​​Upcoming Books:

​September 26
Carol
The Disappearing Earth  - Julia Phillips

October 17 
Margi
Thirteen Ways of Looking  - Colum McCann

Nov 21
Toni
Caleb's Crossing  - Geraldine Brooks

January 16 
Jeri Lynn
Where the Crawdads Sing  - Delia Owens

February 20
Maitland 
TBD - Qiu Xialong 

Author Bio: 

​Geraldine Brooks, came to the attention of the American audience when she received the Pulitzer Prize for her Civil War novel, March written in 2006. Born September 14, 1955 in Sydney, Australia. She worked as a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Wall Street Journal. Her other books include her latest, The Secret Chord(2015), two international bestsellers People of the Book(2008) and Years of Wonder (2002) and two nonfiction works Nine Parts of Desire (1995) and Foreign Correspondence (1997).  She and her husband, Tony Horowitz have two sons. They live on Martha’s Vineyard. 
Author Quotes: 
"The thing that most attracts me to historical fiction is taking the factual record as far as it is known, using that as scaffolding, and then letting imagination build the structure that fills in those things we can never find out for sure.".- Geraldine Brooks
NiGHTSTAND READS
​I recently read two excellent books about mothers who abandoned their children, Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn and The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. Being a mother and grandmother I was distressed and looking for understanding. Each novel united by the theme of motherhood are filled with emotional and compelling points of view. Read BExtraordinaire Blog for more about books I am reading and other book club updates. ​
 Picture
is reading "Caleb's Crossing" written by Geraldine Brooks for November/December book club.
​
​Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks is set in 1665 during the settlement of Martha’s Vineyard by the English. Although the book is fiction, Brooks makes great effort to be true to the language, and culture of the time. The novel is based on a true story of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first native American to graduate from Harvard College. It is told by Bethia Mayfield, the daughter of a minister who was sent from England to bring Christianity to the salvages, pagans and heathens.
​
Bethia, denied a formal education by virtue of her sex is determined to seek out an education. The story is told through her writings. She recounts her experiences and her life in her spiritual diary. One entry tells of her encounter with Caleb from the Wampanoag tribe. While exploring the island, she observes “a band of them; painted strangely as I had been told they did for war…” only to realize they were playing a game. Intent on their game, she is about to leave when she felt eyes upon her. “I straightened and turned, and saw him for the first time — the boy we now call Caleb. They are fascinated with each other and begin to share their language and culture. They slowly develop a secret friendship. Things intensify when Bethia’s father brings Caleb into their home to convert him to God’s way and the scholarly life.  Although, Bethia and Caleb’s paths are different, they are forever joined through the pursuit of learning. 

Australian Broadcasting Corporation(ABC)
​July 2017  
BOOK REVIEW 
Caleb's Crossing 
​
"This cultural clash between 17th-century Calvinism and American Indian spirituality is the fascinating subject at the heart of “Caleb’s Crossing.” To many readers, though, the mindset of Bethia’s Puritan community will seem as foreign as the Indian religion of Caleb’s people. Bethia, with her frustrations at home and her attraction to Caleb, seems to be more a mouthpiece for modern attitudes than a flesh-and-blood character."

Read More at The Washington Times. By Stephanie Deutsch - The Washington Times - Friday, July 29, 2011