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CARCINOID CANCER

A rare form of "slow-growing" neuroendocrine cancer

Susan Anderson - An advocate for Carcinoid and Neuroendocrine Tumor Awareness

 

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BOOKS
                                                                               
Updated: March 3, 2010

Please read last section on this page - below.  Thank you, Susan, 1-26-2009

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A favorite pastime of mine all of my life has been reading, accumulating a large home library, having writers autograph their books for me, and taking part in book discussion groups.

In 1962 I organized my first group, "The Study Guild" in Osceola, Missouri; we had a study lesson and a book review, as of now, it is still meeting monthly. In 1971 I joined a book discussion group through "Newcomers" in Omaha, Nebraska, and later another friend and I formed a "Non Fiction Discussion Group" also in Omaha. Later I worked with forming several groups in Alexandria, Virginia.

We moved to Tempe, Arizona, and within a few months I organized a new "Day Time Book Discussion Group" in October 1983, and in May 1989 was co-founder of a new "Evening Book Discussion Group".  Both of these Arizona groups are non-smoking, meet monthly in participants homes and have lively discussions. See the BOOKS section for some titles that lend themselves to lively discussions (and my logs of the books I have read). The Day Time Book Discussion Group changed its name to "The Contemporary Book Discussion Club"  July 14, 1999.

The East Valley Tribune and the Scottsdale Tribune newspapers published a very nice article  "Meaty tomes open door on discussion"  by Betty Webb (I am quoted several times in this good article) in the Sunday, Nov. 19, 2000, issue on page D4.  The Tribune has a new web page, but no archive yet (2001), so I cannot give you the URL.

TOTAL list of the books read and discussed by The Contemporary Book Discussion Club (formerly The Day Time Book Group) since being organized in September 1983, and what the Evening Book Group has read since being organized in May 1989 (updated May 10, 2005)

CLICK HERE: Lists of what both book groups have read since organizing 
                       
Updated: 12 May 2009 

CLICK HERE:  25 Years of Book Discussions in AZ 1983-2008

Click on any line below:

Susan's Personal Book Log #3 (books read January 2006 through
March 3, 2010) date of last update  N
EW UPDATE

Susan's Personal Book Log #2 (books read January 1991 through
December 2005)

Susan's Personal Book Log #1 (books read December 1969 through December 1990)

The Poisoned Pen...A Mystery Bookstore and More Scottsdale, Arizona 
Chancing Hands Bookstore  Tempe, Arizona    

Bouchercon (World Mystery Convention)

Surfing BookWeb BookPorts 
How to Find Used & Rare Books (Book Finder)
Vintage Reading Group Guides
Additional Reading Group Guides
Bookmarks Magazine: A Reader's Guide To The Best In Books
Authors on the Web
Reviews & Interviews with writers
BookWomen Magazine
The Book Club Cook Book web site and newsletter

Click here to email me SunnySusan@Cox.Net

 I "Sunny Susan" was invited to write a Blog on the web site of the Arizona Republic
newspaper as they have liked letters I have written to the editors over the years. 
March 26, 2008 was my first Blog.  I have written additional articles, but not
on a set schedule. 
 You may go to my Blog at http://www.AZcentral.com/members/Blog/sunnysusan

May need to go to archive for each month on right side
below my photo to open older Blogs.

 Poem: Friends Without Faces
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/sunnysusan/23352

13th Anniversary of Carcinoid Diagnosis May 10, 1995
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/sunnysusan/23351

 A remarkable couple - Anni & Vincent Beach
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/sunnysusan/23010

Living a full active life with a rare cancer
http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/sunnysusan/20589

Below are the lists for what both of these book discussion groups are currently reading and following that are the suggestions for starting book discussion groups, and a few "rules" on how we operate.

Both groups have room for two or three additional participants, contact me if you are interested.  Susan

==========================================
CONTEMPORARY BOOK DISCUSSION CLUB 
                                                                 
                                                                   Revised:  May 6, 2009
    
---------------------------------------------------------------------
June 10, 2009  A Complicated Kindness  by  Miriam Toews   
July 08, 2009   Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
                                         by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
Aug, 12, 2009  Final Salute:
A Story of Unfinished Lives
 
by Jim Sheeler
Sept 09, 2009  Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Oct. 14, 2009  The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust
                                in the Wilds of Wyoming
by Shreve Stockton
Nov. 11, 2009 
The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances     
                               Perkins, FDR'S Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience
    
                  
                by Kirstin Downey                  
Dec. 09, 2009  Hitch by Jeanette Ingold

Jan. 13, 2010  Twenty Wishes: A Blossom Street Book by Debbie Macomber
Feb. 10, 2010  The Passion of Tasha Darsky by Yael Goldstein Love
Mar. 10, 2010  Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of
                                    American Manners
by Laura Claridge 

Apr. 14, 2010  Another Mans Moccasins by Craig Johnson
May  01, 2010  27th Annual Pot-Luck Dinner           
May   5, 2010  Special Meeting, 9:30 a.m. – SELECT Books July 2010 – June 2011
                                               Hostess: Susan Anderson    
May  12, 2010  First Family by David Baldacci
June 09, 2010  Mona Lisa in Camelot: How Jacqueline Kennedy and Da Vinci’s
                                   Masterpiece Charmed and Captivated a Nation

                                   by Margaret Leslie Davis

=========================================================================
NIGHT BOOK DISCUSSION CLUB                                  
                                                                             Revised:  June 8, 2009 

‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑-----------------------------------

06-08-09   T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
07-13-09  
The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, & the Birth of Modern Surgery by Wendy Moore
08-10-09   Audition by Barbara Walters              
09-14-09  The Lace Reader: A Novel by Brunonia Barry
10-12-09  Tracks by Robyn Davidson

11-09-09  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak   
12-14-09  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society By Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

01-11-10  The Help by Kathryn Stockett  
02-08-10  Cypress Grove by James Sallis
03-08-10  Keeping The House by Ellen Baker
04-12-10  The Defector by Daniel Silva (Hardcover - Jul 21, 2009) 
05-10-10  Pot-Luck Dinner & meeting, 6:30 p.m., Select books for July 2010 -- June 2011       
06-14-10   Capirotada: A Nogales Memoir by Alberto Alvaro Rios           

 

===========================
May 13, 2004, page 18 of The Rep -- published by the Arizona Republic Under Lectures / discussions.
“The Book Club Cookbook:  7 p.m. May 17.  Susan Anderson and Changing Hands manager Meredith Warner lead a discussion of The Book Club Cookbook: Recipes and Food for Thought From Your Book Club’s Favorite Books and Authors, by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp.  Changing Hands Bookstore, 6428 S. McClintock Drive, Tempe.  Free.  (480) 730-0205”.
 
“Discerning Diner...with Elan Head  Feeding the stomach, feeding the mind  When Massachusetts writers Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp set out to pair good food with good literature, they discovered that their idea wasn’t as novel (no pun intended) as it seemed”. 

This is article I was interviewed for, it is on pages 2 & 14 of The Wrangler News and on-line
at:  http://www.wranglernews.com/elan051504.htm

The Book Club Cook Book web site and newsletter

Below is a sheet of information I made available on May 17, 2004, when spoke at Changing Hands Book Store, Tempe, AZ

Susan L. Anderson   - Email:  SunnySusan@Cox.Net
                                    - Web Page:  http://www.carcinoidinfo.info


Guidelines for book discussion groups, meeting in private homes that have worked for me over the decades.  

When wanting to start a book discussion group there are decisions to be made.


- What do you hope to accomplish?  (see purpose below)
- What kinds of books do you wish to read and discuss?
- Where and when shall you meet?
- Smoking allowed, or totally non smoking?
- How many people do you want to participate? (In private home may limit to a maximum of 20)
- Name for group?
- The purpose is to read and then discuss those books selected, and read, by all members.
- The participants read ALL books selected, including those she/he would not have read if not selected by 
   the discussion group.
- The group should NOT a lecture series or a book review series for NON-readers.
- The group shall select books that a majority of the members desire to read.
- Prospective members should have a love for learning and a thirst for knowledge.
  --They should desire to learn something new daily, and from each book they read.
  --A group that is multi-generational is good so each may learn from the other age groups.
  -- Lively discussions happen when the group has a wide range of life experiences and have lived in many       
     locations.
  -- Prospective members must be able to disagree without being disagreeable.
  -- Members are not to take personal offense at comments by other members re: the book, subject, or author.
  -- There are no right or incorrect answers about a book under discussion.
  -- Opinions of ALL participants are of value and should be respected.
- If a member misses three meetings in a row without calling the hostess she shall be removed from roster.
- Once a year all members shall meet and present book suggestions for the coming year.
- The goal / guideline shall be to select a variety of books with at least one from each of these categories:
   -- 1.  Biography or memoir
   -- 2.  Mystery
   -- 3.  Travel related
   -- 4.  Government or politics
   -- 5.  Arizona location, or book by an Arizona writer
   -- 6.  Women’s studies and/or self-improvement
   -- 7.  The remaining selections from current/contemporary fiction
- After the books are chosen, annually, members volunteer to be discussion leader, and/or hostess.
- Setting the schedule for 12 months at a time allows more discussion time at each meeting.
- Each discussion leader shall lead as she feels comfortable, with only a few guide lines:
   -- Provide a few reviews of the book, both pro and con if possible.
   -- Provide biographical information on the author.
   -- Prepare a group of discussion questions about the book, to start the discussion and keep it going.
- A house guest is always welcome to attend a meeting with a member.
- Local residents who only want to go out to lunch, but are NOT book readers, are NOT welcome to attend.
- If two current participants have reservations about a prospective member, that person shall not be invited
  to become a member.
-The group shall operate on American democratic principles – equal opportunity for ALL members to    
  participate in all things, unless they choose not to participate.
- All discussions are more interesting when everyone expresses an opinion, all are valued and wanted.

A list of ALL books read and discussed, since their organization, by The Contemporary Book Discussion Club (fall 1983) and the Evening Book Discussion Club (spring 1989) are on my web page under “Books” at: http://www.carcinoidinfo.info  (this web site).      I have a small business card size 2004 calendar with web page and email addresses if you would care of have one tonight.  On the other side of this page I shall list a FEW books that have been lively discussed in book groups.

Copyright 2004 by Susan L. Anderson

Click here to email me SunnySusan@Cox.Net

=============================
- NEW -  All communication shall be via e-mail, so all members must have
                and USE e-mail.

 How we operate:                                                              Adopted: July 14, 1999

- New name:  Contemporary Book Discussion Club (for non-smoking women)

- Membership is limited to 18 women who love reading books

- Meeting the second Wednesday of each month at 9:30 A.M. in homes of the members

- If a member misses three meetings in a row without calling or writing the hostess her name
  will be removed from the roll of members.

- All participants shall be expected to have read the book for discussion before the meeting.

- The purpose is to read and then discuss those books read by  all members.
   It is NOT a lecture series, or a book review series for NON-readers.

- Members are expected to be able to disagree without being disagreeable, or without taking
personal offense at any comments made by other members about what they thought of the
book or author!  There are no right or wrong answers!

- The group shall select books that a majority of the members desire to  read!  There will be
selections that many of the members would NOT have chosen to read on their own, BUT, the
group will not select a book that does not have a vote of "yes, lets read it" from a majority of the members.

- The group shall select books once each year for the coming year.  All  participants shall be encouraged
to submit a number selections, either books she would like to lead, OR books she thinks the group - as
a whole - would enjoy, and would make a lively diverse discussion.

- The goal/guideline shall be to select a variety of books with at least one book from each of
the following categories annually -- when possible:

  -1- biography or memoir
  -2- mystery
  -3- travel
  -4- government or politics
  -5- Arizona location, or book by an Arizona writer
  -6- self-help/self-improvement, and/or women's studies
  -7- the remaining selections from current/contemporary fiction.

- After the books are chosen, annually, the members shall volunteer to be a discussion leader, and/or be hostess.

- Each discussion leader shall lead as she feels comfortable,  with only a few guide-lines.  She should
provide a few reviews of the book, and biographical information on the author.  Then she shall prepare
a group of discussion questions (for HER use in leading the group) about the book, to start the discussion,
keep it going, and on the book

- If the discussion leader desires to assign research questions, they  will only be given to members who
volunteer to take such a question.  They will not be assigned to anyone not wishing a research question.

- If a leader does ask for volunteers to take questions, this may not be done more than one time in a
twelve-month period.  This club is NOT a class -- it is for reading and learning pleasure, without stress,
and without right or wrong answers.

- A house guest is always welcome to attend a meeting with a member!  Local residents who only want
to go out to lunch, but are NOT book readers, are NOT welcome to attend.

- If TWO current participants have reservations about a prospective member, that person shall not be
invited to become a member.

- The group shall operate on American democratic principles -- equal  opportunity for ALL members to
participate in all things, unless they choose not to participate.  All discussions are more interesting when
everyone expresses her opinion!  ALL opinions are valuable, interesting,  and wanted!
 

- NEW -  All communication shall be via e-mail, so all members must have and USE e-mail.

Please read last section on this page - below.  Thank you, Susan, 1-26-2009


Since 1996 --- when I first located others with Carcinoid --- I have answered every email sent to me, although some replies were delayed longer than I liked. I am NO longer able to reply to all e-mails due to the volume and other things going on in my life (all good).  I do love hearing from others, but an unable to reply to all individually.  I shall not forget my many Carcinoid friends and of course shall reply to you … as time permits.  This web site was 11 years old on April 27, 2008, and my plan is to keep it updated for many years to come.

Since my husband "retired" I am away from my computer for days, and sometimes, weeks at a time.  Yes, there is wireless internet and we have tried that a number of places.  But, if I deal with email when we are away from home then it is not a "restful vacation" for me.

PLEASE use the SEARCH capability at the top my pages.  You may search for a word, a phrase, a drug, a treatment, a book title or anything you can think of. You may search this site only, or search the complete World Wide Web.

To speak with a person please know you may call the “telephone information and support line” of the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation, Inc. (CCF), Tuesday through Thursday  10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time at  1-888-722-3132 (free) or 1-914-693-1001.   “The information and support line” is staffed by medical professionals.   Mondays and Fridays are research days, if you call then and do not reach a person do leave a clear message.  The Carcinoid Cancer Foundation’s (CCF) superb web site is at http://www.carcinoid.org

CCF -  Serving the carcinoid/NETs  patient and medical community for close to forty years (chartered in 1968)
   “Meets Extensive Standards of America’s Most Experienced Charity Evaluator”
Better Business Bureau

DISCLAIMER:  I am a patient and NOT a medical doctor or health care professional.  I share information and links to information that has been helpful to me and that I believe to be correct and good, but I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information, except for MY stories.  I urge you not to rely only on this information but I believe you should discuss your situation and information with your medical doctors and/or other medical professionals.  "Sunny" Susan Anderson

Copyright © 1997-2009 Susan L. Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

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Last modified: 08/11/09