On Wednesday May 2, the UU Book Club will meet at 1:30 pm at the UU Fellowship to discuss The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht, hosted and moderated by Dottie Gerrits. This is the first book by this Belgrade-born novelist who is ethnic Bosniak/Slovene. She has lived in the United States for several years and writes exquisite English. Set in an unnamed Balkan country, the narrative weaves between the present and the recent past and interweaves fact and folklore, ritual and superstition with an immediacy that is totally convincing. It features a young woman doctor’s relationship with her grandfather (also a doctor) and the stories he tells her, about the ‘deathless man’ who meets him several times in different places and never changes and about a deaf-mute girl from his childhood village who befriends a tiger that has escaped from a zoo. In an interview, the author said; “It’s a saga about doctors and their relationships to death throughout all these wars in the Balkans.” In 2011, Obreht won the prestigious Orange Prize for this novel, the youngest novelist to receive the award to date.

In June we will discuss So Much for That by Lionel Shriver.

The UU Book Club

By Karon Winzenz                                           

Our book club will next meet at 1:30 pm on April 4 to discuss The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, a non-fiction book about Lacks and the immortal cell line that came from her cervical cancer cells in 1951. The book is notable for its accessible science writing and for dealing with the ethical issues of race and class in medical research. The cells survive Henrietta and provide the vehicle through which her family comes to understand her continued presence in the world (Wikipedia). The author recounts the Lacks family’s often painful history with grace. Lynne Lees (lynnajohn@earthlink.net) will be our hostess and discussion leader.

In May the Book Club will discuss The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht.

By Karon Winzenz

The UU Book Club will meet on Wednesday March 7 at 1:30 pm to discuss Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks.  Please contact Karon, hostess and moderator, at winzenzk@msn.com regarding your attendance. This historically based story is told by Bethia, the daughter of an early pioneer and strict Calvinist minister intent on converting the Wampanoag Indians who live on Nantucket Island. In 1665 he sends one of his converts, Caleb (a secret friend of Bethia) to Harvard, then in its infancy. The relationship between the two friends who negotiate the cultural divide between them, and the different belief systems of her father and a native “medicine man” who struggle for Caleb’s mind and soul, makes for fascinating reading. In April the group will read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

By Karon Winzenz

In March the group will meet to discuss Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks at the home of Karon Winzenz.

By Karon Winzenz

The UU Book Club has selected its books for 2012 and look forward to an exciting year of reading. At UU on January 4th at 1:30 pm we will discuss two novels, The Paris Wife by Paula McClain and The Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway. Helene will be the moderator and hostess. The first novel is about Hadley Richardson, Hemmingway’s first wife, and the affect on their marriage during the “Jazz Age” in Paris where they are part of a fast-living, hard-drinking, promiscuous group of emerging (now famous) writers. This heartbreaking portrayal of love and deception is told from Hadley’s perspective, while The Moveable Feast is written through Hemmingway’s lens.” All UU Members and Friends are invited to view The Sun also Rises, based on Hemmingway’s novel about the Spanish Civil war starting at 3:00 pm on the same day. The potluck dinner to follow has been cancelled. Participants may have an optional dinner together at a local restaurant.

The book group will read The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta for our meeting on February 1st.

Below is the link to the UU Book Club Selections for 2012 (in PDF format).

2012 UU Book Club Selections (PDF)

Throughout the year, you can view the list of the upcoming books on the “Book Group” page under “UU Events” on the menu bar.

The UU Book Club will meet earlier than usual on Wednesday, December 7^th at the Fellowship at 11:00 am. A discussion moderated by Liesbeth Fickes of Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner, will be followed by a brown-bag lunch. We will then discuss and select books for 2012.

Members are asked to give a synopsis of books they have read and are recommending.

The Book Club will be discussing City of Thieves, by David Benioff in a meeting hosted and moderated by Peggy Lott on Wednesday November 3^rd starting at 1:30 pm at UU.  City of Thieves is a coming of age story that recounts the adventures of two young Russians sentenced to prison (and possible execution by their own army) during the siege of Leningrad. They earn a reprieve by agreeing to search for a carton of eggs for an NKVD colonel, an adventure fraught with challenges and unusual characters but graced with humor and a large degree of serendipity. Please contact Karon at winzenzk@msn.com or 920-823-2189 regarding your attendance.

In December we will meet to discuss Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner at a gathering hosted and moderated by Liesbeth Fickes.