Book Club selections for 2008-2009

Last night our book club (now in its 26th year) met to discuss "Inside the Kingdom; my life in Saudi Arabia" by Carmen bin Ladin (Warner Books, 2004). Several of our members have been missionaries or have traveled extensively, so we had an interesting fashion show and delicious treats to reflect the theme.

We voted to start our meetings at 7 p.m. to get us home a little earlier (a quarter of a century ago most members were still putting children to bed), and at least for January and February, 2009, the meeting will be in a church lounge just to see if we like that, and if it will help in finding locations in the dark and snow! Changing the day of the month and from evening to afternoon didn't fly. All meetings are the first Monday, except September and January, when they are second Monday.

We also selected our titles for 2008-2009. A very strong field of 15 titles was voted on and the winners are:

September: Faith Club--3 women talk about their faith, what they learn about themselves and each other, non-fiction

October: The shack by William P. Young. This is an allegory, and we were warned that this book is so good, "You will read this, even if you don't read it now."

November: The Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi. A Sudanese woman, formerly an emigre to the Netherlands, now living in the U.S. "A good follow-up on lives of Muslim women to the bin Ladin book," said a member.

December: Once upon a town by Bob Green. A story about the little town of North Platte, Nebraska, that fed 6 million GIs during WWII. Easy to read for a busy month.

January: Educating Alice by Alice Steinbach. Reporter for Baltimore Sun talks about what she learns on assignments. Travel and diary.

February: Blood of the Prodigal by P. Gaus. Our mystery genre reader recommends a mystery about the old order Amish by an Ohio author. She said it isn't the strongest in the series, but it's the first and that's a good place to start.

March: Shaping of a life by Phyllis Tickle. Devotional material especially for women--growth and transformation. Some heard her at the Faith writers conference.

April: Two old women by Velma Wallis. Story of two Alaskan Athabascan women left behind so the rest of the tribe could survive. But they don't die. . .

May: Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. This will be our "classic" for the year--or a 2-fer, because some times we read a children's book. Two members actually recommended this. May is the meeting where we will select the next year's titles, and we'll meet at my place with Marcy being co-hostess. I'll add the other locations when I update.

We also had some terrific titles recommended that didn't make the cut, but I'll add them so you know your colleagues have found them enjoyable.

Three cups of tea, non-fiction; King Leopold's ghost, history; Gilead, contemplative; 90 minutes to heaven, autobiography; To kill a mockingbird, classic; Autobiography of Henry VIII, really fat novel.