Book Night: 7 PM in the Gathering Place ~ light refreshments
February 10: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel—an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home. Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother’s death in childbirth and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him. An unforgettable journey into one man’s remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others. facilitator: Janice Osgood
March 2: Denial of the Soul by Scott Peck (and other Scott Peck books)
“In this 1997 book, the author of the bestselling _The Road Not Taken_ addresses the issues of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Though always thoughtful and sensitive, and sometimes a little crusty (he tells people who bug him about his dependence on alcohol and tobacco, “Sometimes it is better to walk with crutches than not to walk at all”), Peck’s argument appears to come down to: growing and learning often involve suffering, and to cut short suffering is to “short-circuit God.” But what if God allows, even wants, us to face death on our own terms, as well? facilitator: Phil Hastings
April 6: The Three Legged Woman by Robert Klose and Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
The Three Legged Woman : Klose’s nontraditional students have included, in addition to single parents and veterans, the homeless, the abused, ex-cons, and even a murderer (who was otherwise “a very nice person”). Chronicling his experiences teaching these diverse students, Klose describes with equal doses of care and wry wit those who are profoundly unfit for college, their often inadequate command of the lingua franca, and the alacrity with which they seize upon the paranormal (the three-legged woman) while expressing skepticism about mainstream science. He reflects on the decline of reading for enjoyment and the folly of regarding email as a praiseworthy substitute for expository writing. He details what works in the classroom, identifies what has failed, and relates stories of the absurd, the sublime, and the unanticipated, such as one student’s outburst following a discussion of evolution: “For what you have taught today you shall be damned to everlasting fires of hell!”
Half the Sky: “If you have always wondered whether you can change the world, read this book. Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn have written a brilliant call to arms that describes one of the transcendent injustices in the world today—the brutal treatment of women. They take you to many countries, introduce you to extraordinary women, and tell you their moving tales. Throughout, the tone is practical not preachy and the book’s suggestions as to how you can make a difference are simple, sensible, and yet powerful. The authors vividly describe a terrible reality about the world we live in but they also provide light and hope that we can, in fact, change it.”
—Fareed Zakaria, author, The Post-American World
facilitators: Fred Irons and Betty Carr
May 4: The Blessings of Imperfection by G. Peter Fleck
Blessings of Imperfection: Reflections on the Mystery of Everyday Life by G. Peter Fleck
Discusses the evidence of the presence of God in daily life and examines the nature of miracles. facilitator: Rev. Lorna Grenfell. Come with suggestions for next year’s books.