Portsmouth NH Real Estate Agent - Rebecca Skane, Realtor®, e-PRO®

Tonight we discussed, "Book of Vice" by Peter Sagal and we expected a small turnout not because of the material but because of the number of RSVPs. However, it turned out to be a very large group for this particular group discussion which I was not prepared for! We had to bring out extra tables for all of the new people. I couldn't have anticipated a better evening.

Many of us enjoyed Mr. Sagal's satryical point of views on naughty vices, but his words fell short on ears that had not before heard his tones and voice. I love Peter on his NPR talk show, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me..." as most people do who have ever heard him speak. You fall in love with him, his intelligence, his extreme articulation, his humor and his positive demeanor which never seems to evaporate. But if you are not familiar with him, the book might seem to feel a bit dry. You almost NEED to hear his narrative in your mind while reading this book.

Personally, I liked this book. I did have a difficult time getting through it, as most people, because it wasn't a novel. It wasn't the sort of book where you get to be attached to characters. But it was a lot of fun and for me, a lot of laughs.

I brought five nominations of books to the club tonight. We added another book to the selection which has been added countless times before. To my astonishment, this rogue book was picked. Our club actually picked, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies".

If you have never seen this book before, you might be thinking, "WHAT?" I encourage you to look it up. This book has a cult following. Even the most reserved readers I have spoken with say that this book is hilarious and a "must-read". So let's take that into account.

Here is a brief synopsis from Barnes and Noble of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies:

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton - and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers - and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to listen to..

I am pretty sure this will be a LARGE group in June!

The Portsmouth Book Club

The Rosa, Portsmouth NH

7pm June 8, 2010

This evening we met at the Rosa in Portsmouth to discuss Little Bee by Chris Cleave. We had a great turn out, a huge group! I heard this book had the potential to create a good "back and forth" in a group discussion atmosphere, but I wasn't prepared for the intensely charged group, and our ensuing emotions, which we had this evening.

In Little Bee, two young sisters are running for their lives from a group of men with machetes in Nigeria who have slaughtered their entire village, and family, for the sake of oil. They run and run until they reach the beach where they accidentally meet Sarah and Andrew, an English couple on the rocks who are trying to enjoy a romantic holiday in hopes of salvaging their relationship. During their fateful meeting, the men with machetes arrive, and what happens next is atrocious. After the incident, they drag the two young children away and the English couple run back to their resort. Lives are changed forever on both sides. (I can't give away what happened on that beach! Think...Hotel Rwanda.)

One of the children survives, Little Bee, and she ends up years later on Sarah and Andrew's doorstep, the day of Andrew's funeral after he commits suicide. The book continues on as Sarah and Little Bee try and continue to live with each other, and help each other cope with loss.

I really liked the book, but had trouble with the character development. Sarah had been having a long term affair with a work-related married man who ended up on her doorstep, seemingly to stay, the day after the funeral. This, to me, was absurd. The affair was fine, and completely understandable and even normal, but the day after the funeral? It didn't seem real to me. It worsened with the lover's (Lawrence) complete lack of humanity in my eyes. He wanted Little Bee to be gone and he would do whatever it took to get rid of her because he felt she interfered with his relationship with Sarah and because he was worried that it could hurt his job (he was a civil servant and she was an illegal refugee). The inevitable consequence of her imminent death, if deported, was of no concern to him, he only cared about "owning" Sarah, and being free from any sort of work-related discrepancy. He was the kind of guy you wanted to crucify.

We had a great discussion this evening. Everyone had their own opinions. Some were emotionally charged, some were driven in logic. We all had our different feelings, and it made for a great night!

For next month, we picked, "Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them)" by Peter Sagal - the host of "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!" on NPR. I always listen to Mr. Sagal on the radio and I love his smart humor, so I was curious went I went surfing by his website today and was surprised to learn he had written a book back in 2007 on the upside of debauchery in the USA. I found it necessary to nominate the book and to my mischievious delight, it was selected.

I have not read this book yet but I can't wait! Mr. Sagal is a Harvard educated legend with humor and semantics. I am already looking forward to book club next month!

The Portsmouth Book Club

The Rosa, Portsmouth NH

7pm May 11, 2010

Last month we discussed, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Our group rallied around this book in unison and gave it the universal thumbs up. Although the book was heavily weighted in feminine character and thought (there wasn't one strong male character throughout), the men enjoyed this novel as equally as the women. For me it was a bit of a slow start, but once it got going, you just couldn't put it down. I was up until 3am one evening (morning!) finishing this book because I just had to find out what happened next. I have never understood how an author can take on the roles in first person of someone living a life so far apart from their own, yet be able to make it convincing. And Kathryn Stockett is able to do this twice. She actually writes in first person for three main characters, two of them being African-American Maids in the deep and racist south during the sixties. She wrote it well. It was thought provoking and addictive. I would highly recommend this book.

Our next pick for February is, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. Some of you may wonder why we have picked a teen novel for the book club. That is the beauty of a book club, we pick from many different genres forcing you to read outside of your comfort level. This book actually came recommended from several Barnes and Noble managers. Honestly, I still can not believe this is a teen book. I have already read it and it is violent, extremely violent, yet it is distributed only by the Scholastic Press. As violent as it is, I suppose violence in books could be better than violence on the boob tube. I won't say too much about the book, except that I was so extremely riveted and fascinated, that I went out and bought the second book in the series (it is a trilogy). More adult than Harry Potter, no glittery vampires and wishy-washy love stories.....just a good dark story. I loved it!

Here is a brief synopsis of, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival.

The Portsmouth Book Club

February 9, 2010 7pm

The Rosa, Downtown Portsmouth

In our last meeting we discussed The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

First, I would like to openly admit that I did not finish the book, although I am the meeting founder and coordinator. This usually does not happen. But what can I say? A) I'm human. B) I'm a full time real estate agent slash mom. And I had an extremely busy month. So let's leave it at that.

This is one of the reasons I started my book club. There are many reasons, but one is the fact that I love to read but often lack the time. Book club forces me to find the time.

We had an interesting discussion on The Book Thief. It was seemed to be evenly divided in a male/female disagreement. For some reason, the women loved it and the men did not. It wasn't as cut, clean and concise as this, but close enough. Wonder why?

For the most part, the women loved the prose. The descriptions given by the narrator (who was "death" by the way) were beautiful, somber and very "Edgar Allen Poe-ish". Many of them didn't even make sense and were made up of abstract analogies which painted beautiful pictures, even if you didn't understand them. If you enjoy poetic literature, you will enjoy this book. Although not in comparison to 18th century prose or Jane Austin types of writing style, this is a whole new style which will capture your attention and satisfy your craving for good words.

But, if you are more obsessed with character development and story line, this may not be your next book choice. This seemed to be the main problem for the guys. They just couldn't get into it. But since I did not finish this novel, I can't say anymore!

Our next pick for book club is The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Here is a brief synopsis from Barnes and Noble of The Help:

Be prepared to meet three unforgettable women: Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town...

Portsmouth Book Club

7pm. The Rosa

Downtown Portsmouth

January 12, 2010

Closed: 11/24/09

Representation: Buyer's Agent

Listed: $80,000- REO

Closed: $75,000 **Unbelievable Deal**