The Pinot & Prose book club has decided to announce its selections for multiple months so that our regular readers and others who may wish to join us will have more advanced notice of what we have selected to read. Each of these books has been read by one or more members of the book club who have highly recommended it for our group.
Here are the books for the next three months:
For September: Waking Up White: And Finding Myself In the Story of Race by Debby Irving
Publisher Comments
“For twenty-five years, Debby Irving sensed inexplicable racial tensions in her personal and professional relationships. As a colleague and neighbor, she worried about offending people she dearly wanted to befriend. As an arts administrator, she didn’t understand why her diversity efforts lacked traction. As a teacher, she found her best efforts to reach out to students and families of color left her wondering what she was missing. Then, in 2009, one “aha!” moment launched an adventure of discovery and insight that drastically shifted her worldview and upended her life plan. In Waking Up White, Irving tells her often cringe-worthy story with such openness that readers will turn every page rooting for her-and ultimately for all of us.”
Our discussion of Waking Up White is scheduled for September 26th , at 11:30 a.m. at Walter Mitty’s Restaurant.
For October: Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
“Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.
Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager–obsessed with music, food, and girls–but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.
In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier–a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.
Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.”
Our discussion of Beneath A Scarlet Sky is scheduled for October 24th , at 11:30 a.m. at Walter Mitty’s Restaurant.
For November: Sisters In Law by Linda Hirshman
“The relationship between Sandra Day O Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Republican and Democrat, Christian and Jew, western rancher s daughter and Brooklyn girl transcends party, religion, region, and culture. Strengthened by each other s presence, these groundbreaking judges, the first and second to serve on the highest court in the land, have transformed the Constitution and America itself, making it a more equal place for all women.
Linda Hirshman s dual biography includes revealing stories of how these trailblazers fought for their own recognition in a male-dominated profession battles that would ultimately benefit every American woman. She also makes clear how these two justices have shaped the legal framework of modern feminism, including employment discrimination, abortion, affirmative action, sexual harassment, and many other issues crucial to women s lives.
Sisters-in-Law combines legal detail with warm personal anecdotes that bring these very different women into focus as never before. Meticulously researched and compellingly told, it is an authoritative account of our changing law and culture, and a moving story of a remarkable friendship.”
Our discussion of Sisters In Law is scheduled for November 28th , at 11:30 a.m. at Walter Mitty’s Restaurant.
We’ll take our annual holiday break in December and begin our 2019 reading with a classic for January!
Our January 2019 selection is Catch 22 by Joseph Heller.
“Catch-22 is like no other novel. It is one of the funniest books ever written, a keystone work in American literature, and even added a new term to the dictionary.
At the heart of Catch-22 resides the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero endlessly inventive in his schemes to save his skin from the horrible chances of war. His efforts are perfectly understandable because as he furiously scrambles, thousands of people he hasn’t even met are trying to kill him. His problem is Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from the perilous missions that he is committed to flying, he is trapped by the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade, the hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule from which the book takes its title: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes the necessary formal request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of making the request proves that he is sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.
Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to some one dangerously sane – a masterpiece of our time.”
Enjoy the book, then come join your fellow retirees for the discussion on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019 at Walter Mitty’s Restaurant.
