NNO Book Club: Celebrating 10 Years - Klara and the Sun

This month is a little different. In May 2015, the very first meetup for Nerd Night Out book club was held and this month marks 10 years of books, nosh, and friendship!! In that time, we’ve read about 111 books. I say about because we repeated one or two and had more than one on some months. But still over 100 books!!

And I am very excited about this month’s book. I love Kazuo Ishiguro and since May is always “Host’s Choice”, I hope you all will indulge me with a work which is solidly within our scope (robots! Exploration of what it means to be human!) but also leans towards literary fiction. From what I can tell, the “nerd themes” here are more front and center than in something like “Never Let Me Go” which is in a solidly dystopian world, but also sort of not really about that (it is also an amazing book and has a great movie adaptation). So, hope this one proves to be enjoyable for us all but also thank you for letting me be an uber-nerd and picking an author who has won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

(Of course, I know at least a few of you noticed my use of the Oxford comma in this description and had some feelings about that…so I am in good company with my uber-nerd status.)

Attendee Limits: Attendance is limited to those who have attended at least two book club meetups in the past. If you are new or have only attended once – sorry, but we will hopefully see you in June.

For the rest - everyone will go on the Waitlist at first and I will add you over to "Attending". While the event allows a guest, please do not add a plus 1 unless we have previously discussed it. That feature is enabled for a few "frequent visitors" we've had.

Book Exchange: Have a book or two hanging around your house looking for a new home? Wrap it up, give us a few details about it ala “Blind Date with a Book” and come prepared to swap some books! Google if you need some ideas about wrapping/descriptions and don’t feel like you have to go nuts on décor. Just a fun way to give a book a chance based on some high level ideas alone. Don’t have any stray books? Participate anyway! Ideally, we find new homes for all the books brought.

Some Treats for the Celebration:
Come hungry – I will be buying appetizers and desserts for the group as a thank you to each and every one of you! You are on your own for entrée and drinks.

Vague Schedule:

• 1-1:45 – Arrival, Appetizers and Book Exchange
• 1:45-3:00 – Regular book club discussion of Klara and the Sun
• 3:00 – till we are done – Dessert, socializing and maybe some getting to know each other sort of games

***Book summary from Goodreads***
From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.
In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

***This month's restaurant selection***
I want something a little fancy for this celebration but nothing where anyone needed to take out a mortgage for lunch. Stonewood Grill is a Florida-local chain and the one in North Orlando was somewhere we went for special events. I think they have a little something for everyone on the menu and they have far more drink options and specials than most of the places we go. They confirmed the brunch menu will be available but assured me this includes most everything from the lunch/dinner menu. You can check out the menu here: https://www.stonewoodgrill.com/locations/tampa/index.

***Not sure where to get the book? ***
All books we select have a decent number of copies (at least 3-4 across all formats) at both the Hillsborough and Pinellas County Library. And, of course, you can always buy a copy.

***Didn’t finish/hated this book?***
Come to the Meetup anyway! If you didn't finish - just be aware, there will be spoilers. If you hated it, come and rant! In my experience, the books that generate the best conversations and the books we really love are rarely the same books.