Book Share
“Reading at the intersection of interest, information, and good writing.”
Edith Fuller – see below February 11, 2019 entry – retired from our annual Book Talk presentation in 2018.
As it was such an enjoyable experience, it was replaced by Book Share with members reporting on their best book at the meeting.
December 14, 2023
Viki Mulick: “Finding Freedom - A Cook’s Story Remaking a Life From Scratch” by Erin French, a New York Times Best-seller. It is a life-affirming mem-oir about survival, renewal and finding a community to lift her up as owner of the critically ac-claimed by New York Times The Lost Kitchen restaurant.
Ray Johnson: “Two Years Before the Mast” by Richard Henry Dana. A memoir of a two-year voyage on a merchant vessel from Boston to Californ-ia. A vivid and personal dscrip-tion of the life of a sailor in the 1830s.
Marleen Wallingford: “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” by Lori Gottleib. From a psy-chotherapist, and national ad-vice columnist comes a thought-provoking book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist’s world, where the author’s patients are looking for answers, and so is she.
Nancy Lewis: “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson. Set in Berlin in 1933-1934, the book tells the story of America’s first ambassador to Nazi Germany, and his daughter, as they experience the rising terror of Hitler’s rule.
Maureen Barnhart: “Mythos” by Stephen Fry is a modern collection of the Greek myths, stylishly retold into emotional resonant and deeply funny stories, without losing any of their original wonder.
Eileen Wende: “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig. This novel follows a 35-year-old British woman, unhappy in her dead-end life, who after a suicide attempt, is given the opportunity to experience lives she might have had if she had made different choices.
Al Rabchuk: “The Moonlight Mile” by Dennis Lehane. A tale of vengeance and redemption – the sequel to “Gone, Baby, Gone.” Lehane’s unforgettable and deeply human detective duo, Kenzy and Jennaro, return to the mean streets of blue- collar Boston to investigate the second disappearance of a 16- year-old.
Mary Lou Oberson: “The Fifth Chamber” by Anne Gudger (local author). In her debut memoir, Annie is pregnant with her first child and married to her beloved husband when he dies in a car accident on a mountain road. Annie must navigate single motherhood, mourning and learning to love again.
December 8, 2022
Al Rabchuk: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig. A historical fiction set in rural Montana in the early 1900s. A father hires a housekeeper who cannot cook. A well-developed story with interesting characters and a bit of a thriller at the end.
Ray Johnson: Lady of France: A Biography of Gabrielle D’Estrees, Mistress of Henry the Great by Noel Gerson. Title says it all, but personal as she was an ancestor, and on his May trip to Paris, he walked the street where the family lived.
Bobbi Yambasu: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The story of two Nigerians making their way into the US and the UK. Very well written story of immigrants’ perception of life in another country. Very engaging.
Maraline Karty: Horse by Geraldine Brooks. A discarded painting in a junk pile and the greatest race horse in American History are the background for this Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Laugh-out-loud story for all the smart girls who refuse to dumb themselves down to fit in.
Bruce Adams: Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown. An inspiring story of Japanese American patriots in World War II
Viki Mulick: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Classic Steinbeck novel set during the Great Depression. The story revolves around the people who live near a street lined with sardine factories. Troublemaker by Jon Cho. The book follows the events of the LA riots as seen through the eyes of a young Korean American boy.
Marleen Wallingford: Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. “A powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama.”
Lisa Abramovic: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. A comprehensive cookbook that looks at the cooking habits of our ancestors and looks ahead to using these methods in the future for good health for the young. The First Mess by Laura Wright. A vegan cookbook based on the availability of seasonal vegetables.
Eileen Wende: Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. Fictionalized account of real subjects in Eastern Kentucky, the last of the blue skinned people who delivered books via packhorse due to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA program.
Janet Jackson: Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden. Account of the first-known survivor of one of the most brutal labor camps in North Korea.
Mary Lou Oberson: Living the Flipside: Adventures of an Expat in Delhi by Elliot Asbury. Title says it all.
Bobbi Yambasu: Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic Schools by Sonora Reyes. Funny and moving novel about a queer Mexican American girl navigating Catholic school.
Maureen Barnhart: Melancholy Accidents: The Meaning of Violence in Post-Famine Ireland by Carolyn Conley. The title says it all.
December 9, 2021
Al Rabchuk: The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig. A historical fiction set in rural Montana in the early 1900s. A father hires a housekeeper who cannot cook. A well-developed story with interesting characters and a bit of a thriller at the end.
Ray Johnson: Lady of France: A Biography of Gabrielle D’Estrees, Mistress of Henry the Great by Noel Gerson. Title says it all, but personal as she was an ancestor, and on his May trip to Paris, he walked the street where the family lived.
Bobbi Yambasu: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The story of two Nigerians making their way into the US and the UK. Very well written story of immigrants’ perception of life in another country. Very engaging.
Maraline Karty: Horse by Geraldine Brooks. A discarded painting in a junk pile and the greatest race horse in American History are the background for this Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Laugh-out-loud story for all the smart girls who refuse to dumb themselves down to fit in.
Bruce Adams: Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown. An inspiring story of Japanese American patriots in World War II
Viki Mulick: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. Classic Steinbeck novel set during the Great Depression. The story revolves around the people who live near a street lined with sardine factories. Troublemaker by Jon Cho. The book follows the events of the LA riots as seen through the eyes of a young Korean American boy.
Marleen Wallingford: Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. “A powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama.”
Lisa Abramovic: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. A comprehensive cookbook that looks at the cooking habits of our ancestors and looks ahead to using these methods in the future for good health for the young. The First Mess by Laura Wright. A vegan cookbook based on the availability of seasonal vegetables.
Eileen Wende: Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. Fictionalized account of real subjects in Eastern Kentucky, the last of the blue skinned people who delivered books via packhorse due to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA program.
Janet Jackson: Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden. Account of the first-known survivor of one of the most brutal labor camps in North Korea.
Mary Lou Oberson: Living the Flipside: Adventures of an Expat in Delhi by Elliot Asbury. Title says it all.
Bobbi Yambasu: Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic Schools by Sonora Reyes. Funny and moving novel about a queer Mexican American girl navigating Catholic school.
Maureen Barnhart: Melancholy Accidents: The Meaning of Violence in Post-Famine Ireland by Carolyn Conley. The title says it all.
December 9, 2020
Maureen Barnhart: The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Don Egan. The environmental decline of the Great Lakes.
Judy Matsumoto: The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates. How empowering women change the world.
Marleen Wallingford: The Murmur of Bees by Sophia Segovia. Historical fiction mixed with magical realism.
Jane Morgan: This Is Your Time by Ruby Bridges. First Black child to integrate into an all White elementary school.
Terri Hjelm: News Of the World by Paulette Jiles. A retired Captain travels and tells stories.
Lisa Abramovic: Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park by Conor Knighton. A sampler plate of our National Parks.
Julia Simson: Small Great Things by Jodi Piccault. A focus on race in America and revolves around a nurse protagonist.
Maraline Karty: The Caste by Isabel Wilkerson. The history of race, as the hidden work of a caste system.
Eileen Wende: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. The story of a sister and brother over five decades.
Al Rabchuk: A Concise History of Australia by Stuart Macintyre.
Mary Lou Oberson: Quick and Simple by Jacques Pepin. A cookbook filled with recipes that are easy to make.
Ray Johnson: Truman by David McCullough. A biography about the 33rd President of the United States.Susie Garrison: The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Historical fiction set during the era of slavery.
February 11, 2019
Eileen Wende: Lost in the Victory by Ann Mix and Susan Johnson Hadley. Orphans from WW II
Nancy Lewis: Facism by Madeleine Albright. Use of childhood experiences in WW II to explain fascism.
Bobbi Yambasu: The Overstory by Richard Powers. Use of tree to tell stories of peoples' activism and resistance.
Jane Morgan: The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer. Malians efforts to save ancient Arab texts from Al Qaeda.
Jane Kirkpatrick: Homestead by Rosanna Lippi. Story of women over span of 80 years in remote village of Austria.
Marleen Wallingford: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Russian nobleman imprisoned in hotel following Bolshevik revolution, and immigrants from Nigeria.
Ray Johnson: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Grant by Ron Chernow. Author's letter to his 15-year-old son on living in a Black body in America, and, biography of the 18th president.
Susie Garrison: Becoming by Michelle Obama. Memoir.
Mary Lou Oberson: The Residence by Kate Anderson Brower. U.S. presidents.
Julie Schmann: Snow in Vietnam by Amy M Le. Escaping Vietnam after war.
Julia Simpson: Still Life by Louise Penny. Detectives investigate a murder.
Rose Jensen: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesymn Ward. Mississippi sharecroppers, and family's dynamics in a fictional town in Mississippi.
Lisa Abramovic: Women Rowing North by Mary Pipher. Cultural and development issues women face as they transition from middle to old age..
Florence Bancroft: Chesapeake by James Michener. History of several families around Chesapeake Bay from late 1500s to mid-1970s.