The Centenary UMC Book Club is midway through its 2011-2012 calendar.  The group typically meets once a month, on a Friday evening at Menlo Park Diner, to discuss that particular month’s suggested reading. The Book Club’s schedule for the 2011-2012 year includes:

The Book Club’s next meeting will be on Friday, Jan. 13th, at the Menlo Park Diner at 6 p.m. to discuss Incendiary: A Novel, by Chris Cleaves. The Book Club remains open to those 18 years-of-age and older; male and female.

Recent CUMC Book Club discussion

The Centenary Book club met on Friday, November 11 (2011) to discuss Almost A Family  by John Darnton.   The New York Times noted:  “We are all familiar with the five stages of memoir: myth, trauma, revelation, redemption, book contract. In his wonderful memoir, (“Almost a Family,”) Darnton has taken this modern form to a new level. His story is excruciatingly personal, with painful drama and dreadful sorrow, but as a journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize when he was reporting for The New York Times, he calmly researches the narrative of his life detail by detail. His heart was broken, but his focus is on the facts.” The Club once again found themselves challenged and offered up the fact, first and foremost that there was, to us, a great deal of repetition, cloaked in various perspectives  – but all and all the same stuff.  At many points several of us struggled to read it completely, which included some skimming when we realized that the matter at hand had already been presented several pages back.  The group discussion focused, for the most part, on the on the life that the couple, Barney and Tootie, led, yet they never married (1930’s – 1940’s).  This complicated matters because it made it even more difficult for the life of the survivor (Tootie) after Barney is killed.  In addition, questions were raised as to how a couple could live together at the time the they did (or anytime for that fact) , have kids, make the commitment, share the responsibilities  and still not get married!  In the end we found the book to be disappointing overall.