The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is reading Happily Ever After Everyone Else:  Julie's Story by Mary (Leary) Becker and Diane St. Cyr Janelle for the August book selection.  Mary (Leary) Becker is a native of Wisconsin Dells and she will lead our book discussions in August at the library. 

Happily After Everyone Else:  Julie's Story is the first book in the "She Said, He Said" book series.  This book takes a humorous but honest look at the life of a couple in the sandwich generation.  They are dealing with conflict and commitments, not to mention seven children, one son-in-law, two grandchildren, one future daughter-in-law and one live-in parent.  What follows is a humorous road trip involving friends, family, romance and people from the past.

What did you like best about this book?

What did you like least about this book?

Which characters in the book were your favorite?

What feelings did this book evoke for you?

Did the characters seem believable to you?

If you could ask the author of this book one question, what would it be?

Let us know what you think of Happily Ever After Everyone Else: Julie's Story!

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is reading Circling the Sun by Paula McLain for the July book selection. 

Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating woman--Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Deny Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa.

Set against the majestic landscape of early-twentieth-century Africa, McLain's powerful tale reveals the extraordinary adventures of a woman before her time, the exhilaration of freedom and its cost, and the tenacity of the human spirit. (From the publisher.)

While it is clear he loved his daughter, do you feel Beryl's father was a good parent?  Do you think Beryl would have said he was?  Did you sympathize with him at any point?

Beryl is forced to be independent from a very young age.  How do you think this shaped her personality (for better or for worse)?

Why do you believe the author chose the title Circling the Sun?  Does it bring to mind a particular moment from the novel or an aspect of Beryl's character?

When Beryl becomes a mother herself, she is determined not to act as her own mother did.  Do you feel she succeeds?  How does motherhood spur her decision to exchange horse training for flying?  Could you identify with this choice?

After Paddy the lion attacks Beryl, Bishon Singh says, "Perhaps you were never meant for him."  Do you think that Beryl truly discovered what she was meant for by the end of the novel?

(Questions from the author's website.)

Let us know what you think of Circling the Sun.