Sharp eyed readers will know that I'm referring to the book by Patricia Wood, a wonderful story of a man with an intellectual disability. A couple of months ago we announced that Rolling Around would be hosting our 3rd book club. Lots of you signed on and I said I'd set a date in January.
Well, the date is nigh upon us, January 25th will be the day that we talk about the book together. What is very cool is that Patrica Wood, the book's author has agreed to write something for the blog that day. What an honour to have her join with our little community here and to hear what she has to say about the writing of the book and the development of the characters within.
Vita Community Living Services has a book club and we will be meeting on that same day. Christian Horizons, a fellow service organization, has some staff that will be joining us and I anticipate a wonderful discussion.
So, for those who said they'd join - if you haven't read the book, get pounding. For those that have, be prepared to add in a few words and particularly welcome Patricia to the forum.
To remind you, there are two ways to participate in the Book Club, for those who have blogs, you can blog about the book and link to us here at Rolling around and put your contact information in the comment section so readers can pop over and visit your blog. Or you can simply just write something in the comment section of the blog that day. This has worked well in the past and will do again I'm sure.
I'm all excited!
I'd also like some suggestions for future book club meetings. The only criteria is that the book must have something to do with disability in some way. So what's good out there?
23 comments:
Looking forward to reading the discussion. It's a great book.
OMG
I got the book for xmas and am going to start it today.
I'd better get my finger out.
OhWheely, once you start, you won't want to put it down. I couldn't.
Dave, the word about the book club and this book is spreading to other organizations in Simcoe County as well!
Hopefully I'll get it in time, the library says there's a 22 day wait!
I too am looking forward to participating.
Thanks so much for inviting me.
much aloha!
Patricia Wood
Glad i popped by as was looking for my next book to read!
eek now I need to do a book review, I read the book ages ago, like Belinda said it was hard to put down. Thinking cap on.
I can't wait. It is a truly fabulous book.
I don't know if I'll have a chance to read it, but I'd like to. Jodi Picoult's Handle with Care is good--some inaccuracies about OI but I live with a lot of those issues; a good intent is there, I think.
Dear Dave:
I have a couple of suggestions for the book club:
Deafening by Frances Itani
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (the main character doesn't have a disability per se but certainly a difference that makes a difference)
The Girls by Lori Lansens
Have not got my copy of Lottery yet - it is ordered I will have to read like mad.
Thanks for doing the book club, Dave
Colleen
I kinda liked Four Feet Tall :D
Julia,
You made my day!!!! Did you really like 4 feet tall? Really?
Holy cow, Dave. I would love to read 4 Feet Tall, but amazon's cheapest price is private seller/used $111.00! That is not a typo.
Guess I'll wait for book deflation.
You want books about disability? Man youll be sorry I asked:)
The following are all memoirs of disability Ive read and loved:
Autism
Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern
Elijah's Cup, Valerie Paradiz
Raising Blaze, Debra Ginsberg
Pretending to be Normal, Liane Willey Holliday
Somebody Somewhere, Donna Williams
Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon
Born on a Blue Day, Daniel Tammet
Mental retardation:
Riding the Bus With My Sister, Rachel Simon
Borderline personality disorder:
Get me out of here, Rachel Reiland
Learning disabilities:
Laughing Allegra, Anne Ford
Multiple Personality Disorder:
First Personal Plural, Cameron West
Bipolar:
An Unquiet Mind, Kay Redfield Jamison
Schizophrenia:
The Quiet Room, Lori Schiller
Down Syndrome:
Expecting Adam by Martha Beck
Paralysis:
My Body Politic, Simi Linton
Blindness:
No End In Sight: My Life as a Blind Iditarod Racer, Rachael Scdoris
Hearing Difficulties:
Train Go Sorry, Inside a Deaf World by Leah Hager Cohen
Take your pick:)
I love all the suggestions!
For those of you who drive alot/have a cd player, I got The Lottery on cd from the library, so listenned as I drove...painless and entertaining.
I just downloaded Lottery to my new Kindle2, Dave. I wasn't going to participate because I have RA, particularly in my hands, and holding a book has become too painful. But I can hold the Kindle! You can imagine how delighted I am, a lifelong, avid reader.
I'll start reading Lottery tonight. I'm looking forward to the discussions and will definitely post a review of the book on my blog, RheumaBlog.
As for other books on disability, I'd like to suggest two:
1. Planet of the Blind, by Steven Kuusisto (a biography by a visually impaired poet and writer); and
2. Dancing at the River's Edge: A Patient and Her Doctor Negotiate Life with Chronic Illness (a dual memoir which traces the growth of their unique friendship over decades. The book explores the bond between caregiver and sufferer, and offers a sensitive account of the day to day frustrations and emotional toll suffered by the chronically ill). It's by Alida Brill and Dr. Michael D. Lockshin.
-Wren
AkMom,
Pretty much all my books are available from www.diverse-city.com . I think 4 Feet Tall is less than 10 dollars.
Found it, thanks!
Dave.
Yes, of course I enjoyed Four Feet Tall.
I purchased it at Supported Life Conference in Sacramento this Fall.
I bought it for me, ah, I mean my 7 year old son and you signed it for him.
I read it before I left Sacramento and am now reading it with Quincy in the evenings.
He's really getting a kick out of Peter and Eric.
A couple more for the list
Memory loss
Memory Board by Jane Rule
Physical disability
The Body's Memory by Jean Stewart
Alison Lapper My Life in my Hands
Between Gardens by Dorothy Field and Carol Graham Chudley
I started to google this topic and found a mystery called
Seven Days at Oak Valley by Ruthie Marie Beckwith.....the main character is a man with an intellectual disability!!!!
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards is a really good book. I also really enjoyed Expecting Adam by Martha Beck.
I'm the author of a new book that your group might be interested in. Seven Days at Oak Valley is a murder mystery set in a state-run institution in Tennessee in 1978. Tony Bedford Ervin is one of the residents who becomes the sleuth and his life and that of his friends will never be the same. For more info, follow this link to my website, www.ruthiemariebeckwith.com. I'm a disability rights advocate who has just outed myself as a writer. Thank you!
Incendiary by Chris Cleave is a great book - it deals with mental health issues but I'm not 100% sure it's what you meant for the book club. His other one The Other Hand (Little Bee is the title in some places I know) is good as well. Souvenir by Therese Fowler is about a woman diagnosed with ALS (I think, been a while since he read it) and I loved it. I'd also second the rec for Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult although the end annoyed me.
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