Next Meeting: Thursday, June 9 (7:30 a.m. or Noon) – Monique and the Mango Rains

July 7, 2009 at 12:58 pm | In Pre-meeting reading | Leave a Comment

On the website for the book, there is an author interview and a reading guide.  There is a review in the Boston Globe along with a brief update of Kris and John’s trip in 2008.  Kris Holloway wrote a short article in the NY Times about having a dog while she lived in Mali.  It is yet another poignant story of the cultural differences!  A May 16th article in the NY Times deals with maternal mortality

Wikipedia has lots of background information on Mali as does the CIA World Factbook

As more women from sub-Saharan African countries end up in the offices of  European and North American countries, the health care professionals are having to deal with providing health care to women who have experiences female circumcision.  You might want to check out the article by Adriana Kaplan-Marcusan, Perception of primary health professionals about Female Genital Mutilation: from healthcare to intercultural competence.  Ball also has a review of the topic and how services have been developed services for women in the UK.

Another issue dealt with in the book is spouse abuse also covered in Rani’s article, An empirical investigation of attitudes toward wife-beating among men and women in seven sub=Saharan African countries.

Next Meeting: Thursday, June 4 (noon) and Thursday, June 11 (7:30 a.m.) – People of the Book

May 31, 2009 at 4:07 pm | In Pre-meeting reading | Leave a Comment

Having enjoyed several of her other books, we selected Geraldine Brooks’s most recent book for June.  The book focuses on the  stories related to the “clues” left in the Sarajevo Haggadah and the story of Hanna Heath, a rare book conservator.  Both Lisa Fugard  and Janet Maslin wrote about the book in the New York Times.  Additional reviews can be found on ReviewsOfBooks.com.  Yale University has a website  with information and photos of various Haggadah.  High quality illustrations are also available on another website and maybe some of you will be able to identify some of the stories.  The colorful illustrations use the same background of blue or orange colored squares.  Geraldine Brooks’s website includes links to her NPR interview and a conversation among other resources.  Pioneers of Book Conservation discusses the careers of pre-eminent US and UK book conservators.

The Namesake

May 7, 2009 at 1:59 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Today’s Book Group session generated interest in reading Nikolai Gogol’s The Overcoat.  Feel free to leave your comments!  Wikipedia has a bit of background on Nikolai Gogol.  I also mentioned to the group that I thought that Natalie Friedman’s article “From hybrids to tourists: children of immigrants in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake” really brought out the central themes of the book and particularly the issues Gogol/Nikhil deals with as sort of an “in-between” generation.

Alison

Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake

May 1, 2009 at 9:36 pm | In Pre-meeting reading | Leave a Comment

namesake_small4The first Children’s Hospital Reads Together program is planned for May 2009.  The planned events include Book Group discussions, a cooking demonstration, Psychiatry Grand Rounds and a staff panel presentation.  Make sure to enter the weekly trivia contest as each week we will award a gift card to the randomly selected winner.  The library has compiled some background information:

Wikipedia has some interesting information on the “bhalo nam” or good name and “dak nam” or nickname.  Apparently this is a tradition unique to Bengali families and not a common practice throughout India. 

New York Times Book Review

Book Group Guide

Author interview from PBS

A great blog on Bengali cooking

Information about Calcutta, India

If you have seen the movie (the library has a copy available for loan), you might be interested in this review.

Seattle, Portland created an extensive Toolbox when they read the book together in 2003.

Next Meeting: Thursday, June 26 (The Worst Hard Time)

June 19, 2008 at 4:26 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

This is a remarkable story, and I’ll be looking forward to the discussion. On many different levels: human, ecology, and political, there should be much to talk about!  For anyone wanting a bit of extra background, Sheila recommends these two historical sites: Dust Storm Video and the Dust Bowl Oral History Project. If any one wants further background reading: 

The New York Times Book Review focuses on the history and also on some of the smaller quibbles the reviewer has with the story.  The reviewer from the Seattle Times, who has known the author for over 20 years, echoes the sentiments of many readers in wondering how the people who chose to stay could have survived such conditions. There are several author interviews about the book including one on his publisher’s website and another on the Gather website

PBS did a video “Surviving the Dust Bowl” which looks very interesting and is available in many local public libraries. NPR also have a 9 minute audio interview with Egan. Finally, there are audio survivor stories which some of you may be interested in listening to.

Next Meeting: Thursday, April 17 (The Constant Gardener)

April 13, 2008 at 8:50 pm | In Pre-meeting reading | Leave a Comment

There is an interesting piece in The Nation entited “The Constant Gardener”: What the Movie Missed which looks at the pharmaceutical industry and clinical trials.

Salon.com has a fairly scathing review of the book and the New York Times (there is no charge to login) review made comparisons to Dickens’ attempts to right some of society’s ills.

You can also find some recent articles such as: Peer review. Pfizer denied access to journals’ files (Science) and Guinea-pigging: healthy human subjects for drug safety trials are in demand. But is it a living?  (New Yorker).

Le Carre also wrote the forward to “The Body Hunters: Testing New Drugs on the World’s Poorest Patients” by Sonia Shah.

NPR has an interview with the author.

Save the Date: Sandy Tolan speaking at the Cambridge Public Library

April 5, 2008 at 6:41 pm | In Author appearances | Leave a Comment

 Book Reading and Presentation with Sandy Tolan, author of  The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East
May 13th, 2008 - YMCA 820 Mass. Ave. Central Square, Cambridge 7:00-8:30 pm
Reading, remarks and question and answer. Reception and book-signing to follow.
Free and Open to the Public. Tickets available in advance at:
Cambridge Library Main Branch: 359 Broadway
Harvard Book Store: 1256 Mass. Ave.


“At a time when peace seems remote and darkness deepens, this lucid, humane, hopeful book shines like a ray of light.”- The Times “Tolan’s narrative provides a much-needed, human dimension to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”- Washington Post”
For more information or reservations, call the Cambridge Peace Commission, 617-349-4694 or email, peace@cambridgema.gov
Sponsored by : Cambridge Peace Commission Co-sponsored by: Cambridge Public Library With thanks to Harvard Book Store
Thanks to Mary Robinson for pointing out this event.

Book for April 17, 2008

March 29, 2008 at 9:43 pm | In Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Our next book is The Constant Gardener by John La Carre.  We will meet on Thursday, April 17,  2008 from 7:30 – 8:30 in the AV Room in the library.

Welcome CHB readers

March 29, 2008 at 9:07 pm | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

This is the new blog for the Reading Group at Children’s Hospital Boston.  I hope that even folks who are unable to attend the regular meetings will feel free to add their comments about any of the books we read.

Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.