The Women's Book Group meets on the last Sunday (usually) of each month at 2:00 pm at the church to discuss literature, usually contemporary novels, of interest to women. Members share responsibility for selecting the books and providing refreshments. All women are welcome to join at any time.
September 30, 2007
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
This is a coming-of-age tale of a young boy who, through the magic of a single book, finds a purpose greater than himself and a hero in a man he’s never met. The Shadow of the Wind is an ode to the art of reading, but it is also the perfect example of the all-encompassing power of a well-told story.
October 28, 2007
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
"Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus……”
November 25, 2007
Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama
An auspicious debut, this sensitively written, impressively researched novel covers 20 years in the life of Pei, a Chinese girl sent to work in a silk factory during the first decades of the 20th century. Details of the process of spinning silk, the close bonds among the sisterhood, and contrasts between the tradition-steeped existence the young women enjoy and the upheaval attending the new communist regime create a compelling narrative.
December 30, 2007
The Welcoming Door by Kenny Kemp
Jesus is a participant in this fresh, artful retelling of three of his parables, The Prodigal Son, The Talents and The Good Samaritan. Jeshua bar Joseph, an earnest young carpenter, helps a cast of familiar characters resolve their difficulties through hard work, love, goodness and patience... Those who enjoyed Joseph Girzone’s “Joshua” series will appreciate the powerful storytelling and exceptional look at Jesus and his world.
January 27, 2008
My Ántonia by Willia Cather
Perhaps the most popular of Cather's novels, My Ántonia is at once the intimate portrait of an American heroine, an elegy for a vanished frontier, and the story of an unconsummated love affair. Ántonia Shimerda is memorable as the warm hearted daughter of Bohemians who must adapt to the hard life on the desolate prairie. She survives and matures…a pioneer woman made radiant by spirit.
February 24, 2008
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (non-fiction)
“Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. …..As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’ betrayals and finally, found the resources and will to leave home. What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.”
March 30, 2008
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
Set in 19th century China, See’s national bestseller tells a story of two young women who find solace with each other, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding rises, their lifelong friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.
April 27, 2008
Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
This novel begins on a winter night in 1964 when a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins. His son is born first, is perfectly healthy, but the doctor immediately recognized that his daughter has Down’s Syndrome. He makes a split-second decision that will haunt all their lives forever. He asks his nurse, Caroline, to take the baby away to an institution. Instead, she disappears into another city to raise the child as her own.
May 18, 2008
Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen
Once a hotshot investigative reporter, Jack Tagger now bangs out obituaries for a South Florida daily, “plotting to resurrect my newspaper career by yoking my byline to some famous stiff.” Jimmy Stoma, the infamous front man of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, dead in a fishy-smelling scuba accident, might be the stiff of Jack’s dreams – if only he can figure out what happened.
June 29, 2008
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them – in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul – they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival. A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship and an indestructible love.
July 27, 2008
The Amber Room by Steve Berry
Life is good for Atlanta judge Rachel Cutler. She loves her job, loves her kids, and remains civil to her ex-husband, Paul. But everything changes when her father, a man who survived the horrors of World War II, dies under strange circumstances – and leaves behind clues to a secret he kept his entire life – a secret about something called the Amber Room.
August 2008 The Book Group does not meet in August.
September 28, 2008
The Covenant by Naomi Ragen
Living in terror-torn Jerusalem, Elise Margulies constantly fears for the safety of her loved ones. Confined to bedrest during a difficult pregnancy, she happily awaits the return of her husband and little girl from a ballet recital, only to find that her worst fears have finally been realized. All seems lost until a phone call to her grandmother in America unexpectedly revives a decades-old oath, creating a force that transcends time and place, to rescue her loved ones. Over the course of five terror and hope filled days, the ties that bind two generations forge a potent alliance against contemporary evil.
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