We Learn Many Reasons Why We Sleep

Ten wide-awake Book Clubbers met to talk about Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker.  Although the group gave a general “thumbs up” about the book, there were complaints: Here are most of them, without attaching them to anyone specific. Many at the meeting contributed to this list!

More than just me fell asleep while reading Why We Sleep

Too clinical and not entertaining enough

First half of the book was repetitive, boring

Better book to skip through rather than read cover-to-cover

Sweeping generalizations about best sleep habits

More attention on working people than on those moving into their retirement years, thus less relevant to some of us

Everybody at the meeting admitted to having some sleep problems. I handed out several sleep scales for everyone to look at. It’s easy to find these online, and there are probably more:

The Pittsburgh Sweep Quality Index with some instructions for evaluating it.

SATED Questionnaire

The Epworth Sleepiness Scale

Sleep Scale from the Medical Outcomes Study

When we began discussing the questions, there were a few that were trick questions, e.g., Question #1 The author didn’t mention any organs of the body that don’t benefit from sleep.

Question #2 Making a list of consequences of not getting enough sleep regularly: Some of us added some consequences that weren’t mentioned in the book:

    Susan: Memory retention (this valid consequence was dealt with by some experiments the author described later in the book)

    Marcia: The tiredness nurses experience working a 12-hour shift regularly (not to mention their extra shifts and taking over shifts to help co-workers).

    Cindy: Young children can develop symptoms of autism by not sleeping enough.

    Joyce: Sleep-deprived children can be diagnosed, sometimes incorrectly, with ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). 

We talked some about the studies Walker described. Among the questions, there was a listing of a critical article someone had written about Why We Sleep accusing the author of massaging the data from the studies he described.

            Joyce said that the statistics in the studies tended to be very detailed, and in some cases very large numbers were used. She explained that the larger the study sample (number of people, rats, etc.), the smaller the differences the study can detect.  In some studies, very small amounts were said to be doubled or tripled, but these numbers could refer to “statistical significance,” which is measured in very small decimal numbers. When, for example, a statistical significance of 0.003 is doubled, that can indicate as small an amount as 0.006, whereas use of the word “doubled” gives the reader the impression that the significance was large. We had some good discussion about the studies and the criticisms. 

We all enjoyed a quote from the book that Marcia read to us about what the obstetrician might say to a brand new mother right after delivery: “Your child will, for the rest of his life, repeatedly lapse into a state of apparent coma; and while his body lies still, his mind will oft be filled with stunning bizarre hallucinations.”

Our discussion ranged from studies to sleep history to sleep deficits working people have because of schedules, long drives, and conflicting family obligations. Thinking of children, we discussed sleep needs, school activities that meet before and after the core school day, and the problems that can arise from lack of enough sleep and often be ignored or misdiagnosed. I thought we touched on much of the variety of sleep-related topics in the book. We agreed that the book is a valuable study of sleep and has good recommendations in it! 

As Texas Citizens, We Consider Texas Politics

Mr. Texas: A Novel, by Lawrence Wright, was a mixture of satire, social commentary, and a good story, with some well-developed characters and many adjuvant characters. It bordered on being an exposé about Texas politics but was published as fiction. Cindy kept our discussion on track, and we went through all the questions and had a dynamic discussion about the story, the characters, and the implications about Texas politics!

Some of the questions we discussed:

Did any of the fictional characters remind you of real-life politicians, and/or which real-life politicians surprised you in the book?

Lydia gave us a complete answer on this one! She explained, “When the Attorney General, a pious crook, was caught fixing up a girlfriend with a well-paying job with a real estate developer (several cries of 'Paxton' were heard at this point in our discussion), L.G., in exchange for settling a damaging lawsuit, not only managed to squash the whistleblower at the plate, but he got the Attorney General’s wife elected to the U.S. Senate!"

What was the funniest part of the book for you?

I thought the beginning was the funniest. It made me laugh out loud, when L.G. was asking Sonny to run, Sonny was still innocent and somewhat clueless, and the reader was just catching on, along with Sonny. Everyone found the Pats who ran the talk show funny. Patricia was amused by Sonny’s responsibility to meet his wife’s ovulation schedule, when they were trying to conceive during the time when Sonny was having meetings. He ran up against that responsibility monthly, each time getting sillier and more outrageous!

Did you find anything in the book to be a foretelling of what is happening now?

We noted that the problems in the book were the current Texas Legislature problems. Gun control, climate change, and school vouchers were mentioned. We didn’t even need to discuss immigration. Marcia and Carla noted that the separation of church and state has become less distinct lately, with Texas working on legislating that Christianity be taught in schools. Lisa said that when she moved to Texas, George Bush’s political visions were fearsome to her and her fellow educators. Also concerning schools in Texas, Michel could hardly believe that Texas public school curriculum doesn’t include sex education.

Abortion issues are blatant in Texas, and this issue has moved beyond the understanding of most legislators, as they want to outlaw in-vitro fertilization (IVF) along with abortions. Carla mentioned that if all IVF embryos have the legal right to be kept alive, this would incur costs, such as paying rent in temperature-controlled space (forever?)  for those who use IVF to build their families. Marcia told us about a theory that places most of the blame for the popularity of abortions on men, considering men basically responsible for unwanted pregnancies.

What was your takeaway message from this book and your role in it?

Carla summed it up with "What you're looking for is looking for you." Cindy suggested that more citizens should vote in the primaries, because that's where the candidates stem from.  Patricia said, "The Lord's battle is fought in the Texas legislature." She became more sympathetic to local politics after reading Mr. Texas. There was some discussion as to the influence of good looks among the candidates on election outcomes. We mentioned various times that each person should vote responsibly, which includes both learning about the candidates and voting.

Preparation for Discussion of Mr. Texas August 19th

 

Mr. Texas book club questions

1.  What was your favorite quote from the book?

2.  Did any of the fictional characters remind you of real-life politicians and/or which real-life politicians surprised you in the book?

3.  What was the funniest part of the book for you?

4.  Would you vote for Sonny Lamb?

5.  Did you find anything in the book to be a foretelling of what is happening now?

6.  How is real-life TX legislature stranger than fiction?

7.  What was your takeaway message from this book and your role in it?

8.  Do you agree with Angela that it’s “hard to hate a belief without hating the believer”?

 

Songlist:  South of Round Rock TX by Dale Watson, Travis County by Gary Clark, Jr., Miles and Miles of Texas by Asleep at the Wheel, Austin by Pat Green

 

Hierarchy of Power:

1.  Odell Peeples   2. Lobbyists (LD).  3. Governor   4. Lt. Governor

5. The Other Place 6. Big Bob  7. Committee Chairs  8. Chair of Calendars  9. Freedom Caucus  10. Religious Zealots  11. Frat Boys    12. Liberals

13. Sonny         Agree or disagree?          Do women have power?

Bluebird Bluebird: Better Reading than Listening

Some notes I took to help me figure out Bluebird Bluebird, by Attica Locke: Wally lived across the street from Geneva’s store. Did he love Geneva? Yes. Did they have an affair? No. Wally killed her husband, Joe Sweet. Wally loved Geneva, and Joe knew. Joe and Geneva bought Geneva’s store from Wally. Wally said, “Daddy should have let me have her.” There was a son, Joe and Geneva’s. Isaac saw that Wally had shot Joe Sweet. Wally took the money from the register, so Isaac told the sheriff and then Geneva, that White men had stolen the money and killed Joe. Wally had also put the dead fox in Darren’s truck. Keith loved his son, who was actually fathered by Joe’s son.  Wally’s and Keith’s lives revolved around the Black people they wished to avoid.

Though the “Bluebird Bluebird” song, by John Lee Hooker, didn’t fly much for our group, everyone seemed to enjoy reading the book. The story was complex. With the audiobook, it was sometimes a little hard to tell who was involved in conversations and events and histories.

Michel said that she had suspected Wally all along and that she noticed systemic racism throughout the story and the characters. We talked about implicit bias, stereotypes of White and Black cultures that are often attributed to individuals, and how racism is entrenched in Texas. Ken said he had noticed, through a job he had long ago that involved traveling throughout Texas, that West Texas has its own atmosphere, and that East Texas, the locale of the story, seemed a lot like Louisiana, next state east of Texas. Carla noted that when public school integration was instituted, it seemed to work in Texas, but that it has evolved into a mixture of wealthy (White) families enrolling their children in private schools and everyone else going to the public schools. I believe current news includes a law in process that Texas government created that will use public funds to pay for private school vouchers…to give people more choice. Nominate a novel about this topic, and we’ll discuss it more!

Patricia guided the discussion with questions, some from our list and some generated by the discussion itself. When we had decided we liked the book, Carla said it was “…not quite a thriller.” This was an apt description, because the story took place after the action was over; but in the telling, the questions and answers developed slowly and kept us guessing. Question #1 asked who was your favorite character. For almost everyone, it was Darren.  He was the most developed character, and he was a good man. Lydia mentioned Darren’s mother. Marcia suggested Geneva. Cindy noted Geneva’s granddaughter, Faith.

The book introduced concerns, and we had a lot of commenting about related things. Suzie said that things aren’t black and white. Flo reminded us that there is a lot of blatant racism in the news in the USA and all over the world. Ken noted that racism is not just in the south. Suzie said social media is being blamed for a lot of things. Marcia was reminded of the Jodi Picoult book, Small Great Things, and Carla mentioned Just Mercy, by Brian Stevenson, which had been nominated but not chosen by our group. Joyce said that where there’s harmony, it’s because everyone knows and obeys the rules of the society. There was some discussion of examples of racism some of us had seen.

One theme in the book is about Darren caring about East Texas because he is from there and feels that it’s home, in spite of the racism he encounters. We talked about places we were from and which mean “home” to us, and also where we have lived in Texas. Joyce began in the Northeast; then spent time in Lubbock, TX and then Los Angeles, before her current time in Central Texas. Flo is from New York, and I think she said Connecticut. I grew up in New York, met my Texan husband in Washington, DC, moved to Texas with him, and then moved around the south for a while before settling in Round Rock in the 1990s. Cindy, our Hula dancer, lived in Hawaii as a child and spent some years in California before moving to Round Rock. Ken’s family was from Ohio, and he lived in Waco, Midland, Dallas, Austin, and East Texas as an adult before joining us in Round Rock. Lydia is from England. Carla is from Missouri, moved around, I think mostly in the Midwest, when she was young, and lived in New York before Texas. Patricia is from Indiana and Arizona and some time in New York before moving here. Suzie was born in Texas and lived in California for much of her life before moving to Round Rock. Michel, from Amarillo, went to college in Lubbock and lived in West Texas before here. If I erred, please let me know. It’s easy to edit the blog.

Background and Discussion Questions for The House on the Strand

THE HOUSE ON THE STRAND

 

Daphne du Maurier (b 1907 d 1989) was an English author, many of whose books have been adapted into films, and also her short stories including the classic horror movie "The Birds", directed by Alfred Hitchcock.  Born in London, she moved to Cornwall as a young woman in the late 1920s, and used the towns and landmarks around her home to set her novels. Her first novel was published when she was 24. She later moved to a house called Kilmarth in the town of Tywardreath, a house over-looking St. Austell Bay and used those and other place names in her novel "The House on the Strand". Cornwall's remoteness, its beautiful landscape, and long history all contributed to her work.

 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

 

1. Did you enjoy the story?

 

2.  Why do you think Dick is so dissatisfied with his life?

 

3.  What do you think of Dick and Vita's marriage? Which of the 2 characters do you like more - if either?

 

4. Could the author have fleshed out the character of Magnus more?

 

5. The book is written at the end of the 1960s. It has casual derogatory remarks about homosexuality, equating it with pedophilia. Do these remarks affect the story today?

 

6. Dick is entranced by life in the 14th century in the surrounding countryside. Do you feel attracted to a previous time or place?

 

7. The author gives no reason why both Magnus and Dick are obliged to follow Roger as he moves about Cornwall. Do you think it's possible Roger has an ancestral connection to both men?

 

8. Did you find the family relationships in the medieval story confusing?

 

9. Dick says several times he will not take another "trip" but seems to be helpless to stop. This is addiction. Why do you think he finds the other life so fascinating, much more so than his own life?

 

10. Were you satisfied with the ending?

 

11. The author wrote the book in the late 1960s when psychedelic drugs such as LSD were at the height of their popularity, and the drug that Magnus invented seems quite similar to what I've read about LSD. However, in the 1970s psychedelic substances were classified as "drugs of abuse with no medical value".  Nowadays, emerging research for therapeutic purposes show there may be benefits for those suffering from mental health conditions. Do you think money should be spent on continuing research? 

We Make a Clean Sweep of The Maid

8 of us met at the Anchor Bar to discuss The Maid, by Nita Prose.

Most of us enjoyed the book and found the story interesting and somewhat believable. One Book Club member found the story too depressing to finish the book.

We found some inconsistencies with reality, such as hotel staff using the front entrance. Talking about question #7, Molly the Maid had good feelings when she entered the hotel’s front entrance to begin her workday; but Lydia pointed out that in most hotels, particularly the fancy expensive hotels such as the one in the book, staff use the back entrance only. Throughout the book, I felt that Molly was more capable and able to understand complex social cues and situations than most characters who are “on the spectrum.” Molly’s autism did trip her up a number of times, but there seemed to be a mix of her getting into trouble, as with the arrests and detainments she suffered, and her intuitively rising above difficulties, as in her relationships with Mr. Preston, the 2 Mrs. Blacks, and Juan Manwell. Also, a reader on the Goodreads website noted that the defense attorney for one of witnesses asked some questions during the trial, which is not procedural during a trial.

On discussing question #6 about the help Molly the Maid received from various hotel staff members, Lisa suggested that Mr. Preston might have been Molly’s grandfather. The history between Mr. Preston and “Gran” was discussed in the book. Although there was no specific statement of a grandfather-granddaughter relationship, references about Gran and Mr. Preston’s relationship in their youth certainly indicate a possibility that makes a lot of sense.

We talked about the dynamics in workplaces. Reminded by the book, Suzie told us that when she was a bank manager, she used to tell the tellers that they were the ‘face of the bank’ to stress their importance and responsibility. We talked about all jobs that interface with the public being important to the workplace. Marcia said that all levels of nurses are important, Patricia said everyone’s role at work is important, and Lydia mentioned the importance of custodial staff members. Everyone seemed to agree with all of these observations. Marcia noted that you could feel it when things were working well at work, just as you also noticed when there were problems.

Then, when talking more specifically about hotels and travel, we got onto a tangent about how mixing cultures within a city or state will mix general attitudes and ways people treat ‘other people’, thus leading to both pleasant and unpleasant stereotypes of visiting or living in specific places.

Another stimulating conversation for us!

Questions / Preparation for our Discussion of The Maid, by Nita Prose

 

The Maid Book Club Questions

 

Cindy says, “I'm not sending a list of characters because in my book (page 298) there is a good list of characters, also a cleaning chart on page 300. If anyone has a good cleaning tool/hack, they can bring it to the meeting to show.”

1.      What have you learned about yourself or others after reading about Molly’s journey?

2.     Does Molly remind you of anyone in your life?

3.     Molly’s superior skill is cleaning.  What’s your secret skill and why is it important to you?

4.     Gran and Molly believe in the three E’s—etiquette, elocution, and erudition.  Which one of these is most important to you?

5.     Do you think Molly’s “Robin Hood” morality serves her well?  What would you have done in her situation?

6.     Each one of Molly’s allies risks something to help her.  What do you think influenced each of their decisions?

7.     Molly has a humble opinion of herself (“just a maid’).  What do you think her opinion suggests about power dynamics and the assumptions people tend to make about others (especially those who are different from themselves)?

8.     Have you ever experienced something unusual in a hotel?