Please join us on Zoom as we discuss books recommended by our members. Below, they share with us why they chose their books.
September 2
The Measure by Nikki Erlick
Recommended by Joyce Romano:
What happens when everyone in the world receives a mysterious “string” that depicts the length of their lives? What do individual people do with that information? How is the social order affected?
September 30
James by Percival Everett
Recommended by Arlene Sánchez-Busse:
James retells the story of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the slave Jim who is fleeing to freedom with Huck down the Mississippi River. It won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. That says it all!
October 28
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
Recommended by Michelle Lowe:
The Frozen River is the thrilling, tense, and tender story of a midwife, Martha Ballard, who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. This book gave me insight into what midwives went through in the late 1700s. It is compelling.
December 2
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Recommended by Cheryl Rosenberg:
In Eleanor Oliphant, I think the book speaks to our isolation and loneliness. It is about people who expect so little out of life and how that can all change in an instant. It’s a beautifully written and incredibly funny book.
January 6
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
Recommended by Judy Conk:
This timely novel is a study of two women, friends since elementary school, and their complicated relationship over the years. It is set against the backdrop of three turbulent and transformative decades in Iran.
February 3
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Recommended by Julie Himbert, Arlene Sánchez-Busse, Judy Conk, and Patricia Konkel
According to Julie:
“Imagine, the letters one has sent out into the world, the letters received back in turn, are like the pieces of a magnificent puzzle…” The Correspondent, a 2025 epistolary novel by Virginia Evans, centers on a 73-year-old woman using letters to process her life. Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, the novel is about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime.