2012 Challenge Wrap-Up

Today is the last day of the the Chunkster Challenge for 2012! You still have until midnight to finish that last chunkster!

Did you write a challenge wrap up? Why not give us a link! Use Mr. Linky below to link directly to your post about how you fared in 2012.

(p.s. Sign ups for 2013 just posted today...are you going to join us again??!?)

The Invisible Bridge - CHUNKY BOOK CLUB Discussion Post

The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer

Welcome to the final Chunky Book Club discussion for 2012! This month's book club read is The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer which is set against the backdrop of Budapest and Paris, and involves three brothers whose lives are ravaged by war. Orringer's historical novel was long listed for the prestigious Orange Prize. Anyone is welcome to the discussion which will continue through the rest of this month. Please respond to comments on this post to join the conversation. You may want to subscribe to comments to make it easier to discuss the book. 

The following questions are to help get the conversation started - feel free to answer any, all or none of them - or come up with your own questions! 

**BEWARE: Spoilers may be contained in the questions and answers on this discussion post.

************************

1. Did you enjoy the book? Why or why not? 
2. Why do Andras and his friends at the Ecole Spéciale tolerate the undercurrent of anti-Semitism at the school even after the verbal attack on Eli Polaner (pp. 39–40) and the spate of vandalism against Jewish students (p. 94)? To what extent are their reactions shaped by their nationalities, political beliefs, or personal histories?
3. Is Klara’s initial lack of openness about her background justified by her situation? Do Klara’s revelations (pp. 214–34) change your opinion of her and the way she has behaved? 
4. Despite the grim circumstances, Andras and Mendel produce satirical newspapers in the labor camps. What do the excerpts from The Snow Goose (p. 331), The Biting Fly (pp. 360–61), and The Crooked Rail (p. 437) show about the strategies that helped laborers preserve their humanity and their sanity? What other survival techniques do Andras and his fellow laborers develop? 
5. What impact do the deprivations and degradations imposed by the Germans have on the relationship between the families in the book? Which characters are the least able or willing to accept the threats to their homeland and their culture? 
6.  What details in the descriptions of Bánhida (pp. 356–63, pp. 392–99), Turka (pp. 486–503), and the transport trains (pp. 558–66) most chillingly capture the cruelty perpetrated by the Nazis? In addition to physical abuse and deprivation, what are the psychological effects of the camps’ rules and the laws imposed on civilian populations? 
7. What political ideals and moral principles lie at the heart Nagy’s stirring speech to the officers-in-training (pp. 506–7)? (Because of his refusal to support official anti-Semitic policies, Nagy was eventually forced to resign from the Hungarian army; in 1965, he was the first Hungarian named as a Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Institute.) 
8. Discuss the value and importance of Jewish beliefs and traditions to Andras and other Jews, considering such passages as Andras’s feelings on page 46 ("He could no sooner cease being Jewish than he could cease being a brother to his brothers, a son to his father and mother.") and his thoughts on the High Holidays (pp. 201­–3); the weddings of Ben Yakov and Ilana (pp. 255–56) and of Andras and Klara (p. 317); the family seder in wartime Budapest (pp. 352–55); and the prayers and small rituals conducted in work camps. 
9. What aspects of architecture as a discipline make it particularly appropriate to the themes explored in the novel? What is the relevance of Andras’s work as a set designer within this context? 
10. The Holocaust and other murderous confrontations between ethnic groups can challenge the belief in God. “(Andras) believed in God, yes, the God of his fathers, the one to whom he’d prayed…but that God, the One, was not One who intervened in the way the needed someone to intervene just then. He had designed the cosmos and thrown its doors open to man, and man had moved in…The world was their place now” (p. 432). What is your reaction to Andras’s point of view? Have you read or heard explanations of why terrible events come to pass that more closely reflect your personal beliefs? 
11. What did you know about Hungary’s role in World War II before reading The Invisible Bridge? Did the book present information about the United States and its Allies that surprised you? Did it affect your views on Zionism and the Jewish emigration to Palestine?  Did it deepen your understanding of the causes and the course of the war?  
12. Why has Orringer chosen “Any Case” by the Nobel Prize–winning Polish poet Wislawa Szymborkska as the coda to her novel? What does it express about individuals caught in the flow of history and the forces that determine their fates? 

Have you reviewed this book? Please consider including a link to your review below (using Mr. Linky):

Chunky Book Club reminder

This is just a reminder that the last book club discussion of the year will focus on Julie Orringer’s latest book, The Invisible Bridge. The discussion post will go up around the 10^th of December and the discussion will take place all month long. 

From the front jacket:

Julie Orringer’s astonishing first novel, eagerly awaited since the publication of her heralded best-selling short-story collection, How to Breathe Underwater (“fiercely beautiful” The New York Times; “unbelievably good” Monica Ali), is a grand love story set against the backdrop of Budapest and Paris, an epic tale of three brothers whose lives are ravaged by war, and the chronicle of one family’s struggle against the forces that threaten to annihilate it.

Paris, 1937. Andras Lévi, a Hungarian-Jewish architecture student, arrives from Budapest with a scholarship, a single suitcase, and a mysterious letter he has promised to deliver to C. Morgenstern on the rue de Sévigné. As he falls into a complicated relationship with the letters recipient, he becomes privy to a secret history that will alter the course of his own life. Meanwhile, as his elder brother takes up medical studies in Modena and their younger brother leaves school for the stage, Europe’s unfolding tragedy sends each of their lives into terrifying uncertainty. At the end of Andras’s second summer in Paris, all of Europe erupts in a cataclysm of war.

From the small Hungarian town of Konyár to the grand opera houses of Budapest and Paris, from the lonely chill of Andrass room on the rue des Écoles to the deep and enduring connection he discovers on the rue de Sévigné, from the despair of Carpathian winter to an unimaginable life in forced labor camps and beyond, The Invisible Bridge tells the story of a love tested by disaster, of brothers whose bonds cannot be broken, of a family shattered and remade in history’s darkest hour, and of the dangerous power of art in a time of war.

Expertly crafted, magnificently written, emotionally haunting, and impossible to put down, The Invisible Bridge resoundingly confirms Julie Orringer’s place as one of today’s most vital and commanding young literary talents.

Remember you don't have to be a participate of the challenge to join in on the book club discussions. Plus, you can read this book in any format.

 Happy reading.

Reminder: Discussion of Fall of Giants

Just a reminder that we are still discussing FALL OF GIANTS by Ken Follett - all month I am posting updated questions on THIS POST. Right now the discussion is slow, but I hope you will consider joining us!

Chunky Book Club: Fall of Giants

Today marks the first day of discussion of Ken Follett's novel FALL OF GIANTS - the first book in a projected trilogy.

I am using questions from the Penguin Reading Guide. These questions are to stimulate discussion but are in no way designed to restrict discussion. Please feel free to add your own questions or take the discussion in a different direction.

You may wish to subscribe to the comments on this post to make following the discussion easier.

Because there are twenty prepared questions...it is my intent to post 5 new questions every other day so as not to overwhelm readers! I will add each set of questions to this post, so please check back often!

Feel free to answer any or all of the questions or to add your own in the comments.

Please be aware that there may be "Spoilers" in both questions and answers in this discussion post!

FIRST SET OF QUESTIONS:

1. Before reading Fall of Giants, what did you know about World War I? Did you learn anything new upon finishing the novel?


2. Is there a custom or practice from the book's early twentieth-century time period that you wish existed in our modern day? What would it be, and why do you think it should have a place in today's world?


3. Is it significant that Fall of Giants begins with the stories of Billy and Ethel Williams? Would the novel have been different if other characters' stories opened the book, such as those of Grigori and Lev Peshkov, or Gus Dewar?


4. Talk about the historical figures that appear throughout Fall of Giants, such as Woodrow Wilson, King George V, Vladimir Lenin, and others. What did you think of Ken Follett's depiction of them? Do you like seeing notable people such as these come alive in fiction, or do you prefer reading about them in a strictly historical context?


5. When you first read about Billy Williams in chapter one, did you anticipate how his life would unfurl—for example, that he would end up in running for Parliament? What about other characters: Could you guess what some of them would end up doing or being at the book's end?

Forgive me for the delay...here is the SECOND SET OF QUESTIONS:

1. Do you enjoy reading epic novels such as this one? What makes them so appealing to readers, in your opinion?


2. In continuation of the above question, if you had to identify one of the main characters' stories as one that would make a good "stand-alone" novel, which would it be? Why do you think his/her story would make an enjoyable book on its own?


3. Think about the main characters and what place faith held in their lives. Did religion help or hinder their respective circumstances? What is the overall role of religion in Fall of Giants?


4. Along these lines, discuss the characters who abandoned their respective faiths. What caused them to walk away from their beliefs? To what end?


5. Follett depicts life in the early twentieth century through a series of detailed and imagery-rich scenes: the pitch-darkness of a Welsh coal mine, the opulence of an English country manor, the austerity of pre-industrial Russia, the horrors of a French battlefield. Which scenes stood out for you? Why did they make such an impression?


6. Follett writes from the vantage points of people whose home countries come to the brink of—and finally enter into—a world war. What was it like to read the perspectives of enemies as they embark on battle with one another? Did you find yourself taking sides in any way? Did reading about World War I through fiction cause you to think differently about the conflict?


7. Follett populates this novel with several strong female characters. Compare/contrast some of them; who was your favorite? Which one did you like least? Apply the same question to the book's male figures. When considering those of different backgrounds and social classes, were any of the male figures similar to one another?

Third Set of Questions:

1. Discuss Maud and Ethel's relationship. Did you expect them to form such a lasting bond, considering they met as mistress and servant? What did you think of the circumstances surrounding how their friendship ultimately dissolved?


2. Also contemplate Ethel and Maud's work as women's rights advocates. Were there aspects of each woman's personal life that seemed at odds with her commitment to advancing the cause of women?


3. Go back to the Aberowen mine explosion in chapter two. Do you think it's a metaphor for any of the novel's themes? How do things change in Aberowen, and elsewhere, after this disaster?


4. Discuss examples of the disparity between how women and men were treated during this era. Were women regarded better, or worse, than you imagined they'd be? How far have women come since the early 1900s? What inequalities between the sexes still persist today?

Ken Follett: Author of Fall of Giants

Ken Follett is one of the world’s best-loved novelists. He has sold more than 130 million copies of his books. His book, Fall of Giants, went straight to the No.1 position on bestseller lists in the USA, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

Follett's first novel in 1978 was Eye of the Needle, which won the Edgar award and was made into a film starring Kate Nelligan and Donald Sutherland.

Follett's novel The Pillars of the Earth, about building a cathedral in the Middle Ages, was a detour from the spy genre for which he had become known. Published in September 1989 to rave reviews, it was on the New York Times bestseller list for eighteen weeks. It also reached the No. 1 position on lists in Canada, Great Britain and Italy, and was on the German bestseller list for six years, and voted the third greatest book ever written by 250,000 viewers of the German television station ZDF in 2004.

His current project is his most ambitious yet. The Century Trilogy will tell the entire history of the twentieth century, seen through the eyes of five linked families: one American, one English, one German, one Russian, and one Welsh. The first book, Fall of Giants, focusing on the First World War and the Russian Revolution, was published worldwide on 28 September 2010. The second book, Winter of the World,about the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, and the development of nuclear weapons, will be published in many countries in September 2012.

Learn more about Follett and his work by visiting the author's website.

Watch Ken Follett speak at the 2010 National Book Festival:

 

Fall of Giants is the September pick for the Chunky Book Club. Please join us mid-month for the discussion!

Fall of Giants - Chunky Book Club Pick (September)

ABOUT THE BOOK (from the publisher):

Fall of Giants is the first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh—as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.

Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams enters a man's world in the Welsh mining pits… Gus Dewar, an American law student rejected in love, finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House… two orphaned Russian brothers, Grigori and Lev Peshkov, embark on radically different paths half a world apart when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution… Billy's sister, Ethel, a housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts, takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London…

These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as, in a saga of unfolding drama and intriguing complexity, Fall of Giants moves seamlessly from Washington to St. Petersburg, from the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty. As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. It is destined to be a new classic.

In future volumes of The Century Trilogy, subsequent generations of the same families will travel through the great events of the rest of the twentieth century, changing themselves—and the century itself. With passion and the hand of a master, Follett brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now will never seem the same again.

Watch the book trailer:



Listen to Ken Follett discuss the book:

JOIN US mid-month to discuss this epic novel! 

FTC Disclosure: Book giveaways and featured book articles are NOT paid promos. Although books for giveaway will be supplied by the publisher (in most cases), The Chunkster Challenge administrators do not accept payment to host these special events. 

Reminder: Chunky Book Club Pick for September

The September book club pick for the Chunky Book Club is FALL OF GIANTS by Ken Follett. We will begin discussion of the novel mid-month...so if you have not yet started this door stopper, you still have time!

Watch for a post in the early part of the month about the book and author.

And, if you have already read this book, look for the release of its sequel on September 18th:

Mid-August Questionnaire

Photo courtesy of Amed Amir via Flickr Creative Commons

It’s August, the perfect month to curl up with a chunkster. There’s something about hot weather and thick books that just go together. We’re eight months into the Chunkster Challenge and I think now is a great time to see how everyone’s doing so far. There are a few things that I want to know about your chunky experience. Feel free to answer in the comments or write a blog post about it. 

• How are you doing so far with the challenge? Is your reading on schedule or are you behind?
• If you haven't started reading any chunksters yet, is there a reason? Maybe time or you've just haven't found the right book yet?
• What’s the best chunkster that you’ve read this year?
• Is there a chunkster on your tbr list/pile that you’re looking forward to reading before the end of the challenge?

Here’s my answers:

• Right now I’m a little behind with the challenge but I plan on starting It by Stephen King for a read-along next week.
• The best chunkster I’ve read this year is easily Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.
• A chunkster that I’m looking forward to reading before the end of the challenge is probably Forever by Pete Hamill. It’s an older book that I’ve read a lot of positive things about.

 Okay, it’s your turn. How’s your chunky experience going?

Featured Book for July: The Emperor of Lies by Steve Sem-Sandberg

The Emperor of Lies by Steve Sem-Sandberg

ISBN 9781250007636

672 pages

Picador (July 3, 2012)

We are happy to introduce THE EMPEROR OF LIES by award-winning author Sem-Sandberg (translated from the Swedish by Sarah Death) as this month's Chunkster Challenge feature book. I am currently reading this amazing novel and I am riveted. Watch for my review later this month.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:

In February 1940, the Nazis established what would become the second-largest Jewish ghetto in the Polish city of Lódz. Its chosen leader: Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, a sixty-three-year-old Jewish businessman and orphanage director. From one of Scandinavia's most critically acclaimed and bestselling authors, The Emperor of Lies chronicles the tale of Rumkowski's monarchical rule over a quarter million Jews. Driven by a titanic ambition, he sought to transform the ghetto into a productive industrial complex and strove to make it —and himself — indispensable to the Nazi regime. Drawing on the chronicles of life in the Lódz Ghetto, Steve Sem-Sandberg captures the full panorama of human resilience and asks the most difficult questions: Was Rumkowski a ruthless opportunist, an accessory to the Nazi regime driven by a lust for power? Or was he a pragmatic strategist who managed to save Jewish lives through his collaboration policies? 

 "Fiction of true moral force, brilliantly sustained and achieved...I find it difficult to think of any book that has had such an immediate and powerful impact on me...Brave and brilliant."—Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall

"A resolute masterpiece, The Emperor of Lies looks for truths in the great domain of dissolving syntax and shadows we call history....A great achievement."—Sebastian Barry, Salon

The novel won the esteemed August Prize in 2009.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Steve Sem-Sandberg was born in 1958 and divides his time between Vienna and Stockholm. He is a Swedish novelist and literary critic living in Stockholm and Vienna. He has published many books in Swedish, including De ansiktlösa (novel, 1987), I en annan del av staden (essays, 1990), En lektion i pardans (novel, 1993), Theres (novel, 1996), Allt fögängligt är bara en bild (novel, 1999) Prag (No Exit) (essays, 2002), Ravensbrück (novel, 2003), Härifrån till Allmänningen (novel, 2005), and De fattiga i Łódź (novel, 2009). The latter has been translated into numerous languages, including English (The Emperor of Lies), German (Die Elenden von Łódź) and French (Les Dépossédés). In 2009, he was awarded both De Nios Stora Pris and the August Prize, two of Sweden's most prestigious literary awards.

Would you like to win a copy of this work of historical fiction?  

Go to THIS POST to enter to win one of FIVE books being offered by the publisher (contest is open to US mailing addresses; you do NOT need to be a participant in the Chunkster Challenge to enter).

FTC Disclosure: Book giveaways and featured book articles are NOT paid promos. Although books for giveaway will be supplied by the publisher (in most cases), The Chunkster Challenge administrators do not accept payment to host these special events.

Book Giveaway: The Emperor of Lies by Steve Sem-Sandberg

The Emperor of Lies by Steve Sem-Sandberg

ISBN 9781250007636

672 pages

Picador (July 3, 2012)

Learn more about the book and author by visiting THIS POST.

Thanks to the generosity of Picador, we are thrilled to be able to give away FIVE copies of this book. Please read the details of the giveaway carefully to enter. We will randomly choose five winners at the end of the contest period.

GUIDELINES OF GIVEAWAY:

• Entrants must have a United States mailing address.
• You do NOT need to be a participant of the Chunkster Challenge, but if you are, you will get an extra entry in the contest.
• Contest is open from July 4th through July 20th at 5:00 pm PST. Comments will be closed at 5:00 pm on July 20th.
• Five winners will be randomly chosen to win a finished copy of the book. Books will be mailed directly to the winners from the publisher.

ENTER TO WIN

Please read carefully!

• Each comment on this post must include a legitimate email address so that we may contact you if you win.
• To receive ONE entry in the contest, please leave a comment on this post indicating why you are interested in reading the book.
• If you are a participant in the Chunkster Challenge, you may receive a second chance to win by leaving a second comment telling us you are a participant.
• Receive a third chance to win by either sharing this post on Facebook OR tweeting about the contest. Leave a third comment telling us you did one of those things.

Please make sure you leave a comment for each chance (if you just leave one comment, you only get one entry).

GOOD LUCK!!

FTC Disclosure: Book giveaways and featured book articles are NOT paid promos. Although books for giveaway will be supplied by the publisher (in most cases), The Chunkster Challenge administrators do not accept payment to host these special events.

Chunky Book Club: Discussion of THE MEMORY OF LOVE

 Welcome to this month's Chunky Book Club!

This month's book club selection is Aminatta Forna's The Memory of Love. We'll be discussing this book for the rest of the month so if you haven't read it yet, why not join us? Remember, discussions are open to participants and non-participants alike and you can read our book club selections on any format.

Discussion Questions:

1. What are your overall thoughts on the book? Did it disappoint or live up to your expectations? 
2. While reading The Memory of Love, I realized that I've never read a book set in Sierra Leone before. Have you ever read a book set in this country before?
3. What do you think of Elias and his story?
4. Why is Elias so obsessed with Saffia?
5. How was Forna's writing? There was some very beautiful passages in the book, such as: "Out in the street I pushed my hand deep into my pocket, closing my fingers around the warmth of her touch, like an object I was afraid of losing. For a long time as I walked I wondered what it might be like to feel that touch, every day, whenever you felt the need. On an arm, on the back of your neck, on your cheek. A kiss. An embrace" (p. 60). Were there any passages or points in the book that stood out?
6. What did you think of the structure of the book and the changing points of view? In your opinion, did it work? 
7.  "But the hope has to be real - Atilla's warning to Adrian. I fall down. I get up. Westerns Adrian has met despise the fatalism. But perhaps it is the way people have found to survive" (p. 320). What do you think of this hypothesis? Do you believe, as is suggested, that the population as a whole is suffering from PTSD? Is that everyone's secret?

I can't wait to read everyone's thoughts on the book! If you're joining the discussion, it's probably best to subscribe to the comments so you don't miss anything.

Please feel free to provide a link to your review if you have read and reviewed the book:

June's Chunky Book Club Selection: The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna

It’s June and we’re halfway through the year! I hope everyone’s having a great reading year. I know I am.  Now that summer is just around the corner, Wendy and I know the perfect book to take with you to the beach:

This month’s Chunky Book Club selection: The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna

From the back cover,

In contemporary Sierra Leone, a devastating civil war has left an entire populace with secrets to keep. In the capital hospital, a gifted young surgeon is plagued by demons that are beginning to threaten his livelihood. Elsewhere in the hospital lies a dying man who was young during the country’s turbulent postcolonial years and has stories to tell that are far from heroic. As past and present intersect in the buzzing city, these men are drawn unwittingly closer by a British psychologist with good intentions, and into the path of one woman at the center of their stories. A work of breathtaking writing and rare wisdom, The Memory of Love seamlessly weaves together two generations of African life to create a story of loss, absolution, and indelible effects of the past−and, in the end, the very nature of love.

The Memory of Love was first published in 2010 by Bloomsbury (U.K.) to rave reviews before being published in the U.S. last year by Grove Atlantic.  Since its publication, The Memory of Love has been nominated for the Warwick Prize (2011) and IMPAC Dublin Award (2012), shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction (2011), and won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book Overall (2011). It’s also an Essence Magazine Book Club pick. 

Of the book, The New York Times wrote: She (Forna) reminds us that what matters most is that which keeps us grounded in the place of our choosing.  And she writes to expose what remains after all the noise has faded: at the core of this novel is the brave and beating heart, at once vulnerable and determined, unwilling to let go of all it has ever loved.

I can’t wait to read this. The discussion post will go up on the ^14th of this month. Remember, you don’t have to be a participant of the Chunkster Challenge to join in the discussion. Plus, you can read The Memory of Love in any format. 

If that's not enough to convince you, here's a video of the author discussing the book. 

Happy reading.

REMINDER - Chunky Book Club June 2012

We will be discussing The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna as our June 2012 Chunky Book Club selection.

Watch for information about the book and author beginning June 1st...with discussion due to begin by June 15th.

Will you be joining us???

Overseas - Book Review

“You said you had the feeling we’ve met before. That’s not exactly true, but it’s not exactly false either.”

“What do you mean? When did we meet?”

“You asked me my last name before. I told you I couldn’t tell you, because you wouldn’t believe me. Possibly you still won’t.”

“Why wouldn’t I believe that? After everything else?”

“Because my name is Kate Ashford. And I’m your wife.” – from Overseas

 Kate Wilson is living in Manhattan, working as a Wall Street analyst in 2007. Her life is fast-paced and drums with the excitement of the financial world. When she meets Julian Laurence at a business meeting, she is immediately taken with his handsome good looks, extraordinary intellect, and a manner which is at once old fashioned and romantic. As their relationship heats up, not only is Kate surprised by how fast and hard Julian has fallen for her, but she begins to suspect that their love may have started a long, long time ago in France during WWI. How does the life of Captain Julian Ashford from decades before connect to the Julian Kate knows in the twenty-first century?

The past collides with the future in Overseas, the debut novel by Beatriz Williams who knows how to spin a tale so enthralling that the pages almost turn themselves. Romance, intrigue, dark secrets and betrayal…this book has it all. As I was reading, I was reminded of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Like Gabaldon, Williams sets the reader down in a place of long ago, throws in a splash of time travel, and thrills her reader with a romance which transcends time.

Williams writes her story from the first person point of view of Kate – a decidedly modern woman who finds herself wooed by a very romantic and devastatingly gorgeous guy. Kate is smart and funny, a woman who thinks that love in the twenty-first century cannot take the place of climbing the career ladder…until she meets Julian.

The story unspools mostly in the present time, with some interspersed chapters set in France during WWI. Williams is a talented storyteller – just when I thought I knew the plot, she put a nice little spin on it which kept me reading to discover the ending.

I do not read a ton of romance – but I do love a good historical novel and Overseas was a terrific balance of the two. Readers will need to suspend some reality for this book…but, those who allow themselves to sink into the lives of Julian and Kate will be richly rewarded with a good, old-fashioned romantic journey through time.

I predict that this novel will make Beatriz Williams a new favorite for readers who love the romance and historical fiction genres. Full of sizzle, this memorable story of love is an addictive read…and an admirable first novel.

Recommended.

• Quality of Writing:
• Characters:
• Plot:

Overall Rating:

FTC Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher for review.

WINNER: Overseas by Beatriz Williams

Congratulations to Laura at Chasing Cappuccinos who is our winner for the novel OVERSEAS by Beatriz Williams!

I'll be contacting you, Laura, for your mailing address. Thanks to those who entered...I hope you'll consider purchasing the novel!

Watch for my review of the book later this month...

Beatriz Williams: Author Guest Post and Giveaway

Overseas by Beatriz Williams

464 pages

ISBN 978-0399157646

Putnam Adult (May 10, 2012)

Today I am delighted to share a guest post by author Beatriz Williams along with a give away of her debut novel, Overseas.

Beatriz Williams is a graduate of Stanford University with an MBA from Columbia. She spent several years in New York and London working first as a corporate and communications strategy consultant, and then as an "at-home producer of small persons." She now lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry. Overseas is her first novel.

Learn more about Williams and her work by visiting the author's website. You may also find the author at her blog, on Twitter and on Facebook.

When I requested a guest post by Beatriz Williams, I was asked to suggest some topics. After reading about her new book, I thought exploring the topic of Love in the 21st Century would be an excellent choice...and Beatriz agreed, writing:

Wendy, let me first say how thrilled I was when I saw your list of suggested topics for this guest post! You really understood what I was trying to convey with the love story between Julian and Kate -- namely, the vast distance between courtship and love a hundred years ago and the way it plays out today, and what that means for young men and women. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to natter on about it here -- thank you!

So, I am very happy to present this guest post to all of you - ENJOY!

Love in the 21st Century 

by Beatriz Williams 
 

At a cocktail party the other night, the subject of Spreadsheet Guy came up for discussion. You may have heard of him: some poor geek of an investment banker who organized his dating contacts from Match.com into an Excel spreadsheet of eye-watering sophistication, complete with color coding and alphanumeric scoring. As spreadsheets go, it was a work of art. His only mistake, according to my friends at the party? He forwarded it -- heaven knows why -- to one of the women on the list.

So much has changed from the start of the First World War through the calamitous, miraculous century that followed, and nothing more profoundly than the conduct of courtship. When the idea for Overseas -- a brilliant young British infantry officer, in the doomed tradition of Rupert Brooke and Julian Grenfell, walking the streets of modern-day Manhattan -- first appeared in my brain, I wanted to dismiss it. I've always considered myself a writer of historical fiction, drawn to the intricate virtues of the past, and had never even tried a contemporary voice.

But the lure was irresistible. In Julian, I had the personification of romantic Edwardian youth -- dashing heedlessly off to slaughter, writing poetry amid the rats and mud -- now deposited into the irony and cynicism of twenty-first century Manhattan. In Kate, I had an independent young woman immersed in the casual dating scene of college and Wall Street, whose expectations of men had fallen so low she'd given up on the little dears altogether. What would happen when these two opposite poles came together?

To modern ears, Julian's expressions of chivalry and romanticism may seem excessive. In fact, they're largely culled from the historical record. In 1915, Vera Brittain wrote to her fiancé Roland Leighton, expressing impatience that he'd been kissing her photograph goodnight when he'd never kissed her in person. He wrote back from the trenches: "When it is all finished and I am with her again the original shall not envy the photograph. The barrier which She seems to have found was not of reserve but rather of reverence. But may it not perhaps be better that such sweet sacrilege should be an anticipation rather than a memory?"

Roland would be killed eight months later by a German sniper, at the age of twenty.

Naturally,Vera (an early feminist) found such rituals of courtship confining. But from where we stand at the opposite end, as men organize their romantic prospects into spreadsheets, ranked according to perceived physical beauty, the notion of sex and love as something sacred, not be undertaken lightly, seems breathtakingly...well, sexy.

What do you think? Has courtship changed for the worse since the summer of 1914? Or does our increased freedom balance out any loss of romance? What's your experience of love in the 21st century?

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WIN A COPY OF OVERSEAS

Contest open from May 1, 2012 - May 9, 2012 (at 5:00 pm PST) 

I am thrilled to be able to offer one lucky reader a copy of Overseas by Beatriz Williams. Please read the following carefully to be entered in the giveaway. 

The contest is open internationally. If the winner is from the US or Canada, the publisher will be sending you a copy of the book; if the winner is outside of the US or Canada, your book will come directly from us.

There are several ways to enter this contest - and you may do any or all of them for additional chances to win with ONE exception - you MUST be signed up for the Chunkster Challenge to get at least one entry into the contest. If you have not signed up, you may do so by visiting this post and using Mr. Linky OR by leaving a comment on that post saying you are signing up. It is not too late to sign up for the challenge!

So to simplify:

For ONE entry, please sign up for the Chunkster Challenge, and then come back here and leave a comment telling me you are signed up and wish to be entered in the contest (if you are already signed up, just leave a comment saying "I'm signed up, enter me."

Additional entries may be earned and a comment should be left on this post for each additional entry:

• Tweet about the contest with a link to this post. Be sure to include Beatriz in the tweet by using @bcwilliamsbooks
• Visit Beatriz's facebook page, like it, and post to her wall answering any of the questions posed in her guest post above (about love in the 21st century) 
• Blog about the contest with a link back to this post

You will get extra chances by doing each of the above (so you can earn up to 3 extra chances).

I will randomly select ONE winner after 5:00 pm on May 9th and announce their name here on the Chunkster blog. If you have not given me a way to reach you (ie: by leaving me your email address in your comment), then you will have to contact me within 5 days of the announcement or I will draw another winner.

Clear as mud? Any questions, please use the contact form on this blog to contact us!

GOOD LUCK!!!

Overseas by Beatriz Williams - May 2012 Book Feature

Overseas by Beatriz Williams

464 pages

ISBN 978-0399157646

Putnam Adult (May 10, 2012)

I am delighted to introduce you to our May book feature. Overseas by Beatriz Williams is a debut novel which mixes intrigue and adventure with a generous dollop of romance and is getting early raves in the literary world. Here is the book description from the publisher:

When twenty-something Wall Street analyst Kate Wilson attracts the notice of the legendary Julian Laurence at a business meeting, no one’s more surprised than she is. Julian’s relentless energy and his extraordinary intellect electrify her, but she’s baffled by his sudden interest. Why would this handsome British billionaire—Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor—pursue a pretty but bookish young banker who hasn’t had a boyfriend since college?

The answer is beyond imagining . . . at least at first. Kate and Julian’s story may have begun not in the moneyed world of twenty-first-century Manhattan but in France during World War I, when a mysterious American woman emerged from the shadows of the Western Front to save the life of Captain Julian Laurence Ashford, a celebrated war poet and infantry officer.

Now, in modern-day New York, Kate and Julian must protect themselves from the secrets of the past, and trust in a true love that transcends time and space.

  Early Praise:

"A sensational debut! OVERSEAS is a heady blend of wit, charm, and romantic sizzle, all wrapped around a tantalizing mystery that will constantly surprise and delight readers."
—Anne Fortier, New York Times-bestselling author of Juliet

“Overseas is an irresistible combination of romance, history, and imaginative storytelling. Set against the tumultuous backdrop of World War I and the glittering lights of today’s New York financial world, Beatriz Williams creates a memorable story of a timeless love. . . . I can’t wait to see what she does next!”

—Karen White, New York Times–bestselling author of The Beach Trees

Have I made you curious? Go ahead and read an excerpt from the book here.

Check out this fabulous interview with the author at Publisher's Weekly where she gives a little insight into the novel.

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I am happy to tell you that we are going to be giving away a copy of this book to one lucky reader in May - I hope you'll come back on May 1st to read a terrific guest post by the author and enter to win a copy of the book!

Nonfiction Chunksters

Well, here it is mid-April and I have been terribly remiss at posting something for all of you chunkster readers.

Last month we featured Stephen King's fantastic futuristic novel 11/22/63 for our Chunky Book Club. If you've read the book and want to add to the discussion, the post is still open for comments.

Next month we'll be doing another book feature and giveaway thanks to the wonderful folks over at Penguin Books (stay tuned for more information on May 1st!).  I will tell you, however, that to be eligible for the giveaway, readers will have to be signed up for the 2012 Chunkster Challenge - so if you are waiting to sign up, now would be the time!

Okay, so for April, I thought we might talk about Nonfiction. I don't know about you, but I hardly ever read nonfiction books. That is not to say I don't want to - I just can never seem to find ones that call out to me. Not too long ago I received a review book which is nonfiction and actually looks pretty good:

Into the Silence by Wade Davis (Alfred A. Knopf, October 2011 - 672 pages) is about the 1924 attempt by George Mallory and Sandy Irvine to climb the North Col of Mount Everest - neither climber lived to tell the tale. The publisher describes the book as follows:

Beautifully written and rich with detail, Into the Silence is a classic account of exploration and endurance, and a timeless portrait of an extraordinary generation of adventurers, soldiers, and mountaineers the likes of which we will never see again.

Sounds interesting, right? I hope to read this book in 2012. Have any of you already read it?

Can you recommend any great nonfiction books which are more than 450 pages (and thus qualify as a chunkster)? 

Please leave comments on this post and link up to any relevant reviews!

11/22/63 by Stephen King: Chunky Book Club Discussion

Welcome to the Chunky Book Club! Today marks the first day of our discussion of Stephen King's latest chunkster: 11/22/63.

To read more about the book club and to see a schedule of reads for the remainder of the year, visit the Chunky Book Club page.

Before we get started, a few reminders about how the Chunky Book Club works and some suggestions...

1. If you are going to participate, consider subscribing to comments on this post as that is where the discussion takes place.
2. There is no time limit to how long the book will be discussed. Discussion will go on as long as people want to talk about the book.
3. Although we are posting some questions to stimulate discussion, please feel free to add your own questions in the comment section. We'll try to keep up with those by updating this post with additional avenues for discussion.
4. It is not necessary to answer all or any of the formal questions. Feel free to take the discussion in your own direction.
5. We are using a comment thread which allows replies to specific comments (threaded comments) which we hope will facilitate discussion.
6. If you have read and reviewed the book, please consider linking to your review by visiting THIS POST, scrolling down, and adding a permalink to your review through Mr. Linky.

Read more about the author here.
Read more about the book here.

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**Spoiler Alert: Discussion questions and resulting discussion (in comment section of this post) may contain spoilers.

Questions for Discussion

1. Please tell us your general impressions of the novel - did you enjoy it? Why or why not? 
2. Have you read other books by this author? If so, how does this compare to the author's other work? If not, will you be reading other books by Stephen King?
3. Jake is the narrator and one of the main characters of the book. He is characterized as a good and decent man, someone who cares deeply for others. And yet, he is willing to commit murder and also make money by using his knowledge of the future. What do these things say about Jake's character? Did his willingness to stretch morality change how you felt about him? Do you think his "bad" acts make him less likable or trustworthy?
4. One of the themes in 11/22/63 is about traveling back in time and un-doing the past to change the future. If you could go back to the past, what year would you want to visit and what historical event would you like to change? Based on the idea of the Butterfly Effect, what effects do you think those changes would have on the future?
5. In King's novel, Jake has knowledge of the future behavior of certain people. The janitor's father, who is destined to commit a horrific crime, is a jovial and well-liked man prior to that crime...but because of his foreknowledge, Jake sees only a horrible man. If you knew what someone would do in the future (good or bad), how might that change your interactions with them in the present? Would you feel compelled to try to change their behavior before it happened? Would you consider murder as an ethical choice to un-do something horrible?
   
6. 11/22/63 deals with traveling back more than 50 years into the past. But what about time travel into the future? If you could travel 50 years into the future, would you? If not, why not?
7. Discuss the significance of the Yellow Card Man. What does he symbolize? 
8. Jake encounters an eerie resistance to changing the past. He notes that "history repeats itself" and there are certain "harmonies" which weave through his life. At one point another character tells Jake "everything happens for a reason." When Jake returns to 2011 after saving Kennedy, he finds a world much different - and not better - than the world in which Kennedy was assassinated.  What do you think - do things happen for a reason? Is there a harmony to our world, even when bad things happen?
9. Jake seems destined to be with Sadie, but he must make a decision at the end of the book which changes the course of their relationship. Did you like the ending? Could King have ended his book another way? 

Please share any questions or discussion points about this book in the comment section of this post!