Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our November 2014 selection:

Fingal O'Reilly, Irish Doctorby Patrick Taylor

Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.

Fingal O'Reilly, Irish Doctor is the ninth title in the Irish Country series by Patrick Taylor. This title focuses on the medical practice over the years of Fingal O'Reilly, who came to the Irish village in the country straight from medical school.  The book flips back and forth in time between present day 1950s Ireland and the past when Fingal first began practicing in the village. Many of the characters are present in the other books in the series and, although this can be read as a stand-alone title, reading the series in order will probably enhance the reader's experience.


The group discussed the various changes in medicine revealed by the cases described and some of the differences in medicine between Ireland and the United States.  The rest of the discussion focused on the various characters and their relationships to each other.  All the members found the book enjoyable and several said they planned to go back and read other titles in the series. At least one member had already read the previous titles and noted that she enjoys the series.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our October 2014 selection:

The Round House
by Louise Erdrich

Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.

Everyone found The Round House interesting, especially the setting, which takes place mainly on an Indian reservation in North Dakota. It is very much a coming-of-age story about Joe, a 13-year-old boy whose mother is attacked and kidnapped and then narrowly escapes being burned to death by an unknown assailant. Joe becomes determined to uncover the man who has traumatized his mother and wreaked such havoc on his family. Joe was determined to find a way "To return to the Before."

The discussion centered around the idea of culture, how living on a reservation might help or harm preservation of a tribe's culture and whether or not preserving one's culture is an individual or government responsibility. The members were divided on whether or not there should be reservations in America today. Members also discussed the dual justice system on the reservation and how that impacted Joe's decisions in his search for justice and his view of his father, a tribal judge. Most said that they would recommend this book to others, especially those interested in Indian life today.

Several members enjoyed the other characters in Erdrich's novel and one member said she got such a kick out the "those rascally boys." But another member, after the meeting, objected to the offensive language in the novel which is, at times, very coarse.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our September 2014 selection:

The Light Between Oceans
by M. L. Stedman

Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.

All but one member said they loved or very much liked the book. The one member said she found she disliked the character of Isabel so much that she quit reading and skipped to the last 4 chapters. The discussion centered on the choices made by the various characters and their consequences. Also, members commented on how they each viewed the actions of Tom, Isabel, and Hannah (the central characters) and whether or not they saw their choices as right or wrong. Several commented they thought the book got off to a slow start but, once they got into it, they couldn’t put it down. One member loves lighthouses and has visited many so she was delighted with setting. Although the narrative may at first appear fairly basic, the plot overlays a number of complex actions and interactions by many characters and there was not time in our discussion to explore all the intricacies of this novel.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our August 2014 selection:

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
by Anthony Marra

Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.

Members thought the book was an incredible accomplishment for a first novel and said that, despite the rather complex presentation, they did become interested in the main characters although the book got off to a slow start. The narrative centers around three residents of a rural village in Chechnya, caught up in yet another civil war.  The two adults are determined to protect the recently orphaned 8-year-old Havaa, who has escaped the death squad sent to eliminate both her and her father.  We discussed the effects, both physical and mental, of living in a constant state of war and the deprivations imposed by years of destruction and deprivation.  In particular, the discussion focused on the moral choices people are forced to make in order for they and/or their families to survive. Members also talked about how fortunate we are in this country and that we cannot truly comprehend what people in other parts of the world are going through. As this title also centered around war and the victims of war, the group feels a bit "war-weary" but also more informed about some lesser known conflicts and their consequences on the people who lived through them.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our July 2014 selection:

How It All Began
by Penelope Lively
Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.

Penelope Lively's How It All Began takes one random event in the life of one person--the mugging of a healthy but elderly widow--and explores the tumble-down effect that event has on the people connected both directly and indirectly to her: family, friends of family, friends of friends, and a student she was tutoring in a class she taught as a volunteer.  Readers get an intimate glimpse into all these varied personalities and the results of this one random event on their lives.

All the members thoroughly enjoyed the book, which was a light read after the past few months' selections. Discussion focused on the personalities of the characters and the right- or wrongness of decisions they made in the aftermath of the mugging.  Should the widow's daughter have followed through on her love for her mother's student, whom she meets when he comes to her house for tutoring while her mother is staying there for recuperation?  Who is truly evil, the mugger who robbed one person or the grasping solicitor and the amoral financier?  How do the widow and the retired professor differ in their approach to old age?

How It All Began makes for an interesting and relaxing approach to some timeless human questions.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our June 2014 selection:

Needle in the Bone
by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg

Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work as reported by Leslie Nord, who was standing in as facilitator for Janine Myers.

· They were all glad to read the book even though it was not an “enjoyable” book due to subject matter. They thought it was a wonderful story (although the writing was not very good). It was hard to get into at first, then got really good, but the ending was not strong. The present tense was hard to follow at times, it did not flow.

· One member had the Jewish man as a professor in undergrad and graduate school both. Despite his strong accent she never had any problem understanding him. She liked him a lot. The undergrad students were not interested in his history, but the grad students were.

· They all commented that there were a lot more camps and a lot more people were killed than they realized.

· We talked about how survivors of intense trauma survive – They felt that the key is to not “keep the pot stirred” by ruminating about it. It is good to talk about it, but then let it go and think positive and move on with your life. They thought it was easier for the men to move on once they moved here because it was so much nicer than what they had experienced. It was amazing how they learned to trust people again – although we felt they did lose faith in God, law enforcement and the ability of government to protect you. We talked about how only the strong survived the concentration camps.

· Major themes were that we need to understand what happened with the Holocaust – and what people are able to do under a stressful situation.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our May 2014 selection:

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
by Laura Hillenbrand
Below is a summation of the members' reactions to this work.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit, is the amazing true-life biography of  Louis Zamperini, who overcame a wild childhood to run in the 1936 Olympics, survived his bomber's crash into the Pacific Ocean, survived more than 6 weeks on a life raft, and then managed to come out alive from the Japanese POW camps at the end of World War II.

When asked what they remembered most from reading this incredible account of Zamperini's life, they commented:

"The cover--'survival, resilience, redemption'";
"Our hero should be God";
"Billy Graham";
"skateboarding in his 80s";
"When he said as a POW, 'I'd rather be back on the raft.'"'
"The calmness and beauty on the raft when he was at death's door";
"That he was able to figure out when the raft should reach land, the 46th or 47th day";
"The good that came from the rest of his life";
"That it wasn't boring, I felt like I was there."