Winter/Spring 2025 Downtown Oakland Senior Center Book Group with Dr. Ruth Saxton

Thanks to Carole Glanzer for organizing!

January 27- May 12 (8 meetings) 2^nd and 4^th Mondays of each month. 1:00- 2:30 PM on Zoom  Note: First session: January 27

1/27    A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, 2019, 368 pgs. A grumpy 59-year- old man learn that life is worth living, even in the face of loss and adversity. A testament to the power of friendship and community. Rave reviews.

2/10    Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat, 2019, 240 pgs. (stories) Danticat is a master of economy, with a remarkable ability to build singular fictional worlds in a matter of sentences. Examines how migration to and from the Caribbean shapes her characters.            Spare, evocative, moving.

2/24    The Friend by Sigrid Nunez, 2018, 224 pgs. Quietly brilliant and darkly funny, aggressively unsentimental interrogation of grief, writing and the human-canine bond.

3/10    Dearborn by Gassen Zeineddine, 2023, 240 pgs. (stories) Stories full of humor and warmth about an Arab American community in Dearborn, Michigan. Irresistable, warm, funny and unrelenting voice.

3/24    How to Read a Book by Monica Wood, 2024, 283 pgs. After accidentally causing the death while driving , a Maine woman does time in prison. The prison bookclub and its members are her solace before she reestablishes her life and defines herself on the outside. A finely wrought story, beautifully told, with deeply memorable characters.

4/14    State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, 2011, 368 pgs. A pharmacologist travels into the Amazonian heart of darkness in this spellbinder. Nail-biting action scenes are balanced by contemplative moments that give this gripping novel spiritual and    metaphysical depth, right down to the final startling plot twist. Thrilling,            disturbing and moving in equal measures

4/28    Ladies Who Lunch by Lore Segal, 2024, 128 pgs. (stories) These deceptively simple stories, about older women who meet for lunch, glide with a clear-eyed calm and the grace of a writer’s lifelong career to inform them. Gemlike stories from a master of the form.

5/12    Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy, 2024, 240 pgs. Apparently, it takes a village to care for an abandoned mouse with breathing issues, and to lure an elderly woman out of isolation. The Washington Post calls it “a deep, moving and vibrant saga.”