Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our July 2015 selection:

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselvesby Karen Joy Fowler

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

Do not let the plot mechanism of this novel fool you. While the plot describes a family that took in and raised a chimpanzee alongside its own two human children, this story is really about the choices parents must make, how they make those choices, and how the perceptions of those choices affect the relationships within the family. Ultimately the family that Fowler describes in We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves could be any family dealing with a child that has issues which endanger the other children in the family. While Fowler presents this issue within the Cooke family by creating a family in which one "child" is actually a chimpanzee, the impact that Fowler describes on the family is very human. When the chimpanzee, Fern, is removed from the family to ensure the safety of her "sister" and others, the remaining family members are forever changed by the loss even as their lives were changed by Fern's presence for the five years she lived with them.

The group had an intense discussion of the issues and characters in this narrative. How did Fern's presence impact their lives? Why was she removed? Did the parents handle the situation created by Fern's removal in the best way? How was Rosemary, Fern's "sister" and the one narrating the story, impacted by being raised alongside a chimpanzee as though they were no different? What were the unavoidable differences in the two "siblings"?

Some members of the group found the selection too difficult to get into but those who overcame the urge to quit reading were glad that they had persisted. This is a book that can be discussed endlessly from multiple perspectives, including the that of an animal rights perspective. But the greatest value of this selection is how it examines the impact of the wrenching decisions parents must sometimes make and how each family member perceives and remembers the events surrounding those decisions.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our May 2015 selection:

Ordinary Graceby William Kent Krueger

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

There are books that are good fiction and there are books that are literature. William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace rises to the level of first-class literature that resonates with depth of narrative and character while also providing a genuinely un-put-downable reading experience. It is both a mystery and a coming-of-age tale narrated by a middle-aged Frank Drum as he relates the events of the summer his sister, Ariel, was murdered and the profound effect those events had on his family. Set in New Bremen, Minn. when Frank is just 13 years old,Ordinary Grace examines the heart of friendship and family and the bonds that bind us one to another.

This selection stands out as one of the most popular books among the book group's members. Everyone present expressed the same experience: They loved this book. One member said she had purchased a copy just to have on her own bookshelf. The discussion centered on the characters, their personalities and their relationships to each other. There was also a discussion on the narrative structure and how certain narrative elements—the dual adult/child perspective, background events hinted at but never revealed, the epilogue—made the story stronger and more satisfying. It may be awhile before the group discovers another true gem to compete with Ordinary Grace.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our June 2015 selection:

Kind of Kinby Rilla Askew

There was a guest facilitator for the June 2015 meeting and notes on the discussion will be posted at a later date.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our April 2015 selection:

The Chaperoneby Laura Moriarty

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

The Chaperone is a novel of historic fiction set in both Wichita and New York City during the twentieth century. Moriarty begins the narrative in the middle, after Cora's two twin boys have left home for summer jobs followed by college. Feeling at loose ends, she decides to agree to serve as a chaperone to Louise Brooks, an undisciplined but extremely talented 15-year-old, when Louise goes to New York for the summer to try out for a prestigious dance troupe. Gradually, Moriarty moves back in time to reveal Cora's history as an abandoned child who was sent on an orphan train and then taken in by a couple who lived on a farm outside Wichita. Her story is one of growth through adaptation as she deals with events she cannot control and must make choices that affect not just herself but others she cares about.

When asked if they enjoyed the book, most members said they did but one member responded, "Can't really say that I did." She explained that she found some of the content troublesome. When asked what they first thought of Cora at the start of the narrative most felt she was "mysterious" and "proper." Discussion centered on the various restrictions women dealt with in both their private and public lives and how many of these restrictions are no longer present. The group also noted the many secrets families were forced to keep to avoid being shunned by friends and neighbors for behavior outside of socially accepted limits. Cora's strategy of working around social restrictions while still appearing to conform was contrasted with Louise's constant rebellion. Members agreed that events from each woman's childhood had impacted her behavior and happiness, and there was quite a bit of discussion on what motivates a woman to remain in an unhappy or abusive situation.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our March 2015 selection:

The Signature of All Thingsby Elizabeth Gilbert

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

The Signature of All Things is a sweeping saga that opens in 1800 with the birth of Alma Whitaker in Philadelphia, Penn., But, immediately upon meeting the infant Alma and various members of her household, we are taken back to England where Alma's father, Henry Whitaker, began his rise from a life of subservience to a life of adventure, property and wealth. How Henry's life impacts Alma's underpins much of her fascinating tale. Brilliant and homely, Alma lives the life of a scientist and scholar. Her family's wealth allows her to pursue her quest to learn everything about the world of mosses--how they grow, how they differ, why some moss colonies advance and others wither and retreat.  Only when Alma approaches her fifties, after her father's death, does she leave her little world to travel across the oceans to Tahiti and then on to Holland, making her way among rough sailors and even rougher seas to meet her mother's family whom she has never met.  Signature is an amazing tale that may not appeal to everyone.

Most members enjoyed the book but two members said they found it too slow-paced and overpacked with details. One member said she kept wanting the author to "just get on with it." One member said she did not feel there was a single likable character in the story except for a few minor characters that were never developed in any depth.

Other members, however, very much enjoyed the research and historical detail. They found Alma admirable and the lives of the characters interesting. They enjoyed the discussions on the scientific vs. the spiritual that permeated the era in which the story is set. Several enjoyed learning about the plant life that informs so much of the narrative.

The discussion also touched upon how the way the nature of the characters could be looked at in pairs that are in opposition to each other and thus reflect the discussion of evolution that strikes at the heart of the narrative.  First and foremost there is tall, homely, redheaded Alma posed opposite the startling beauty of her adopted sister, Prudence. Raised side by side for much of their childhoods, how do they evolve into the women they become?  Members soon found several such pairings among the characters.  We ran out of time to explore the various pairs and the character traits that may have influenced their fortunes in life.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our February 2015 selection:

Half Broke Horsesby Jeannette Walls

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

Half Broke Horses is a fictionalized account of author Jeannette Walls' grandmother, a truly remarkable personality that personifies the spirit of those who settled the west Texas frontier. Based on family interviews and a variety of historical resources, Walls fills in the biographical gaps to complete a portrait of the tough-as-nails, independent woman who was her maternal grandmother and the formative influence of her own mother that Walls captures in her bestselling memoir of her dysfunctional childhood, The Glass Castle.

As reported by the substitute facilitator, all the members enjoyed the book with one stating she liked it better than the nonfiction The Glass Castle.

Things they said:

• Thought they were all misfits, that is why they did not fit in when in the city.
• One of the members thought she had heard that Chicago story, of someone who got tricked by a man who was already married and her friend died in a horrible factory accident.
• Felt she took after her dad about not caring what people think – he had no choice but to think that way because of his injury and passed that thinking on to his daughter.
• They liked her, thought she was an independent thinker, a go-getter. She valued education like her dad.
• They applauded Lily’s strong moral conviction (which ended many jobs for her) because she always had a good reason.
• She was hard on her kids and forced them to go to boarding school because she wanted them to fit into society. She knew they were “half broke horses.”
• Lily’s husband was a good influence on her, stabilized her.
• One member thought that perhaps Rosemary was so strange because her mom pumped gas the entire time she was pregnant with her and thought the fumes might have hurt the baby. Interesting theory but we also said she pumped during her second pregnancy too and Rosemary's brother seemed fine. We talked a lot about how strange Rosemary was from the time she was born. She did not seem to have good impulse control, which of course transfers over to The Glass Castle.

Comments from the De Soto Book Discussion Group regarding our January 2015 selection:

Dear Lifeby Alice Munro

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

Dear Life is a collection of stories by Alice Munro, one of Canada's most distinguished authors who has won global recognition for her writing, including the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature for her work as "master of the contemporary short story", the 2009 Man Booker International Prize for her collective works, and Canada's Governor General's Award for fiction, which she has won three times. She received the Writers' Trust of Canada's Marian Engel Award in 1996 and in 2004 was awarded the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for Runaway.


Discussion began with the question, "Which story did you like best or consider the most memorable?" At that point the group discovered only two members had read the entire book and one member had not read it at all. Everyone agreed that the first story was difficult to get into and most had stopped reading before finishing it. But a few members had read at least one story all the way through which allowed the group to have a long and lively discussion over several of the various characters and recurring themes. The facilitator led the group through a brief recap of several stories, reading short excerpts and asking questions based on the readings.


This particular meeting underscores one of the main attractions of book groups: members do not have to like, or in this case even have read the entire selection, in order to have a meaningful discussion. All were able to contribute something meaningful to the discussion. Everyone came away having learned about a significant literary author as well as having acquired some knowledge of her work.