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The Ellis Book Group meets from September - June, the the third Wednesday of each month, at 7PM, in the living room of the YWCA Berkeley Residence at 40 Berkeley Street. The meetings last about an hour. The co-leaders are Betsy Boveroux (617-426-0989) and Trudy Kondoff (617-482-4141). The books are selected from suggestions from book group participants in the late spring. All are welcome to attend, either regularly or intermittently.
Book Group Reading List (Downloadable Infosheet)
The Beauty of the Lilies by John Updike: Clarence Wilmot, a Presbyterian clergyman, loses his faith and becomes an encyclopedia salesman and a multigenerational family story unfolds. A history of American films is woven into the narrative as a metaphor of the upheavals that beset the characters. 512p
The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins: A stunning account of the human side of war, written by NY Times reporter embedded with the US troops during the attack on Fallujah. 384p
Their Eyes were Watching God, by Zora Hurston: The story of Janie, an African American woman, as she experiences the different men in her life and, equally important, her relationships with black women. Hurston’s great dialogue, at first vilified by other black authors of Harlem’s Renaissance, but now admired for the depiction of black life, captures the ongoing war of the sexes as well as the truces, joys and tender moments. 256p
Lincoln’s Virtues, An Ethical Biography, by William Lee Miller: Tracing the moral and ethical core of Lincoln’s beliefs. An incisive and shrewd discussion of AL’s development as a person and politician. 544p
March, by Geraldine Brooks: A well researched interpretation of the absent father of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, who is a chaplain in the Union army. Read Little Women if you have the time. 304p
The Nine: Inside the World of the Supreme Court, by Jeffrey Toobin: It is not laws or constitutional theory that rule the High Court, but quirky men and women guided by political intuition. A survey of the Court from Reagan on, as the justices wrestle with abortion, affirmative action, the death penalty, gay rights, and church and state separation. 384p
Poetry Month. Members bring a poem(s) to share with the group.
The Post American World, by Fareed Zaharia: The industrial, financial, educational, social and cultural power is shifting. This book is less about the decline of the US and more about “the rise of the rest” including China, India, Brazil, Russia and many others. 336p
Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill: A post 9/11 story that evokes the disorientation and darkness of that time in NYC. A novel of ideas and an emotionally wrenching love story. 272p
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