The following books have been selected for discussion in 2024:
January (1-25-24): Apeirogon, Column McCann (ZOOM Book Club meeting)
Based on the friendship between Rami Elhanan, an Israeli, and Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian, who both lost daughters in the conflict, who come together over a shared desire to spread a message of education, understanding, and the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Fiction, 463 pages.
February (2-22-24): Africa Is Not a Country, Dipo Faloyin (ZOOM Book Club meeting)
Too often, Africa is seen monolithically, without regard to the distinctive cultures of its different countries, and as characterized primarily by poverty, political strife, and swishy safaris. Faloyin aims to explode these stereotypes as he tracks contemporary cultural and political movements in various countries. Nonfiction, 380 pages.
March (3-27-24): The Weight of a Piano, Chris Cander (ZOOM Book Club meeting on Wednesday evening this month)
As a girl in the Soviet Union in 1962, Katya admires her neighbor’s Bluethner piano; he leaves it to her after his death. In California in 2012, her daughter Clara impulsively puts the piano for sale on Craigslist. The response she receives may shed light on her family history, and on the cursed history of that piano. Fiction, 323 pages.
April (4-25-24): Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, Ben Goldfarb
Environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong. Eager is a powerful story about how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction, and the ravages of climate change. Nonfiction, 304 pages.
May (5-23-24): Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus (Minneapolis Institute of Art Book Tour)
Chemist Elizabeth Zott’s 1960s all-male team takes a very unscientific view of equality. A few years later she finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show, where she doesn’t just teach women to cook, she dares them to change the status quo. Fiction, 390 pages.
June (6-27-24): When Stars Are Scattered, Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
Omar and Hassan have only each other to rely on: they have been separated from their mother and fled war-torn Somalia to live in a drab Kenyan refugee camp. As the older brother, Omar feels it is his duty to do everything he can to take care of Hassan. But does that duty extend to leaving the camp to attend school? Young adult nonfiction graphic novel, 246 pages.
July (7-25-24): The Secret Life of Sunflowers, Marta Molnar
A novel based on the true story of Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law, who inherited his paintings and introduced his legacy to the world. When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds Johanna’s diary the story may provide inspiration for her own life. Fiction, 356 pages.
August (8-24-24): Blessed Contradictions: How the Bible Contradicts and Completes Itself, Michael Anderson
From the back cover: “The Bible is written by many authors who often have different points of view,” e.g. Deuteronomy vs. Job, Ezra vs. Ruth, Mark’s Theology of the Cross vs. John’s Theology of Glory. “Instead of seeing these differences as inconsistencies or weaknesses, Blessed Contradictions considers them as strengths—ways to see God, theology, ethics, and theodicy from alternative angles.” Nonfiction, 115 pages.
September (9-26-24): One Night Two Souls Went Walking, Ellen Cooney
A young chaplain at a large medical center fears her “soul is broken,” though she hasn’t subscribed to any formal religion in year—she’s far too busy tending to the souls of her patients to do anything about her own. But strange things happen over the course of a single night shift. Fiction, 202 pages.
October (10-24-24): Moonrise Over New Jessup, Jamila Minnicks
It’s 1957, Alice Young steps off the bus into all-Black New Jessup, where residents have largely rejected integration as the means for Black social advancement. Instead, they seek to maintain, and fortify, the community they cherish on their “side of the woods.” Fiction, 202 pages.
November: This month will be skipped.
December (12-5-24): Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal’d, Mary Losure (choose books for 2025)
Before Isaac Newton became the father of physics, he was a boy living in an apothecary’s house, observing and experimenting (including with alchemy), recording his observations of the world in a tiny notebook. Middle School Nonfiction, 176 pages.
The NHLC Book Club meets monthly on the fourth Thursday at 7:00 pm in the church Courtyard, unless otherwise noted above. In warmer months, the group may meet outside in members’ backyards. Everyone is invited to read the books and join the discussion!
