Avid readers
Avid Readers meet the third Tuesday of each month 7-8:30 pm in the Parish Hall building unless noted otherwise. Everyone is welcome even if you haven't read the book. For more information, contact Eloise Crosman.
2019-20 Book Selections
March 17, 2020: Why Religion? A Personal Story, Elaine Pagels. Memoir. 320 pages. Having read two of her books in the past, Avid Readers know her as a distinguished religious scholar and thinker. Why Religion? is more of a spiritual autobiography addressing why religion is still around. She uses her own experience with tragedy and suffering within her own family as well as her scholarship in ancient religious texts to explain why she is religious and why it matters. “However it happens,” she writes, “sometimes hearts do heal, through what I can only call grace.” Led by Susan Gilfeather.
April 21, 2020: Bridge Ladies, Betsy Lerner. Non-fiction. 320 pages. When Betsy finds herself back in her childhood home to help her mother Roz following surgery, she expects a week of tense civility with her mother whom she had avoided for decades. Instead, she became a regular at her mother’s Monday Bridge Club. Through friendships with the ladies, she is finally able to face years of misunderstandings and family tragedy to form a hard-won, never-too-late bond between mother and daughter. Led by Ann Peck.
May 5, 2020: Book Choosing Meeting
May 19, 2020: 20 Wishes, Debbie Macomber. Fiction. 384 pages. What Anne Marie Roche wants is to find happiness again. At thirty-eight, she's childless, a recent widow, alone. She owns a successful bookstore on Seattle's Blossom Street, but despite her accomplishments, there's a feeling of emptiness. On Valentine's Day, Anne Marie and several other widows get together to celebrate…a sense of hope. They each begin a list of twenty wishes—including things they'd always wanted to do but never did. Anne Marie meets eight-year-old Ellen and learns that wishes can come true, but not always in the expected way. Recommended by Dee Davis, led by Eloise Crosman
June 16, 2020: The Lost Girls of Paris, Pam Jenoff. Historical Fiction. 384 pages. Grace Healy, passing through Grand Central Station on her way to work, finds an abandoned suitcase under a bench. She opens it and finds a dozen photographs, each of a different woman. Determined to find the owner, she learns that the suitcase belonged to Eleanor Trigg. She learns that Eleanor was the leader of a female ring of secret agents who were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but never returned home. Pam Jenoff shines a light on the incredible heroics of the brave women of the war, and weaves a mesmerizing tale of courage, sisterhood and the great strength of women to survive in the hardest of circumstances. Led by Eloise Crosman.
July 21, 2020: Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens. Fiction. 384 pages. This is a heartbreaking coming-of-age story of a possible murder. In late 1969, handsome Chase Andrews is found dead. The locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl who is rumored to have haunted North Carolina’s coast. By Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home. Led by Susie Mitchler.
August 18, 2020: Just One Damned Thing After Another, Jodi Taylor. Science Fiction. 335 pages. This is the first book in a series of British madcap time-traveling books, which takes you back Into various historical events. The Chronicles of St. Mary’s involves Madeline Maxwell (Max) who as a result of being hired by this research Institute, travels from eleventh-century London to World War I, from the Cretaceous period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. It is funny, sad, and a delightful frolic with British humor at its best. Led by Susan Mitchler.
Also Recommended:
Transcription, Kate Atkinson
The Guest Book, Sarah Blake
Red Notice, Bill Browder
News of the World, Paulette Jiles
A Machine Like Me, Ian McEwan
Becoming, Michelle Obama
The Island of Sea Women, Lisa See
April 21, 2020: Bridge Ladies, Betsy Lerner. Non-fiction. 320 pages. When Betsy finds herself back in her childhood home to help her mother Roz following surgery, she expects a week of tense civility with her mother whom she had avoided for decades. Instead, she became a regular at her mother’s Monday Bridge Club. Through friendships with the ladies, she is finally able to face years of misunderstandings and family tragedy to form a hard-won, never-too-late bond between mother and daughter. Led by Ann Peck.
May 5, 2020: Book Choosing Meeting
May 19, 2020: 20 Wishes, Debbie Macomber. Fiction. 384 pages. What Anne Marie Roche wants is to find happiness again. At thirty-eight, she's childless, a recent widow, alone. She owns a successful bookstore on Seattle's Blossom Street, but despite her accomplishments, there's a feeling of emptiness. On Valentine's Day, Anne Marie and several other widows get together to celebrate…a sense of hope. They each begin a list of twenty wishes—including things they'd always wanted to do but never did. Anne Marie meets eight-year-old Ellen and learns that wishes can come true, but not always in the expected way. Recommended by Dee Davis, led by Eloise Crosman
June 16, 2020: The Lost Girls of Paris, Pam Jenoff. Historical Fiction. 384 pages. Grace Healy, passing through Grand Central Station on her way to work, finds an abandoned suitcase under a bench. She opens it and finds a dozen photographs, each of a different woman. Determined to find the owner, she learns that the suitcase belonged to Eleanor Trigg. She learns that Eleanor was the leader of a female ring of secret agents who were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but never returned home. Pam Jenoff shines a light on the incredible heroics of the brave women of the war, and weaves a mesmerizing tale of courage, sisterhood and the great strength of women to survive in the hardest of circumstances. Led by Eloise Crosman.
July 21, 2020: Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens. Fiction. 384 pages. This is a heartbreaking coming-of-age story of a possible murder. In late 1969, handsome Chase Andrews is found dead. The locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl who is rumored to have haunted North Carolina’s coast. By Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home. Led by Susie Mitchler.
August 18, 2020: Just One Damned Thing After Another, Jodi Taylor. Science Fiction. 335 pages. This is the first book in a series of British madcap time-traveling books, which takes you back Into various historical events. The Chronicles of St. Mary’s involves Madeline Maxwell (Max) who as a result of being hired by this research Institute, travels from eleventh-century London to World War I, from the Cretaceous period to the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria. It is funny, sad, and a delightful frolic with British humor at its best. Led by Susan Mitchler.
Also Recommended:
Transcription, Kate Atkinson
The Guest Book, Sarah Blake
Red Notice, Bill Browder
News of the World, Paulette Jiles
A Machine Like Me, Ian McEwan
Becoming, Michelle Obama
The Island of Sea Women, Lisa See