READERS IN THE ROUGH 2024

 

Readers in the Rough—January 2024

Our discussion over the life of Marjorie Post started the calendar year 2023 with a lively evening discourse either approving of her valued collection of art from Moscow or arguing that she should not have purchased those items, but we all marveled at her dream to build Mar-a-Logo in Florida in the late 1920’s, not to mention the men in her life.  

With that we began our year reading, discussing, and deciding on our one important vote for one book a month.

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Merriweather Post received the biggest mix of votes: 3 voted a Par, 3 voted a Birdie, 2 voted an Eagle, and 2 voted it a Hole-in-One. The total of the votes gave it an overall BIRDIE.

To better explain our voting think of a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best and you would recommend it to any type of reader, and a 1 being a bogey or would not recommend to others to read.  

• A Hole-in-One vote equals 5 points. 
• Eagle vote equals 4 points. 
• Birdie vote equals 3 points. 
• Par vote equals 2 points.
• Bogey is worth 1 point.

One book received a Hole-in-One and nearly a standing ovation.

LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus https://www.bonniegarmus.com/lessons-in-chemistry

 

 This year, five books received overwhelming agreement for an EAGLE.

REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt

MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT by Maggie O’Farrell 

LADY TAN’S CIRCLE OF WOMEN by Lisa See

TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett  If you prefer audio books, we recommend listening to Tom Lake.

We enjoy Ann Patchett's books so much, one of our Readers visited her bookstore in Nashville. 

Books receiving the majority of 3 points for a BIRDIE were:

THE MAGNIFICIENT LIVES OF MARJORIE POST by Allison Pataki

TOMORROW TOMORROW TOMORROW by Gabrielle Zevin

VIOLETA by Isabelle Allende

HELLO BEAUTIFUL by Ann Napolitano

<https://annnapolitano.com/hello-beautiful/>

 

WOMEN WITHOUT MEN by Shahrnush Parsipur,

our September book, was the most difficult to discuss and received PAR votes because we all struggled with the issues. It is a translation by Faridoun Farrokh. This passage, on page 85 in a book of only 122 pages, might give a clue as to the subject matter. “Unfortunately, it is still not a time for a woman to
travel by herself. She must either become invisible or stay cooped up in a house. My problems is that I can no longer remain housebound, but I have to, because I am a woman. Perhaps I can make a little progress at a time. But then I will have to be stuck in a house for a while. Maybe this is the only way I can see the world at a snail’s pace.”

We ended our year with  cheerful evening of delicious food, a few drinks, and ornery "Dirty Santa" ornament gift exchange. The lovely crystal ball ornament at the top was stolen two times and found a home at last. Inside the ball were all 11 of the book titles we read in 2023. Thank you members of Readers in the Rough. 

**Along the way, one of our readers became a grandma for the first time. We predict that she may not be reading as many books as in years past. Her hands and arms might be full of this sweet bundle of love. 

 

 

 

 

 

Readers in the Rough: A Guide to Great Reading for 2023

 

Birthe, Catie, Kim, Kathy, Heather, Tammy, Pam
Rowena, Susan, Letty
Christmas Party
We toasted to our December book THE LITTLE PRINCE

Our book club, Readers in the Rough, began meeting in the summer of 2017. We normally meet to discuss the books at The Trails Golf Course in Norman, Oklahoma, consequently, the beautiful view of the golf course prompted our book club title,  "Readers in the Rough."  We rate our books based on the language of golf and quality of literature. This rating system has been revised and discussed from time to time, as nothing is quite perfect.  We absolutely enjoy our lively book discussions and ramblings about life, and like the game of golf we read and discuss for fun and friendship.

Hole-in-One = 5 points; Eagle= 4 points; Birdie= 3 points; Par= 2 points; Bogey= 1 point; and double bogey receives no points, no applause, no recommendations. 

A Par rating meets the expectation of the elements of fiction: a solid plot, strong and dynamic characters, setting that is defined, a theme we can discuss along with a point of view that lends itself to telling the story, and strength of genre. A Par rating for memoir asks for a compelling story using truth, theme, voice, point of view being I, and an ongoing attempt to arrive at answers. A birdie, eagle, hole-in-one all meet this standard and go above. 

At the end of each monthly discussion we talk through the rating briefly giving books thumbs up or down, or sometimes we gently struggle and argue between ratings, based on our perceptions. In the end, the majority wins with the votes. Ironically, our Hole-in-One and Eagle rated books are usually unanimous. 

In 2022 our reading travels took us from Africa; to the Pink City of Jaipur India; Nebraska to NYC; Oxford, England; Bombay (Mumbai, India); the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles; New York City to J.P. Morgan's vast wealth of books and art. A pleasant and eye opening trip to Iceland intrigued us deeply, where we learned how women had gained in the political narrative. We then traveled to Paris back to back with Hemingway. (I spent an extra week in Paris between books reading The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher.) We ended our year on the deserted desert landscape with The Little Prince. 

The Hole-in-One rating (5 points)  is reserved for only the best of the best, in our opinion, and one that we would reread, rave about and encourage others to read. It must meet all of the criteria of an eagle, birdie, and par. 

**People I  consider Hole-in-One Golfers are Annika Sorenstam, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Patty Berg, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. 

There were no books on our selected list that received this rating in 2022.

An Eagle rating (4 points)  says it is superb, exciting, and well worth reading. It meets all of the requirements for par and birdie, plus it is a book we will long remember for perhaps different reasons. We would highly recommend it to others.

**People I consider Eagle Golfers are Mickey Wright, Se Ri Pak, Karrie Webb, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and Gary Player. 

The Lincoln Highway

A Birdie rating (3 points) meets all of the criteria of a Par plus it creates excellent discussion based on a powerful theme, or other elements of fiction.

**People I consider Birdie Golfers are Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez, In Bee Park, Bobby Jones, Roy Mc Illroy, and Seve Ballesteros . 

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi  Birdie

The Ladies #1 Detective Agency

 

The Dictionary of Lost Words Birdie

Meet Me in Bombay Birdie

https://taylorjenkinsreid.com/books/daisy-jones-and-the-six/

Birdie

Secrets of the Sprakkar Birdie

The Personal Librarian Birdie

A Movable Feast Birdie

The Paris Wife Birdie

I

A Par rating (2 points)  meets the expectation of the elements of fiction: a solid plot, strong and dynamic characters, setting that is defined, a theme we can discuss along with a point of view that lends itself to telling the story, and strength of genre. A Par rating for memoir asks for a compelling story using truth, theme, voice, point of view being I, and an ongoing attempt to arrive at answers. 

**All members of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and Professional Golf Association regularly shoot par and below rounds. 

PAR

The Little Prince

A Bogey rating (1 point) means a book may meet some of the elements of fiction, but overall the book is not strong enough to gather our full attention.  We would not recommend it for discussion.

The Reading List  Bogey