End of the Summer Book Choices

The following book ideas are from Andrea Dunne, who posts comments as "Anonymous."

Paris in Love: A Memoir, by Eloisa James
Brothers K, by David James Duncan
Clara and Mr. Tiffany, by Susan Vreeland
City of Thieves, by David Benioff
Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

A couple of these books, most notably Brothers K, are particularly long. If a lengthy book is chosen, the length of time to read will be increased. So don't let length deter you from making the choice.

Please email your choice to kzmclain@comcast.net by Tuesday, July 31.

Thanks Andrea for your great choices.

The Doc is In...

Doc, by Mary Doria Russell, got my vote for this month’s book choice.  But, once I began to read it, I thought I might have made a mistake.  After about 20 pages, I checked to make sure it was fiction, because it was reading like a not-very-engaging biography.  I was afraid I wouldn’t finish it in time.  It’s never a good sign when I check to see how many pages I have left in a book!

But, I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. First of all, some little things made it readable.  I thought the chapter names were clever, although I don’t know what most of them mean in card-playing lingo, so if they were supposed to convey something, that didn’t work for me.  But, I always like it when authors name their chapters.  I also liked that she listed the characters at the beginning, and especially that she identified the few characters who weren’t real.  I love historical fiction, but I do like to know which characters and events are made up.

Mostly, I liked the rather unusual way she portrayed all these infamous characters.  Wyatt’s bad teeth had a profound effect on his personality, and I loved that Doc took care of that problem for him.  It’s such a mundane and ordinary dilemma for the larger-than-life characters.  In fact, I liked Doc the best when he was being a dentist.  He seemed committed to his profession as a way of helping people, not making money.  In fact, as Kate often pointed out, his dental work didn’t come close to making a living for them.  It made me feel sad for him that his health forced him to live in a place where he wasn’t likely to be able to practice the profession he loved.  Toward the end, his health was so frail that he couldn’t have practiced the profession in any case.

And Kate…quite an unlikeable character for me.  She had some issues for sure.  She was a different and unpleasant person when she was drunk, which was a lot of the time.  I had no problem with her being a prostitute; women in those days truly didn’t have many options.  But, she was nasty to Doc and just about everyone else.  On the other hand, she was there for Doc in his darkest hours, so I have to give her credit for that.

One thing that disappointed me was that Russell never showed the reader the shoot-out at the OK Corral.  I guess I was supposed to remember what happened there, but I don’t.  Since she referred to it throughout the novel, I assumed we’d experience it, and I wish she had put it in.  Now I feel like I have to do a little research and find out what happened.

Finally, I have to talk about the author’s digressions, two of which stood out to me.  At one point, she said that had James not talked Kate into going back to Doc, then everything would have turned out differently.  Doc would have married Belle, they would have been happy with many children, and even Belle’s parents would have fallen back in love because they were grandparents.  Wow!   That seems a bit extreme.

But, I loved the section where she described Fr. Alexander’s experience with the Indians, when he was taking the place of the beloved Fr. Paul.  Fr. Alex realizes that he’s sort of like Titus was to St. Paul—always second best because the man he was replacing was so loved and respected.  Once he found his peace with that, he was a better missionary to the Indians.  Random, but I liked it.

What did you like about the book?  Did any characters or events surprise you?  What do you think of Mary Russell as a story-teller? 

Howdy Pardners

The group selected Doc, A Novel, by Mary Doria Russell as our book choice. Discussion will begin July 15. Enjoy your early summer.

First Summer Reading Choices

Our book selections for our first book of the summer are provided by Jen. Your choices are:


Doc, by Mary Doria Russell


Bones that Float: A Story of Adopting Cambodia, by Kari Grady Grossman

A Dog's Purpose, by W. Bruce Cameron

Oxygen, A Novel, by Carol Cassella


Please send your vote to me at kzmclain@comcast.net by Sunday, June 3.

"I Want To Be a Surgeon"

This initial review of My Name is Mary Sutter is from Bec:

My Name is Mary Sutter was not my first choice of the books suggested, but I did think it sounded interesting and I looked forward to reading it. I’m glad it was chosen, because I really enjoyed it.

One reason I didn’t pick it was that I’ve read quite a few books set during the Civil War. That period in American history isn’t one I’m especially interested in, and I wasn’t sure whether I would find it easy to engage in the story. But, this was a different perspective of that war, in several ways.

For one thing, I liked that much of it took place right where I live, in Northern Virginia and Washington. Manassas, Fairfax Court House, Centerville, etc., are all places I’ve visited or driven past many times, and, of course I’m familiar with many of the spots mentioned in D.C. I’m always fascinated with what a small and un-lovely place Washington was at that time. So, the setting helped me get interested, because I learned a lot about what was going on in the city. I had no idea, for example, that many of the government buildings and hotels were turned into medical facilities.

I also enjoyed the focus on medicine and especially on the fact that the protagonist was a woman trying to establish herself in the medical field. I wasn’t surprised at the brutal descriptions of the wounds and sicknesses caused by the war. I was surprised that there were doctors and other medical people trying to do research to find out how some of the problems could be lessened.

In other words, I liked the book because it wasn’t what I expected from a “Civil War Novel.”

Mary Sutter was a good character. I could identify with her frustration at being shut out from a profession that she knew she would love and could excel in. Her persistence was almost comical, but it’s probably the only way she could have broken into that good old boys’ club. It was nice, but probably not realistic, that some of the doctors accepted her pretty quickly. On the other hand, considering the conditions, perhaps their desperation would have helped Mary break down the barriers. I found the depiction of Dorothea Dix very surprising! She’s always painted as someone quite saintly, but she certainly had some character defects in this book.

The character that bothered me the most was Mary’s mother. So many times in the book she didn’t give Mary the support she needed. Her attitude was that Mary was very strong, so she could take care of herself. Mary was strong, but everyone needs support, and Mary didn’t always get it from her mother. When Mary failed to save Jenny, she felt a lot of guilt. The fact that her mother not only didn’t help her get over it, but actually made Mary feel even guiltier was, for me, unforgiveable.

Finally, I liked the book because it was so well written. I read it quickly, and, in fact, had trouble putting it down. It wasn’t a page-turner in the usual sense, but I cared a lot about Mary and always wanted to find out how her life would turn out. And, can I just say that I like the happy ending! Good for you, Mary!

I would recommend this book to just about anyone. The female protagonist, the setting, and the medical plot thread all set it apart from most other books written about the Civil War period.

My question to everyone is this: What, if anything, surprised you?

Back to the Civil War

Votes are in, and we selected My Name is Mary Sutter: A Novel, by Robin Oliveira. Discussion will begin Friday, May 11.

Back to Book Club

Ethereal Reader has taken a brief respite, but it is back! It appears only a couple of members read the last book, so it is with great hope that more will participate in this month's selection and subsequent discussion. If you can think of ways to liven us up, please let ER know.

Thanks to Andrea, here are our book choices for April/May:

The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larsen
What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safra Foer
My Name is Mary Sutter, by Robin Oliveira

Please email your vote to kzmclain@comcast.net by Tuesday, April 3.