We'll meet on March 29th at 7:30 to discuss Becky's pick, Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson. 

This month's pick is Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. We don't know much about Shakespeare's personal life, but this work of historical fiction nicely knits together some clues we do have to weave a story of a son lost too soon, and how his father would come to name one of his greatest characters for him. 

Meet in Stacey's backyard on March 1st at 7:30 pm. We'll have a fire going to help keep warm.

Louisa May Alcott

I saw this on the Facebook page "A Mighty Girl" today.

"Many people are familiar with Louisa May Alcott’s work as an author, but did you know that she was also served as a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War? In fact, she eventually adapted her letters home into a published book, “Hospital Sketches” -- a work that became famous long before she put pen to paper to start her classic book “Little Women.”

Alcott and her family were outspoken abolitionists who denounced slavery as the "wickedness of our country & the cowardice of the human race.” When war broke out, Alcott wished she could be on the front lines: “I long to be a man, but as I can’t fight, I will content myself with working for those who can,” she wrote in her journal. In 1862, she finally had her chance: she was assigned to work as a nurse in the Union Hotel U.S.A. General Hospital in Washington, D.C. under the famous social reformer Dorothea Dix.

While she initially cared for soldiers suffering from disease, she had a first-hand look at the true horrors of war when carts began bringing thousands of wounded men from the Battle of Fredericksburg. Alcott was shocked at first when a nurse asked her to start bathing the men, an unthinkable task for an unmarried woman, but soon discovered there were grimmer trials ahead. She assisted with anesthetic-free amputations, sat at deathbeds, and notified both patients and families about impending deaths. After six weeks, she left the hospital as a patient herself -- she had contracted typhoid fever and spent weeks in recovery.

While she was recovering, she gave her family permission to publish her letters home. Her series in the Boston Commonwealth magazine became a favorite of readers who were eager to hear about life on the war front. Later, she revised the letters into “Hospital Sketches” and added a fictional narrator, a woman named Tribulation Periwinkle. It's believed that Trib’s wry tone, heavy on satire, may have provided a way for Alcott to process her experiences treating the injured soldiers. And, while it's little known today, “Hospital Sketches” became Louisa May Alcott’s first widely popular work."

Life of Pi Q&A

Here's a link to the Q&A with Yann Martel that Bonnie referred to during our discussion.  It's pretty interesting.

Jane Eyre Supplements

What a fun discussion we had last night!  Thanks for coming, everyone.  I wanted to record some of the books about Jane that were mentioned.  If I'm missing something, feel free to add it in a comment or post. Rebecca mentioned The Eyre Affair , which is set in modern day and transports a character into Jane's world.  I suggested Wide Sargasso Sea, which is the story from Bertha's perspective.  Several of us are excited to see the new movie.  You can see where it's playing here.  Courtney is considering changing her pick for next month, so I'll keep you posted on that.

Jane Eyre

Girls, there are lots of inexpensive copies of Jane Eyre available online, and I'm hoping it won't be hard to find at the libraries.  Also, if you want to read it from your Kindle or iPhone, download it for free here; or you can download a free audio version from iTunes here.  I'm very excited about this!  I just love this book.

Michael Pollan on NPR

We heard this episode of To the Best of Our Knowledge on NPR last weekend.  Michael Pollan does a short interview.  Most of it is verbatim from his book, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless.  I couldn't figure out how to upload it, but here's the link to download it for free from iTunes.  It's the Back to the Farm episode.