Wendell Berry has passed away

Sad news.  Wendell Berry passed away a few days ago. We'd read three works by him: Fidelty, The Wild Birds, and Three Short Novels: Nathan, Remembering, and A World Lost. Our hearts go out to his family and to our Kathy.

Here are some obituaries/tributes:

• "Wendell Berry, 1934-2026," Christian Ruth, The Bulwark, Sept. 3, 2026.
• "Wendell Berry, Writer Who Extolled America's Agrarian Past, Dies at 92," Robert McFadden, New York Times, Aug. 31, 2026.
• "Kentucky leaders, writers mourn death of Wendell Berry: A 'great light gone out'," Sarah Ladd, Kentucky Lantern, September 1, 2026.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain - August 24, 2026

 

We'll meet August 24 at Katherine's to discuss The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. 

Supplemental materials:

• Blog post by Grace Tiffany, Shakespeare scholar, about Shakespeare in Huck Finn, Nov. 1, 2021
• "The Essential Discomfort of Reading Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn," Derek Bunting, Literary Focus, July 29, 2024 - has a bunch of links to commentary about the use of the N-word, and how schools have/have not dealt with it
• "Taking the History Out of Huckleberry Finn," Jamelle Bouie, The Atlantic, Jan. 4, 2011.
• "A Nation of Cowards," Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic
• "Mapping Huckleberry Finn's Mississippi River Journey," Andrew Degraff, LitHub, Nov. 11, 2015.  Includes cool graphical/illustrated maps of Huck's journey.
• Google interactive map showing locations of actions through the book
• Listening to America YouTube episode, Clay Jenkinson, historian, speaking about the Mississippi River and the use of the river as metaphor.
• "Should We Read Huck Finn," Sam Sifton, NYTimes column, Aug. 24, 2026.
• Steph's conversation with ChatGPT about the weight of the N word at the time that Huck Finn was published.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt - July 27, 2026

We will meet July 27, 2026, at Connie's to discuss Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt.

Martyr! Kaveh Akbar - June 29, 2026

We'll meet at Karen's on June 29 to discuss Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar.

Supplemental materials:

• In These Times interview with Kaveh Akbar, March 26, 2025
• Poured Over podcast (Barnes & Noble) with Kaveh Akbar, Jan. 23, 2024
• Penguin reader's guide
• The Masters Review book review, Jan 23, 2024
• The Guardian book review, March 29, 2024
• "A Song on the End of the World," a poem by Czeslaw Milosz, referenced by Zee near the end of the book (when Zee and Cyrus are talking on the park bench)

The Housekeeper and the Professor, Yoko Ogawa - April 27, 2026

 

We will meet at Kathy's house on April 27 to discuss The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. 

Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward - March 23, 2026

 

We will meet March 23 at Connie's house to discuss Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward. 

Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner - February 23, 2026

 

We will meet February 23 at Ruth's to discuss Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.  

Plainsong, Kent Haruf - January 26, 2026

 

We will meet January 26 at Julie's to discuss Plainsong by Kent Haruf. 

So Big, Edna Ferber - January 5, 2026

 We met January 5 at Kerry's to discuss So Big by Edna Ferber

Absolution, Alice McDermott - November 24, 2025

 

We met November 24, 2025 at Steph's to discuss Absolution, by Alice McDermott.