“We purchase eight to ten copies of the book at Amazon.com and charge $3 a read. Our treasurer, Jean Rothermel, collects the money and passes on the list of members who are entitled to read the book to Renee Schiffrin. Renee distributes the books to those on the list.”

Members have about two weeks to read the book and then return it to Renee, who gives it to the next person on the list. Once everyone has read the title, the copies are sold for $2. “We use the money to buy more books,” says Joan.

Library Liaison
The club also has a liaison program with the Pequannock Library for those who wish to borrow the book. “Our representative here, Merrilea Trawin, takes their names and calls the library to tell them how many people will be coming for the book,” says Joan.

“They round up copies from the neighboring libraries and call  Merrilea when the books are ready.

A Good Variety
By the time the meeting occurs, everyone will have read the selected book. The person who chose it reviews it, “and then we talk about it, either asking questions or giving our opinions,” says Carolyn, who also handles club announcements and meeting reminders.

“The meetings run for about an hour and a quarter, “Most of that time is spent on the book,” says Carolyn. One of the advantages of having members select the book is that it makes for a good variety of works that are recent and not so recent, well-known and not so wellknown.

“I did the July review, and I decided to do Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison,” says Carolyn. “It was published in 1970. We hadn’t read any books by African-American authors, and so I thought that would be a good one to do.” Other books discussed by the club include Bel Canto by Ann Patchett; A Gesture Life by Korean-American author Chang-Rae Lee; The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd; and The Kite Runner by Afghan émigré Khaled Hosseini. “The discussions have been very good,” says Carolyn.

Any Bitter Thing by Monica Wood First published: 2005 While drifting in and out of consciousness after a nearly fatal accident, 30-year-old Lizzy Mitchell sees her beloved deceased uncle, Father Mike, the priest who raised her from the age of two until she was abruptly sent away from him at nine. Was her vision real? Discovering what is real and true about the accusations against Father Mike, about her accident, about her past and troubled present becomes Lizzy’s quest in this novel of revelation and reconciliation. “Wood illuminates the grace in the average and the everyday, the miracles that lie within the ordinary life. . . . [An] intimate exploration of love and faith, betrayal and penance.” —Amy Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle “[An] exquisite, soul-satisfying novel of hearts broken seemingly beyond repair and healed in the utter unlikeliness of grace.” –Tim Farrington, author of The Monk Downstairs

My House in Umbria by William Trevor   First Published: 1991 “ Mrs.” Emily Delahunty is a former madam who writes romance novels while running a guesthouse in the Italian countryside. During a trip to Milan, a train in which she is riding is bombed by terrorists. Hospitalized for minor injuries, she meets other victims whom she takes back to her villa: a young German who lost his fiancé in the attack; an elderly English widower who lost his daughter and son-in-law; and an orphaned 8-year-old American girl whose relatives are being located. During their visit and that of the uncle who comes for his niece, Mrs. Delahunty imagines the details of their lives—perhaps demonstrating how easily fictions can fill voids in our understanding.  “...reminds you of what good reading is all about.” —Ann Tyler, Chicago Sun-Times “Mr. Trevor again investigates—wryly, often bleakly and yet with great compassion—the endless complexities inherent in the simple condition of being human.” —Alida Becker, The New York Times

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison First published: 1977 The son of a materialistic African-American businessman bent on rejecting his black Southern roots, Macon “Milkman” Dead grows up in Michigan estranged from his family, his community, and his heritage. But thanks in large part to his enigmatic aunt—and a quest for her supposedly hidden gold—Milkman embarks on a journey that will lead him to the true treasures of his family. Hearkening back to the African American folk tale of slaves who can escape by flying to Africa, Song of Solomon is a story of cultural and spiritual liberation, from a Nobel Prize-winning author. “Song of Solomon long ago ascended to the top shelf in the ranks of great literature.” —Amazon.com “Morrison's prose is a delight, full of the lyrical variety and allusiveness that distinguish a rich folkloric tradition.” —Atlantic Monthly

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett First published:  2001 In the vice presidential mansion of an unnamed South American country, a Japanese industrialist is feted for his birthday as part of a campaign to induce him to build a factory there. In attendance are government officials and foreign diplomats—but not the country’s president, who has stayed home to watch a soap opera. Also attending is Roxanne Coss, a famed American operatic soprano whose special performance is interrupted by 18 invading revolutionaries, intent on capturing the absent president. A hostage situation develops, and as it drags on for months, so too do the tense and surprising relationships among the guests and their captors.     “Patchett's tragicomic novel—a fantasia of guns and Puccini and Red Cross negotiations—invokes the glorious, unreliable promises of art, politics, and love." —The New Yorker “Bel Canto invites readers to explore new and unfamiliar territory, to take some emotional risks rather than stand with Rolland among those ‘already saved.’” —Chicago Tribune

A Gesture Life by Chang-Rae Lee First published: 1999 Franklin "Doc" Hata, a Japanese immigrant of Korean descent, always longed to “pass through with something more than a life of gestures,” a yearning he had stifled in his bid to fit in with the wealthy New York suburb where he resided. Now, as this retired businessman confronts the emptiness of his house, his life, and his failed relationships (especially with Sunny, his estranged adopted daughter), his thoughts return to his days as a young medic in the Japanese Imperial Army and his long-ago love for the Korean “comfort woman” he cared for in an army camp in Burma. “[Chang-Rae Lee] has written a wise and humane novel.... a wonderfully resonant portrait of a man caught between two cultures and two lives.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “...[a] moving and politically charged novel.... Lee is an original. His novel plays with the conventions of a ghost story and glides to its conclusion with a flourish.” —Leslie Brody, The Los Angeles Times Book Review