A Sail of Two Idiots by R. Petrillo

Summary: A couple from Arizona, with no sailing experience, sell everything, buy a sailboat and off they sail. The book is about their adventures, the many problems they encounter and the lessons they learn. They share excellent information of what to do and not do. They sail from Miami to Grenada and share about the islands, that they visit along the way.

Book blog site: http://asailoftwoidiots.blogspot.com/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ASailOfTwoIdiots/?fref=nf

Top 10 Sailing Books 2016: https://wiki.ezvid.com/best-sailing-books

Summer Reads for Sailors: http://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/37_19/features/summer_reading_for_sailors_10829-1.html

Author's Blog site: http://islandbabble.blogspot.com/

Discussion Questions:
1. What difficulties did the author and her husband experience on this sailing adventure?  How much could have been avoided, if they had been experienced?

2. Do you think, if given the choice, they would do it again?

3. What events did you find surprising? Cost of used boat and keeping it running? Broker and captain experiences? Weather? Variability of islands, ports and harbors? Anchors? Cat?

4. Do you think the book and story would persuade or dissuade others from trying a similar experience?

5. What are some of the positive experiences they had? Did they outweigh the bad, in your opinion?

6. After reading this book, which islands would you like to visit?

Season at the Point: The Birds and Birders of Cape May by J. Connor (1994)

**This book was recommended to us from a friend, who is active in the FL Audubon Society.

Summary from Amazon:

Cape May Point, New Jersey, is home to a natural phenomenon of stunning proportions. Each autumn millions of migrating birds converge here on their annual flight to wintering grounds as far away as Brazil and Peru. Season at the Point, the rich and telling story of the birds and birders of Cape May, evokes the sense of mystery and excitement that pervades the Cape as birders gather to count owls by the hundreds, hawks by the tens of thousands, and shorebirds and songbirds by the hundreds of thousands.

Al Nicholson: https://paw.princeton.edu/memorial/alfred-nicholson-jr-%E2%80%9950; 
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/8aa/8aa66.htm

Available on Google Books:

https://books.google.com/books?id=OhcajqNmU0MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Season+at+the+Point:+Birds+and+Birders+by+jack+Connor&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjuu9Ku7oTMAhVBXD4KHeZ3CPEQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=Season%20at%20the%20Point%3A%20Birds%20and%20Birders%20by%20jack%20Connor&f=false

Discussion Questions:
1. Is it possible to really understand migration patterns? What information would be needed to obtain this?
2. What were the some of the different approaches to birding amongst the birders, such as Al Nicholson versus others?
3. What role does banding play? To what degree does banding answer the questions to migration? What are some of its limitations?
4. Discuss the variability and difficulties in counting birds. Why was this type of information not considered to be solid data historically? 
5. Discuss the role of migration, orientation ability and timing and what it takes to successfully migrate.
6. Discuss the different birders, who they are and what perspectives do they bring.
7. How did the radar based data generated by the Clemson researchers change the way the hawk migration was viewed?
8. What impact has the hawk platform, bird counts and other birding events had on Cape May?

A 25th Anniversary of the writing of the book was celebrated on May 21, 2016 at The Grand Hotel in Cape May. The author did a reading and then led a panel discussion including several birding experts, who were highlighted in the book, including Pete Dunn, Paul Kerlinger, Jeff Boulton, and 

Pat and Clay Sutton. 

All the Light We Cannot See by A. Doerr

Summary from Amazon:

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

Doerr’s “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, a National Book Award finalist, All the Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never fail to thrill” (Los Angeles Times).

NPR Review: http://www.npr.org/2014/05/10/310459898/a-fractured-tale-of-time-war-and-a-really-big-diamond

Author's Website: http://www.anthonydoerr.com/

Interview with Author by National Book:
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2014_f_doerr_interv.html#.VwquNRMrKRs

Interview with Simon and Schuster:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYBK3Lsx7aI

Interview with Scribner Magazine:
http://www.scribnermagazine.com/2014/10/anthony-doerr-all-the-light-we-cannot-see/

Reading Group Guide:
http://books.simonandschuster.com/All-the-Light-We-Cannot-See/Anthony-Doerr/9781476746586/reading_group_guide

Discussion Questions from Simon and Schuster:
1. The book opens with two epigraphs. How do these quotes set the scene for the rest of the book? Discuss how the radio plays a major part in the story and the time period. How do you think the impact of the radio back then compares with the impact of the Internet on today’s society?

2. The narration moves back and forth both in time and between different characters. How did this affect your reading experience? How do you think the experience would have been different if the story had been told entirely in chronological order?

3. Whose story did you enjoy the most? Was there any character you wanted more insight into?

4. When Werner and Jutta first hear the Frenchman on the radio, he concludes his broadcast by saying “Open your eyes and see what you can with them before they close forever” (pages 48–49), and Werner recalls these words throughout the book (pages 86, 264, and 409). How do you think this phrase relates to the overall message of the story? How does it relate to Madame Manec’s question: “Don’t you want to be alive before you die?” (page 270)?

5. On page 160, Marie-Laure realizes “This . . . is the basis of his fear, all fear. That a light you are powerless to stop will turn on you and usher a bullet to its mark.” How does this image constitute the most general basis of all fear? Do you agree?

6. Reread Madame Manec’s boiling frog analogy on page 284. Etienne later asks Marie-Laure, “Who was supposed to be the frog? Her? Or the Germans?” (page 328) Who did you think Madame Manec meant? Could it have been someone other than herself or the Germans? What does it say about Etienne that he doesn’t consider himself to be the frog?

7. On page 368, Werner thinks, “That is how things are . . . with everybody in this unit, in this army, in this world, they do as they’re told, they get scared, they move about with only themselves in mind. Name me someone who does not.” But in fact many of the characters show great courage and selflessness throughout the story in some way, big or small. Talk about the different ways they put themselves at risk in order to do what they think is right. What do you think were some shining moments? Who did you admire most?

8. On page 390, the author writes, “To shut your eyes is to guess nothing of blindness.” What did you learn or realize about blindness through Marie-Laure’s perspective? Do you think her being blind gave her any advantages?

9. One of Werner’s bravest moments is when he confronts von Rumpel: “All your life you wait, and then it finally comes, and are you ready?” (page 465) Have you ever had a moment like that? Were you ready? What would you say that moment is for some of the other characters?

10. Why do you think Marie-Laure gave Werner the little iron key? Why might Werner have gone back for the wooden house but left the Sea of Flames?

11. Von Rumpel seemed to believe in the power of the Sea of Flames, but was it truly a supernatural object or was it merely a gemstone at the center of coincidence? Do you think it brought any protection to Marie-Laure and/or bad luck to those she loved?

12. When Werner and Marie-Laure discuss the unknown fate of Captain Nemo at the end of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Marie-Laure suggests the open-endedness is intentional and meant to make us wonder (page 472). Are there any unanswered questions from this story that you think are meant to make us wonder?

13. The 1970s image of Jutta is one of a woman deeply guilt-ridden and self-conscious about her identity as a German. Why do you think she feels so much guilt over the crimes of others? Can you relate to this? Do you think she should feel any shame about her identity?

14. What do you think of the author’s decision to flash forward at the end of the book? Did you like getting a peek into the future of some of these characters? Did anything surprise you?

15. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn once wrote that “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” All the Light We Cannot See is filled with examples of human nature at its best and worst. Discuss the themes of good versus evil throughout the story. How do they drive each other? What do you think are the ultimate lessons that these characters and the resolution of their stories teach us?

Settled in the Wild: Notes from the Edge of Town by Susan Shetterly

Summary from Amazon: 
Whether we live in cities, suburbs, or villages, we are encroaching on nature, and it in one way or another perseveres. Naturalist Susan Shetterly looks at how animals, humans, and plants share the land―observing her own neighborhood in rural Maine. She tells tales of the locals (humans, yes, but also snowshoe hares, raccoons, bobcats, turtles, salmon, ravens, hummingbirds, cormorants, sandpipers, and spring peepers). She expertly shows us how they all make their way in an ever-changing habitat. 

Author's website: http://www.susanhandshetterly.com/

Reviews: 
http://www.maineboats.com/print/issue-109/book-review-109-settled-in-the-wild
https://bookpage.com/reviews/6312-susan-hand-shetterly-settled-wild#.VvvOERIrKRs

Discussion questions by Heidi:
1. Discuss the format of the book and writing style. How does she compare to other nature writers such as Annie Dillard and Bernd Heinrich?
2. Shetterly has cared for many injured animals. Have you had any of your own experiences? 
3. Which story did you especially enjoy reading about?
4. Where does the author fit into the community?
5. What changes does she observe in her community and in the environment over time? What have you observed in your own community?

Cross Creek by M. Rawlings

Summary: 
From Good Reads:
Originally published in 1942, Cross Creek has become a classic in modern American literature. For the millions of readers raised on The Yearling, here is the story of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's experiences in the remote Florida hamlet of Cross Creek, where she lived for thirteen years. From the daily labors of managing a seventy-two-acre orange grove to bouts with runaway pigs and a succession of unruly farmhands, Rawlings describes her life at the Creek with humor and spirit. Her tireless determination to overcome the challenges of her adopted home in the Florida backcountry, her deep-rooted love of the earth, and her genius for character and description result in a most delightful and heartwarming memoir.

Reviews:
Literary Traveler Blog Article:
http://www.literarytraveler.com/articles/marjorie-kinnan-rawlings-cross-creek/

Author Obituary:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0808.html

Rawlings Society: http://rawlingssociety.org/rawlings-bio

Discussion Questions by Heidi and John:

1. Discuss the different relationships Rawlings has at Cross Creek!

2. Which season did you enjoy reading about the most?

3. Do you agree with her concept of the ownership of land?

4. A consistent theme in the book was her struggle to have reliable help. How does she portray the African American community at Cross Creek? Why doesn’t she ever discuss this population in the context of their history and culture?

5. Discuss Rawlings quest for justice during the shooting and what the rest of the community wanted!

6. Who were some of your favorite characters of the memoir?

7. Which foods and recipes would you want to try after reading about them?
8. Discuss her relationship with her natural environment!

I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 by Douglas Edwards

Summary from Amazon:

In its infancy, Google embraced extremes—endless days fueled by unlimited free food, nonstop data-based debates, and blood-letting hockey games. The company’s fresh-from-grad-school leaders sought more than old notions of success; they wanted to make all the information in the world available to everyone—instantly. Google, like the Big Bang, was a singularity—an explosive release of raw intelligence and unequaled creative energy—and while others have described what Google accomplished, no one has explained how it felt to be a part of it. Until now.

As employee number 59, Douglas Edwards was a key part of Google’s earliest days. Experience the unnerving mix of camaraderie and competition as Larry Page and Sergey Brin create a famously nonhierarchical structure, fight against conventional wisdom, and race to implement myriad new features while coolly burying broken ideas. I’m Feeling Lucky captures the self-created culture of the world’s most transformative corporation and offers unique access to the emotions experienced by those who virtually overnight built one of the world’s best-known brands.

Interview with the author: 

http://www.fastcompany.com/1766361/im-feeling-lucky-google-employee-no-59-tells-all

Meet with the Author from BBC: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-14246834

Discussion Questions: to follow

Return to Wild America by Scott Weidensaul

Summary from Amazon: 

In 1953, birding guru Roger Tory Peterson and noted British naturalist James Fisher set out on what became a legendary journey-a one hundred day trek over 30,000 miles around North America. They traveled from Newfoundland to Florida, deep into the heart of Mexico, through the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, and into Alaska's Pribilof Islands. Two years later, Wild America, their classic account of the trip, was published.

On the eve of that book's fiftieth anniversary, naturalist Scott Weidensaul retraces Peterson and Fisher's steps to tell the story of wild America today. How has the continent's natural landscape changed over the past fifty years? How have the wildlife, the rivers, and the rugged, untouched terrain fared? The journey takes Weidensaul to the coastal communities of Newfoundland, where he examines the devastating impact of the Atlantic cod fishery's collapse on the ecosystem; to Florida, where he charts the virtual extinction of the great wading bird colonies that Peterson and Fisher once documented; to the Mexican tropics of Xilitla, which have become a growing center of ecotourism since Fisher and Peterson's exposition. And perhaps most surprising of all, Weidensaul finds that much of what Peterson and Fisher discovered remains untouched by the industrial developments of the last fifty years. Poised to become a classic in its own right, Return to Wild America is a sweeping survey of the natural soul of North America today.

The author's website: http://www.scottweidensaul.com/return-to-wild-america/

Discussion Questions from Hawk Mountain Book Club: https://www.facebook.com/notes/hawk-mountain-sanctuary-association/hawk-mountain-book-club-wild-america-discussion-questions/10150399300548602?comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22O%22%7D