It's "happy" if I'm not responsible for the characters!

I am struggling with my definition of a happy book, because my book club is reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire. Now this is definitely not a happy book, but somehow I don't feel it so deeply because it is set in another world, a world that I don't feel any responsibility toward! So perhaps my definition of a happy book merely means one which I can truly escape into without a sense of guilt at my own good fortune.



I promised the book title that everyone in the club enjoyed, and that is the most surefire recommendation you can ever make.... It's Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It's the story of a vet travelling with a circus during the Great Depression. If you listed the plot outline, a great many unhappy things happen, but it all turns out alright in the end.



On a related vein, I have been trying to think of adult fiction books that are truly funny. Aside from reliable Nick Hornby I am coming up dry. Why am I only finding humour in my son's bedtime stories? Captain Underpants, Greg Heffley, Fred and George Weasley: all the humourists are to be found in the kids' section. I thought the Twilight series was a hilarious spin on teenage angst, but I'm looking for something intentionally amusing that's aimed at adults. I challenge my readers to think of some novels that are laugh out loud funny.

What the librarians saw

Now I could be accused of a non continuous plot here, because I was about to tell you what the librarians recommended, and then I jumped over to an old favourite from the bookclub. Let's call that a cliffhanger to get your attention, and not an inability to stay on track!




So here are the books the librarians recommended:

1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows needs little introduction because everyone else discovered it at the same time we did! A cast of amusing characters discuss the bookclub that formed on the occupied Guernsey island (between England and France) during WW II. It sounds like a heavy topic, but the treatment was light, and anything about a bookclub is bound to be a hit. If you Google search "guernsey shell church" you will find pictures of the lovely church mentioned in the book. This book was universally liked, but generated little discussion.


2. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley has also hit fame on the bestseller lists. We didn't end up picking this one, but I read it myself, so I can report it is a solid, traditional mystery with an unusual heroine, 11 year old Flavia, who loves chemistry and lives in the usual English mansion. What makes it fresh is the heroine, whose sisters lock her in the closet, but she gets her revenge.


3. Come thou tortoise by Jessica Grant is alternately written by childlike Audrey and her pet tortoise Winnifred, the latter who lets you know what's really going on. I've only started, and bookclub is scheduled to read this in the spring, so you will have to wait for the word on this one. See, more suspense generated!


4. The Film Club: A True Story of a Father and a Son by David Gilmour. This non fiction book, a slight collections of essays about the relationship between a father and son as they watched movies together, was successful because it resulted in heated debate. We argued over whether it was a good parenting choice for the father to offer the film club as an alternative to high school. It is often the books that we disagree on that are the most memorable.

Next blog: our all time favourite book...

West with the night

I was forced to stage a Happiness Coup in my bookclub. The sad facts follow. It started out innocently with Rohinton Mistry's A fine balance, which broke our hearts. On it's heels came Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey, Karen Connelly's The lizard cage and The Maytrees by Annie Dillard. When a selection was unavailable, and Dave Egger's The What is the what looked like the replacement, I snapped. I couldn't bear any more unhappy characters running around in my head. That's when I staged the Happiness Coup.

It sounds easier than it was. The rub was actually finding some happy alternatives. Unable to find anything on the net, I turned to some collections librarians in our moment of need. And thus this story has a happy ending.

In this blog, I will post titles that my book club has enjoyed. (Except when there hasn't been enough plot, and the resident Plot Queen of the club starts grumbling. But that's another blog!)

Favourite 1: West with the night by Beryl Markham

This autobiography of an African childhood was universally liked (and we usually only agree on the food) Beryl Markham, who knew Karen Blixen and Denys Finch Hatton in what is now Kenya, writes about her life as a child in Africa and how she learned to fly. There are memorable stories of pet lions stalking her, and horses that she trained. The amount of freedom she had as a child is astounding compared to the playdates and chaperoned trips to buy candy common today. Some members were so intrigued by Beryl they read one of the more complete biographies written about her. Not "happy" in the happy ending kind of way, but happy in the excite the imagination, want to travel to Africa and lead an adventurous life kind of way.