Blog Archives

Garden Book Club

6/25/2021

Update 9-24-2021

Zoom meetings are held 2nd and 4th Fridays at 2PM
Zoom invitations are emailed the day before meeting.
To join: Email John Walling <ArrowheadResident@Gmail.com>

Book selections

Sep-Oct 2021: #6 The Martian by Andy Weir

Recommended by Billie O. 3/24/2021
Amazon
Seattle Public Library

Oct-Nov 2021: #7 A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Recommended by Mieke T. 8/13/2021
Amazon
Seattle Public Library

Nov-Dec 2021: #8 All The Flowers In Paris by Sarah Jio

Recommended by Judi C. 8/13/2021
Amazon
Seattle Public Library

Dec 2021: #9 How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Recommended by Mieke T. 8/13/2021
Amazon
Seattle Public Library

Jan 2022: #10 The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

Recommended by Mieke T. 8/27/2021
Amazon
Seattle Public Library

Independent Bookstores and Other Sellers

click here for Past book selections

Past Book Selections
April 2021: #1 Where the Crawdads Sing by Owens, Delia

May 2021: #2 Apple Eater by Annemarieke Tazelaar

June 2021: #3 Requiem in Red by Norma Roth

July-Aug 2021: #4 Olive Mabel and Me by Andrew Cotter

July 2021: Book #4
Olive, Mabel & Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs
Hardcover – December 1, 2020
by Andrew Cotter (Author)

Youtube / Youtube
SPL Catalog

Recommended by John W

Aug -Sep 2021: #5 Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

Recommended by Cynthia M 6/24/2021
Amazon
Seattle Public Library

click here for bookmobile instructions

You may use Seattle Public Library Mobile Services for borrowing books. Deliveries are made to Arrowhead Gardens B Building on the 2nd Friday of the Month at 9:15am. Each person is responsible for picking up and returning her book copy to SPL Mobile Services.

If you would like to use SPL Mobile Services:
Make sure you have an active SPL account: https://www.spl.org
(If you have a King County Library account, you can link that account to an SPL account.)
Contact SPL to have Mobile Services deliver your books to Arrowhead Gardens
You can use the online Chat at https://www.spl.org/using-the-library/ask-us
or call the SPL main phone: 206-386-4636
When the librarian has your information, she will forward it to Mobile Services.
Mobile Services will contact you to confirm your instructions.

Seattle’s Summer Reading List
"We ranked the top summer eBooks and audiobooks using library checkout records"
"We looked at total July and August checkouts per title over the last 5 years (2016-2020) and ranked the top 10 fiction and nonfiction eBooks for Seattle library patrons. “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens crowns the fiction list, while “Educated: A Memoir” by Tara Westover takes the top rank among nonfiction reads."

PROPOSED BOOKS

Posted 6-14-2021
Aug 2021: Book #5
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

I have a great book to recommend - it’s called “Ordinary Grace” and it has won 5 book club awards. The only thing is that it costs $12.99 on Amazon currently. Maybe I could fine a better price - or we’ll wait until the Bookmobile finds another lower price.
It is by William Kent Krueger and was written in 2013.
It got an Edgar award and 4 other awards: I was really impressed when I read it. The author is from Oregon.

Recommended by Cynthia M

Amazon

Seattle Public Library

Posted 3-24-2021 > Book #6 September 2021
Sep 2021: Book #6
The Martian by Andy Weir
The SPL currently has 12 copies of the book. Five are available. They also have 7 large print books available, 164 ebooks, and 11 audio books available right now. So I think it's a viable candidate for consideration.

Recommended by Billie O.

Posted 7-24-2021
Oct 2021: #7
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
The SPL has 26 copies and 14 are on hold (7/24/2021)
SPL Audiobooks are available.
Amazon paperback is $7.63

Recommended by Mieke T.

Posted 7-9-2021

All the Flowers in Paris
by Sarah Jio
https://sarahjio.com/the-books/
Two women are connected across time by the city of Paris, a mysterious stack of love letters, and shocking secrets, sweeping from World War II to the present—for readers of Sarah’s Key and The Nightingale.

Amazon
Seattle Public Library

Posted 5-28-2021

Midnight in Chernobyl:
The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster (2019)
by Adam Higginbotham
A history of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that occurred in Soviet Ukraine in 1986. It won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction in 2020. Higginbotham spent more than a decade interviewing eyewitnesses and reviewing documents from the disaster including some that were recently declassified. Higginbotham considers it the first English-language account that is close to the truth i.e. free of Soviet propaganda.

Amazon Paperback & Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Chernobyl-Greatest-Nuclear-Disaster/dp/1501134639/

Amazon Audiobook:
https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-in-Chernobyl-audiobook/dp/B07GFRZVZ8/

SPL Catalog:
https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/item/show/3437529030

Recommended by Norma R.

Posted 4-4-2021

Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama.
Currently only about 8 regular books available at SPL, none of them large print and or e-books. But that might change by the time we get to it. I have a copy, myself, but haven't read it. It was given to me. This would give me a reason to pull it out.

Recommended by Billie O.

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Garden Book Club - Book 3

6/8/2021

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Posted 5-27-2021

Requiem in Red by Norma Roth
is the third book club selection.

Contact Norma to purchase a copy for $11
or download a Kindle copy.

Myrna Schroeder's beauty shines as she goes about her night shift job in the drab factory. Her beauty, however, is a cross she must bear. It's 1952, and no Mrs. is in her name, no gold ring on her left hand. Her child, Scarlett, five, is the result of a night of terror perpetrated by a man whose name she keeps secret. She is the core of Myrna’s life. Myrna has erased all thought of romance from her mind. Then, an accident at the factory brings her to the attention of Mark Weston, unhappily married owner of the factory. Their meeting is like the collision of two atoms, but Myrna rejects his advances. Mark and his wife divorce. He and Myrna almost touch complete happiness until Scarlett's wild, fire-red hair and green Dragon Eyes reveal her father’s identity to Myrna’s aunt Ada. Ada decides to blackmail him, beginning a chain reaction that sets off the explosion which almost destroys Myrna. Can she recover to let love back into her life? Can Mark's love repair her shattered world? Will they live the dream they began?

Click Green Accordion to Open

Norma submitted a synopsis of her book on 6-15-2021

REQUIEM IN RED SUMMARY
By Norma Roth 6/15/21

The germ of Requiem in Red planted itself deep into my brain in 1954. I worked the night shift in a factory that made automatic switches. One of my coworkers was Peggy, (not her real name) was an unwed mother with a little girl about the age of my daughter, who was five. The child’s name was Scarlett and I thought it was strange that an unmarried mother would give her child that name. I guess she had never read “The Scarlett Letter.”

Peggy was a little strange. She wouldn’t allow her daughter to eat ice cream because she read in some grocery store newspaper that an evil person put ground glass in ice cream; she wouldn’t let Scarlett use Play Dough because it was “dirty.”

Myrna, the protagonist of my story, is not strange. She’s just the opposite.

I often wondered what happened to Peggy and her daughter, and I thought it would make a good story. After many years, Saltwater Writers helped me finally make that story: Requiem in Red

Myrna Schroeder is the mother of five-year-old Scarlett, the result of a date-rape by David Holman, the son of the town’s first family. She kept her pregnancy and the birth of Scarlett secret from him.

Myrna is an orphan raised by her mother’s much-older brother, Ernie, and his wife, Ada. Ada resented having to care for Myrna as a child. She persuaded Ernie to tell Myrna she had to quit high school when she turned sixteen. She went to work on the night shift in Weston Automatic Switch Company. Myrna has longed to finish high school ever since.

One hot evening at the factory, Myrna decided to eat her sack lunch in the company’s parking lot. She chose the top step of a high stoop as her dining table. Before she had a chance to begin her lunch, the door behind her swung open and struck her hard, knocking her to the pavement of the parking lot, about four feet down. The fall broke her arm and stunned her. When she opened her eyes, a pair of dark brown eyes, and the handsome face of a man were staring at her. It was Mark Weston, the owner and president of Weston Switch Company.

Mark was instantly attracted to the beautiful young woman who lay on the asphalt. He followed the ambulance to the hospital and after she was treated, he took her home to the upstairs apartment where she lived with Scarlett.

Mark attempted to woo Myrna, but she knew he was married and had a reputation as a womanizer. After David Holman had raped her and left her pregnant, Myrna wanted nothing to do with men. Especially, not Mark Weston.

On the Fourth of July, Mark went to the park where the city was having a fireworks display, found Myrna and Scarlett and joined them for the evening. Unknown to him, his wife, Noreen’s father had died from sudden heart attack at the dinner table, and she had been trying to find Mark.

No love was lost between Mark and Noreen. Her father was a wealthy doctor and financed Mark’s start in business to manufacture the switch he had invented in grad school. The doctor was the primary shareholder in the company and never let Mark forget who had financed it. Noreen was extremely close to her father. He was the only reason Mark and Noreen had not divorced.

After her father’s death, Noreen went to Reno for a quickie divorce and married a tennis pro from the country club. Mark then pursued Myrna.

Myrna had made a close friend of Lydia McIntire, an African American woman, her age, who had recently come to work in the factory. Lydia was a college graduate but because of her race, could not find work teaching chemistry in the local high school. She lived with her mother, Sarah, who had been a head housekeeper in a Chicago hotel before her retirement. Lydia wanted to stay with her in Newport City, so she went to work in Weston Automatic Switch Company. Myrna and Lydia gravitated toward each other because they were outcasts in the factory department where they worked. Myrna was shocked that Lydia, with her college degree, had to work in a factory. Lydia decided to start a union in the factory, which brought Myrna into conflict with Mark.

Mark was still in love with Myrna after Noreen left and proposed. She knew she loved him, but she was afraid she would be an embarrassment to him because of her lack of education and her working-class background. She accepted his proposal on the condition that he help her finish her education. He promised and also promised to adopt Scarlett as his child.

Then, tragedy struck Myrna. Everything in her life turned upside down. Lydia and Sarah invited her to stay with them until she recovered. She was afraid Mark would take back his proposal, but he surprised her by staying close.

Mark started a new business in Seattle, Washington, and he and Myrna began planning for their move. Myrna was excited about living in Seattle; she had always wanted to live somewhere other than Newport City, Illinois. Despite Mark’s reassurance. Myrna still worried that she would not measure up to the demands of a rich man’s wife.

You can download the PDF version here.

Checkout this:
Tea with Mieke and Norma (discussing their books) on 2/25/2018

Mieke Tazelaar and Norma Roth quizzed each other and read passages from their two new books: Requiem In Red by Norma and Geezer Crossing by Mieke. Norma's first book is a romance novel and Mieke's fifth book is a collection of fiction and non-fiction short stories. Norma and Mieke answered questions from the audience about how to self-publish books. CreateSpace was recommended as a free service to assist with formatting documents for publication.
Separate audio and video-audio were recorded.

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Garden Book Club - Book 2

6/4/2021

1 Comment

Update 6-4-2021

2nd book: May-June 2021
Apple Eater (Paperback & Kindle)
by Annemarieke Tazelaar

The author is known as Mieke Tazelaar.
She resides in D Building and is the Sunshine Committee organizer.

Mieke will provide some of the book copies for purchase $13.

About Apple Eater - Mieke

I was born in Arnhem the Netherlands in 1937, three years before World War II broke out in my country on May 10, 1940, making our country officially part of the Nazi regime and an enemy of the Allies.

My father was born in Grand Rapids Michigan and came to Holland (the other name for the Netherlands) in 1930. He met and married my mother, and my brothers and I were born during the 30’s. At one point, he wanted us to emigrate to the US before the imminent war, but by that time, it was too late to carry out those plans.

In retrospect, I am glad that we didn’t leave then, because we were able to form a close bond with my grandparents (Opa and Oma). Because my mother was an only child, it would have been hard for them, actually impossible to have survived without my parents.

We lived nearly normal lives for those earlier years of the war, although food and other supplies were becoming more and more scarce. We depended a lot on our neighbors for support, companionship, and all the children who lived in our street were watched over and taken care of by this extended family.

On September 17, 1944, our city was the center of one of the most pivotal battles of the European side of World War II. Many German troops guarded the city to keep it from being taken by the British. Arnhem was about 10 miles from the German border, and the first Dutch city on the Rhine, over the border from Germany. Arnhem’s strategic bridge over the Rhine was mainly guarded and used during this time by the Germans.

The English general, Montgomery, figured that if the British could capture that bridge and the city, it would end the war in the Netherlands, and be a major downfall for the Nazi regime. He called it ”Operation Market Garden.”

He arranged an airdrop about 8 miles (too far, it turned out) of approx. 35,000 paratroopers dropping from gliders, who landed early in the morning, and the airmen started walking toward Arnhem and over the bridge.

But “Monty” had been warned by the Dutch Resistance and others, that there were too many German troops living in the city, and that they would mobilize quickly and defeat the Brits.

Which is what happened, aided by a series of blunders by the British troops and their commanders, and it took ten days of a fierce battle.

The city was heavily bombed. Our house was partially destroyed by a bomb while my mother, brothers, and I were sheltering in a small lavatory.

The townspeople were given two days to leave their homes and exit the city.  Which we did – about 100,000 of us.

(Look up “Operation Market Garden” for the complete description, or ask Tom D, who still can’t get over the fact that I lived through that battle!  The book by Von Ryan, A Bridge Too Far, tells this story.  It is also a major movie. )

We stayed with friends first, in a nearby village until that became too dangerous, and then to another village, until we trekked north with 150 people on horse-drawn wagons. We ended up in the province of Friesland, where we were taken in by village people util the end of the war.

This is part of our family’s history, but another story, fictitious, weaves through it concerning a Jewish family in Amsterdam.

More book background details are below ...

Apple Eater Plot

On May 10, l940, German bombs pelt areas close to the Koning home in Arnhem. The next day, German troops overrun the city and other parts of the country. Days later, when Rotterdam is gutted with bombs, the Dutch government capitulates. Soon after, Mark Koning’s brother Lincoln arrives from America. Lincoln's carefree attitude charms the children, but Mark’s wife, Nella, fears he might put her family in jeopardy with his zest for adventure.

In Amsterdam, Jitse Wieringa, a Friesian Christian, worries about his Jewish wife and their 13-year-old daughter, Joslyn. Alecja is a translator for the German government, but when a German officer meets her young daughter and demands that the girl come to live at his villa, Jitse hides his family in his sculpture studio. Fearing this is still not safe, he finds a place for their daughter in an orphanage run by Dominican nuns. He brings her the Apple Eater, his hand-carved statue of a life-sized boy, and it becomes a favorite in the cloister, hugged by starving and diseased children.

Later in the war, the Konings survive Operation Market Garden, as 10,000 British paratroopers land from gliders and march into Arnhem. German forces mobilize quickly and defeat the British. The Konings narrowly escape with their lives, but their house is damaged. All citizens, including the Konings, have to evacuate the city. After a grueling ten-day trek through the snow on open horse-drawn carts, the family ends up in a small northern village. Lincoln survives harrowing adventures, but his devil-may-care attitude changes when his girlfriend is shot and killed. For her own safety, Joslyn leaves the convent and joins her uncle’s family in the northern province of Friesland.

The Koning family, Lincoln, and Joslyn experience the end of the war in the village, before returning to war-devastated Arnhem.

War Background

Battle of the Netherlands (May 1940)
Battle of Arnhem (September 1944)
- Operation Market Garden (September 1944)
Liberation of Arnhem (April 1945)
Netherlands in World War II (1940-1945)
Videos about Netherlands during WWII

Arnhem (September 1944)
Dutch records suggest that at least 453 civilians died during the battle, either as a result of Allied bombing on the first day or during the subsequent fighting. After the battle, the residents of Arnhem and its surrounding towns and villages were forcibly evicted from their homes, allowing the Germans to turn the north bank of the Rhine into a heavily defended line. Residents were not allowed to return home without a permit and most did not return until after the war. The Dutch homes were then systematically looted, with the spoils being sent to bombing victims in Germany. The Germans continued to fight Allied forces on the plains between Arnhem and Nijmegen, and the bridge that the 1st Airborne had fought so hard for was eventually destroyed by the Allies to deny German forces its use. On 7 October, it was bombed and destroyed by Martin B-26 Marauders of 344th Bomb Group, USAAF. The buildings of Arnhem were heavily shelled by the Allies over the next few months and suffered further when the city was eventually liberated in April 1945.

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Garden Book Club

Garden Book Club - Book 3

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