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Clear Lake Chapter
Houston,
TX (Founding Chapter)
Reading Good Books, Eating Good Food and Having a Good Time!
Contact Us: goodbookclub@gmail.com 2005 Reading Selection | Upcoming Literary Events | About Us |
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Next Meeting
Date: Saturday, May 20, 2006
Time: 5:00 PM
Hostess: Mary Jones
Reading Selection: George and Rue
by George Elliott Clarke
Synopsis:
 It was a "slug-ugly" crime. Brothers George and Rufus Hamilton, in a robbery gone wrong, drunkenly bludgeoned a taxi driver to death with a hammer. It was 1949, and the two siblings, part Mi’kmaq and part African, were both hanged for the killing.
Those facts are skeletons in George Elliott Clarke’s family closet. Both repelled and intrigued by his ancestral cousins’ deeds, which he learned about from his mother shortly before her death, poet, playwright and screenwriter Clarke set out to discover just what kind of forces would reduce men to crime, violence and, ultimately, murder. His findings took shape in the 2001 Governor General’s Award–winning Execution Poems and culminates brilliantly in George and Rue. The novel shifts seamlessly back into the killers’ pasts, recounting a bleak and sometimes comic tale of victims of violence who became killers, a black community too poor and too shamed to assist its downtrodden members, and a white community bent on condemning all blacks as dangerous outsiders.
This is a book about a death that brims with fierce vitality and dark humor. Infused with the sensual, rhythmic beauty that defines Clarke’s writing, here is a literary debut that will be marked by celebration—and controversy. |
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Meeting Minutes
(April 2006
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Date: Saturday, March 18, 2006
Time: 5:00 PM
Hostess: Pamela Walker Williams
Reading Selection: Mindscan by Robert Sawyer
Synopsis:
Robert J. Sawyer's Hominids, the first volume of his bestselling Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, won the 2003 Hugo Award, and its sequel, Humans, was a 2004 Hugo nominee. Now he's back with a pulse-pounding, mind-expanding standalone novel, rich with his signature philosophical and ethical speculations, all grounded in cutting-edge science.
Jake Sullivan has cheated death: he's discarded his doomed biological body and copied his consciousness into an android form. The new Jake soon finds love, something that eluded him when he was encased in flesh: he falls for the android version of Karen, a woman rediscovering all the joys of life now that she's no longer constrained by a worn-out body either.
But suddenly Karen's son sues her, claiming that by uploading into an immortal body, she has done him out of his inheritance. Even worse, the original version of Jake, consigned to die on the far side of the moon, has taken hostages there, demanding the return of his rights of personhood. In the courtroom and on the lunar surface, the future of uploaded humanity hangs in the balance.
Mindscan is vintage Sawyer -- a feast for the mind and the heart.
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Chapter News/Upcoming Events
BOOK CLUB IN YOUR POCKET FEATURES THE GOOD BOOK CLUB
Sunday, June 18th: George Elliott Clarke & The Good Book Club-Houston Chapter discussing his book George and Rue
Bookclub In Your Pocket Show. Featuring Award Winning Canadian Poet turned Author George Elliot Clark, discussing his book GEORGE AND RUE. The book is about a death that brims with fierce vitality and dark humor. Infused with the sensual, rhythmic beauty that defines Clarke’s writing, this is a literary debut that is marked by celebration—and controversy...
www.bookclubinyourpocket.com
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Reading Selections for
2006 |
| January: |
n/a
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| February: |
Fledgling : A Novel by Octavia Butler
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| March: |
Mindscan by Robert Sawyer
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| April: |
George and Rue by George Elliott Clarke
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| May: |
Baby Brother's Blues by Pearl Cledge
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About Us
Inspired by Oprah, in 1996 three friends, Mary Jones, Juanita Cole Howard and Pamela Walker Williams, began organizing a book club. After several trail attempts, the club held its official charter meeting in March 1998. The first reading selection was "If This World Were Mine" by E. Lynn Harris. The charter members of the chapter were: Wanda Wolfe, Renita Kay Glaze, Andrew Ricks, Mary Jones, Juanita Cole Howard and Pamela Walker Williams. The Club was named "The Good Book Club" because the goal was to read good books, eat good food, and have a good time.
Our group is now composed of women of all age groups and from all walks of life.
The Houston Chapter of the GBC has hosted many author events in the Houston and Clear Lake Area. In 2001, they hosted author Kimberla Lawson Roby at the Arts Alliance Center in Clear Lake . Always in search of places to hold literary events, other venues that they have used include the Barnes and Noble in Clear Lake The Shrine of the Black Madonna in Houston , Muddie Waters Coffee House in Pearland, Tommy's Patio and Café of Clear Lake, Venenicio's Italian Restaurant in Clear Lake and Third World Imports in Houston .
Authors hosted include Travis Hunter, Eric Jerome Dickey, Trisha Thomas, Parry Brown, Linda Dominique Grovesnor, J. California Cooper, Lolita Files, Delores Thornton, Kathleen Cross, Sharon Ewell Foster, Bernice McFadden, A'Lelia Bundles, Eric Pete, Vincent Alexandria and Texas authors Francis Ray, Victor McGlothin, Anita Richmond Bunkley, Mack and Sara Smith and ReShonda Tate Billingsley.
In an effort to share the responsibilities of the book club, the role of Hostess rotates throughout the membership. We share a lively exchange of thoughts, opinions, and ideas.
Meetings
The Houston Chapter of the Good Book Club meets once a month, on the 3rd Saturday at 5:00 p.m. (unless otherwise noted.) We do not hold meetings in October or December.
Dues
Membership dues are $60.00 per year ($5.00 Per Month)
Our Book Rating System
Book Rate the Book with a numerical rating from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest (i.e. "excellent") and 1 being the lowest (i.e. "poor")
5 - Loved this book and I would buy it for a friend as a gift. Make this book into a movie!
4 – Good book; it is worth purchasing. I would recommend it to others.
3 – Finished the book, but still waiting for the good part. Don't buy it, get it from the library.
2 – Did not enjoy this book, after a few chapters, I knew I'd never finish.
1 – Hated everything about this book; not worth the paper it was printed on.
Click Here For Generic Discussion Questions
GBC Teens
The GBC Teens of Galveston, TX consists of high school girls who meet monthly at the in Galveston, TX. Each month the girls are given books, free of charge, to read for the next month. (PageTurner.net and Tricom Literary Marketing donate the books.) Members of the Clear Lake GBC and The Circle of Essence Book Club of Galveston mentor the group.
For More Information Contact:
Pamela Walker Williams
866.875.1044 (toll-free voice/fax)
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