What was your initial take of the passenger who threatens willa on the airplane. Anne tyler talks with miwa messer from her home in baltimore for a. Book club questions for a spool of blue thread by anne tyler. Over her long career, distinguished by her singular gift for peeling back the layers of family life, she has produced over 20 novels, as well as short stories and criticism. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. Julie i cant help wondering if your book club should kind of expand their horizons a little bit. Her new novel, redhead by the side of the road, shows readers all the old familiar places and moves, and confirms tyler.
Tylers twee updating of the taming of the shrew is an illjudged caper. Anne tyler born october 25, 1941 is an american novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. The best book club picks including fiction, nonfiction, memoir. In order to be successful we must have participation to spark conversation. Feisty and fifty book club for men and women over 50. Dinner at the homesick restaurant the books the book. A spool of blue thread anne tyler, 2015 knopf doubleday 386 pp. Pick your book clubs next selection by browsing through the questions below and clicking the links to find out more. Pick your book clubs next selection by browsing through the questions below. Book club kit discussion guide clock dance by anne tyler author. Anne tylers vinegar girl is a retelling of shakespeares the taming of the shrew, the latest in the hogarth shakespeare series in which contemporary novelists adapt the bards plays for a 21st century audience. The founder is an upstart with a murky past, a hardworking construction guy in a bleak marriage. We will meet once a month to discuss the book of the month. If youve not read any of her 20 novels, why not start here.
Pulitzerprize winning novelist anne tyler talks to harriett gilbert about her own personal favourite novel dinner at the homesick restaurant. Anne tylers latest book the beginners goodbye, was our august pick. Prolific writer anne tyler has produced an entire trove of fiction fit for a book club, but dinner at the homesick restaurant is a perfect entry point. Sounds like life of pi, but in this tall tale form the seas, parts of the story are retold in his adult. Or, rather, abby whitshanks words as she recounts the story of how she fell in love with red whitshank in 1959. This is how abby whitshank always begins the story of how she fell in love with red that day in july 1959. Here are some notes from our own book club discussion of anne tylers a spool of blue thread. Picture a middleclass american family, four generations, living in the suburbs.
Ladder of years by anne tyler book club discussion. Anne tylers novels are perfect for reading group discussionfull of richly drawn characters and compelling themes that highlight the joys, complexities, and struggles of everyday life. Anne tylers booker shortlisted a spool of blue thread is an exquisite meditation on family life. She plucked a book from her shelfanne tylers sixth novel, searching for caleb. The fortune teller and her grandfather went to new york city on an amtrak train. This article first ran as the beyond the book article for anne tylers a spool of blue thread. A spool of blue thread june cc book club selection. An 11yearold boy named michael boards a ship crossing the indian ocean and the suez canal. She has published 22 novels, the best known of which are dinner at the homesick restaurant 1982, the accidental tourist 1985, and breathing lessons 1988. Clock dance is a best book club book for discussion, a novel of selfdiscovery and. Book club questions for a spool of blue thread by anne tyler part of the richard and judy autumn 2015 bookclub. Do you have any thoughts, questions or discussions about a spool of blue thread by anne tyler. You can request a book club in a bag through the ask us desk or by placing a hold in the online catalog. A freshly observed, joyful and wrenching, funny and true new novel from anne tyler it was a beautiful, breezy, yellowandgreen afternoon.
As a member or leader of a book club, you are likely to be reading books on a wide variety of topics, both fiction and nonfiction. The defining moment for pearl was 35 years before, when her husband walked out on her and her three young. A patchwork planet by anne tyler book club discussion questions. Many would classify annes work as southern fiction or modern american. Tyler tends to write about people like us, everyday people, and this is no exception. Over november book club discussed a spool of blue thread by anne tyler, which was shortlisted for the man booker prize this year. The henna artist opens a door into a world that is at. Anne tyler books biography and list of works author of.
New paperback editions of the accidental tourist, the pulitzer prizewinning breathing lessons and 17 other tyler novels are being issued over the next several months by vintage books, a paperback imprint of penguin random house. Use our litlovers book club questions to help start a discussion for clock dance then take off on your own. We will meet from 68, order foodand or a cocktail and discuss the months book. Anyone perusing the discussion questions in the back of the book. The heart of a great book club is great discussion books, but a great book isnt necessarily the same thing as a great book club book more on this later. General book club questions for study and discussion. Fiction anne tyler is back, scrutinizing an inscrutable man in chaos. An amazon best book of the month for february 2015.
Why might anne tyler have incorporated the plane incidentplacing it early onin the novel. All three were finalists for the pulitzer prize for fiction with breathing lessons winning the prize in 1989. Its pretty clear that anne tyler is comfortable with the art of storytelling. No matter the genre, age, notoriety, or length of the book of the moment, book club questions can kickstart or enhance your group discussion. Each month there will be a new hosthostess and they get to choose the book. Anne tyler is an american novelist and short story writer. Each month we choose a newly released book that we feel is perfect for a book club. Mary math mom thought there should be some resolution to dennys im gay announcement. From the first lines of a spool of blue thread, theres an urge to sit back and settle into the cadence of her words. Rutherford county book club meetup murfreesboro, tn.
They are only a starting point, and we hope theyll inspire your. So its likely you already know the basic plot of the bookwhether from reading the original play or seeing the musical kiss me kate or watching the movie 10 things i hate. Anne tyler was born in minneapolis, minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in raleigh, north carolina. The beloved writer anne tyler is the pulitzer prizewinning author of the novel breathing lessons. If youre looking for a fiction title for your book club that will provide plenty of material for discussion, here are 72 possibilities.
She has been nominated for the pulitzer prize for fiction and has won such awards as the janet heidinger kafka prize, the penfaulkner award, the ambassador book award, the national book critics circle award and the sunday times award for literary excellence. I liked the book, anne tylers story telling, more after i finished it, because parts seem to bog down. One of our recommended books for 2019 is clock dance by anne tyler. Anne tyler is the author of more than twenty novels. O magazine, christian science monitor, minneapolis startribune, the times london a charming new novel of selfdiscovery and second chances from the bestselling, pulitzer prizewinning author of a spool of blue thread. The sets contain several copies of discussable titles repurposed from our collections and include questions and other supplemental materials to enrich your discussion. As 85 year old pearl tull lies on her deathbed, she thinks back over her life. Anne tyler is finishing a new book and reorganizing her past. Whether you are discussing characters and their actions, setting, theme, or images, having a guide to questions that will. A few days later, i finally picked up the novel, and started reading. Her eleventh novel, breathing lessons, was awarded the. What do we learn about willa by first meeting her as a little. Her bestselling novels include breathing lessons, the accidental tourist, dinner at the homesick restaurant, ladder of years, back when we were grownups, a patchwork planet, the amateur marriage, digging to america, a spool of blue thread, vinegar girl and clock dance.
She won a pulitzer prize for breathing lessons 1988. A visit with eudora welty, by anne tyler 1980 visiting weltys house in jackson, miss. The story opened with the protagonist, aaron woolcott, announcing, the strangest thing about my wifes return from the dead was how people reacted. Anne tylers novels are perfect for reading group discussionfull of richly drawn. Unspooled in alternating viewpoints, members of the tull family describe how the same events could shape them all into wholly different people. If you want to get to know anne tyler a little better, try this february 5th, 2015 interview in the new york times.
Where to start when reading anne tyler read it forward. No 96 breathing lessons by anne tyler 1988 anne tylers portrayal of a middleaged, midamerican marriage displays her narrative clarity, comic timing and ear for. Why do you think anne tyler began the story where she did. Each member will be able to suggest a book from any genre they desire. The characters in a spool of blue thread look like the same baltimore family members weve socialized with for 50 years in anne tylers fiction. Vinegar girl, her 21st novel, drags shrewish kate into the. If you are a lover of books, over 50 and want to join a fun book club for some social time, then this is it. Anne tyler, american novelist and shortstory writer whose comedies of manners are marked by compassionate wit and precise details of domestic life. We have bags especially for children, teens, adults and large print. Why i still treasure the little house, by anne tyler 1986 tyler considers the continuing appeal of virginia lee burtons childrens book about a house that becomes overwhelmed by urban.
Anne tyler 1941 anne tyler born october 25, 1941 is a pulitzer prizewinning novelist born in minneapolis, minnesota, tyler grew up in raleigh, north carolina, graduated at age nineteen from duke university, and completed graduate work in russian studies at columbia university in new york city. Ladder of years by anne tyler book club discussion questions. Willa drake can count on one hand the defining moments of her life. Learn more about tylers life and work, including her other notable books. A spool of blue thread, by anne tyler the new york times. Dinner at the homesick restaurant by anne tyler reading. Our thoughts on a spool of blue thread by anne tyler. It spans across several generations, taking in one familys secrets and losses, its changes.
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