What Have We Been Reading?
Our church sponsored book group meets on the first Tuesday of the month on Zoom. It’s always a great discussion, and we welcome new folks. Reach out to the church office if you would like to join us.
We will take a break for July and August. Our September book is Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.
Here are the books we read and discussed during the 2025-2026 year:
June – The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong, a novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and a life-altering bond.
May – Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, a nonfiction work examining the reasons behind the lack of progress in the US on such things as affordable housing, infrastructure, and climate change.
April – Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks – a novel loosely based on a real village in England in 1665 and 1666, which, encouraged by a passionate minister, isolated itself from the surrounding area to prevent spread of bubonic plague, and which follows the development of housemaid Anna Frith into a heroine in the midst of catastrophic events.
March – The Jackal’s Mistress: A Novel by Chris Bohjalian, inspired by a real-life friendship across enemy lines, an historical novel about the wife of a missing Confederate soldier who risks all to save the life of a stranger, a wounded Union soldier.
February – The Sinners All Bow by Kate Winkler Dawson, in which the author reconstructs and attempts to finish the true crime investigation into the death in Fall River, Mass. of a young woman begun by Catharine Williams in the 1830s, the conclusions of which were likely influenced by wealthy mill owners as well as America’s burgeoning evangelical religious movements.
January – The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund de Waal, a renowned ceramicist and the fifth generation to inherit a collection of 264 exquisite wood and ivory netsuke, saved by a loyal housemaid and all that remained of the vast fortune of the Ephrussis, a grand banking family in 19th Century Paris and Vienna society, after the Nazis imprisoned or scattered the family and confiscated all their wealth, books, art, and properties.
December – Table for Two by Amor Towles. Amor Towles, a favorite author whose works include A Gentleman in Moscow, wrote this collection of short historical fiction pieces, including a novella which is a continuation of Rules of Civility.
November – Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg, on the art and science of successful communication – techniques we can master to successfully connect with others even in difficult circumstances.
October –The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain combined with the Pulitzer Prize winning James by Percival Everett. James is a re-imagining of the Huckleberry Finn tale, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view, highlighting his agency, intelligence, and compassion.