Meeting Report: March 2023

The DCBC met on Sunday, March 26, 2023 to discuss March's book: The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich (selected by Emily Y).

Attendees were: Emily Y, Miriam, Sarah, Jessy, Ashley, Emily O, Paige, and Ray.

The Sentence centers around Tookie, an indigenous woman in Minneapolis who is working at a small, independent bookstore after serving a prison sentence for unwittingly trafficking drugs on behalf of her friends. The bookstore's "most annoying customer" is Flora, who dies on All Souls' Day of 2019, and who subsequently begins to haunt the bookstore she frequented, and Tookie in particular. The Sentence follows Tookie through the mystery of this haunting, the COVID-19 pandemic, George Floyd's murder and the aftermath, all over the course of the year to All Souls' Day of 2020.

“Small bookstores have the romance of doomed intimate spaces about to be erased by unfettered capitalism."

― Louise Erdrich, The Sentence

'Tookie is an incredibly disarming main character, and she’s wonderfully human' (Miriam's review). We discussed Tookie's relationship to Flora, their shared history, and the sentence in an eerily indestructible book that caused Flora's demise. There were multiple uses of the title throughout the book, from Tookie's prison sentence, to the aforementioned sentence that killed Flora, and:

“There was a sentence people were chanting all over the world now. I can't breathe."

― Louise Erdrich, The Sentence

to name a few. The Sentence was also interesting for taking place during the pandemic, without really being about the pandemic. Just the perspective of a predominantly indigenous community and their experiences living through these recent events. Some of the pandemic thoughts Tookie has are of course 'comical' (Paige's review) in retrospect:

“I wondered if I could make a mask out of a cabbage leaf."

“It seemed like the virus would pass in about a month."

― Louise Erdrich, The Sentence

Some of us thought the book jumped around between too many different things, or was slow to get going. Others of us thought this made for a realistic depiction of how real life doesn't usually follow a neat path. Additionally, this choice on Erdrich's part may have helped underscore the chaotic feel of the year that was 2020. 'The discussion of real events from our own recent history in the world of this book was super cathartic...This book is highly realistic in a perfectly humane way, and doesn’t lose any of the promised whimsy from being so honest.' (Miriam's review) 

We also discussed our general enjoyment of the magical realism Erdrich employs in the 'genuinely spooky ghost interventions,' (Paige's review) like Tookie finding books on the floor, Flora's hand on the light switch, and finally, Tookie feeling as though Flora is trying to unzip her back and climb into her body. (I may have been holding my breath during that last one.)

There was also a discussion about Flora's (adopted) indigenous identity and how this related to her finding out her own ancestor was not actually native at all but a white sadist who targeted native people. This was "the sentence" that evidently sapped Flora of her will to live. And finally the cavalier attitude some supporting characters had to the skeletal remains of an indigenous person they had in their possession, contrasted with the horrified feelings of the native people in the bookstore (which remains were, finally, returned). 

Overall, everyone seemed to like it, at least to some degree! Lastly, as promised:

Pollux's Corn Soup

“[I]t is a corn soup. First he caramelizes fresh-cut sweetcorn, toasting it slowly in a heavy pan, adding onions. Then cubed potatoes tossed lightly in butter, to set a crisp. He adds all of this to a garlicky chicken broth with shaved carrots, cannellini beans, fresh dill, parsley, a dash of cayenne, and heavy cream.”

― Louise Erdrich, The Sentence

Here is the version Sarah made for our book club meeting. I made mine in a crock pot and took a couple of shortcuts to minimize dishes. I made my version vegan and forgot the cayenne (oops). Included some comments for things to try or do differently.

Served enough for about 12, so scale down (or up) accordingly!

Ingredients

A few Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
6 ears of sweet corn, cut from cob
1 sweet onion, diced small
2 medium russet potatoes, cubed small
2 large carrots, diced small (or "shaved")
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
10 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth (It looked like it needed more after 8, but I'd probably scale it back next time and try for a thicker soup.)
2 Tbsp butter (or the plant-based kind)
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

1 bunch fresh dill, chopped
1 (8 oz.?) container plant-based sour cream (or the dairy kind, or heavy cream per Pollux's recipe)
Salt, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste (I'll have to remember this next time)

Directions

1. In a heavy skillet (or my crock pot using "stove top" setting on high), heat olive oil over medium/medium-high heat and add cut corn. I let mine caramelize while cutting up the rest of my veggies, stirring periodically.

2. Add onion and let this caramelize as well. If I were doing this in a skillet / soup pot combo, I'd probably start a soup pot simmering my garlic in the broth to extract those flavors longer while the skillet is going.

3. Melt butter and toss potato cubes to coat. Toast these as well ("to set a crisp," though I just added mine to the crock pot as I went and they got as toasty as they got. But could also transfer the corn and onions to the broth if they're done caramelizing and try to get the potatoes crispier in the skillet.

4. Add carrots and beans. All the veggies should be in a pot with the broth at this point. I let simmer for about 30 minutes while I washed and chopped the fresh herbs, which I added toward the end and finished with the sour cream (or heavy cream, but I wanted the extra zip from the sour cream). Then add salt and cayenne to taste and serve. 

Tookie doesn't say what, if anything, Pollux serves this with and we enjoyed it on its own, but this soup could be an accompaniment to a larger meal, or could have a salad or bread or even a sandwich on the side. This was a first attempt for me, and as you can tell from the many comments, there are things I would experiment with for the next go-around. If you make it, please experiment and share your culinary adventures in the comments! 

The Verdict

Taken from the average DCBC member ratings on Goodreads who had marked the book as read and rated at the time of this writing:

The Sentence: 4.5 stars

Thank you to Emily Y for hosting!

Next Month: April 2023: The Monsters We Defy, by Leslye Penelope (selected by Sarah).

As always, the full book list for this cycle can be found here.

Meeting Report: February 2023

The DCBC met on Sunday, February 26, 2023 to discuss February's book: The Dead Romantics, by Ashley Poston (selected by Kris).

Attendees were: Miriam, Sarah, Kris, Jessy, Ashley, Lindsay, Paige, and Ray.

The Dead Romantics is a romance novel about a ghostwriter for a famous romance author, Florence Day. The novel begins with Florence meeting with her super handsome new editor, Ben, to try to get an extension on her latest book. Ben, short for Benji, last name I don't recall, could have used a more imaginative name as Ashley noted, given The Dead Romantics, like The Love Hypothesis, has its origins in Reylo fanfic. Florence hasn't been able to write about romance ever since her breakup with Johnny McJerkface (I don't remember his name and I don't care, because he's a Jerkface). Ben, of course, refuses. During our meeting we talked about all the many little conflicts in The Dead Romantics, and the tension of Florence not being able to write because of her breakup was one of several. Then she gets a phone call that her father has passed away and she has to return to Smalltown, where she grew up, to help her family bury him.

“Everything that dies never really goes. In little ways, it all stays.”

― Ashley Poston, The Dead Romantics

Florence hasn't been back to Smalltown for ten years because she helped solve a local crime using her secret super-power of being able to see--and talk to--ghosts, for which she was teased by high school bullies (especially Queenbee Meany-Pants). As Paige discussed during our meeting, the Smalltown representation of people remembering you and treating you like the person you were when you left is a real phenomenon. As is the petty drama. Florence's late father could also see ghosts, from whom she evidently inherited this ability.

The Day family (minus Florence, because she ran away to The Big City to be a writer) run a funeral home, and who does Florence see when she walks in the door, but Ben. Weird that he would be there, since she just saw him in The Big City, and to make things weirder, he doesn't know why he's there either. Uh oh, now Florence has to break the news to him that means he's a ghost and therefore DEAD.

“The universe sends you the things you need when you need them.”

― Ashley Poston, Dead Romantics

Having nothing better to do, Ghost Ben follows Florence around Smalltown while she tries to arrange the very particular and impossible particulars of her father's funeral and they slowly fall in Love. This was another low-stakes conflict where Florence feels like she has to gather all the random bits for the funeral by herself, even though no one asked her to and her family even offered to help. But she says it over and over again, that she HAS to do this by herself. I guess that's so Poston could maintain alone time for Florence to talk to Ghost Ben and not have her seemingly talking to herself in public any more than she already does (which, there were some bizarre moments as Miriam pointed out).

“I began to realize that love wasn’t dead, but it wasn’t forever, either. It was something in between, a moment in time where two people existed at the exact same moment in the exact same place in the universe.”

― Ashley Poston, The Dead Romantics

Meanwhile, Ghost Ben randomly keeps popping out of existence with increasing frequency and hearing voices possibly, so he and Florence interpret this to mean that his time to transition to the great beyond is fast approaching. If only they could have more time together. They just hope Ghost Ben can stick around for the funeral, which the whole of Smalltown comes together to help with the impossible particular particulars (including Queenbee Meany-Pants who is not such a meany-pants after all) and it is beautiful and sad and people cried.

“Everything died, but pieces of it remained. Dad was in the wind because he breathed the same air that I breathed. Dad was a mark in history becuase he existed. He was part of my future because I still carried on.”

― Ashley Poston, The Dead Romantics

Plus, come to find out, the famous romance author Florence has been ghostwriting for (Annie) is actually Ben's grandmother and she's been dead since before she hired Florence to be her ghostwriter, something she did while she was a ghost. (This explains why Florence hasn't had any contact with Annie since, though frankly I still have loads of questions. But moving on.) Ghost Ben disappears and Florence, able to Love again, gets her romance writing groove back.

“Giving you Annie's legacy and watching it flourish was under your pen was a blessing. And this? And suddenly this no longer felt like a conversation. It felt like a goodbye. These last few days have been beautiful. It's a good ending, darling. And as your editor I have no notes.”

― Ashley Poston, The Dead Romantics

Once back in The Big City, Florence learns Ben isn't dead after all, he was just in the hospital in a coma and just woke up. (Twist! I say this sarcastically because I recently watched the 2005 Reese Witherspoon/Mark Ruffalo flick Just Like Heaven, which uses the same trope so I totally called it. And if I remember correctly, I believe others of us did as well, because how else HEA?) 

But does he remember her from that time he was Ghost Ben?

“I knew you once,” he said so ardently, it made my heart flutter. “I think you still do,” I whispered,”

― Ashley Poston, The Dead Romantics

He does. Happily-ever-after achieved, Florence writes her book (not the knock-off version Johnny McJerkface wrote, take that), and Smalltown's canine mayor wins reelection in a landslide (I'm guessing).

Overall, people generally liked it. Miriam didn't love it but was invested by the end, Ashley swooned and cried, and Paige enjoyed her mini-vacation to quaint and quirky Smalltown! (Totally and shamelessly paraphrasing from your reviews...)

The Verdict

Taken from the average DCBC member ratings on Goodreads who had marked the book as read and rated at the time of this writing:

The Dead Romantics: 3.92 stars

Thank you to Miriam for hosting! And welcome again to new member Ray!

Next Month: March 2023: The Sentence, by Louise Erdrich (selected by Emily Y).

As always, the full book list for this cycle can be found here.