Night by Elie Wiesel (discussed at the July 27 meeting, books & audio available June 29)
In Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, a scholarly, pious teenager is wracked with guilt at having survived the horror of the Holocaust and the genocidal campaign that consumed his family. His memories of the nightmare world of the death camps present him with an intolerable question: how can the God he once so fervently believed in have allowed these monstrous events to occur? (120 pages)
The Journey of Crazy Horse by Joseph M. Marshall III (discussed at the August 31 meeting, books & audio available July 27)
Marshall draws on a rich Native American oral tradition to carefully and lovingly tell the life of Crazy Horse as a storyteller would. The result is a vivid, haunting biography. Raised on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation, Marshall recalls hearing his grandfather share stories of battles fought 75 years earlier against "Long Hair," the Lakota name for Gen. George Custer, vanquished at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Marshall reveals Crazy Horse as loyal son, spurned lover, instinctive warrior, doting father, compassionate hunter and natural leader. (336 pages)
Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich (discussed at the September 28 meeting, books & audio available on August 31)
Stephanie Plum, the Jersey bond enforcement agent, who already has two guys in her life, reconnects with Diesel, a third heartthrob. Diesel offers Stephanie a deal: if he lets her find Annie Hart, a relationship coach who's become a big-ticket bond on Stephanie's Most Wanted List, then Stephanie can do Annie a big favor by playing Cupid for a number of Annie's lovelorn clients, including a shy butcher, a desperate vet, an overworked single mom, a 30-something virgin and the marriage-phobic fellow who just happens to be Stephanie's pregnant sister's boyfriend. (176 pages)
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (discussed at the October 26 meeting, books & audio available on September 28)
"Uproariously funny" is an unlikely description for a book on cadavers. However, Roach has done the nearly impossible and written a book as informative and respectful as it is irreverent and witty. Roach delves into the many productive uses to which cadavers have been put, from medical experimentation to applications in transportation safety research. Even Roach's digressions and footnotes are captivating, helping to make the book impossible to put down. (304 pages)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (discussed at the November 30 meeting, books & audio available on October 26)
The story of Ebenezer Scrooge opens on a Christmas Eve as cold as Scrooge's own heart. That night, he receives three ghostly visitors: the terrifying spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Each takes him on a heart-stopping journey, yielding glimpses of Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchit, the horrifying specters of Want and Ignorance, even Scrooge's painfully hopeful younger self. Will Scrooge's heart be opened? Can he reverse the miserable future he is forced to see? Now in an unabridged edition gloriously illustrated by the award-winning P.J. Lynch, this story's message of love and goodwill, mercy and self-redemption resonates as keenly as ever. (158 pages)
