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The
Smyrna Reading Group
The
Smyrna Reading Group
Meets
The First Tuesday* of Every Month
2nd
Floor Conference Room - 7:00 PM
*
Unless otherwise noted
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Tuesday,
January 2, 2024 Virtual Discussion
The
Bandit Queens
by Parini Shroff
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Instructions
Five
years ago, Geeta lost her no-good husband. As in, she actually
lost himhe walked out on her and she has no idea where
he is. But in her remote village in India, rumor has it that
Geeta killed him. And its a rumor that just wont
die.
It turns
out that being known as a self-made widow comes
with some perks. No one messes with her, harasses her, or
tries to control (ahem, marry) her. Its even been good
for business; no one dares to not buy her jewelry.
Freedom
must look good on Geeta, because now other women are asking
for herexpertise, making her an unwitting consultant
for husband disposal.
And not
all of them are asking nicely.
With Geetas
dangerous reputation becoming a double-edged sword, she has
to find a way to protect the life shes builtbut
even the best-laid plans of would-be widows tend to go awry.
What happens next sets in motion a chain of events that will
change everything, not just for Geeta, but for all the women
in their village.
Filled
with clever criminals, second chances, and wry and witty women,
Parini Shroffs The Bandit Queens is a razor-sharp debut
of humor and heart that readers wont soon forget.
SOURCE:
Copyright © Amazon.com. All rights reserved.
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Tuesday,
February 6, 2024 Virtual Discussion
The
Book of Form and Emptiness
by Ruth Ozeki
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Instructions
One
year after the death of his beloved musician father, thirteen-year-old
Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things
in his housea sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament,
a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understand
what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional
tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are
snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother, Annabelle,
develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous.
At first,
Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices follow him
outside the house, onto the street and at school, driving
him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public
library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak
in whispers. There, Benny discovers a strange new world. He
falls in love with a mesmerizing street artist with a smug
pet ferret, who uses the library as her performance space.
He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to
ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the
many.
And he
meets his very own Booka talking thingwho narrates
Bennys life and teaches him to listen to the things
that truly matter.
With its
blend of sympathetic characters, riveting plot, and vibrant
engagement with everything from jazz, to climate change, to
our attachment to material possessions, The Book of Form and
Emptiness is classic Ruth Ozekibold, wise, poignant,
playful, humane and heartbreaking.
SOURCE:
Copyright ©2021 Ruth Ozeki. © Amazon.com. All rights
reserved.
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Tuesday,
March 5, 2024 Virtual Discussion
Kindred
by Octavia Butler
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Instructions
The
first science-fiction written by a Black woman, Kindred has
become a cornerstone of African-American literature. This
combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction
is a novel of rich literary complexity.
Having
just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana,
an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched
through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning
White boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel
of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in
time to save her life.
During
numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man,
she realizes the challenge she's been given: to protect this
young slaveholder until he can father her own great-grandmother.
Author
Octavia E. Butler skilfully juxtaposes the serious issues
of slavery, human rights, and racial prejudice with an exciting
science-fiction, romance, and historical adventure. Kim Staunton's
narrative talent magically transforms the listener's earphones
into an audio time machine.
SOURCE:
Copyright ©2000 Octavia Butler © Amazon.com. All
rights reserved.
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Tuesday,
April 2, 2024 Virtual Discussion
Better
Luck Next Time
by Julia Claiborne Johnson
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Instructions
Its
1938 and women seeking a quick, no-questions split from their
husbands head to the divorce capital of the world,
Reno, Nevada. Theres one catch: they have to wait six-weeks
to become residents. Many of these wealthy, soon-to-be
divorcees flock to the Flying Leap, a dude ranch that caters
to their every need.
Twenty-four-year-old
Ward spent one year at Yale before his family lost everything
in the Great Depression; now hes earning an honest living
as a ranch hand at the Flying Leap. Admired for his dashing
good looksCary Grant in cowboy bootsWard
thinks hes got the Flying Leaps clients all figured
out. But two new guests are about to upend everything he thinks
he knows: Nina, a St Louis heiress and amateur pilot back
for her third divorce, and Emily, whose bravest moment in
life was leaving her cheating husband back in San Francisco
and driving herself to Reno.
A novel
about divorce, marriage, and everything that comes in between
(money, class, ambition, and opportunity), Better Luck Next
Time is a hilarious yet poignant examination of the ways friendship
can save us, love can destroy us, and the family we create
can be stronger than the family we come from.
SOURCE:
Copyright © Amazon.com. All rights reserved
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Tuesday,
May 7, 2024 Virtual Discussion
Mrs.
Dalloway
by Virginia Woolf
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Instructions
"Mrs.
Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." It's
one of the most famous opening lines in literature, that of
Virginia Woolf's beloved masterpiece of time, memory, and
the city. In the wake of World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic,
Clarissa Dalloway, elegant and vivacious, is preparing for
a party and remembering those she once loved. In another part
of London, Septimus Smith is suffering from shell-shock and
on the brink of madness. Their days interweave and their lives
converge as the party reaches its glittering climax. In a
novel in which she perfects the interior monologue and recapitulates
the life cycle in the hours of the day, from first light to
the dark of night, Woolf achieves an uncanny simulacrum of
consciousness, bringing past, present, and future together,
and recording, impression by impression, minute by minute,
the feel of life itself.
This edition
is collated from all known proofs, manuscripts, and impressions
to reflect the author's intentions, and includes a catalog
of emendations, an illuminating introduction and endnotes
by the distinguished feminist critic Elaine Showalter, and
a map of Mrs. Dalloway's London.
For more
than seventy-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher
of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With
more than 2,000 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global
bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across
genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide
authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by
distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as
up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
SOURCE:
Copyright © Penguin. All rights reserved
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Tuesday,
June 4, 2024 Virtual Discussion
Book
Selection To Be Announced
by To Be Announced
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Instructions
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Tuesday,
July 2, 2024 Virtual Discussion
Book
Selection To Be Announced
by To Be Announced
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Instructions
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Tuesday,
August 6, 2024 Virtual Discussion
Book
Selection To Be Announced
by To Be Announced
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Instructions
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Tuesday,
September 3, 2024 Virtual Discussion
Book
Selection To Be Announced
by To Be Announced
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Instructions
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Tuesday,
October 1, 2024 Virtual Discussion
Book
Selection To Be Announced
by To Be Announced
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Instructions
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Tuesday,
November 5, 2024 Virtual Discussion
Book
Selection To Be Announced
by To Be Announced
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Instructions
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Tuesday,
December 3, 2024 Virtual Discussion
Book
Selection To Be Announced
by To Be Announced
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Instructions
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