Tracy Book Club

Did you know that Tracy has a book club for grownups? Well, we do!
Meeting every Thursday night at 6:30pm at the Tracy Branch of the Stockton Public Library, we get together to talk about books! Unlike many book clubs, ours is not limited to just one genre. We like to try out many different types of books and see if we like them! Then we come together and voice our opinions.

So far, some of the books we have read include: The Girl With The Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier; The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov; and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. Recently, which each chose a different biography and shared with the group what we had learned.

So far, there has been something great about each of the books.

We’re always looking for fresh ideas and new voices.

The club is open to anyone. It’s free to join, but you’ll probably need to get a library card if you don’t already have one, to borrow the books we’re reading. Feel free to just drop by at meeting time (6:30pm, Thursdays, 20 E. Eaton Ave., Tracy, in the bookstore, to the right of the entrance) or call the library at (209)937-8221. We'd love to have you!

Chocolat (by Joanne Harris)

"Chocolat” by Joanne Harris
Much like the sweet of the same name, life is a little better because “Chocolat” exists.
This is the tale of a young French woman, Vianne Rocher, and her 6-year-old daughter, Anouk, along with Pantoufle, of course, Anouk’s invisible rabbit. This family of travelers arrives in the small town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes during the town’s celebration of “Shrove Tuesday”.
Vianne opts to stay in this town for a bit and quickly opens a “chocolatier's”. Located across the street from the church, open on Sundays - during Lent for that matter – the shop creates moral dilemma for the parish priest, Francis Reynard. Vianne’s mysterious abilities to “guess” everyone’s favorite treat, amongst other talents, also confuse and upset the priest. But when Vianne is encouraged by the children of the town to hold a Chocolate Festival on Easter Sunday, Reynard draws the battle line between church and chocolate.
This is an incredible, unexpected story and Vianne is a character which young girls and women can and should look to as a role model. She is a strong, independent woman, taking care of her family, while at the same time, befriending townspeople – the lonely, the abused, and the unappreciated.
Ms. Harris’ beautiful fairy tale – for that is what it seems to be – is compassionate and hopeful. Through the drama and animosity, which must accompany any good story, there seems to be a continuing feeling of optimism. As I read this, I found myself hoping for the best even for the most antagonistic character.
This story was made into a feature film in 2000, starring Juliette Binoche, Alfred Molina and Johnny Depp, and was nominated for 5 Academy Awards. The movie was wonderful.
The book, forgive me for sounding cliché, was so much better. -Denise Cordoni

Ella Minnow Pea (by Mark Dunn)

Ella Minnow Pea (by Mark Dunn)

When I saw the title of this book, I knew I had to read it. Even without reading the description.

Then I went a bit further and saw that it was based on quite an unusual premise. The entire story stems from the sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". Do you remember that? I remember that from typing class - over and over and over with Mrs. Ragussa, junior year. (This was way before computers, when we had to wait until high school to learn to type and that was on a Selectric II. Whatever happened to the Selectric II?)

Anyway, more than a typing exercise, it is a pangram – a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet. This is only one of the many words and definitions I learned from Ella Minnow Pea.

The story is written as an "epistolary" or a novel made up of letters, usually written between two or more characters in the story. It takes place on the mythical island nation of "Nollop", off the coast of South Carolina. The island is not only named for "Nevin Nollop" the original author of our famous pangram, but also features a statue of him, complete with his famous sentence. Nevin is held in much esteem by the entire Nollop population.

The local residents, happy and dedicated to all things literary, are taken aback when one of the tiles on the statue, "Z", breaks away and falls to the ground. The local government must decide if this is an accident or something more profound, such as a message from Nevin himself. Naturally, they decide it is a sign from Nevin that they must remove the letter "Z" from their vocabulary. This seems simple enough. Until it is put into practice. Every spoken or written word must be considered prior to its utterance. I found myself trying to speak or write without using the letter "Z". It was certainly something that could be done, but it was a task to consider each word that carefully!

Gradually, it is learned that more tiles are falling off the statue, which results in more letters being removed from written and verbal communication all over the tiny nation of Nollop. Laws are passed to enforce punishment on residents who break the new laws and speak, read or write the outlawed letters. Public humiliation becomes the norm. Teachers can’t teach. Libraries are closed. Neighbors turn on neighbors. Natives who know only life on the island are banished from their homeland for uttering "Zebra", "Quince" or similar.

This seemingly cute little story suddenly switches course and, frankly, frightened me. The concept that a supposed basic freedom - the freedom of speech, written or spoken, in this case - can be methodically taken away from the masses by a ruling body blinded by its own beliefs, should be frightening.

This simple little story did what any good literature should do. It made me think. It made me consider things I take for granted every day. I already mentioned freedom of speech. I also considered, maybe for the first time in my privileged American life, the separation of church and state, or lack thereof. And freedom of religion was right up there. It even made me consider McCarthyism - something I can’t honestly say I have ever done before.

Ella Minnow Pea made me think. And isn’t that, after all, what books should do? Otherwise, what would be the point? To get even more basic, isn’t the alphabet the beginning of our ability to think in the literary? Therefore, it seems fitting that Dunn would use this particular venue to get his point across.

Get the book. Read it. Enjoy it. I did. I think this is one I will remember for a long time to come. Let me know what you think about it.

DIGRESSION ALERT DIGRESSION ALERT: If you like to read, and if you are reading this, you probably do, you should know that Tracy has its very own reading club for adults! Oh, yeah, it rocks! It meets every Thursday at 6:30pm until between 7:30 and 8, at the Tracy Branch of the Library. (Except for Nov. 16 and 23.) It’s free to join, but you’ll probably need to get a library card if you don’t already have one, to borrow the books we’re reading. We’re very eclectic and like all different kinds of books. Everyone is welcome. Feel free to just drop by at meeting time (in the bookstore, to the right of the entrance) or call the library at (209)937-8221,

Thanks for reading my Blahg Blahg Blahg - catch ya next time !