High Five for Reading!

The premise of the library’s Read-Around-the-Clock Book Club is to read ANY book with the numbers one through twelve in the title.  There are suggested books for all ages on the library’s website. With warmer weather on its way and longer daylight hours, the club moves into evening hours beginning at 5:00 on May 5.  Five Days Left is the featured book on our library’s wall clock.  If you like real-life drama and relationship stories, then this is a book you won’t be able to put down.

Julie's novel is really two stories in one as it looks into parallel lives of different circumstances, although the characters in each are faced with the prospect of having only five days before dramatic life changes occur.  Mara and Scott only know each other through a chat room for adoptive parents.  They never meet and only know each other by online names.  In Mara's situation, she is planning her own death, knowing that she has Huntington's Disease and does not want to live out her final days as a burden to her family.  Her last five days are especially poignant since she will leave behind a loving husband and daughter.  Scott on the other hand has been fostering a boy whose mother has been serving time for drug charges. Scott's last five days are bittersweet as he plans to send his “little man” back to his mother, who has just been released from jail.

  

May’s discussion will be extra special, since Julie Timmer, author of Five Day’s Left will be joining the group by Skype.  It is inspiring to hear how writers develop their stories and what their influences are.  If you get a chance to read this novel, you might have comments or further questions for Julie.  Whether or not you read her novel, you may want to visit with us and find out what you missed. She will also be giving us a sneak peek of her new book, Untethered, due to come out this June.

Her website bio reads:

“Julie Lawson Timmer grew up in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband, their four teenage children and two rescued dogs. By turns, she is a writer, lawyer, mom/stepmom, and dreadful cook.”

I don’t know what stories she has about cooking disasters, but Indian cuisine is mentioned in Five Days Left.  At May’s discussion we will try Samosas, a savory Mediterranean treat, enjoyed by Julie’s characters.  Mark your calendar and join us to “meet the author” at 5:00 p.m. on May 5.  What could be better than good food and book talk?