Upcoming Discussions

Except for meetings in the immediate future, this schedule is tentative. Here is the list of candidates for 2008 and the voting results.
2008
Sep 5	Rather than discussing a book during a holiday period, we will see a film together at the Little Theater.
Oct 3	Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond.  525 pages, 2004.  “A fascinating comparative study of societies that have, sometimes fatally, undermined their own ecological foundations.” Boston Globe: "Extremely persuasive . . . replete with fascinating stories, a treasure trove of historical anecdotes [and] haunting statistics." Seattle Times: "Diamond’s most influential gift may be his ability to write about geopolitical and environmental systems in ways that don’t just educate and provoke, but entertain." We will work out a plan whereby those of us who don’t have time to read the entire book would be able to read at least a few of the case studies, which should be enough for participation in the discussion. Diamond, who is a professor of geography at UCLA, won the Pulitzer Prize for his earlier book Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Nov 7	The Human Stain, by Philip Roth.  361 pages, 2000.  The main character of this PEN/Faulkner Award-winning book is an elderly professor named Silk who is forced to resign because of a remark that is wrongly interpreted as racist. Publisher’s Weekly: “Then, in a dazzling coup, Roth turns all expectations on their heads, and begins to show Silk in a new and astounding light, as someone who has lived a huge lie all his life, making the fuss over his alleged racism even more surreal. The book continues to unfold layer after layer of meaning. There is a tragedy, as foretold, and an exquisitely imagined ending.” Nadine Gordimer, in The Times Literary Supplement (International Book of the Year Selection): "Philip Roth's The Human Stain is the best novel he has written." This novel was chosen by a New York Times poll of 200 prominent writers, critics and editors in 2006 as one of the best works of American fiction in the past 25 years.
Dec 5	March by Geraldine Brooks.  280 pages, 2005. This Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel retells Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women from the viewpoint of the girls’ father, Mr. March. The author bases March’s character on Alcott’s father, Amos Bronson Alcott, who was an abolitionist and a friend of such New England luminaries as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. In Little Women, the girls receive a letter from their father, who is serving in the Civil War, which said little "of the hardships endured, the dangers faced, or the homesickness conquered.” This letter becomes the starting point for March, which fictionalizes both Alcott’s Civil War experiences and his earlier life. Chicago Tribune: “A very great book. It breathes new life into the historical fiction genre... I give it a hero's welcome.”
2009
Jan 2	Instead of reading a book for January, we have a party and special meeting to share opinions on the next set of proposed books.
Feb 6	A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.  367 pages, 2007.  Like The Kite Runner, which LAVA read in 2006, this story takes place in contemporary Afghanistan, but it is told from a woman’s point of view. From the book description: “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.” Washington Post: “Just in case you're wondering whether Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns is as good as The Kite Runner, here's the answer: No. It's better.”
Mar 6	In March we traditionally discuss the book chosen by Writers & Books for their "If All of Rochester Read the Same Book..." program. The name of the book is generally available about the first of the year.

Web pages by Bill Fugate. Comments encouraged.