Book Club Meets Friday, December 4--Brrrr

Today we held our inaugural meeting of the Casady Community of Readers (CCR). Braving below freezing temperatures, we gathered in the warmth of the Cochran Library to drink coffee and tea, munch on homemade banana bread, and chew on “Crazy For The Storm”. Not everyone who attended had completed reading the book, but they were still able to participate.

This book “grabs” the reader from the first page. Some of us would not have chosen this book to read without the CCR recommendations, but were glad we did. For some, the “memoir” genre was new, but engaging. This book, a man’s memoir about his Dad, appeals to men as well as women. A comparison was made to the book “Into Thin Air” and its action adventure appeal.

We discussed the cultural and lifestyle differences between Southern California and Oklahoma in the 1970s and present day. A reader who lived in Northern California in the late 60s and early 70s shared her perspective. "I lived in the San Francisco area and felt very safe. My community was not at all like that in Malibu or the 'California beach scene.'" We received insight from someone who grew up in another country and moved to Oklahoma in the 70s who said that we were somewhat naive. Her first glimpse of marijuana, a large quantity, was in Muskogee--the place where, as the country song states, "we don't smoke marijuana. . ."

We compared and contrasted current parenting with the parenting in the book. We talked about the parents in the book (the dad, the mom, the step-dad, the godmother). While the book is primarily about Norm's relationship with his Dad, these other parents played significant roles in Norm's childhood.

We questioned:

• How would Norm have been different as an adult if his Dad had not died when he did?
• How do we recognize and deal with death--especially with children?
• What is the difference between positive risk-taking and negative risky behavior?
• What are the benefits of taking risks versus the costs? Where do we, as parents, draw the line? Can we draw the line?
• Why do we limit our children sometimes when, perhaps, we should allow them to take more risks and responsibility?

We discussed motivations, intentions and addictions.

While we were disciplined and kept the meeting to our one-hour time limit, we could have continued our discussion for hours. Please join our conversation by posting a comment of your own about Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad.

Our next book is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. We will hold our discussion at the Middle and Lower Division's Crabtree Library on Thursday evening, January 7, 2010.

'Hope to see you there!