Books we have read and discussed over the years since we started meeting.
Absolution: A Novel by Alice McDermott Fiction suggested by Barbara From Barbara – 1963 Saigon: shy newlywed happy young woman meets another ex-pat wife who is “helping” Viet poor or sick children by giving them gifts including Barbie dolls and some adult things, all behind their husband’s backs. Cross-cultural themes. 1963 Saigon, Vietnam, the complicated […]
Best wishes for a good new year! We moved The Dictionary of Lost Words, our January book, to May.
Joan: A Novel of Joan of Arc by Katherine Chen Fiction suggested by Sharon Joan of Arc is transformed into a flesh-and-blood young woman: reckless, steel-willed, and brilliant. Meticulously researched, a sweeping narrative of her life. from Amazon – 1412. France is mired in a losing war against England. Its people are starving. Its king is […]
West with Giraffes: A Novel by Lynda Rutledge Fiction suggested by Joyce From Joyce – Inspired by a true story, “West with Giraffes” transports us to the vivid landscape of 1938 America, where a 17-year-old protagonist embarks on an awe-inspiring cross-country journey, driving two giraffes and discovering his own identity along the way. … novel that […]
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt Fiction suggested by Lisa After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget […]
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese Fiction suggested by Janet (736 pages, so we are taking two months to read it.) An epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret. from Amazon – Spanning the years 1900 to […]
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese Fiction suggested by Janet special meeting — We are taking two months to read The Covenant of Water. At this special meeting we can discuss how you like reading it so far, and/or what is one of your favorite books and why. (736 pages) An epic of love, faith, […]
Queen of the Desert by Georgina Howell Non-Fiction suggested by Janet Gertrude Bell turned her back on her priviledged life for her passion for the Arab people, becoming the architect of Iraq seeing its first king Faisal onto the throne. from Amazon – Archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, author, poet, photographer, mountaineer and nation builder, Gertrude Bell […]
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough Non-Fiction suggested by JoAnn Every time they took off, they risked being killed. The dramatic story-behind-the-story about the courageous brothers who taught the world how to fly. from Amazon – On a winter day in 1903, in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two brothers—bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio—changed history. […]
The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley Fiction suggested by Shirley 14th century Greenland, a proud landowner, his willful daughter, his knowledge seeking son, and a world of farmers, priests, hunts and feasts, and long feuds. from Amazon – an enthralling epic tale, written in the tradition of the old Norse sagas, that takes us to fourteenth-century […]