold. Through it all, we've had some excellent discussions, and we've read some fascinating books.

Kris and I always say that the best thing about book group is that it forces us to read books we otherwise wouldn't consider. For example, the consensus favorite book we've ever read is actually a trilogy: Nordhoff and Hall's MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY trilogy. None of us would have read this if Mac hadn't picked it, yet each of us now considers it one of our favorite books. It's that good.

We've read books that were simply awful (STONES FROM THE RIVER, PRELUDE TO FOUNDATION, books that were pretentious (THE POISONWOOD BIBLE, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS), books of surprising quality (HUNGER, THE SHELTERING SKY). We've had great discussions (SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION, MAUS), and we've had poor ones (THE SUGAR ISLAND, the second reading of COLD MOUNTAIN).

We've had many great discussions, too. We started the group with a work of environmental philosophy: Daniel Quinn's ISHMAEL. For two or three years thereafter, we considered that book the group's touchstone. We tried to tie every book we read back to Ishmael. We eventually lost this thematic goal, but we've never lost a passion for quality books.

My favorite gatherings include the first ISHMAEL dicussion (at the first meeting of the group), the discussion of Robert Pirsig's idea-laden LILA: AN INQUIRY INTO MORALS, and our conversation about SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION. The best discussion we've had, in my opinion, is for the graphic novels MAUS and MAUS II. It was a raw, emotional meeting, filled with intensity and a slow, churning, poltical rage.

I like our current small group: Craig and Lisa, Jenn, Kim, Lynn, Mary, and Kris and myself. Yes, the group is small, but everyone reads the book, and everyone has something thoughtful to contribute to the discussion. And nobody dominates (which is important). Maybe Kris and Pam and Aimee were right: maybe eight is the ideal number. (The trouble is, what happens when several of the eight cannot make a meeting?)

I'm pleased that this book group has stayed together for eight years. Let's hope it can stay together for eight more.

I wonder what The Cinnamon Bear is reading.

Episode #13: "The Wintergreen Witch" (11 December 1937) — The Wintergreen Witch tries to take Judy and Jimmy's Silver Star and change the kids into mice, but they get away. After their hurried flight, Crazy Quilt sits on the Silver Star and breaks it.

This was hands-down the scariest episode for me when I was a kid: The Wintergreen Witch and the star breaks. Gee-whillikers!

On this day at foldedspace.org

2002 — Solaris: The Movie   I had the afternoon free today, so I decided to see Solaris before it left theaters completely; Jeremy asked me to post a review.