Many tutor-learner teams use the monthly book club selections as part of their regular lesson plans, and since books are provided FREE to both tutors and learners, you know the materials will always be available. Also, most of the fiction selections come with comprehension questions which can be used in your sessions. All we ask is that the learner (and tutor, if possible) attend the book discussion on the last Wednesday of each month at 6:00 PM.
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The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein: (Books and audio available on June 28, discussed at July 25 meeting)
If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, this novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift. Enzo, frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, coins aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man. (320 pages)
O’ Pioneers! by Willa Cather: (Books and audio available on July 26, discussed at August 29 meeting)
O Pioneers! (1913) was Willa Cather's first great novel, and to many it remains her unchallenged masterpiece. No other work of fiction so faithfully conveys both the sharp physical realities and the mythic sweep of the transformation of the American frontier -- and the transformation of the people who settled it. (188 pages)
A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller: (Books and audio available on August 30, discussed at September 26 meeting)
Set on the gritty Brooklyn waterfront, A View from the Bridge follows the cataclysmic downfall of Eddie Carbone, who spends his days as a hardworking longshoreman and his nights at home with his wife, Beatrice, and niece, Catherine. But the routine of his life is interrupted when Beatrice's cousins, illegal immigrants from Italy, arrive in New York.
Animal Farm by George Orwell: (Books and audio available on September 27, discussed at October 24 meeting--one week earlier than usual due to Halloween)
First published in 1946, this is George Orwell's fable of a workers' revolution gone wrong. Fueled by Orwell's intense disillusionment with Soviet Communism, Animal Farm is a nearly perfect piece of writing, both an engaging story and an allegory that actually works. When the downtrodden beasts of Manor Farm oust their drunken human master and take over management of the land, all are awash in collectivist zeal. Everyone willingly works overtime, productivity soars, and for one brief, glorious season, every belly is full. Too soon, however, the pigs, who have styled themselves leaders by virtue of their intelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power. (113 pages)
A Separate Peace by John Knowles: (Books and audio available on October 25, discussed at November 28 meeting)
The volatile world of male adolescence provides the backdrop for John Knowles' engrossing tale of love, hate, war, and peace. Sharing a room at Devon, an exclusive New England prep school, in the summer prior to World War II, Gene and Phineas form a complex bond of friendship that draws out both the best and worst characteristics of each boy. (204 pages)
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman: (Books available on November 29, discussed at January 30, 2013 meeting--book club does not meet in December)
Leaves of Grass reveals Whitman's passion for nearly every aspect of life, from amazement of great ships to the enchantment cast by the beauty of a sunset. Whitman creates a vivid imagery throughout the poetry that gives the reader a sense of life as a whole. (681 pages, but we have two months to read it!)
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