Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng was easy to read but challenged us all in different ways. The novel starts provocatively, with a house burning down, a disheveled and stunned parent, and oddly placid children. Would we have kept reading without this teaser?

We got off to a slowish start. Our first responder made us chuckle because she found it easy to read and it seemed familiar – then she realized she had seen the television series! Although she remembered some of the major plot points, she had forgotten enough to stay interested. Our next responder found it twisty, like Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, and she wanted to read the book before watching the series. This led to a discussion of race because the actors for Mia and Pearl in the series are black. The author was vague about the race of Mia and Pearl, which leaves it open for discussion. One of us had thought Mia was Asian, which would lend more authority to the characters because the author’s parents are Chinese immigrants and she grew up in Shaker Heights.

As we continued sharing back and forth across and around the table, we were a little more critical about the story development. Easy to read but a bit slow. Forgettable. Stereotypical. We still liked it though! It was unbelievable that the friend at the abortion clinic would so adamantly refuse to give in to Mrs. Richardson’s demands and then would leave her alone in the room anyway. One of us commented about how common it is in police dramas for files to be left available for people to discover. Pearl was a teenager looking to fit in, would she have stood up to Lexie about using her name? Why didn’t the McCullough family have an alarm. How did Bebe afford the airfare? Don’t American courts always side with the birth mother? Wouldn’t social services try to find the mother who abandoned a baby before adopting it out?

One of us commented on how few men were in this book. A new member said she considered the main theme to be the journey of motherhood, about everyone trying their best. Another member felt there were no villains, but it seemed to me that the majority of us found Mrs. Richardson filled that role. One of us had even been reminded of her while watching the series Monster because of references to serial killer Ed Gein’s mother. Some of us wanted Mrs. Richardson to see the error of her ways. We wanted comeuppance. We want a sequel. Another member said she really liked the book, maybe more than all of us – “Aren’t people just like this?”

Why did Izzy set the fires? To punish her siblings? I think we all agreed with one of us who said that Izzy was setting the fires not just to punish her siblings but to give them a clean slate. As Mia told Izzy, “. . . after the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow.” (pg. 295) Did Izzy ever find Mia?

Most of us seemed fascinated by Mia’s art. She could have made a lot of money. She had the contacts and the talent. Although we didn’t discuss this much, I know that several of us would like to see Mia’s art. I would watch the series just to see how they pictured it. One of us is a tie-dye artist and remembers seeing one of his designs from a distance, displayed at First Friday downtown Las Vegas. “Wow.” I imagine it as jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring. I would like to see that, too.

I read comments by an absent member, describing each character in the book as an individual character trait. See the comments for details. This enabled me to see the book a bit more abstractly. Our new member described the writing as Hollywood-style, ready for the screen. Still another member brought up one of the most controversial topics. The book reminded him of how traumatized a friend was to find out that two of his girlfriends had abortions, that a part of him had been destroyed without his consent or say. Mrs. Richardson echoes this when she accuses Moody of impregnating Pearl. I could see opinions swirling, but it’s a touchy subject, and more than we could handle in our short time together. But that’s the power of thinking about what we read and starting the conversation. We will be more prepared, with empathy and different perspectives.

One of our members had read the novel before and still loved it. The writing, the character development, the issues. She confided after the discussion that she had been running behind and considered missing the meeting, but she really wanted to hear what we thought. Such are the connections we make, how we touch others with a comment, the way a book, even one we think we hate, makes us think rather than simply accept. What we do from there is up to us – and the possibilities are as endless as the books available to us.

• Transmogrification (pg. 187): “to change or alter greatly and often with grotesque or humorous effect.” Merriam Webster online dictionary for transmogrify.
• Traditional surrogacy (Mia) vs. gestational surrogacy (egg and sperm donated with mother as contracted carrier) https://www.conceiveabilities.com/surrogates/surrogacy-terms/

• Modern Family (2009-2020 television series)
• Monster (2022- television series)
• Playing Nice (2025 television series)
• Before We Were Yours (2017) by Lisa Wingate
• Article: Tennessee Court Rules for Chinese Parents in Dispute (2007): http://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna16773596
• Previous Book Club Selections
• Digging to America (2006) by Anne Tyler
• Leavers (2017) by Lisa Ko
• The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane (2017) by Lisa See

Perspective is everything. The room was bright and the table seemed oddly narrow and long, with little room to circumvent. I sat at one end and looked down a tunnel of friendly faces, somehow acutely aware of body positions, aware that one of us needs to read lips and that the room seemed to be unusually warm. 

 As I tried, yet failed, to get supporting visuals to show on the monitor, I could hear friendly chatter and some discussion of the previous book and its sequels. Everyone seemed relaxed and contributed, but the discussion seemed weighted to one side, overwhelmed by frustration with human greed, corruption, and history repeating itself. Our discussion of Shelterwood seemed calmly chaotic and shallow—like people treading water. 

Our first responder enjoyed the book and, perhaps because she is a retired teacher, she appreciated the resiliency of the children. I asked everyone to think of something that stood out to them, and she liked how Charlie answered his mom when she chastised him for questioning her adult conversation, “I didn’t listen, I heard. I can close up my eyes . . . but my ears don’t got lids.” She listened to the audiobook and appreciated the cast of narrators voicing different characters. So much better than our last book!

The next responder missed a 6 p.m. dinner to join us! She was frustrated at first by the altering timeline, but she got used to it. She liked the book. The corruption that was revealed in 1990 just emphasized how nothing changes. Another member was fervent in his response. He grew up in Oklahoma and was unaware of so much history. He seemed completely overwhelmed by society’s continued corruption; how we accept everything in our own timeline, even as we call out evil from the past. He particularly condemned child labor in family businesses. A new member, who joined us even though she hadn’t read the book, shared her feeling that those who try to make a difference are not heard until it is too late. We had a common refrain: Why haven’t we learned from history? We are doomed. The sad plight of orphans.

On a more positive note, someone brought up how Braden, in the 1990 timeline, was working to make a difference, even if it was to help his own family. Another one of us mentioned the parable of the Starfish Thrower.^[i] Another member was impressed by the incredible knowledge of the children and how their group kept growing. She made a note of Choctow words to share with us and later in the discussion, when the exploitation and greed revealed was ready to crush her – grasped hold of the romance of the ending. This reminded me of how important such writing choices are for giving us hope and building resilience, however predictable or unrealistic.

As we continued around the table, one of us shared that the story reminded him of visits to West Plains Missouri. He had always thought he had Native American blood, but Ancestry DNA says that he is 100% European. Another member liked the book and its revelation of exploitation of children, especially Native Americans. He was reminded of harvesting pecans in his youth. A machine shook the tree to make the nuts fall and, on the ground, the pecans were the same color as the leaves! He found a connection to other books we have read that highlighted or denounced male patriarchy. We were horrified at how they erased Kate Barnard, although fortunately they didn’t or we wouldn’t know about her! 

We compared the novel to our previous selection, Crow Mary. Lisa Wingate had an impressive list of references and her main character, though oppressed, was part of her own ethnic community. One of us felt that may be why he appreciated this book so much more than Crow Mary – less cultural appropriation. What did we think of Dewey as a self-proclaimed “Robin Hood?” What about Ollie’s adoptive father? Were we surprised? Did he redeem himself?

So much of the discussion I know I have missed! At the end of the meeting, as we were comparing our own discussion of society’s ills with the ineffectual ladies’ groups in the book, I asked:  What can we do to make a difference? Our new member said: Get to know your neighbor. Little by little. One starfish at a time. And as we were gathering our things to leave, small discussions about the room, one member lamented that we hadn’t discussed shelterwood, the connections that the trees make, called out in the novel, to make the forest strong. Maybe we didn’t discuss it directly, but it was there, just not in so many words.

Till next time . . .

WORDS:

• “Anumpulit issa” (stop talking in Choctaw)
• “of a sudden”
• “Pinti” (mouse in Choctaw)
• “himitta” (young)
• “forest bathing” (Shinrin-yoku in Japan)

OTHER WORKS DISCUSSED:

• Cabrini (2024 Film)
• Crow Mary (2023) by Kathleen Grissom
• Far and Away (1992 Film)
• Killers of the Flower Moon (2017 Book/2023 Film) by David Grann
• The Medicine Woman of Galveston (2024) Local author Amanda Skenandore
• One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This (2025) by Omar El Akkad
• True Grit (1968 book/1969 Film) by Charles Portis

^[i] “Well, I made a difference for that one!” https://www.thestarfishchange.org/starfish-tale

Our discussion of Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado was complex and revealing. Because the book was written in Spanish, I specifically asked our readers to pay particular attention to proverbs and pop-cultural references. How much is universal? How much of what we read is the translator? I was worried that the increasingly disturbing violence and possibly cliched superheroine and sidekick would be off-putting. I shouldn’t have been worried. Most of our readers found the book to be a page-turner, even if not their favorite – and they were ready to delve deeper into specifics of writing, story, and character development.

Our first responder had started out listening to the audiobook and found the story to be difficult to follow. She was unable to take advantage of how the author changed perspectives by chapter because the narrator was too monotone.  Despite the difficulty, she moved back to the printed page and felt the brain challenge was worth it. A new member had trouble with the audio book because the narrator was too dramatic – like listening to a Spanish telenovela.

Our third responder zoned out trying to listen to the audio! Fortunately, she also did not give up. She was engaged by the story, but her first comments were that the pacing seemed strange, with unnecessary historical details about buildings and tunnels. She felt like it was written and ready for the television series it has already inspired! She wondered if anyone else had considered that Mentor was behind the murders just to get Antonia working again? We all seemed shocked by this idea, so I’d answer, “No!”

The story was confusing enough for several of us who wondered about the motivations behind the murders: why were the criminals using the religious references, what happened to the reporter, what about the housekeeper who lost her son, must we read the other two books to find closure, was that the author’s plan all along? We definitely wanted to understand more about the characters’ motivations and were not satisfied that we were expected to read more books. Probably half of us will continue in the series – or at least watch the English-dubbed television series.

What about the characters? One of us thought that Antonia Scott was created like Captain America, but all for Spain. Another member called Antonia a freak and wanted to know more about the housekeeper. Another loved that the author included a gay character without his sexuality being a major part of the story. He felt the characterization was spot on. John had to be super good, just to be a cop. He reminded our reader of Jonathan Kellerman’s LAPD Detective, Milo Sturgis.[i] We still wondered if the gay theme wasn’t offensive, but another member suggested that although depictions in the book might be distasteful, they were realistic to a traditionally machismo society and role. Currently in law school, she also appreciated the scene in which Ortiz’s lawyer manipulated Ortiz into putting his company ahead of his daughter’s rescue. Another of us commented that she is constantly amazed at people’s ability to rationalize anything.

We noticed and talked about so many things. Even though the story took place in Spain, at least one of us mentioned their disappointment that it could have been in anywhere USA. Was that because the translator was doing too good a job making the story accessible? What else might have changed? At a member’s suggestion, I let AI answer that question – apparently other readers and reviewers elsewhere have had the same concern. One member said that she was just reading along and ready for the next book – as if she were too accepting and not critical enough. But isn’t being engaged also important? Entertainment, education, shared experiences. There’s a time and a place for everything. I hope you’ll find that time and place with us in the future.

• WORDS:
• Amnosia – loss of smell
• Campero eggs – a type of chicken
• Cocochas – “Kokotxas is a traditional Basque fish stew. The dish is made from stewed fish necks / dewlap (normally from a fatty fish like cod or hake) served with a sauce made from white wine, garlic, flour and olive oil.”[ii]
• Koan – an unanswerable question or riddle
• Panniers – a pair of bags that fasten around the back tire of a bicycle or motorcycle
• Phaeton/phaeton – “a vintage automobile of the touring-car type”[iii] or specifically in the book, a VW Phaeton. But also, according to multiple sources, Son of the Sun-God in mythology.
• Philology – the study of literary texts, specifically for linguistics
• 

[i] “[Jonathan Kellerman’s] next idea was for the guy who would become the bestselling, longest-running gay character in all of crime fiction: Delaware’s best friend and crime-solving partner, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound, gruff, brilliant detective, ostracized by his colleagues, tolerated only because he has the highest solve rate in the department. As Kellerman describes Milo’s life in that manuscript, ‘A gay cop was a person in limbo. You could never be one of the gang back at the station, no matter how well you did your job. And the homosexual community was bound to be suspicious of someone who looked, acted like and was a cop.’”

I found previous description of Jonathan Kellerman’s character in an article in Tablet Magazine titled, “When Whodunnits Become Woke.”

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/kellerman-milo-sturgis

[ii] There are a lot of interesting reference for this. For ease of explanation, I chose Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokotxas

[iii] Dictionary.com

I read The Guncle by Steven Rowley prior to selecting it for our book club. I laughed out loud so often that my husband couldn’t read his own book. Book club picks, even when uplifting or darkly humorous, are seldom funny to an entire group. This is true of The Guncle, but based on our discussion, the humor and wit paired with the sensitive approach to diversity and grief makes it a winner.

Although our discussions are always interesting and filled with insight, each member seemed to capture something different and important. I could almost see wheels turning and thoughts seemed wonder-full. 

Usually, I combine the meeting responses into concepts and formal paragraphs, but even though I have certainly missed some details and complexity, the beauty of our members thoughts as the discussion flowed seems captured best with just these notes:

• Absolutely loved everything about the book. Laughed, cried, and found it authentic. He cried through chapters 19 and 20. His favorite zinger: “Would you like a martini?” “I’m six.” “Is that a yes?”
• Loved that they have a birthday party for Sarah and Patrick gave them each a wish.
• Loved the descriptions and similes.
• Could not suspend his disbelief that the children could have been better off with a man they do not know who knows nothing about children, far away from home and familiarity. Yeah, it was funny and worked out okay, but . . .
• Laughed so loud while reading on her porch that she worried people would think she was crazy. She liked the addition of Grant’s stutter and believed that the children taught their guncle a lot about love.
• Although the story seemed over the top and took him a while to get into it, he found it more interesting by the second half. He felt the story showed how to deal with change. He kept wondering how the author might have set it up to make it more interesting and relevant from the start.
• She liked the humor but primarily found it poignant. She appreciated how Patrick helped Maisie when she didn’t want to go into the pool and the Christmas in July gift of framed pictures of their mother.
• Being from San Bernadino, he really appreciated the inclusion of the Cabazon Dinosaurs^[i].
• He once blessed the marriage of a triad (what a throuple used to be called) and they recently celebrated their 25th anniversary. What did we think of JED, the throuple?
• She felt a little bit of angst when Patrick got together with Emory – it seemed a risky thing to do with young children in the house.
• An adventure. Patrick had the money and that helped. A lot of sensitive stuff, but it worked.
• She liked how Patrick put so much thought into how to help the kids with their grief.
• Patrick told stories of their mother that they wanted/needed to hear. That is what is needed when people are grieving.
• Patrick gave them the structure that children need.
• The kids asked good questions.
• We liked Patrick’s answers to questions!
• One of us adored Emory.
• No one wakes up at twelve and decides to be gay. It’s inborn.
• It’s when you realize you’re crushing on all the dudes.
• What is Guncle Rule #14? She kept track but couldn’t find that one. (I said we could certainly find it if we asked Google – but no! It’s a mystery).
• Favorite Guncle rule:  “Live life to the fullest.”
• Watch Auntie Mame with Rosalind Russell.
• No, Lucille Ball!
• She really liked the author’s writing. She could see the setting and envision the characters so clearly.
• In a book like this, you just have to suspend disbelief and enjoy it.
• Laughter is the best medicine.

I wish you all much laughter and love in this new year. Join the discussion. It makes a difference.

• WORDS:
• Pergola – an arbor formed of horizontal trelliswork supported on columns or posts, over which vines or other plants are trained.
• Pastiche – an incongruous combination of materials, forms, motifs, etc., taken from different sources; hodgepodge.
• Frosé – Frozen Rosé

• OTHER WORKS DISCUSSED:
• The Guncle Abroad (2024) Steven Rowley
• Little Birds (1940s) Anaïs Nin – feminist erotica first published 1979
• Auntie Mame (1958) starring Rosalind Russell
• Mame (1974) starring Lucille Ball
• The Brady Bunch (1969-1974) Television Show
• Mother Knows Best – I don’t know if we were referring to a real show or if this was just a take off of Father Knows Best.

^[i] “The Cabazon Dinosaurs have long been regarded as one of the most iconic roadside attractions. Featured in cult classics such as Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure and The Wizard, the dinosaurs have staked their place in pop culture.”    https://www.cabazondinosaurs.com