Slate for 2025-2026 and pitches

 Slate for 2025-2026

November 24, 2025: Absolution, Alice McDermott

January 5, 2026 (shifted from December 22): So Big, Edna Ferber 

January 26, 2026: Plainsong, Kent Haruf

February 23, 2026: Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner

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

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

June 1, 2026 (shifted from May 25): Fox and I, An Uncommon Friendship,Catherine Raven

June 29, 2026 (shifted from June 22) : Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar

July 27, 2026: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berenot

August 24, 2026: Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

September 28, 2026: James, Percival Everett

October 26, 2026:  BOOK PICKING NIGHT!

Pitches (vote count in parenthesis)

Classics

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott - Gayle  (9)

Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain - Julie (20)

Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner - Katherine (22/18)

So Big, Edna Ferber - Steph (22/27)

Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut - Julie (17)

Regular

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott - Gayle  (9)

Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain - Julie (29)

Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner - Katherine (31)

Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut - Julie (16)

When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi - Ruth (16/12)

James, Percival Everett - Julie (27)

Absolution, Alice McDermott - Suzanne (29)

The Housekeeper and the Professor, Yoko Ogawa - Kerry (34)

Plainsong, Kent Haruf - Katherine (24)

Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward - Steph (20/15)

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berenot - Karen (20/18)

Claire of the Sea Light, Edwidge Dandecat - Ruth (5)

Martyr! Kaveh Akbar - Julie (43)

Fox and I, Catherine Raven - Kerry (33)

Wounded Knee, Heather Cox Richardson  - Julie (18)

Slate and pitches for 2024-2025

LATER REVISED, as edited below by strikethroughs and red ink.

Here is our slate and calendar for 2024-2025:

November 25 - The Turn of the Screw, Henry James - CLASSIC
January 6 (shifted from December) - The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels, Janice Hallett
January 27 - In the Lake of the Woods, Tim O'Brien
February 24 - Stolen, Ann-Helen Laestadius
March 24 - Table for Two, Amor Towles
April 28 - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers  Tom Lake, Ann Patchett
June 2 (shifted to avoid Memorial Day) - Swing Time, Zadie Smith
June 30 (5th Monday) - Unsheltered, Barbara Kingsolver
July 28 - Tom Lake, Ann Patchett The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers
August 25 - Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan
September 22 - Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
October 27 - Book Picking Night!!!!!

Pitches were as follows

Classics

Classics vote is the first number in parenthesis; regular vote is the second number.

In Cold Blood, Truman Capote - Ruth (12/13)
The Turn of the Screw, Henry James - Kathy (20)
A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway - Julie (18/13)
Light in August, William Faulkner - Steph (13/12)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers - Katherine (17/28)

Regular

The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan - Ruth (17)
No One is Talking About This, Patricia Lockwood - Suzanne (We goofed; not included for voting)
Swing Time, Zadie Smith - Kathy (24)
Table for Two, Amor Towles - Katherine (34)
The Mysterious Case of Alperton Angels, Janice Hallett - Julie (28)
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver - Steph (36)
Stolen, Ann-Helen Laestadius - Katherine (23)
What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky, Leslie ___ - Ruth (4)
Hanging Garden, Patrick White - Suzanne (We goofed; not included for voting)
Unsheltered, Barbara Kingsolver - Kerry (16)
Crying in H Mart - Connie (15)
In the Lake of the Woods, Tim O'Brien - Steph (26)
Piranesi, Susanne Clarke - Julie (14)
Tom Lake, Ann Patchett - Katherine (25)

Slate for 2023-2024

Here's our slate and calendar for 2023-2024!

November 27:  And the Mountains Echoed, Khalid Hosseini

January 8:  Pachinko, Min Jin Lee

January 29:  Men Without Women, Haruki Murakami

February 26: Emma, Jane Austen

March 25:  Lucy by the Sea, Elizabeth Strout

April 22:  The Marriage of Opposites, Alice Hoffman

June 3:  Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr

June 24 - The Moon is Down, John Steinbeck

July 22:  - The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich

August 26:  The Art of the Wasted Day, Patricia Hampl

September 23: The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov

October 28:  BOOK PICKING NIGHT

Pitches and votes were as follows:

Classics

Short Stories, Mark Twain (Kerry) - 4

Emma, Jane Austen (Steph) - 28

The House of Spirits, Isabelle Allende - Connie - 11

Frannie and Zooey, J.D. Salinger (Kerry) - 22

The Moon is Down, John Steinbeck (Steph) - 25

Also discussed:  Our Town, Thorton Wilder (Katherine) and The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov (Katherine).  Our Town would pair well with Tom Lake by Ann Patchett which isn't readily available this year.

Regular

The Marriage of Opposites, Alice Hoffman (Ruth) - 18/19

The Art of the Wasted Day, Patricia Hempl (Suzanne) - 23

The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov (Katherine) - 18/19

The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich (Kathy) - 24

Pachinko, Min Jin Lee (Steph) - 36

Men Without Women, Haruki Murakami (Julie) - 25

And the Mountains Echoed, Khaled Hosseini (Connie)- 24

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Woo, Junot Diaz (Kerry) - 19/17

The Netanyahus, Joshua Cohen (Suzanne) - 12

March, Geraldine Brooks (Kathy) - 19/17

Exit West, Mohsin Hamid (Julie) - 13

Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr (Julie) - 36

Lucy by the Sea, Elizabeth Strout (Julie) - 26

House of Spirits, Isabelle Allende (Connie) - 6

In the Woods, Tana French (Suzanne) - 16

The Moon is Down, John Steinbeck (Steph) - 28

Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger (Kerry) - 18/18

Slate for 2022-2023

Here is our slate for 2022-2023! (This reflects the change we made 10/27 to swap Klara with The Course of Love.)

NOVEMBER 28: The Winter of Our Discontent, John Steinbeck
JANUARY 2: Oh William! Elizabeth Strout
JANUARY 30: Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro 
FEBRUARY 27: Afterlife, Julia Alvarez
MARCH 27: Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer
APRIL 24: The Course of Love, Alain de Botton
MAY 22: The Five Wounds, Kirsten Valdez Quade
JUNE 26: Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country, Sierra Crane Murdoch
JULY 24: Interior Chinatown, Charles Yu
AUGUST 28: The End of the Affair, Graham Greene
SEPTEMBER 25: Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhyes
OCTOBER 23: Book picking night!

And here is the full list of pitches and votes:

Classics (Votes are Classics/First round/Runoff Round)

The House of Spirits, Isabella Allende - Karen - 24/16/22
The End of the Affair, Graham Greene - Steph - 26
The Winter of Our Discontent, John Steinbeck - Kathy - 20/18/25
Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhyes - Katherine - 19/20

Regular (Votes are First round/runoff round)

Afterlife, Julia Alvarez - Kathy - 22
AMORALMAN, Derek DelGuadio - Steph - 15
Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro - Ruth - 25
Oh William! Elizabeth Strout - Katherine - 27
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, Robin Wall Kimmerer - Connie - 32
Alice Network, Kate Quinn - Susan - 12
The Course of Love , Alain de Botton - Karen - 45
Interior Chinatown, Charles Yu - Kerry - 16/24
House on Vesper Sands, Paraic O'Donnell - Suzanne - 14
Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country, Sierra Crane Murdoch - Steph - 22
This is How it Always Is, Laurie Frankel - Ruth - 12
The Sweetness of Water, Nathan Harris - Katherine - 17/19
Coming Up for Air, Sarah Leipciger - Connie - 5
Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid - Susan - 6
The Five Wounds, Kristen Valdez Quade - Karen - 24
Crying in Hmart, Michelle Zauner - Julie in absentia - 11

Slate and Calendar for 2021-2022 (and other books pitched)

Here is our slate of books for 2021-2022!

November 29, 2021:  The Dutch House, Ann Patchett (Katherine) - 47

January 3, 2022:  Run, Ann Patchett (Kathy) - 30

January 31:  Hamnet, Maggie O'Ferrall (Suzanne) - 34

February 28: The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson (Connie) - 40

March 28:  Someone, Alice McDermott (Susan) - 23

April 25: Sound of Waves, Yukio Mishima (Kerry) - 27

May 23: Disappearing Earth, Julia Phillips (Ruth) - 19

June 27: A Room with a View, E.M. Forster (Julie) -25

July 25: The Heart's Invisible Furies, John Boyne (Karen) - 29

August 22: The Song of the Lark, Willa Cather (Kathy) - Classics slot - 21

September 26: The Murmur of Bees, Sofie Segovia (Kerry) - 27

October 24:  Book Picking Night!!!!!

Other pitches

Classics

Walden, H.D. Thoreau (Susan) - 10
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne (Katherine) - 16
The Alchemist - Paulo Coehlo (Connie) - 1
Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck (Karen) - 18
Room With a View, E.M. Forster (Julie) - 18
Roll of Thunder, Hear Me Cry, Mildred Taylor (Kathy) - 14

General category

The Yellow House, Sarah Broom (Julie) - 12
American Dirt, Jeanne Cummins (Connie) - 16
The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller (Suzanne) - 12
One Night Two Souls Went Walking, Ellen Cooney (Susan) - 16
The Cold Millions, Jess Walter (Julie) - 12
Fresh Water for Flowers, Valerie Perrin (Suzanne) - not in voting
The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (Ruth) - not pitched

Books for 2020-2021

 Here (so belatedly) are the books for the 2020-2021 year, with the dates, that Connie assigned and emailed back in October.  Just putting it here for your convenient reference.  I've also added these to the Google Calendar in the upper right corner of our site.

11/30 -- The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov (15/4 + 4/2)

1/4 -- On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong (268/85 + available)

1/25 -- Dessa Rose, Sherley Anne Williams (available)

2/22 -- The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead (462/88 + 120/27)

3/22 -- Blindness, Jose Saramago (23/12 + 3/1)

4/26 -- The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett (1200/168 + 154/31)

5/24 -- Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami (21/5 + 7/1) 

6/28 -- In the Time of the Butterflies, Julie Alvarez (19/15 + 3/1)

7/26 -- The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa (52/13 + 11/4) 

8/23 -- Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng (246/169 + available)

9/27 -- Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson (348/31 + 20/17 & book club set 1/1 )

This includes the availability information that Connie gathered and provided in her email. As she described, the numbers in parentheses show current holds/copies at both Henn Co + St Paul Public libraries.

Edited 10/13/22 to add: And here is the full list of pitches and votes:

The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin - pitched by Ruth  (5)

Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson - pitched by Steph (18)

Walden, Henry David Thoreau - pitched by Katherine (0)

Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve - pitched by Suzanne (7)

WHEREAS Poems, Layli Long Soldier - pitched by Suzanne (1)

The Star and the Shamrock, Jean Granger - pitched by Susan (4 )

1984, George Orwell - pitched by Katherine (0)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - pitched by Steph (12)

The Water Dancer, Ta-Nahisi Coates - pitched by Karen (10)

Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral, Mary Doria Russell - pitched by Karen (12)

The Bookshop, Penelope Fitzgerald - pitched by Suzanne (16)

The Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon - pitched by Ruth (7 )

The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris - pitched by Susan (15)

The Leavers, Lisa Ko - pitched by Kerry (17)

The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett - pitched by Ruth or Karen (27)

The Memory Policy: A Novel, by Yoko Ogawa - pitched by Steph (19)

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe - pitched by Kathy (13)

Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke - pitched by Katherine (9)

Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys - pitched by Steph (12)

The Vegetarian, Han Kang - pitched by Kerry (8)

King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hochschuler - pitched by Kathy (9)

Caste, Isabel Wilkerson - pitched by Susan (10)

Transcendent Kingdom, Yaa Gyasi - pitched by Susan (8)

Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng - pitched by Katherine or Connie (24)

Dessa Rose, Sherley Anne Williams - pitched by Kathy (23)

The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins - pitched by Julie (7)

In the Time of Butterflies, Julia Alvarez - pitched by Connie (19)

Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami - pitched by Julie (25)

On Earth Were Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong - pitched by Katherine (20)

Blindness, Jose Saramago - pitched by Connie (22)

The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead - pitched by Julie (21)         

Slate for 2019-2020 (and pitches)

Here is our slate for 2019-2020!

(Number of votes in parenthesis)

November 25, 2019:  Rules of Civility, Amor Towles - Katherine (18)
January 6, 2020:  The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco - Steph (23)
January 27, 2020:  Ethan Fromme, Edith Wharton - Katherine (Classic - 26)
February 24, 2020:  Fun Home, Alison Bechdel - Steph (16)
March 23, 2020:  The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas - Katherine (17)
April 27, 2020: Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo - Kerry (29)
June 1, 2020: The Overstory, Richard Powers - Katherine (28)
June 29, 2020: Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens - Connie (27)
July 27, 2020:  White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin Diangelo - Julie (19)
August 24, 2020:  Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison - Susan (28)
September 28, 2020: Disoriental, Negar Djavadi - Suzanne (29)
October 26, 2020:  BOOK PICKING NIGHT!!!!

And here were the pitches that didn't make the cut:

Classics
Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare - Suzanne (17/5)
The Stranger, Camus - Steph (15/1)
1984, George Orwell - Connie (12/-)

General
What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky, Lesley NNeka Arimah - Connie (7)
Wintering, Peter Geye- Kathy (4)
The Resistance Women,  Jennifer Chiaverini- Julie (14)
Celine, Peter Heller - Suzanne (4)
Little Fires Everywhere,  Celeste NG - Susan (10)
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague, Geraldine Brooks - Kathy (16)
The Shadow King,  Maaza Mengiste- Julie (4)
My Sister, the Serial Killer,  Oyinkan Braithwaite - Steph (14)
The Vegetarian, Han Kang - Steph (7)

UPDATED Slate for 2018-2019 and our Pitches

UPDATED 11/27/18 (after making the swap for Commonwealth and Death in the Family)

Here's our slate for 2018-2019, followed by a list of everything we pitched tonight.

Our Selections for 2018-2019

November 26 -  Dead Wake, Erik Larson

January 7 - Doc, Mary Doria Russell

January 28 - Fever Dream, Samanta Schweblin

February 25 - Improvement, Joan Silber

March 25 - A Spool of Blue Thread - Anne Tyler

April 22 - Death in the Family, James Agee

May 20 (3rd Monday) - Commonweath, Ann Patchett

June 24 - Imagine Me Gone, Adam Haslett

July 22 - Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh

August 26 - The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

September 23 - A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles

Pitches - Votes for classic/Votes in main draw)

Classics

Nervous Conditions - Karen - 5/11

The Golden Notebook, Doris Lessing - Susan - 17/7

The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde - Steph - 15/18

The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins - Suzanne - 9/x

Five Smooth Stones - Kerry - 16/12

Death in the Family - Katherine - 17/28

Brideshead Revisited - Julie - 21

Main Draw

Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Maria Semple - Ruth - 4

Fever Dream, Samanta Schweblin - Steph - 39

Hour of the Star, Clarice Lispector - Suzanne - x

Dead Wake, Erik Larson - Katherine - 26

Doc, Mary Doria Russell - Julie - 23

Funny Boy, Shyam Selvadurai  - Karen - 14

A Spool of Blue Thread, Anne Tyler- Connie - 37

Imagine Me Gone, Adam Haslett - Kathy - 16

God Help the Child, Toni Morrison - Susan - 8

Outline: a Novel, Rachel Cusk- Ruth - 2

Improvement: A Novel, Joan Silber- Steph - 24

A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles - Katherine and Suzanne - 41

The Beggar Maid, Alice Munro - Julie - 10

Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood - Karen - 11

Commonwealth, Ann Patchett - Connie - 21

The Coddling of the American Mind, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt - Kathy - 14

The Secret History, Donna Tartt - Kathy - 9

Slate for 2017-2018 and tonight's pitches

November 27:  The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson - at Kathy's house. Start at 6:00.

January 8:  Etta and Otto and Russell and James, Emma Hooper

January 29 (5th Monday):  The Testament of Mary, Colm Toibin

February 26:  Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine

March 26:  The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead

April 23:  Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, J.D. Vance

May 21 (3rd Monday):  The Turner House, Angela Flouroy

June 25:  East of Eden, John Steinbeck

July 23:  Difficult Women, Roxane Gay

August 27:  Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi

September 24:  The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro

October 22:  BOOK PICKING NIGHT!!!!

Here are our pitches (with votes in parens) from tonight!

Classic Slot (First round classic/Tie-breaking vote classic/General vote)
East of Eden, John Steinbeck - Katherine (34/uncounted)
The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson - Steph (34/uncounted/39)
1984, George Orwell - Kerry (32/not in the voting/6)

General 
Shantarum, Gregory David Roberts - Karen (12)
The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead - Connie (36)
Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi - Suzanne (34)
Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance - Julie (22)
Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine - Kerry (28)
Etta and Otto and Russell and James, Emma Hooper - Susan (31)
The Testament of Mary, Tolm Coibin - Steph (36)
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store, Robin Sloane - Suzanne (9)
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, Alison Bechdel - Katherine (9)
The Buried Giant, Kazuo Ishiguro - Julie (46)
The Turner House, Angela Flouroy - Susan (22)
The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen - Steph (6 + handful uncounted)
Difficult Women, Roxane Gay - Katherine (31)
Fortune Smiles, Adam Johnson - Julie (16)
My Name is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth Strout - Susan (5)

Slate for 2016-2017 and all pitches

Here's our slate for 2016-2017:

Nov. 28 - Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Jan. 2 -   H is for Hawk, Helen Macdonald

Jan. 30 - Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

Feb. 27 - The Feast of Love, Charles Baxter

Mar. 27 - Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Apr. 24 - The Story of a New Name, Elena Ferrante

May 22 - Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

June 26 - The Architecture of Happiness, Alain de Botton

July 24 - The Sunken Cathedral, Kate Walbert

Aug. 28 - The Orphan Master's Son, Adam Johnson

Sept. 25 - Building Stories, Chris Ware

Oct. 23 - BOOK PICKING NIGHT!

And here are all the pitches and votes:

Classics (classics vote/regular vote)

Nineteen Eighty Four - Connie - 16/3

Jane Eyre - Karen - 24/24

Souls of Black Folk - Katherine - 23/5

Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Steph  - 27

Regular

The Feast of Love - Katherine - 42

H is for Hawk - Suzanne - 40

Between the World and Me - Julie - 39

The Architecture of Happiness - Suzanne - 30

Building Stories - Steph - 25

The Story of a New Name - Katherine - 23

Americanah - Connie - 23

The Sunken Cathedral - Suzanne - 22

The Orphan Master's Son - Steph - 17

Go Set a Watchman - Julie - 15

Round House - Connie - 13

Citizen - Kerry - 12

The Birchbark House - Kathy - 11

Black Boy - Karen - 7

The New Jim Crow - Kathy - 5

Our Slate for 2015-2016 (and all pitches)

Here are our selections for the 2015-2016 year:

November 23 - Butcher's Crossing, John Williams - at Karen's house

January 4 - The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton

January 25 - The Children Act, Ian McEwen

February 22 - Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier

March 28 - My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante

April 25 - All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

May 23 - This Side of Brightness, Colum McCann

June 27 - Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs

July 25 - Nightingale, Kristin Hannah

August 22 - Family Matters, Rohinton Mistry

September 26- As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

October 24 - BOOK PICKING NIGHT

Pitches 

Classics Slot (Classic ballot/First regular ballot)

The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton (21) - Kathy

Les Miserables, Victor Hugo - (11/0) - Karen

Brave New World Revisited, Aldous Huxley - (17/4) - Julie

Giants of the Earth, Ole Rolvaag - (12/0) - Steph

As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner - (16/24) - Kerry

Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier - (12/14) - Kerry

Regular Slots

How to Be Both, Ali Smith - 8 - Ruth

All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr - 24 - Connie

Nightingale, Kristin Hannah - 31 - Susan

Leaving the Atocha Station, Ben Lerner - 18 - Suzanne

Butcher's Crossing, John Williams- 39 - Steph

The Children Act, Ian McEwen - 42 - Katherine

This Side of Brightness, Colum McCann - 21 - Kerry

Being Mortal, Atol Gawande - 19 - Kathy

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs - 30 - Karen

The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert - 9 - Suzanne

Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner - 21 - Steph

My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante - 27 - Katherine

Family Matters, Rohinton Mistry - 25 - Kerry

The Map of Love, Ahdaf Soueif - 4 - Kathy

Stone Diaries, Carol Shield - 2 - Karen

Missoula, Jon Krakauer - 8 - Katherine

Runoff voting

This Side of Brightness - 26

Rebecca - 20

Leaving the Atocha Station - 18

Bring Mortal - 16

Crossing to Safety - 10

Our slate for 2014-2015

Nov. 24 at Karen's:  Still Alice, Lisa Genova (also a movie starring Julianne Moore) - Katherine - 24

January 5:   We are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler - Suzanne - 32

January 26:   Ru, Kim Thuy - Kerry - 23

February 23: The Light Between Oceans, M.L. Stedman - Kerry - 23

March 23:  The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien - Connie - 49

April 27: Half-Blood Blues, Esi Edugyan - Suzanne - 19/34

June 1:  Lord of the Flies, William Golding - Kathy - 23 (classics round)

June 29: Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson - Katherine - 43

July 27: Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel - Steph - 25

August 24:  Stoner, John Williams - Steph - 32

September 28:  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith - Ruth - 22 (classics round)/26

October 26:  BOOK PICKING NIGHT!!!!!

Also pitched:

Classics

All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque - Julie - 20/4

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou - Susan - 7/3

The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner - Steph - 15/9

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marques - Julie - 13/5

Runoff

The Tiger's Wife, Tea Obreht - Julie - 19/17

Voodoo Dreams, Jewel Parker Rhodes - Ruth - 17/14

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, Tom Franklin - Karen - 14/13

Life After Life, Kate Atkinson - Susan - 11/21

Others 

Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson - pitched and simultaneously disavowed by Kathy - 2

The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd - Susan - 3

The Language of Flowers, Vanessa Diffenbaugh - Connie - 4

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, Stephen Greenblatt - Suzanne - 7

Mentioned, not pitched

The Partisan's Daughter, Louis de Bernieres - Kerry

Doc, Mary Doria Russell - Kerry

Decisions for how we'll operate for the coming year

• We'll start talking about the book at 6:50. Karen will be our primary clock-watcher.
• Ghost-leaving is completely acceptable behavior.
• We'll all aspire to come to meetings with a question or a quote or some other contribution for the discussion each time.
• If you cannot make it, please RSVP to the host

Our slate for 2013-2014 (and a list of everything pitched)

Here's our lineup and calendar for 2013-2014!

November 25 (at Steph's): A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
January 6: Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver
January 27: Beautiful Ruins, Jess Walter
February 24: The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge
March 24: Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann
April 28: Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner (Gayle: we picked it in your honor! Hope you can join us for this one!)
May19: How It All Began, Penelope Lively
June 23: Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri
July 28: Swamplandia, Karen Russell
August 25: The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman
September 22: Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
October 27: Book picking night!

Here are all the pitches with votes (first ballot/second ballot)

Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne 10/11 - Julie
This is How You Lose Her, Junot Diaz 14/24 - Kathy
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz - 5/0 - Karen
Life After Life, Kate Atkinson - 0/0 - Ruth
Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri 38 - Kerry
Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann 18/45 - Katherine
Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver 19/30 - Susan
How It All Began, Penelope Lively 30 - Suzanne
Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner - 35 - Connie - in Gayle's honor
Beautiful Ruins, Jess Walter - 46 - Julie
The Brain That Changes Itself, Norman Doidge - 39 - Steph
The Daylight Gate, Janett Winterson - 15/0 - Kathy
Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman - 15/31 - Karen
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn - 10/0 - Ruth
Round House, Louise Erdrich - 10/4 - Kerry
A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini - 42 - Katherine
Ru, Kim Thuy - 19/23 - Suzanne
Architecture of Happiness, Alain de Botton - 0/7 - Suzanne
Swamplandia, Karen Russell - 31 - Steph
The Girls of Slender Means. Muriel Sparks - 10/25 - Steph

Books for 2012-2013

November 26 (at Steph's):   The Marriage Plot, Jeffrey Eugenides
December 17 (at Kerry's):   O Pioneers, Willa Cather
January 28:   Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo
February 25:   Lives of Girls and Women, Alice Munro
March 25:   Shanghai Girls, Lisa See
April 22:   Falling Upward, Richard Rohr
June 3:   The Cat's Table, Michael Ondaatje
June 24:   Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko
July 22:   Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro
August 26:   Robber Bride, Margaret Atwood
Sept. 23:   Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov
October 28:   BOOK PICKING NIGHT! (I'm excited already.)

Also pitched
State of Wonder, Ann Patchett
Lair of the White Worm, Bram Stoker
Plague of Doves, Louise Erdrich
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison
Curse of the River of Time, Per Petterson
Casual Vacancy, J. K. Rowlings
The Hare With Amber Eyes, Edmund de Waals

Mentioned but not pitched
Angle of Repose, Wallace Stagner (about a couple that settles in the West; he establishes a mine, she's an illustrator)
Red Dog, Louis de Bernieres (about a real dog in Australia)

Slate for 2011-2012

Our books for 2011-2012:

Nov. 28:  The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Muriel Barbery
Jan. 9:  Ordinary Wolves, Seth Kantner
Jan. 30:  Murder in the Cathedral, T.S. Eliot
Feb. 27:  Links, Nuruddin Farah
Mar. 26:  Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
April 23:  The Maples Stories, John Updike
June 4:  Death Comes for the Archbishop, Willa Cather
June 25:  History of Love, Nicole Krauss
July 23:  Cleopatra, Stacy Schiff
Aug. 27:  Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
Sept. 24:  Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese

Other books pitched:

The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner
Middlemarch, George Eliot
State of Wonder, Ann Patchett
Road from Coorain, Jill Ker Conway
The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein
Blindness, Jose Saramago
Atonement, Ian McEwan
The Tiger's Wife, Tea Obreht
Freedom, Jonathan Franzen
Hummingbird's Daughter, Luis Alberto Urrea
God of Carnage, Yasmina Reza
A Novel Bookstore, Laurence Cossa and Alison Anderson
Zeitoun, Dave Eggers

Slate for 2010-2011

Nov. 22: My Antonia, Willa Cather
Jan. 3: Out Stealing Horses, Per Paterson
Jan. 31: Madame Bovary, Flaubert
Feb 28: Little Bee, Chris Cleeve
Mar 28: A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
Apr 25: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
May 23: The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevsky
June 27: Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood
July 25: The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Aug 22: The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
Sept 26: I'm Not Scared, Niccolo Ammaniti

Here's how the pitching and voting went:

Classic
Madame Bovary - Julie, Katherine and Suzanne - so many votes we didn't count

General (First number is first ballot/Second number is run-off vote):
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Kathy (53)
Little Bee - Kerry (42)
Brothers Karamazov - Steph (36)
Alias Grace - Steph (34)
Out Stealing Horses - Kerry (33)
My Antonia - Gayle (26)
I'm Not Scared - Kathy (24)
Pillars of the Earth - Steph (22/31)
Cutting for Stone - Suzanne (21/15)
Zertoun - Julie (20/27)
Hunger Games - Connie (19/37)
The Dog Says How - Suzanne (16/17)
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Gayle (13/29)
Pass the Polenta - Suzanne (12/13)
The Farming of Bones - Gayle (10/23)
Founding Mothers - Gayle (8/5)
Kitchen Confidential - Katherine (7/4)
The Glass Castle - Ruth (4/?)
One Good Turn - Ruth (0/?)