January 17
Title: Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
Bookies met at the home of Connie Read at 1 pm on Thursday, January 17, to discus the Book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.
This meeting included time for planning the reading list for the coming year.
Hostess: Connie Read
Discussion Leader: Joyce Leraas
February 21
Title: Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
Jacob Jankowski, now ninety-something, has memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train
that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. These are memories of a world filled with freaks
and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of
life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.
Hostess: Joyce Leraas
Discussion Leader: Ellen Morton
March 20
Title: Jayber Crow, by Wendell Berry
From the simple setting of his own barber shop, Jayber Crow, orphan, seminarian, and native of Port William, recalls
his life and the life of his community as it spends itself in the middle of the twentieth century. Surrounded by his
friends and neighbors, he is both participant and witness as the community attempts to transcend its own decline.
And meanwhile Jayber learns the art of devotion and that a faithful love is its own reward.
Hostess: Diane Ganson
Discussion Leader: Nancy Stevens
April 17
Title: Selected Books, by Anne Perry
Each Bookie will choose a book from the mystery series of Anne Perry. Some books will involve William Monk, a London
police detective and some will involve Inspector Thomas Pitt and his clever wife Charlotte. Set in mid 19th century
London, the groups’s discussion will discus aspects of daily life at that time.
Hostess: Jean Chapoton
Discussion Leader: Nancy Stevens
May 15
Manhunt, by James Swanson
The murder of Abraham Lincoln sets off the greatest manhunt in American history – the pursuit and capture of John
Wilkes Booth. This is a fully documented work, but also a facinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. It
is a gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters.
Hostess: Jo Sullivan
Discussion Leader: Ida Wellsman
June 19
Title: O Pioneers!, by Willa Cather
This is the story of young Alexandra Bergson and her family’s flight to surive and suceed. It is a novel of an
immigrant homesteader in Nebraska.
Hostess: Molly Chapman
Discussion Leader: Joan Ruestmann
July 17
Title: Digging to America, by Anne Tyler
Two families, who would otherwise never have come together, meet by chance at the Baltimore airport as they await
the arrival of their adopted daughters from Korea. One couple is American; the other Iranian. This story looks at
the promises and perils of the American Dream and the knotty, layered relationships that can develop between
native-born Americans and more recent immigrants intent on making their way through the often baffling byways of the New World.
Hostess: Judy Miler
Discussion Leader: tbd
August 21
Title: Whatever book the Richardson Bookclub is reading prior to the invitation of the guest author.
Alternative book: Giliad, by Marilyn Robinson
Hostess: Nancy Stevens
Discussion Leader: Judy Miler
September 18
Title: The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai
At the foot of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Hilalayas lives an embittered judge who wants only to retire in peace,
but his orphaned granddaughter arrives on his doorstep. The judge’s cook watches over her while his thoughts
are on his son who is hopscotching from one gritty New York restaurant to another. The characters in this
novel face numerous choices that illuminate the consequences of colonialiam as it collides with the modern world.
Hostess: Jean Chapoton
Discussion Leader: Jean Chapoton
October 16
Title: Cheating at Canasta: Stories, by William Trevor
This is a collection of stories. From a chance encounter between two childhood friends to the memories of a newly
widowed man to a family grappling with the sale of their ancestral land, Trevor examines the tenuous bonds of our
relationships: the strengths that hold us together, and the truths that threaten to separate us.
Hostess: Connie Read
Discussion Leader: Sandra Calvert
November 20
Title: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See
This novel tells the story of Lily who is haunted by memories - of who she once was, and of a person, long gone,
who defined her existence. She has nothing by time now as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the
gods for forgiveness. These two girls, their friendship sealed at the age of seven, live through famine and
rebellion, and they reflect upon their arranged marriages, loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood.
But when a misunderstanding arises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.
Hostess: Norma Welin
Discussion Leader: Judy Lewis
December: skip for holiday season - see you in 2009!
2009 Selections
January 15, 2009
Title: The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
Margaret Lea works in her father’s antiquarian bookshop where she writes biographies of the long-dead. She
gets a letter from one of the most famous authors of the day, Vida Winter, a known recluse. Until now Vida
has toyed with journalists who interview her, creating outlandish life histories for herself, all of them false.
Now she is old and ailing, and at last she wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. Her letter to
Margret is a summons.
Hostess: Joan Ruestmann
Discussion Leader: Diane Ganson
February 19, 2009
Title: Lottery, by Patricia Wood
This book does not come out in paperback until June, 2008. It is one of Ellen’s favorites, so we are being
bold to suggest it for our February meeting.
Hostess: Diane Ganson
Discussion Leader: Ellen Morton
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