Summer Book Discussions

This summer there will be twice as many book discussions as usual. The Third Tuesday Morning group will meet in July and August, while the Fourth Tuesday Evening Group will meet in June and July. The Crime Readers do not meet in the summer. The Woodridge Public Library will be undergoing renovations this fall, and alternate meeting locations will be needed. Each group will take a different month off this fall. Also, by attending a summer book discussion, Woodridge cardholders will get another entry for our summer reading program, Escape the Ordinary. These are the books being discussed this summer:

Mornings – Third Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m.
July 21         Amy Falls Down by Jincy Willett

Reclusive writer Amy Gallup hasn’t written anything new in years, and teaches online writing classes. A bizarre newspaper interview right after a head injury makes her slightly famous, and helps jumpstart her career. Quirky, witty, and funny.

August 18    Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

A traveling troupe of musicians and Shakespearean actors perform in small towns on the coasts of Lakes Huron and Michigan fifteen years after a flu pandemic changed the world. A beautiful, complex, nonlinear novel that I’m looking forward to re-reading.

Evenings – Fourth Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.

 June 23       You Are One of Them by Elliott Holt                                                  

 During the Cold War,  Sarah and her friend Jenny write letters to the Soviet premier asking for peace. Only Jenny’s letter is answered, and she becomes a celebrity. In 1995, Sarah travels to Moscow to find out what really happened to Jenny. A suspenseful, atmospheric, and character-driven first novel.

July 28         Some Luck by Jane Smiley                                                                                                                          This sweeping, homespun, multi-generational novel, first in a trilogy, is the story of an Iowa farm family from 1920 to 1953. Walter and Rosanna Langdon and their five children take turns narrating the chapters, describing the changes in the family and their nation.