[NFBV-Potomac-Announce] Book Club Books for the Remainder of 2022-2023

[John Halverson]

Hello,

Below ant attached are the books for the remainder of 2022-2023 for our book club.

We did not plan this, but the December, January and February books are discussed by members not at last week's selection meeting. At least these books have questions. Let me know if you wish to change your month.

John




December 2022: Rachel
Fifty words for rain DB 100587
Lemmie, Asha. Reading time 13 hours, 15 minutes.
Read by Sarah Skaer. A production of National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress.
Subjects: Historical Fiction

Description: Kyoto, 1948. Eight-year-old Nori--the daughter of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African-American GI lover--is abandoned at her grandparents' estate. When she meets her older half-brother Akira, she finds in him an unexpected ally, and must battle for her place in the world as she grows up. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
There are questions


January 2023: Diana
A man called Ove: a novel DB 84392
Backman, Fredrik. Reading time 9 hours, 7 minutes.
Read by David Hartley-Margolin. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Subjects: Unified English Braille; General

Description: Ove has always been a grumpy man, and when he loses his wife and his job, he decides to commit suicide. But a lively family of new neighbors and a stray cat might give Ove a reason to keep living. First published in Swedish in 2012. 2013. Some strong language and some violence.
Diana found questions.


February 2023: Leroy
The Spy and the Traitor.
By: Ben MacIntyre. Narrated by: Ben Macintyre.
Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins.
2018
nonfiction

on a warm July evening in 1985, a middle-aged man stood on the pavement of a busy avenue in the heart of Moscow, holding a plastic carrier bag. In his grey suit and tie, he looked like any other Soviet citizen. The bag alone was mildly conspicuous, printed with the red logo of Safeway, the British supermarket.

from deep within the Soviet intelligence machine. No spy had done more to damage the KGB. The Safeway bag was a signal: to activate his escape plan to be smuggled out of Soviet Russia. So began one of the boldest and most extraordinary episodes in the history of spying. Ben Macintyre reveals a tale of espionage, betrayal and raw courage that changed the course of the Cold War forever..
discussion questions are available.


March 2023: Patty
The Vanishing half
         By: Brit Bennett
Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
             2020
             fiction
             The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, Southern black community and running away at age 16, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities.
Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same Southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' story lines intersect?
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires and expectations and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.
Need questions.


April 2023: Nancy
The personal librarian DB103929
Benedict, Marie; Murray, Victoria Christopher Reading time: 12 hours, 25 minutes.
Robin Miles

Historical Fiction

In 1906, Belle da Costa Greene was hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society, but she is African American passing as white. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

Could not quickly find questions.


May 2023: John
Answer Creek DB100020
Sweeney, Ashley E Reading time: 11 hours, 54 minutes.
Jessica Wortham

Historical Fiction

1846. Ada loses her parents to the dangers of traveling west to California. She decides to continue on with the Donner party. But misfortune follows the group, and Ada faces hard choices about what she needs to do to survive. Violence and strong language. 2020.

Can not find good book club questions


June 2023: sandy
4 Eyes to the wind: a memoir of love and death, hope and resistance DB106562
Barkan, Ady Reading time: 9 hours, 46 minutes.
Bradley Whitford

Biography
Health and Medicine
Social Sciences

In this memoir, the author reflects on receiving a fatal diagnosis of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Ady explores his determination to make the most of his remaining time, live a life of purpose, and commit himself as an advocate for social justice. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Could not quickly find questions.
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December 2022: Rachel 
Fifty words for rain DB 100587
Lemmie, Asha. Reading time 13 hours, 15 minutes. 
Read by Sarah Skaer. A production of National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, Library of Congress. 
Subjects: Historical Fiction

Description: Kyoto, 1948. Eight-year-old Nori--the daughter of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African-American GI lover--is abandoned at her grandparents' estate. When she meets her older half-brother Akira, she finds in him an unexpected ally, and must battle for her place in the world as she grows up. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.
There are questions


January 2023: Diana
A man called Ove: a novel DB 84392
Backman, Fredrik. Reading time 9 hours, 7 minutes. 
Read by David Hartley-Margolin. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress. 

Subjects: Unified English Braille; General

Description: Ove has always been a grumpy man, and when he loses his wife and his job, he decides to commit suicide. But a lively family of new neighbors and a stray cat might give Ove a reason to keep living. First published in Swedish in 2012. 2013. Some strong language and some violence.
Diana found questions.


February 2023: Leroy
The Spy and the Traitor. 
By: Ben MacIntyre. Narrated by: Ben Macintyre. 
Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins. 
2018
nonfiction

on a warm July evening in 1985, a middle-aged man stood on the pavement of a busy avenue in the heart of Moscow, holding a plastic carrier bag. In his grey suit and tie, he looked like any other Soviet citizen. The bag alone was mildly conspicuous, printed with the red logo of Safeway, the British supermarket.

from deep within the Soviet intelligence machine. No spy had done more to damage the KGB. The Safeway bag was a signal: to activate his escape plan to be smuggled out of Soviet Russia. So began one of the boldest and most extraordinary episodes in the history of spying. Ben Macintyre reveals a tale of espionage, betrayal and raw courage that changed the course of the Cold War forever..
discussion questions are available.


March 2023: Patty
The Vanishing half
         By: Brit Bennett
 Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
             2020
             fiction
             The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, Southern black community and running away at age 16, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. 
Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same Southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' story lines intersect?
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires and expectations and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.
Need questions.


April 2023: Nancy
The personal librarian DB103929
Benedict, Marie; Murray, Victoria Christopher Reading time: 12 hours, 25 minutes.
Robin Miles

Historical Fiction

In 1906, Belle da Costa Greene was hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society, but she is African American passing as white. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.

Could not quickly find questions.


May 2023: John
Answer Creek DB100020
Sweeney, Ashley E Reading time: 11 hours, 54 minutes.
Jessica Wortham

Historical Fiction

1846. Ada loses her parents to the dangers of traveling west to California. She decides to continue on with the Donner party. But misfortune follows the group, and Ada faces hard choices about what she needs to do to survive. Violence and strong language. 2020. 

Can not find good book club questions


June 2023: sandy
4 Eyes to the wind: a memoir of love and death, hope and resistance DB106562
Barkan, Ady Reading time: 9 hours, 46 minutes.
Bradley Whitford

Biography
Health and Medicine
Social Sciences

In this memoir, the author reflects on receiving a fatal diagnosis of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Ady explores his determination to make the most of his remaining time, live a life of purpose, and commit himself as an advocate for social justice. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

Could not quickly find questions.