Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
July 2013
The Non-Fiction book discussion group scheduled for Tuesday, July 9th @ 6:30 has been cancelled.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
June 2013
The Non-Fiction Book Discussion Group will meet on Tuesday, June 11th @ 6:30 pm
to discuss
"Annie's ghosts: a journey into a family secret"
by Steve Luxenberg
to discuss
"Annie's ghosts: a journey into a family secret"
by Steve Luxenberg
"Throughout her life, Luxenberg’s mother, Beth, reveled in her status as
an only child. Then, a few years before her death in 1999—and utterly
out of the blue—she admitted to having a mentally and physically
disabled younger sister named Annie, who died in 1972. Beth’s failing
health precluded Luxenberg and his siblings from learning any more.
After Beth’s passing, Luxenberg set out in search of answers. His dual
roles as reporter and son proved both blessing and curse; the journalist
dug furiously for facts, while the son wondered if long-buried secrets
were best kept that way. His questions were many: What prompted Annie’s
commitment, at age 21, to Eloise Hospital, southeastern Michigan’s
sprawling psychiatric facility? Why was there next to no record of her
early years? Most baffling of all, why did Beth, two years Annie’s
senior, refuse for so long to acknowledge her sibling’s existence? Armed
with superb investigative skills and relentless determination,
Washington Post senior editor Luxenberg tracked down remaining family
and friends and interviewed an exhaustive list of experts who might shed
light on Annie’s plight. Part memoir, part mystery, part history of the
mental-health movement, Annie’s Ghosts is a fascinating account of a
life lived in the shadows and a family beset by despair".
The book can be requested here
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
May 2013
The non-fiction book discussion group will meet on Tuesday May 14th @ 6:30 pm to discuss
"Crashing Through: a true story of risk, adventure and the man who dared to see" by Robert Kurson.
"Mike May spent his life crashing through. Blinded at age three, he
defied expectations by breaking world records in downhill speed skiing,
joining the CIA, and becoming a successful inventor, entrepreneur, and
family man. He had never yearned for vision. Then, in 1999, a chance
encounter brought startling news: a revolutionary stem cell transplant
surgery could restore May’s vision. It would allow him to drive, to
read, to see his children’s faces. But the procedure was filled with
gambles, some of them deadly, others beyond May’s wildest dreams.
Beautifully written and thrillingly told, Crashing Through is a
journey of suspense, daring, romance, and insight into the mysteries of
vision and the brain. Robert Kurson gives us a fascinating account of
one man’s choice to explore what it means to see–and to truly live".
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
April 2013
The first meeting of the non-fiction book discussion group will be held on
Tuesday April 9th @ 6:30 pm
The book for discussion at this meeting is
"The Zookeeper's Wife" by Diane Ackerman - a true story in which the keepers of the Warsaw zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands.
"The Zookeeper's Wife" by Diane Ackerman - a true story in which the keepers of the Warsaw zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands.
"When
Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw—and the city's
zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and
Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen
"guests" hid inside the Zabinskis' villa, emerging after dark for
dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts.
Jan, active in the polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the
elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital.
Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both
its human and its animal inhabitants—otters, a badger, hyena pups,
lynxes.
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