{"id":2177,"date":"2017-09-07T17:10:43","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T17:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/?page_id=2177"},"modified":"2017-09-15T21:54:18","modified_gmt":"2017-09-16T01:54:18","slug":"post-university-book-club","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/post-university-book-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-University Book Club"},"content":{"rendered":"

After graduation, a group of us wanted to keep reading, so we formed the Post-University Book Club as a chance to get together once a month, discuss a book, eat and drink.\u00a0 The only rule is that no one (who is present at the picking) can have read the book before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/td>\nThe Untouchable<\/a>\u00a0by John Banville<\/p>\n

A cold-war, spy novel.\u00a0 Not bad, but a bit dense.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nAnimal Farm<\/a>\u00a0by George Orwell<\/p>\n

A classic that we all made it through school without reading.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Last Lecture<\/a>\u00a0by Randy Pausch<\/p>\n

Local CMU professor presents his last lecture.\u00a0 Amazing book.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nLast Night at the Lobster<\/a>\u00a0by Stewart O’Nan<\/p>\n

I was the only one who like this, probably because of my years in retail.\u00a0 The last day a Red Lobster is open happens to be during a snowstorm.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Thirteenth Tale<\/a>\u00a0by Dianne Setterfield<\/p>\n

A good story, pretty good and ranked high on our list.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nSlaughterhouse-Five<\/a>\u00a0by Kurt Vognegut<\/p>\n

I was not expecting the aliens.\u00a0 Didn’t see that coming.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nOne Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd<\/a>\u00a0by Jim Fergus<\/p>\n

Alternative history of the United States, and the only book every member has loved.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Fuck Up<\/a>\u00a0by Arthur Nersesian<\/p>\n

Not believable, and kind of strange.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Hound of the Baskervilles<\/a>\u00a0by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle<\/p>\n

To coincide with the release of the first movie, we read this Sherlock Holmes novel.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nBalzac and Little Chinese Seamstress<\/a>\u00a0by Dai Sijie<\/p>\n

Not bad, but a little strange.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nUnder the Tuscan Sun<\/a>\u00a0by Frances Mayes<\/p>\n

More about recipes and home renovations than anything else.\u00a0 Not at all like the chick flick.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nWalden and Civil Disobedience<\/a>\u00a0by Henry David Thoreau<\/p>\n

None of us made it through this.\u00a0 Very dense.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nJitterbug Perfume<\/a>\u00a0by Tom Robbins<\/p>\n

Not bad, but does not leave a lasting impression.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nBear v. Shark: The Novel<\/a>\u00a0by Chris Bachelder<\/p>\n

We met over drinks to argue both sides of this book and got the bar staff involved as well.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nInferno<\/a>\u00a0(The Divine Comedy, book 1) by Dante Alighieri<\/p>\n

Awesome to read, and fun to see what circle of hell I belong in.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nIf Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor<\/a>\u00a0by Bruce Campbell<\/p>\n

A lot of fun to read, and we cussed it while watching episodes of Xena and Hercules.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Art of Racing in the Rain<\/a>\u00a0by Garth Stein<\/p>\n

Everyone else said it was too sad, but I liked it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nFreakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything<\/a>\u00a0by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner<\/p>\n

Really cool book, I just wish I had more time to listen to the podcasts.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Abbey<\/a>\u00a0(e-Book only) by Chris Culver<\/p>\n

Thankfully, we only paid about two bucks for this book, that’s pretty much all it’s worth.\u00a0 A detective novel with a very immature main character.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nA Man of the People<\/a>\u00a0by Chinua Achebe<\/p>\n

The first of our international series (Ethiopian restaurant, Abay), although the nation this is set in is never revealed.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nKingdom of Make Believe: A Novel of Thailand<\/a>\u00a0by Dean Barrett<\/p>\n

Universally reviled.\u00a0 I couldn’t make it through this book it was that bad, everyone hated it.\u00a0 Second in our international series (Thai Restaurant, The Green Mango)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nDiary of a Part Time Monk<\/a>\u00a0by J. Wilson<\/p>\n

Based on the blog of the same name, and the second half is basically a reprinting of the blog. \u00a0Third in our international series (German Brewhouse, Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Shack<\/a>\u00a0by Wm. Paul Young<\/p>\n

Heavy handed and supposed to be “mystical Christianity.” \u00a0I disliked it greatly, I felt it belittled the true loss of a young child.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nMistress of the Art of Death<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Ariana Franklin<\/p>\n

A fun mystery novel with a few unexpected twists. \u00a0Probably a good summer read.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Autobiography of Santa Claus<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Jeff Guinn<\/p>\n

Is it possible to white-wash the history of a fictional character? \u00a0That’s what this felt like. \u00a0The whole book tried way too hard to be relevant.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Master of Disguise<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Antonio J. Mendez<\/p>\n

Back to our Cold War roots, although this was very dense, I didn’t have a chance to read much of it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nWhite Fang<\/a>\u00a0by Jack London<\/p>\n

Better than I anticipated, and glad I finally read it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Alchemist<\/a>\u00a0by Paulo Coelho<\/p>\n

Wasn’t that impressed, seemed a bit heavy handed with its “wisdom” it wanted to impart.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"\"<\/td>\nThe Dovekeepers<\/a>\u00a0by Alice hoffman<\/p>\n

A long and dense, but very good read. \u00a0Well paced and enjoyable throughout.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After graduation, a group of us wanted to keep reading, so we formed the Post-University Book Club as a chance to get together once a month, discuss a book, eat and drink.\u00a0 The only rule is that no one (who is present at the picking) can have read the book before. The Untouchable\u00a0by John Banville A cold-war, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2177","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2177"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2454,"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2177\/revisions\/2454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelcrane.net\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}