Book Group

flowers on book

Get Ready to Read and Join Us for Discussion!

Our book group will be reading an exciting variety of fiction and non-fiction this year. Join us for any or all of these discussions. We will have our meetings at UUCM after church on second Sundays at 12:30 PM in the Channing Room. You are welcome to bring a snack or lunch to these meetings. We will also offer the option of joining by Zoom, but please give at least 1 week’s notice so we make sure to have equipment ready to welcome you.

Upcoming Selections

December 9, 2023 @ 1pm (EARLIER DAY!): Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration of the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery, 2016, 244 pages
The author explores these complex , intelligent and spirited creatures which have distinct personalities. There is growing scientific appreciation of consciousness in this sentient ocean animal that has “venom like a snake, a beak like a parrot and ink like an old fashioned pen.” Presenter is Martha Turner

January 14, 2024: Dinners with Ruth: A memoir on the power of friendships by Nina Totenberg, 2022, 320 pages
This memoir was written by one of the founding mothers of NPR. She shares both professional and personal successes and struggles within the intimacy and power of women’s friendships. Nina includes her relationship with RBG.
Presenter is Judith Gropp

February 11, 2024: Block Seventeen by Kimiko Guthrie, 2020, 288 pages
Akiko “Jane” Thompson, a half Japanese, half Caucasian woman in her mid-thirties is attempting to forge a quietly happy life in the Bay Area with her fiancé, Shiro. Starting with a bizarre car accident, their lives are disturbed by a number of worrisome incidents. Jane wants to ignore these disturbances until a cry from the past robs her of all peace, forcing her to uncover a long-buried family trauma.
Presenter is Jo Waters

March 10, 2024: Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake, 2020, 352 pages
A story about one-third of the earth’s biosphere that we never learned about in school. Fungi are not only complex and fascinating, their study may be key to solving environmental problems.
Presenter is Cynthia Burton

April 14, 2024: Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead, 2021, 318 pages
This book by the Pulitzer Prize a Pulitzer winning author, is lighter, humorous at times and feels more personal than his previous novels. It explores class, race and power in the guise of an engaging crime story. The characters are colorful and complex, living in a city that is described so vividly as to seem a character itself.
Presenter is Cheryl Morris

May 12, 2024: Chances Are by Richard Russo, 2019, 320 pages
This absorbing novel introduces a new level of suspense that will quicken the readers heart beat throughout this saga of how friendship’s bonds are every bit as constricting and rewarding as those of family or any other community.
Presenter is Keith Johnson

June 9, 2024: Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s by Tiffany Midge, 2019, 216 pages
This powerful and compelling collection of musings on life, politics and identity of a Native woman in America, artfully blends sly humor, social commentary and meditations on love and loss.
Presenter is Susan Merrill


Meeting in person in the UUCM Channing Room
and on Zoom
2nd Sundays at 12:30pm

To ensure we have equipment set up to welcome you, please provide at least one week’s notice if you’ll be joining via Zoom.
Click to Join Zoom Meeting

or Join by phone: (669) 900-9128
Meeting ID: 927 1111 8322 #
Passcode: 472984

For questions, please contact BookGroupInfo@uugrassvalley.org.