Next gathering: Sunday, December 6, following the 10:00 service, in the Guild Room
Most book groups ask everyone to read the same title by the same date. This one doesn’t. You bring whatever you’re already reading, read the group its first line, and take about three minutes to say what drew you to it. Then the next person does the same.
That’s the whole format. There’s no assigned reading, no need to have finished anything, and no obligation to speak — you’re welcome to come to simply listen. Books, yes, but also magazine articles, podcasts, a film that stayed with you. If it gave you something to think about, it belongs.
How the first one went
Eighteen people came in October, and the hour filled itself. Nineteen titles were shared, ranging from a Booker Prize-winning novel to an Al-Anon daily reader, from an account of the first all-women’s ascent of Denali to a history of food in sixteenth-century Spanish America. Fascinating!
What several said afterward was some version of the same thing: it was a pleasure to hear what other people are reading, and a relief not to have homework.
The October reading list
Eighteen of us came to the first gathering on October 18, and nineteen titles were shared. Here is everything that came up. Most titles link to Bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores; the exceptions are noted.
| Offered by | Title | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Jim Brennan | Food, Conquest, and Colonization in the 16th Century Spanish America Used copies available on AbeBooks.com | John C. Super |
| Dorothy Lambert | The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding | Jennifer Robson |
| Nancy Lamoureaux | Address Unknown | Kathrine Kressmann Taylor |
| Jim Alden | Whistler | Ann Patchett |
| Dan Moon | One Day at a Time in Al-Anon Available from Al-Anon’s own literature service | Al-Anon Family Groups |
| Kathryn Jensen | Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right | Arlie Russell Hochschild |
| Louise Penney | Adriatic: A Concert of Civilizations at the End of the Modern Age | Robert D. Kaplan |
| Paula Morey | Theo of Golden | Allen Levi |
| David DeSmith | Harvest | Jim Crace |
| Christine Furcinite-Reynolds | Shark Heart: A Love Story | Emily Habeck |
| Josie Ellis | Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women’s Ascent of Denali | Cassidy Randall |
| Nancy Travis | The Book of Joy | Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu & Douglas Carlton Abrams |
| John Garinther | The Jews Who Voted for Hitler Essay in The Atlantic | Timothy W. Ryback |
| Anne Williams | The Color of Compromise | Jemar Tisby |
| Anne Williams | Hollywood, Ending | John Green |
| Craig Reynolds | Country People | Daniel Mason |
| Diane Forsyth | A Fatal Grace: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel | Louise Penny |
| Jennifer Townsend | The Wild Trees | Richard Preston |
| Cathy Carchedi | Small Great Things | Jodi Picoult |
Next gathering: Sunday, December 6, directly after the 10:00 service, in the Guild Room. All are welcome — including those who missed the first one. Nothing carries over, so there is nothing to catch up on.
Joining us
Come as you are, and come whether or not you were there in October — nothing carries over from one month to the next, so there is nothing to catch up on. We meet after the 10:00 service and finish within the hour. Light refreshments.
Conveners: Jim Brennan and Craig Reynolds