Do you love to read? Would you like to discuss what you read with other poeple? Are you too busy to read a new book every month? If so, this Book Club is for you!

Fall 2008: The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Now a major motion picture, Jhumpa Lahiri's novel, The Namesake, follows an immigrant Indian family from their migration to America to the Americanization of their children.

About Jhumpa Lahiri: Lahiri won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies. Born in England, she now lives in New York.

The Namesake
PS3562.A316 N36 2003 (CSC Circ. Collection)

Multiple copies coming soon. Sign up to be in the Book Club to have a copy saved for you!

Spring 2008: Four Souls by Louise Erdrich

A plot of revenge brings Fleur Pilager--the Ojibwe mystic featured in other Erdrich novels--to the Minneapolis mansion of John Mauser. Told from the perspective of tribal leader Nanapush and a white woman, Polly Elizabeth, Four Souls follows Fleur through her demise and final triumph. This novel is a sequel to Tracks (1988) but can be enjoyed on its own. Read the book and join us at our next discussion!

Find the book at the CSC Library: PS3555.R42 F68 2005

About the author: Louise Erdrich has chronicled the fictional lives of Ojibwe in the Midwest since her first novel, Love Medicine. A Minnesota native, Erdrich has written dozens of critically acclaimed novels filled with Native American lore and mysticism and her unforgettably beautiful writing. She is also the author of several children's books and poetry. Erdrich has been called the most important Native American writer.

Spring Book Club Meeting Date:

• Thursday, March 6, 2008 @ noon-1:15 in the Quiet Study in the Library

Fall 2007: My Latest Grievance by Elinor Lipman

Frederica Hatch is the de facto mascot after being raised by her professor parents in the dorm of a small women's college. What was once quiet academic life soon takes a turn for the dramatic with the hiring of Laura Lee French---wannabe Rockette and ex-wife of Frederica's quite, unassuming father---as the new (single) dorm mother. Secrets, scandals, and snowstorms ensue.

Find this title at the CSC library: PS3562.I577 M9 2007

About the author: Elinor Lipman has been called a modern-day Jane Austen. Known for her witty stories of manners and misunderstandings, her gentle romances, and endearing -- but flawed -- main characters, Lipman has written over a half dozen novels. Several have been optioned for film and one is currently in production starring Helen Hunt.

Book Club Meeting Date Please join us at one of the following meetings for book discussion and treats:

Thursday, November 1 @ noon-1:15 pm

OR

Monday, October 29 @ 6pm-7:15 pm

Winter Semester 2007: On Beauty by Zadie Smith

Two households, both alike in dignity, star in Zadie Smith's latest novel, On Beauty. The maginificently disfuntional and bi-racial Bellsey family (mother and father Howard and Kiki and children Jerome, Zora, and Levi) share a love/hate relationship with the black British Kipps family (parents Montegue or Monty and Carlene and children, among them the beautiful Victoria). The story weaves in and out among these characters as they navigate marriage and infidelity, death and illness, academia and scholarship. The novel touches on issues of race, culture, social class, and, of course, beauty.

Experience the lives of these two families as they collide in a Boston-area college town by reading the St. Kate's Book Club's selection for Spring 2007.

About the Author:

Critically acclaimed novelist Zadie Smith is from London, born to an English father and Jamaican mother. Her first novel, White Teeth, won numerous awards and has been translated into over twenty languages. On Beauty is her third novel.

Find this title at the CSC library PR6069.M59 O58 2005 

Book Club Meeting Date: Thursday, March 1, 2007 noon-1:30 Rescheduled for March 8, 2007 due to weather conditions.

Fall Semester 2006: Welcome to my Planet: Where English is Sometimes Spoken by Shannon Olson

About the Author:

Shannon Olson is a native of Chaska, MN, and teaches creative writing and literature at the University of Minnesota. Her debut novel tells the story of the fictional Shannon Olson who is trying to find her way in the world as a twenty-something. Children of God Go Bowling is the sequel to the first novel.

Find this title at the CSC library PS3565.L838 W4 2000

Book Club Meeting Date: October 12, 2006 noon-1:30