Alumni & Friends Virtual Book Club

“No Ordinary Time” by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Tuesdays, September 17, 24 and October 1, 8, 15
5-6:30 p.m. Central Time

Registration is full.

The book club’s first book for the 2024-2025 year is “No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II,” by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, it is a unique look at the Home Front in World War II, focusing on the relationship between Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. It will be discussed over five sessions, on September 17, 24 and October 1, 8 and 15. We hope you will enjoy this jump back to “No Ordinary Time.”

“Norwegian by Night” by Derek B. Miller

Tuesdays, November 12, 19, 26
5-6:30 p.m. Central Time

Registration is full.

“Sheldon Horowitz—widowed, impatient, impertinent—has grudgingly agreed to leave New York and move in with his granddaughter, Rhea, and her new husband, Lars, in Norway—a country of blue skies and ice with one thousand Jews, not one of them a former Marine sniper in the Korean War turned watch repairman. Not until now, anyway. Home alone one morning, Sheldon witnesses a dispute between the woman who lives upstairs and an aggressive stranger. When events turn dire, Sheldon seizes and shields the neighbor’s young son from the violence, and they flee the scene. As Sheldon and the boy look for a safe haven in an alien world, past and present weave together, forcing them ever forward to a wrenching moment of truth.” – Summary from Amazon

“Demon Copperfield” by Barbara Kingsolver

Tuesdays, January 21, 28 and February 4, 11
5-6:30 p.m. Central Time

We will be discussing Barbara Kingsolver’s, Pulitzer Prize winning book, “Demon Copperhead,” in January and February 2025. The book is an updated version of Dicken’s “David Copperfield,“ set in rural Appalachia and covering the themes of socioeconomic inequality, addiction, loyalty and hope.

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“James” by Percival Everett

Tuesdays March 18, 25, April 1, 8
5-6:30 p.m. Central Time

The Book Club’s last book for the 2024-2025 year is “James,” an entirely new take on Twain’s classic “Huckleberry Finn,” told from the perspective of Jim, the runaway slave who has served as Huck’s literary sidekick for almost 135 years. Now, Jim gets to tell his story as a man running to freedom while trying to save his family. It is compelling and timeless. “James” will be discussed over four sessions, on March 18, 25, and April 1 and 8.

Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner

As the Twig Is Bent: A Memoir by Wallace B. Grange

China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston

Circe by Madeline Miller

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Growing Up Decorah: A Short Story by Peter Ylvisaker

Heritage of Darkness by Kathleen Ernst

How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi

Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Norwegian By Night by Derek B. Miller

The Overstory: a Novel by Richard Powers

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

Purple Hibiscus: A Novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Shotgun Lovesongs: A Novel by Nickolas Butler

State of Wonder: A Novel by Ann Patchett

Thank you to the Virtual Book Club Committee Suzanne (Knoll) Hales ’65, Jackie (Boe) Karras ’76, Alan Lerstrom, Michele Minske ’84, John Reha ’77, Ellen (Hanusa) Wilke ’84, and Steve Wilke ’84 for helping to revive, plan, and host this popular activity.