Saturday, February 20, 2010

The History of the Twice Seven Book Club

My grandmother, Ruby Coughenour, belonged to the Twice Seven Book Club in Salisbury, N.C.  Members each bought one of an agreed upon set of titles and the titles than circulated among the members.  My father, Richard C. Coughenour remembered his route, delivering the books his mother had read to the next woman.

I, of course, could not resist seeing if the Twice Seven Book Club was on the Internet.  I was thrilled to find not only a reference to the club, but a reference to a meeting at my grandmother's house.  I had always thought the book club was a response to the Depression, but clearly they were already meeting in 1924.

If you look on the second page of the attached PDF of a page of the Salisbury Post Society News, you will find the snippet about that meeting.


Article in Salisbury Post

Thursday, December 31, 2009

What to do

Below is a very short post about each book.  If you wish to add to it, just click on "comments"  below and type in your thoughts.  Click "older posts" to see more of the titles.  I will be moderating the posts so they will not appear immediately.  Don't sign your real name, but use a clever pseudonym that will identify you and amuse us.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope


How a 14 year old boy in Malawi used old bicycle parts and PVC pipe to create a windmill and bring hope and energy to his village.

Check out this video

Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann and Anthea Bell





Another first novel, originally written in German, about  herd of Irish  sheep trying to discover who murdered the shepherd and why.  This is funny, dark and joyous and like nothing you've read before.  Watership Down meets Miss Marple.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer




What would happen if the moon were shifted in its orbit after a meteor strikes it?  That's the premise of this short novel that sees what happens to a family living in western Pennsylvania after  this happens.  There is a sequel, The Dead and the Gone.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The King Must Die by Mary Renault


Hunger Games is a hot new young adult (jr. and sr. high school)  novel and The King must Die is a novel Carolyn and I read when we were in high school.   Both are based on the myth of Theseus,

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman



Weisman asks the question, "What would happen to the earth if humans vanished?"  The answer is fascinating.  If you read nothing else the first chapter, about what would happen to New York, is worth the price of admission.