2019
April
Villages
John Updike’s twenty-first novel, a bildungsroman, follows its hero, Owen Mackenzie, from his birth in the semi-rural Pennsylvania town of Willow to his retirement in the rather geriatric community of Haskells Crossing, Massachusetts. In between these two settlements comes Middle Falls, Connecticut, where Owen, an early computer programme... >>
The Constant Gardener
The Constant Gardener is a magnificent exploration of the new world order by one of the most compelling and elegant storytellers of our time. The novel opens in northern Kenya with the gruesome murder of Tessa Quayle--young, beautiful,... >>
The Fat Black Woman's Poems
Grace Nichols gives us images that stare us straight in the eye, images of joy, challenge, accusation. Her 'fat black woman' is brash; rejoices in .. >>
The Light in the Dark; A Winter Journal
As November stubs out the glow of autumn and the days tighten into shorter hours, winter’s occupation begins. Preparing for winter has its own rhythms, as old as our exchanges with the land. Of all the seasons, it draws us together. But winter can be tough. .. >>
We read Le jeune Picasso: Périodes bleue et rose published by Fondation Beyeler and also previewed the Divonne Book Club website: divonnebookclub.com
March
Pnin
One of the best-loved of Nabokov’s novels, Pnin features his funniest and most heart-rending character. Professor Timofey Pnin is a haplessly disoriented Russian émigré precariously employed on an American college campus in the 1950's. Pnin struggles to maintain his dignity through a series of comic and sad misunderstandings,... >>
Gossip from the Forest; A Search for the Hidden Roots of our Fairytales
Fairy tales are one of our earliest cultural forms, and forests one of our most ancient landscapes. Both evoke similar sensations: At times they are beautiful and magical, at others spooky and sometimes horrifying. Maitland argues that the terrain of these fairy tales are intimately connected to the mysterious secrets and silences, gifts and perils. .... >>
Video Clip
Why Sitting is Bad for You" by Murat Dalkilinç
Also We had Discussion of "Death is just Fictional" by Sadhuguru on you tube
Family Matters
Mistry’s enthralling novel is at once a domestic drama and an intently observed portrait of present-day Bombay in all its vitality and corruption. At the age of seventy-nine, Nariman Vakeel, already suffering from Parkinson’s disease, breaks an ankle and finds himself wholly dependent on his family. His step-children, Coomy and Jal, have a spacious apartment (in the inaptly named Chateau Felicity), but are too ...>>
February
Il Tennis Come Esperienza Religioso
Read a book in French. For the 2006 Wimbledon edition, the "New York Times" sends an exceptional correspondent to England, David Foster Wallace.... >>
The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising
Spark Joy is an in-depth, line illustrated, room-by-room guide to decluttering and organising your home. It covers every room .... >>
Video Clip
A Cannabis Conversation - Spoken by Terence McKenna
January
America for Beginners
Leah Franqui
Bristling with intelligence and shimmering with romance, this novel tests the boundary between history and myth... >>
City of Secrets
Patrice Chaplin
Patrice Chaplin began going to Girona, Spain, at age 15, and with each visit she became more enmeshed in its mysteries. She found a lover... >>
An Orchestra of Minorities
Chigozie Obioma
A heart-breaking and mythic story about a Nigerian poultry farmer who sacrifices everything to win the woman he loves,... >>
Video Clip
Why should you read A Midsummer Night's Dream?" by Iseult Gillespie
Kintu
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Uganda’s history reimagined through the cursed bloodline of the Kintu clan in an award-winning debut. In 1750, Kintu Kidda unleashesn 1750, Kintu Kidda unleashes.. >>