SEPTEMBER
Thursday, September 10 4:00-5:30 at Books by the Bay (Rescheduled from April 2020)
Citizens of London: The Americans who stood with Britain in its darkest, finest hour by Lynn Olson
Discussants: Nancy Curran and Susan Watson
We meet three Americans working in London prior to World War II who were key players in forging the alliance with Britain that led to America’s entry into war.
OCTOBER
Thursday, October 8 4:00-5:30
(Rescheduled from May 2020)
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Discussant: Beth Garbutt
This “classic” novel, considered by some to be Willa Cather’s masterpiece is based on the true story of two French priests sent in the 1890s as missionaries to the New Mexico territory
NOVEMBER
Thursday, November 12 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purcell
Discussant: Ciji Ware
The amazing true story of a Baltimore socialite (with a wooden leg) who joined WW II’s Allied intelligence agencies operating in war torn France, only to be hunted by the Gestapo as the “most dangerous of all allied spies [whom] we must find and destroy…”
JANUARY
Thursday, January 14 4:00 – 5:30 p.m
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Discussant: Ellen Rosenstein
A brother and sister explore their memories of the extravagant house in which they grew up and it’s effect on their family over three generations. It covers questions of loss, love, and forgiveness
FEBRUARY
Thursday, February 11 4:00 – 5:30 p.m.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Discussant: Shelby Van Meter
A brilliant, oddly peculiar comedy/thriller by the winner of the 2018 Nobel Prize for Literature. Experience the adventures of the wildly eccentric, endlessly surprising protagonist Janina
APRIL
Thursday, April 8 4:00 -5:30 p.m.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Discussant: Arliss Willis
This 2020 novel deals with the journey of a Mexican mother and her young son who must leave behind their life and attempt an escape from a Mexican drug cartel to the United States. This author tackles many social issues. It also raises the issue of “Who is allowed to tell the story?”
MAY
Thursday, May 13 4:00 – 5:30
Miss Austen by Gill Hornby
Discussants: Jeni Flynn and Fran Nelson
In this fictional story of sisterly love, Jane Austen’s sister Cassandra hunts down letters that might reveal the most private aspects of their personal lives, deciding what to preserve and what to destroy. It offers a satirical observation of a woman’s lot in 1800’s England.