Our Book Club — The BookBums
We meet the third Friday of each month (except December) at 7:00 pm. Meetings are HYBRID: in person and virtually, on Zoom.
The recommender shares their research on the background of the book and author and leads the discussion, which often results in lively debate.
After a general analysis of the work, our conversation sometimes flows into personal applications of the book’s ideas.
Check our Reading List below to see this year’s selections and notices about special meetings and field trips.
For more information, contact Sandy Schriever directly. You can ask the UUFN Office to put you in touch with Sandy (email officeadmin@uufn.org or call 302.368.2984 during office hours).
In the list below, the date and discussion leader are followed by an Amazon link where you can go to see a description of the book.
Check the Delaware Library Catalog for availability in a variety of formats (books, audio CDs, HOOPLA, and electronic formats). audible.com and Kindle are other sources you can check.
2024 Reading List
Most books are available in multiple formats in the DLC (Delaware Library Catalog). If you have trouble locating or placing a hold request, call the library (at 302-731-7550) and ask for the Reference Desk.
For more information on a particular book, click its link.
Jan 19
Barbara M — Exposure by Robert Bilott; also a movie called Dark Waters
Feb 16
Elisabeth K — My name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Mar 15
Jan O — The Best We Could Do, by Thi Bui (New Castle County NEA (National Endowment of the Arts) NEA Big Read: New Castle County | New Castle County, DE - Official Website
Apr 19
Sandy Schriever — The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb (Author coming April 30).
May 17
June 21
Pat D — The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Jul 19
Laura S and Deb C — Anxious People by Fredrik Backman, also a Netflix series - in Swedish with English subtitles)
Aug 16
Bev L — My Name Is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira
Sep 20
Barbara G — Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Oct 18
Sandy and Laura — Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Nov 15
Ann S — Along came a spider by James Patterson
Dec
Enjoy the holidays and read a good book on your own. No meeting.
2023 Reading List
Jan 20
Laura Stewart and Sandy Schriever — The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
Feb 17
Jessica Myers and Sandy Schriever — Tisha by Robert Specht. Hoopla audio and 2 hardcopies available.
Mar 17
Sandy Schriever — Fuzz by Mary Roach. NCC Read book. Hope to be getting our free copies very soon but there are multiple copies in the library system. Will have our annual Chase Center field trip on Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
Apr 21
Ann Schriever — The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore.
May 19
Barbara Gates — Oh,William by Elizabeth Strout.
June 16
Bev LaRock, Laura Stewart, and Sandy Schriever — Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult.
Jul 21
Laura Schriever-Stewart — A Man called Ove by Frederick Backman. (You can see the new related Tom Hanks movie, A Man Called Otto, which should be out around Christmas). We could also read Anxious People for those who have already read Ove and want something new.
Aug 18
Tery Griffin — Foster by Claire Keegan.
Sept 15
Jan Owens — The Overstory by Richard Powers. “The best novel ever written about trees” (Ann Patchett)
Oct 11
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout (might be interesting to read two books by the same author — see Oh, William above).
Nov 17
Sandy Schriever — Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark. Longish book so want to give plenty of time to read.
Dec
Enjoy the holidays and read a good book on your own. No meeting.
2022 Reading List
Jan 21
Sandy Schriever — Mozart's Starling by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
Feb 18
Mary Cannon — The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World's Healthiest People by Dan Buettner
Mar 18
Susan Stoller and Sandy Schriever — This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. Evening with the Author event on Thursday, May 12, at 7:00 p.m. at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, 815 Justison Street, Wilmington, DE 19801.
Apr 15
Bev LaRock — The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna by Mira Ptacin.
May 20
Dana Ulery — Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China by Evan Osnos.
June 17
Barbara Morris — State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
July 15
Ann Schriever — Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Aug 19
Laura Schriever Stewart — Wish you were here by Jodi Piccoult
Sept 16
Sandy Schriever — Village School by Miss Read (AKA Dora Jesse Saint)
Oct 21
Sandy Schriever — Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon
Nov 18
Sandy Schriever — The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
2021 Reading List
Jan 15
Ann/Sandy Schriever — We Love Anderson Cooper: Short Stories or Other People’s Pets: A Novel by R. L. Maizes who will be joining us!
Feb 19
Mary McMahon — The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Mar 19
Susan Stoller — Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
Apr 16
Ann Schriever — The Face of a Stranger by Anne Perry
May 21
Mary Cannon — Becoming by Michelle Obama
June 18
Sandy Schriever — The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham
July 16
Laura Schriever Stewart — The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Aug 20
Barbara Gates — The Island of Sea Women: A Novel by Lisa See
Sept 17
Barbara Morris — Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie
Oct 15
Dana Ulery — The Night Watchman: A Novel by Louise Erdrich
Nov 19
(no meeting but will discuss The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins next year)
2020 Reading List
Jan 17
Deb Morris — Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones (non-fiction).
Feb 21
Dana Ulery — Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (fiction).
Mar 20
Ann Schriever — Horseshoe Crabs and Velvet Worms by Richard Fortey (non-fiction)
Apr 17
Sandy Schriever — Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (fiction).
May 15
Kip King — The Friend: A Novel by Sigrid Nunez (fiction).
Jun 19
Anne Feurer — Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (fiction).
Jul 17
Barbara Gates — Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones (fiction).
Aug 21
Theda Ellis TBD.
Sep 18
Susan Stoller TBD
Oct 16
Janine Howell-Conkey — Sweeping up Glass by Carolyn Wall (fiction).
Nov 20
Mary Cannon — Gods of the Upper Air by Charles King (non-fiction).
2019 Reading List
Jan 18
Dana Ulery — Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carrerou (non-fiction).
Feb 15
Anne Feurer — A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (fiction).
Mar 15
Ann Schriever — Lincoln’s Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him To The Presidency by Dan Abrams and David Fisher (nonfiction).
Apr 19
Fran Barhydt — Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke (fiction).
May 17
Barbara Ward — Fly Girls by Keith O’Brien (non-fiction).
Jun 21
Barbara Gates — A Taste for Death by PD James (fiction).
Jul 19
Theda Ellis — Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann (non-fiction).
Aug 16
Deb Morris — Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (fiction).
Sep 20
Susan Stoller — The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert (non-fiction).
Oct 18
Mary Cannon — Loving Frank by Nancy Horan (fiction).
Nov 19
Barbara Morris — Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (fiction).
2018 Reading List
Jan
Anne F.— The Heart: A Novel by Maylis de Kerangal.
Feb
Barbara M. — Cooked by Michael Pollan.
Mar
Sandy — Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline.
Apr
Debra M. — Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda N. Adichie.
May
Fran — The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith.
Jun
Barbara G — The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben.
Jul
Elisabeth — Finding the Dragon Lady by Monique B. Demery.
Aug
Barbara W. — Citizen Science by Caren Cooper.
Sep
Barbara G. — New and Selected Poems 1992by Mary Oliver.
Oct
Dana — Strangers in Their Own Land by Arlie Russell Hochschild.
Nov
Elisabeth — This House Is Mine by Dörte Hansen.