The Pioneer Bookshop Book Club

Author Dean Bakopoulos at the Pioneer Bookshop Feb. 2012

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The Pioneer Bookshop Book Club was pleased to host Author Dean Bakopoulos, author of the novel Please Don't Come Back from the Moon. Bakopoulos, read from his book to give us a sense of the author's voice. The Grinnell College assistant professor of English engaged the audience with descriptions of his evolution as a novelist, the process of getting published and how he brings out his characters, sometimes from personal experiences. His second novel, My American Unhappiness, has been published, and he has two more books in progress.

The March 2012 Book Club choice is Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. The club will meet on Thursday, March 2 at 7pm in the Pioneer Bookshop at 823 4th Avenue in downtown Grinnell. All are welcome to join us that night and/or to contribute comments to this blog. Book Club books are discounted by 25% at the Pioneer Bookshop.

Author Appearance Thursday, February 2 at the Pioneer Bookshop

2012-01-30T11:47:00.006-06:00

Please Don't Come Back from the Moon

Author Dean Bakopoulos, Assistant Professor of English at Grinnell College will appear at the Pioneer Bookshop on Thursday, February 2, at 7pm to read from his book, Please Don't Come Back from the Moon. The story unfolds as a number of fathers in a down trodden Michigan town disappear. One shop keeper leaves a note on his door, "I'm going to the moon. I took the cash." The story centers around a group of adolescent boys left behind and their mothers who struggle to make ends meet.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend this special event of the Pioneer Bookshop Book Club.

January 5, 2012 Book Club Choice

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Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay will be discussed on Thursday, January 5, 2012 by the Pioneer Bookshop Book Club. The author tells two stories, one of a Jewish girl in 1942 France and the other of a current day American journalist living in France. Chapter by chapter the stories go back and forth until they blend together. This is a book I could not put down.

On February 2, 2012, author Dean Bakopoulos will be at the Book Club meeting to read from and discuss his
novel Please Don't Come Back From The Moon. All are welcome to attend this public event at 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop.

December 2011 Book Club Book

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Hilary Mantel is the 2009 recipient of the Booker Prize for her novel Wolf Hall. The prize goes to a novel written in English by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. Wolf Hall is a fictional portrait of Henry VIII's turbulent court

The club will meet to discuss Wolf Hall on Thursday, December 1, 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Scott Cawelti, author of Brother's Blood, visited the Pioneer Bookshop on November 10 to share stories surrounding his book. The audience was treated to a lively discussion about Cawelti's personal connections to the family and the investigators involved with the murders that took place in Cedar Falls, Iowa in 1975.

Book Club Meeting with Author Appearance in November 2011

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On Thursday, November 10, 2011, Scott Cawelti, the author of Brother's Blood will be our guest at the Pioneer Bookshop Book Club meeting. We encourage anyone to attend to hear the author discuss his perspective on this nonfiction story about an infamous murder in Iowa's history. Whether you read the book or not, it proves to be an interesting discussion. Books are available for 25% off at the Pioneer Bookshop.

October 2011 Book Club Choice

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Louisa May Alcott; the Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen will be discussed at the October 6 meeting of the Pioneer Bookshop Bookclub. This biography addresses all aspects of Alcott's life taken from her journals and letters as well as recollections of family, friends and famous contemporaries.

Coming on November 10, author Scott Cawelti will join the club to discuss his book, Brother's Blood, a real-life crime drama recounting murders in Cedar Falls, Iowa in 1976. Described not as a "whodunit" but a "whydunit", the book describes the evidence in this Heartland Cain and Abel. The convicted murderer still claims to be innocent today. The book club will hold a special meeting and reception for Cawelti at 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 Fourth Ave. in downtown Grinnell.

Our book club is always open to the public. Please join us for this special event on November 10, 2011.

September 2011 Book Club Discussion

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Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell will be discussed at the Pioneer Bookshop on Thursday, September 1, 2011. The bookclub members have chosen this murder mystery set in Sweden for the September meeting.

We welcome anyone to attend our meetings or to comment on our blog.

August 2011 Book Club Choice

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The Pioneer Bookshop Book Club will be discussing Chris Bohjalian's Secrets of Eden at the next meeting, Thursday, August 4. We hold a very informal get together at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 Fourth Ave. in Grinnell. Everyone is welcome to join us.

In this fictional murder mystery you hear various voices describing the events surrounding the apparent murder & suicide of a Vermont couple. Evidence indicates the case may not be so cut and dried.

July 2011 Pioneer Bookshop Book Club Choice

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A Girl Named Zippy; Growing Up Small in Mooreland, Indiana, by Haven Kimmel will be discussed at the next book club meeting on July 7, 2011. We meet at the Pioneer Bookshop at 7pm on the first Thursday of the month. Everyone is welcome. Please join us.

When Haven Kimmel was born in in 1965, Mooreland, Indiana was a sleeply little hamlet of three hundred people. Nicknamed "Zippy" for the way she would bolt around the house, this small girl was possessed of big eyes and even bigger ears. In this witty and lovingly told memoir, Kimmel takes readers back to a time when small-town America was caught in the amber of the innocent postwar period-people helped their neighbors, went to church on Sunday, and kept barnyard animals in their backyards.

June 2011 Pioneer Bookshop Book Club Discussion

2011-05-06T10:03:00.002-05:00

On Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 7pm we will be meeting to discuss Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Doctors took her cells without asking. Those cells never died. They launched a medical revolution and a multimillion-dollar industry. More than twenty years later, her children found out. Their lives would never be the same.

Dwight Gardner with the New York Times says "One of the most graceful and moving nonfiction books I've read in a very long time...A thorny and provocative book about cancer, racism, scientifc ethics, and crippling poverty....".

Join our group for what proves to be a lively discussion. Everyone is welcome.

May 2011 Book Club Discussion

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The Help by Kathryn Stockett will be discussed at the May 5 meeting of the Pioneer Bookshop Book Club. Join us at 7pm at 823 Fourth Avenue to discuss this very popular book club book. The movie, based on The Help, will premier on August 12, 2011 in theatres. We encourage everyone to join us either on this blog or at the Pioneer Bookshop.

April 2011 PIoneer Bookshop Book Club Choice

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Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese will be discussed at the Pioneer Bookshop Book Club meeting in April The club will meet at 7pm on April 7, at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 Fourth Avenue in Grinnell.

"Here is an extraordinary imagination, artfully shaped and forcefully developed, wholly given in service to a human story that is deeply moving, utterly gripping, indeed unforgetable" --John Burnham Schwartz

The club meets every first Thursday of the month. Anyone is welcome to join us. Please do!

Little Bee is the choice for the March 3, 2011 Pioneer Bookshop Book Club Meeting

2011-02-07T09:40:00.005-06:00

"We don't want to tell you what happens in this book", declares the blurb on the back cover of Little Bee by Chris Cleave. "It is a truely special story and we don't want to spoil it". "The magic is how the story unfolds."

The Pioneer Bookshop Book Club will be finding out what this book is all about. A book club discussion will be held on Thursday, March 3, at 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 4th Avenue in Grinnell, Iowa.

Please join us for the informal meeting and discussion or contribute to this blog. Everyone is welcome.

"Never Let Me Go" is the February 2011 Book Club Choice

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The Pioneer Bookshop Book Club will meet on Thursday, February 3 from 7pm to 8pm at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 Fifth Avenue. We will discuss Kazuo Ishiguro's book Never Let me Go now a major motion picture. Time Magazine says "A page-turner and heartbreaker, a tour de force of knotted tension and buried anguish.".

Everyone is welcome to join us whether or not you have read the book. We will be deciding on the book for March at this Feb. 3 meeting. Come be a part of it.

January 2011 Pioneer Bookshop Book Club Choice

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The bookclub will be discussing Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent on Thursday, January 6 at 7pm. Meetings are at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 4th Ave and are very informal. Everyone is welcome to join in the duscussion.

Possum Trot is the December Book Club Choice

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On Thursday, December 2, author Harley Mcilrath will visit the Pioneer Bookshop Book Club while we discuss his debut book, Possum Trot. Come to the Pioneer Bookshop at 7pm to ask the author questions and to hear him read excerpts from his book. It is sure to be entertaining.

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Pioneer Bookshop Book Club Book for
November 2010

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee will be discussed at the monthly meeting on Thursday, November 4 at 7pm. The club meets every first Thursday at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 4th Avenue in Grinnell, Iowa. All are welcome to join us for an informal discussion. Please post your comments here to get the discussion started.

First published in 1960, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of this wonderful book which won the Pulitzer Prize. To date, it is Harper Lee's only published novel.

October 2010 Book Club Choice

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The Pioneer Bookshop Book Club will discuss The Angelmaker by Stefan Brijs on Thursday, October 7 at 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 Fourth Avenue, Grinnell. Please join us and/or make comments on this blog to spur on the conversation.

The Los Angeles Times Book Review says that Stephen Brijs is "A rising star of Belgian literature." The novel is described as exploring science gone amok in a society where religion offers no consolation. Victor Hoppe returns to his home town with triplet sons who are so identical that they must wear colored bracelets to be identified. Their physician father takes great pains to protect them from scrutiny. The boys are named for three archangels, Micheal, Gabriel and Raphael, an intimation of their fathers "god-like" role in their conception. This novels seems to be a creepy read for an early Halloween discussion.

September 2010 Book Club Choice

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The September 2010 Book Club book is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. A story with many of life's lessons observed by and narrated from the perspective of the family dog. This is a quick read that is funny, tragic, thought provoking, touching and ultimately uplifting.

We will meet and discuss this book on Thursday, September 2 at 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 Fourth Avenue in Grinnell. Everyone is welcome to join us.

August 2010 Pioneer Bookshop Book Club Book

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The book we will discuss on August 5 is The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. A Gothic ghost story set in 1947 England, 2 years after WWII.

The book club meets on the first Thursday of the month at 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 4th Avenue in Grinnell. Everyone is welcome to join us for a casual discussion.

July 2010 Book Club Book

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The Pioneer Bookshop Book Club will discuss Coop by Michael Perry on Thursday, July 1, 2010. I had the pleasure of meeting Michael at the Midwest Booksellers meeting in 2009. He is delightfully funny and very modest. His description of the perfect dairy cow had those in the room roaring with laughter. Unfortunately, that description was not included in Coop so I feel lucky to have heard him tell it. There are plenty of other laugh-out-loud stories in this book. A perfect summer read.

Hear Michael introduce his book here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEB0B92uKuA

Meetings are the first Thursday of the month at 7 pm at the Pioneer Bookshop, 823 Fourth Avenue.

June 2010 Pioneer Bookshop Book Club Book

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The Pioneer Bookshop Book Club meets the first Thursday of the month. The book we will discuss in June is Pope Joan, a novel by Donna Woolfolk Cross. Please join us at the Pioneer Bookshop on June 3 at 7 p.m. We are located at 823 Fourth Avenue in downtown Grinnell, Iowa.

Please post conversation starters to discuss on this blog and inspire others to read read read!

May 2010 Book: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

2010-05-06T11:31:00.005-05:00

The May 2010 Pioneer Bookshop Book Club book is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. We will meet to discuss the book on Thursday, May 6, at 7 p.m. at the Pioneer Bookshop. All are welcome to join us.

April Book Club Meeting is Changed to April 8

2010-03-30T16:49:00.002-05:00

Due to the Easter holiday and other conflicts, we are changing the Pioneer Bookshop Book Club meeting. We will not meet this Thursday, April 1. It just so happens that the author of The Known World, Edward P. Jones, will be appearing at Grinnell College the following Thursday, April 8.

What we plan to do is meet at 7pm on Thursday, April 8 at the Pioneer Bookshop. After a short discussion we can move to the Joe Rosenfield Center, Room 101, to hear the author himself read and discuss the book.

Book Club Book for March 2010

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The Known World by Edward P. Jones is the book club book for March. This book is the winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. It is the first novel for Edward P. Jones. He previously won the PEN\Hemingway Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award for his debut collection of short stores, Lost in the City.

Edward P. Jones will be at Grinnell College on Thursday, April 8 at 8:00 p.m.. Sponsored by the Writers in Grinnell series, Jones will be reading from his works in room 101 of the Joe Rosenfield 25' Center located on Eighth Avenue on the Grinnell College campus. Books will be available for purchase at the event. The author will be signing copies after the reading.

The next book club meeting is Thursday, April 1 at 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop. Everyone is welcome to join us.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick is the February Book Club Book

2010-01-27T10:21:00.011-06:00

Lonliness, Lust and the Mail-Order Bride:
According to Ron Charles with the Washington Post, The curtain rises in 1907 during a Wisconsin winter "cold enough to sear the skin from your bones.". Ralph Truitt, the wealthiest man in town, stands frozen in place on a train platform but inside he's burning with the unsated desire of 20 solitary years." Charles goes on to say that the floor collapses in almost every chapter, and we suddenly crash through assumptions we'd thought were solid. Goolrick keeps probing at the way people force themselves not to know something -- not to believe the truth-- in order to fulfill their deepest longings. Read Ron Charles' entire review at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/07/AR2009040703559.html

I know this is not the book you were expecting. A Serious Man turned out to be a screenplay so Sara and I made a quick decision to go in this direction. I hope you all agree this sounds like a fun and interesting read.

Our next meeting will be on Thursday, March 4 at 7 p.m at the Pioneer Bookshop. Until then, please post your comments and observances here for all to see.

Driftless by David Rhodes is the December Book for the Pioneer Bookshop Book Club

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The Bookclub choice for December reading is Driftless by David Rhodes. This book has been elected as the All Iowa Reads title for 2010. The purpose of All Iowa Reads is to encourage Iowans statewide to read and talk about a single title in the same year. Libraries and other local organizations are encouraged to sponsor discussions of the title.

Author David Rhodes is a 1971 graduate of the famed Iowa Writers' Workshop. He then published three books before a motorcycle accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. Three decades since his last book, he returns with Driftless.

The next meeting of the club will be on Thursday, January 7 at 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop. Everyone is welcome. Please join us.

A Study in Scarlet

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We have chosen A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle as the book to read in November. This is the first in the Sherlock Holmes series. We hope to learn how Sherlock and Watson met and started their partnership.

The next meeting of the Pioneer Bookshop Book Club will be on Thursday, December 3, at 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop. Until then, please post thought provoking questions or comments for the group to discuss on the Blog. Thanks everyone.

October 2009 Book Choice

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by the late Stieg Larsson is the book club pick for October 2009. Please post your comments and discussion starters here so that we can all share. The next book club meeting will be on Thursday, November 5 at 7pm at the Pioneer Bookshop.