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18 | SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | FEBRUARY 2019 | Please use the winter months to curl up in a leather chair or on a sofa in the Main Clubhouse hardcover library, having selected a new book to enjoy with our shorter, colder days. Did you make a challenge to yourself for reading in 2019? I try to finish one book a week, and this is a delightful distraction! Please pick up a bookmark at a library to remind yourself what topics are in each of the libraries and what we can accept (and can't) for donations. Any Sun Lakes newcomers who love our libraries may wish to volunteer for an open shift in our re-shelvers (360) 840-5559. I was curious about how Pulitzer Prize winning novels are selected. Pulitzer's estate chose Columbia University in NYC to administer the prizes. There is an 18-person committee which is composed of primarily journalists and academics. Nominated books are read and critiqued by a separate jury which usually includes at least one novelist; this group forwards three choices and an alternate to the committee. A previous criteria (somewhat changed now) stated, "the best novel published during the year by an American author preferably dealing with American life." Let's look at the books selected for 2018; two runners up and the winner. In The Distance by Hernan Diaz: Haken, a young boy, emigrates from Sweden to California in mid-1900s. Alone and penniless, he decides to travel east (against the tide of western migration) to find his brother. This book is a fierce critique of the romanticized myths of the settlement of the American west; Diaz's writing alternates between austere and lyrical, realistic and dreamlike. This immigrant narrative is memorable, suspenseful, yet lonely. The Idiot by Elif Batuman has been termed, "portrait of the artist as a young woman." Selim, shy daughter of Turkish immigrants, starts her freshman year at Harvard. Despite a mystifying class schedule, she befriends a charismatic, worldly classmate, Svetlana from Serbia. More foreign to her is the attraction to Ivan, older and Hungarian, from math class, whom she starts emailing. The writing energizes her. She lives her life like a narrative, her constant thoughts. What happens once you start to put other people's lives into your story? Less by Andrew Greer tells of middle-age Arthur Less, author, about to turn 50, finding an invitation in the mail from his ex-boyfriend who is getting married. Traveling to interviews and book readings in Mexico, France, Italy, Germany, Morocco, and India, putting thousands of miles between him and his pain. While at heart it is a love story, it also plays broadly as a satire on the American abroad genre. The story has him ruminating on our time on Earth and the mysteries of the human heart, while all around are zany adventures in the many countries. Although he seems sad in the beginning, laughter (some at himself ) and new friends bring him back to his basic happiness. Enjoy your February! Tell your friends about our four libraries. Library Advisory Committee Bingo Advisory Committee The Bingo Advisory Committee wishes each of you a happy Valentine's Day! This month Bingo will be held on Feb. 12, 19, and 26. Our doors open at 4:30 pm and the first game begins promptly at 6 pm. You can bring food from home or purchase food to go from our restaurant. Drinks from our bar are also allowed. It is always a fun evening. Don't miss out. Our committee is pleased to see so many new Sun Lakers coming to Bingo. We welcome you! Have questions? Call me at (951) 845- 8700 (Anne).