This daytime group meets on the third Friday of most months from 1-2:30 p.m. at the Reynolds Branch Library, 3595 Table Mesa Drive. New members are always welcome!

January 20, 2017

Ardennes 1944—Antony Beevor

On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched his ‘last gamble’ in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes in Belgium, believing he could split the Allies by driving all the way to Antwerp and forcing the Canadians and the British out of the war. Although his generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. Many were exultant at the prospect of striking back.

February 17, 2017

Riddle of the Sands—Erskine Childers

Regarded as one of the best spy stories ever written, this is the classic Secret Service novel. More like fact than fiction, it holds a special place in the affections of spy-novel fans for its richness of technical detail about inshore sailing, its highly sympathetic characters, an unsurpassed narrative style, and a setting and plot that recapture the European political scene on the eve of World War I.

March 17, 2017 

The Sellout—Paul Beatty

A biting satire about a young man's isolated upbringing and the race trial that sends him to the Supreme Court, Paul Beatty's The Sellout showcases a comic genius at the top of his game. It challenges the sacred tenets of the United States Constitution, urban life, the civil rights movement, the father-son relationship, and the holy grail of racial equality—the black Chinese restaurant.

April 21, 2017 

The Garden of the Evening Mists—Tan Twan Eng

Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice “until the monsoon comes.” Then she can design a garden for herself.

 May 19, 2017

Blood Meridian—Cormac McCarthy

Blood Meridian is widely recognized as the masterpiece of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Cormac McCarthy. It is an historical epic, a compelling reinterpretation of the Western, and one of the great American novels of the twentieth century. It tells the story of a teenage runaway known only as 'the kid', who falls in with a group of notorious outlaws: the Glanton Gang. Violent, direct and extraordinarily powerful, the novel traces the destiny of 'the kid' as he falls further and further from grace, and into the clutches of the mysterious and demonic Judge Holden.