The Snow Child: A Novel / Eowyn Ivey / 388 pgs / Literary/Mainstream

Jack and Mabel live in the wilderness of Alaska in the 1920s. They moved there after the death of their baby. It is a lonely and hard existence. So much so the two of them have stopped talking to each other and to themselves. During a gentle snowstorm one night, the two of them build a snowman and dress it as a child. The next morning the snowman has been destroyed but there are footprints leading off into the deep woods. What follows isn't a straight forward fairy tale but there are enough elements to make the reader think there may be some magic left in the world after all.

Based on a Russian fairy tale, this debut novel is a stunner. The descriptions of Alaska and how cold is it (Hello, Polar Vortex!) help the reader understand the isolation of the place. What the snow person is and what she becomes is left up to the reader. Jack and Mabel have some neighbors that are part comic relief and part teacher. When these families begin to break down the barriers both mental and physical they begin a trek down a trail full of love and heartache. Excellent to read with a roaring fire going in the fireplace.

Reading connections: No One is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel, Mary Coin by Marisa Silver.

Swamplandia!: A Novel / Karen Russell / 316 pgs / Literary/Mainstream genre

  Meet the Bigtree alligator wrestling tribe of Swamplandia! Florida. The Chief is the master planner of this Southern Florida attraction. His wife Hilola has just died from cancer and their children are coping the best they know how. Their oldest Kiwi is rebelling against life as he knows it, Osceola has begun communing with ghosts while Ava is planning on saving the park and taking her mother's place as the headliner of the show. But the park is failing, people stop coming and the bills are mounting. What is a family to do?

  This family is as messed up as they come. The children have never been to public school and are woefully socially inept. The father lives inside his own mind and doesn't recognize reality needs some serious attention. Kiwi leaves to work at a place that feels like Disney gone wrong, Osceola thinks a ghost wants to marry her and disappears one night into the swamp. Ava seems to be the only normal one but falls into a dream world where she can make everything good again. Not a happy book. There is some gorgeous writing and descriptions of Florida that take your breath away. A serious and dogged literary read.

Reading connections: The Family Fang: A Novel by Kevin Wilson, Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Forgotten Waltz/ Anne Enright /263 pages/ Literary Fiction

You might enjoy Anne Enright's "The Forgotten Waltz" if you like complicated issues with no easy answers. She has written a tale of emotional turbulence recounting an extra marital affair between a younger woman and a middle aged family man.


The book is written in the first person narrative of Gina the younger married woman. The book is written in a non-linear fashion which unsettles the reader not knowing what to expect next. The story's backdrop is Ireland during the economic downturn of 2008 affecting real estate and the notion of entitlement. Enright has crafted a tale of splintered lives produced in the aftermath of an affair that doesn't lead to a "happily ever after" ending, but one of real life consequences.


Similar titles that are stylistically complex, character driven, and delves into memories, extramarital relations, and Irish angst.


The marriage plot by  Eugenides, Jeffrey; The Infinities by Banville, John ; and Slow Man by Coetzee, J.M.

The Tragedy of Arthur: A Novel / Arthur Phillips / 368 pages / Literary Fiction The Tragedy of Arthur is an emotional and elaborately constructed tour de force from “one of the best writers in America” (The Washington Post). Its doomed hero is Arthur Phillips, a young novelist struggling with a con artist father who works wonders of deception. Imprisoned for decades and nearing the end of his life,  Arthur’s father reveals a treasure he’s kept secret for half a century: The Tragedy  of Arthur, a previously unknown play by William Shakespeare. Arthur and his twin sister inherit their father’s mission: to see the manuscript published and  acknowledged as the Bard’s last great gift to humanity . . .unless it’s their father’s last great con. By turns hilarious and haunting, this virtuosic novel, which includes Shakespeare’s (?) lost play in its entirety, brilliantly subverts our notions of truth, fiction, genius, and identity, as the two Arthurs—the novelist and the ancient king-- play out their strangely intertwined fates.  Comparable titles suggested:   Big Fish by Daniel Wallace and Theft by Peter Carey.

LITERARY FICTION Book Discussion - Question # 7

Let's take a look at a specific scene in the novel ...

In one of the most poignant and powerful moments in the book, one of the interrogators remembers the way in which his father explained life in North Korea: "Even if we walked this path side by side, he said, we must act alone on the outside, while on the inside, we would be holding hands." What does the quote imply about the reality of living in such a repressive society? How does it speak to humanness in the fact of inhumanity?

Please enter your responses in the COMMENTS box so everyone can follow the discussion.

Scroll down through earlier posts to find previous discussion questions for The Orphan Master's Son.

LITERARY FICTION Book Discussion - Question # 6

What about the writing style used by Johnson ...

What do you feel the first-person narrative contributed to the story? Did you feel more or less removed from a world so closely guarded?

Please enter your responses in the COMMENTS box so everyone can follow the discussion.

Scroll down through earlier posts to find previous discussion questions for The Orphan Master's Son.

LITERARY FICTION Book Discussion - Question # 5

Let's continue talking about the make-up of the novel ...

How do the propaganda chapters, written as if spoken from a loud-speaker, play into your reading of the novel?

Please enter your responses in the COMMENTS box so everyone can follow the discussion.

Scroll down through earlier posts to find previous discussion questions for The Orphan Master's Son.

LITERARY FICTION Book Discussion - Question # 4

Let's talk about the make-up of the novel ...

Discuss the differences between the first part of the novel, "The Biography of Jun Do," and the second, "The Confessions of Commander Ga."

Please enter your responses in the COMMENTS box so everyone can follow the discussion.

Scroll down through earlier posts to find previous discussion questions for The Orphan Master's Son.

Literary Fiction Book Discussion - Change of Venue

There has been a change in location for the upcoming Literary Fiction book discussion meeting on Wednesday, November 20, 2013.

The discussion of the benchmark title, The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson, will now be held at the Spencer Road Branch in Houck Meeting Room 212 starting at 9:00 AM.

Please bring a copy of the book with you to the meeting. If you cannot come for the meeting next Wednesday morning, you can still join the discussion of the Literary Fiction benchmark title by using the Comments box at the bottom of each question as it is posted on the blog.

So join in the fun and let us know what you think about The Orphan Master's Son!  :-)

NOTE: At the end of the Wednesday discussion, I will have Literary Fiction book talk title suggestions for the next RA Training meeting. For those following along online, the list of those suggestions will also be posted on the blog under the Book Talk Titles tab on Wednesday, November 20th.

LITERARY FICTION Book Discussion - Question # 3

Now let's talk about the use of characters in the book.

How did you feel about the inclusion of Kim Jong II as a central character in the book? How would you say Johnson depicts him? Were you surprised by his portrayal?

Please enter your responses in the COMMENTS box so everyone can follow the discussion.

Scroll down through earlier posts to find previous discussion questions for The Orphan Master's Son.

LITERARY FICTION Book Discussion - Question # 2

Yes, this is a Literary Fiction title but let's talk about genre ...

The Orphan Master's Son has been characterized as a thriller, a love story, and a political dystopia. How would you classify the novel in terms of genre? How do you think each of these genres manifests itself in the book?

Please enter your responses in the COMMENTS box so everyone can follow the discussion.

Scroll down through earlier posts to find the previous discussion question for The Orphan Master's Son.

LITERARY FICTION Book Discussion - NOW OPEN !!

It's time to begin the online book discussion for our Literary Fiction title. The benchmark for this genre is The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson, the 2013 Pulitzer Prize Winner.

I will be posting a question each day from now, Wednesday, November 13 through Tuesday, November 19. The full list of discussion questions for this title will be compiled and posted under the Book Discussions tab on Wednesday, November 20.

So here's the first question:

How much did you know about North Korea before reading The Orphan Master's Son? How has it changed your perspective on life there?

Please enter your responses in the COMMENTS box so everyone can follow the discussion.

NOTE: All discussion questions for The Orphan Master's Son come from the "Readers' Guide' in the back of the Random House Trade Paperback edition (pages 455-456).

Genre Study Program - LITERARY FICTION

The next genre (or non-genre, if you will) we will be covering is Literary Fiction! This is the area of fiction with the most awards and reviews as well as the type of titles which appear on many Best of ... lists. Literary titles also are often the book of choice for discussion groups.

Our benchmark title for Literary Fiction is Adam Johnson's award-winning The Orphan Master's Son. Johnson's book won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Literature and was also an ALA Notable Books: Fiction category choice for 2013. It covers a very timely topic, taking place and dealing with life in North Korea under the regime of Kim Jong II.

In an article for NoveList, titled Getting Up to Speed in Literary Fiction, David Carr describes the genre as follows: "Literary Fiction renders the life experiences and personal perspectives of characters in the midst of complex situations and conflict over values and relationships. Tensions typically involve finding ways to respond and cope, and to understand the origins of those problems. In Literary Fiction, resolutions do not come easily, and the reading experience often evokes related issues of character, family, ethics, memory, faith, and forgiveness."

The Online book discussion for the Literary Fiction benchmark will begin on Wednesday, November 13 and run through Tuesday, November 19. Watch for a question to be posted on the blog each day. The book discussion meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 20 in Room 112 at the General Administration office.

For more information about The Orphan Master's Son look under the Benchmarks tab.