Books we have read and discussed over the years since we started meeting.
Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel Non-Fiction suggested by Lynnie 1986 shy intelligent Christopher Knight left his Massachusetts home, drove to Maine and disappeared into the forest. He talked to no one for nearly 30 years. from Amazon – In 1986, a shy and intelligent twenty-year-old […]
Tom Lake: A Novel by Ann Patchett Fiction suggested by Lynnie In 2020, Lara’s daughters return to the family orchard. Picking cherries, Lara recalls her past, the daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother. Amazon: In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While […]
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder Non-Fiction suggested by Sharon A guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism, from a public intellectual unafraid to make bold connections between past and present. Amazon: The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame […]
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie Fiction suggested by Shirley In 24 tales, a portrait of life in and around the Spokane Indian reservation featuring Thomas the storyteller and Victor the sports hero turned recovering alcoholic. Amazon: Sherman Alexie’s celebrated first collection, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, established […]
BoyMom: Reimagining Boyhood in the Age of Impossible Masculinity by Ruth Whippman Non-Fiction suggested by Barbara The complexities of raising boys in our fraught political moment. How to raise sons to have a healthy sense of self without turning them into privileged assholes? Amazon: A deep dive into the complexities of raising boys in our […]
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams Fiction suggested by Lynnie Growing up, Esme realizes that words relating to women’s and common folk’s experiences often go unrecorded. So she begins her own dictionary of lost words. From Amazon – Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood […]
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr Fiction suggested by Shirley From the author of “All the Light We Cannot See”, a story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril, finding resilience and hope. From Amazon – In the 15th century, an orphan named Anna lives inside the formidable walls of Constantinople. […]
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows Fiction suggested by Joyce In WWII a book club born as an alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island. Charming, funny, deeply human. From Amazon – 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of […]
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.