Scheduled Books
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February 13
Readers Become Writers 2
A.S. Book Club members share their short story, poem, prose, fairy tale, fiction, non-fiction...
There are currently no other scheduled books. Please check back at a later date.
Future Suggested Books
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The Dutch House: A Novel
At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures. Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.
Printed Book: 352 pages
Audio Book: 09 hours, 53 minutes
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Grave Talk
The last thing Alice expects to see at her husband’s graveside on his birthday is a giant, talking frog. On closer inspection, it’s a grown man dressed as Kermit. Turns out Alice’s husband is buried next to Ben’s older brother Harry, who - as a parting practical joke in his will - insisted that Ben visit his grave each year, on this specific day, dressed in an as-yet-undisclosed pageant of embarrassing fancy dress. With little but their grief and this one day in common, Alice and Ben form a very special, very strange friendship, meeting just once a year: same day, same time, same place - different silly costume. As the years pass and grief alters, can their unique bond help them cope with the hardest part of death: life?
Printed Book: 319 pages
Audio Book: 09 hours, 48 minutes
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The Silent Patient
The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband — and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive. Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations — a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....
Printed Book: 368 pages
Audio Book: 08 hours, 33 minutes
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Wild
Wild follows the story of Cheryl Strayed, who at the age of 22 loses her mother to cancer; what follows is a series of destructive events such as the breakdown of her marriage, a distancing from her family, and her addiction to heroin and sex. One day, some years later, Cheryl makes the impulsive decision to hike the Pacific Crest Trail - an 1,100 mile hike on the West Coast of America. With no prior experience of long-distance hiking, and just the determination and desire to escape all the things that had shattered her life, Cheryl sets out on the trail that sees her life truly change. Wild is a story about physical challenge and spiritual discoveries, all while walking one of America's most famous and beautiful hiking trails.
Printed Book: 336 pages
Audio Book: 13 hours, 04 minutes
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A Dirty Job: A Novel
Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They're even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie's doing okay—until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death. It's a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody's gotta do it.
Printed Book: 405 pages
Audio Book: 11 hours, 50 minutes
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We Solve Murders
From the #1 bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club Series A brand new mystery. An iconic new detective duo. And a thrilling new murder to solve . . . Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He still does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar routines: the pub quiz, his favorite bench, his cat waiting for him at home. His days of adventure are over. Adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s job now. Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. Working in private security, every day is dangerous. She’s currently on a remote island protecting mega-bestselling author Rosie D’Antonio, until a dead body and a bag of money mean trouble in paradise. So she sends an SOS to the only person she trusts . . . As a thrilling race around the world begins, can Amy and Steve outrun and outsmart a killer? Solving murders. It’s a family business.
Printed Book: 400 pages
Audio Book: 10 hours, 30 minutes
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The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife: A Novel
Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he’d return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there’s nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he’s desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. But Fred’s luck changes when, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head—as long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up. Denise Simms is stuck breathing the same disappointing air again and again. A middle-aged mom and caregiver at Bernard's facility, her crumbling marriage and daughter's health concerns are suffocating her joy for life. Wounded by her two-faced husband, she vows never to let a man deceive her again. As Fred walks in Bernard’s shoes, he leaves a trail of kindness behind him, fueling Denise's suspicions about his true identity. When unexpected truths are revealed, Fred and Denise rediscover their sense of purpose and learn how to return a broken life to mint condition.
Printed Book: 336 pages
Audio Book: 10 hours, 49 minutes
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What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe’s iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by signature xkcd comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with updated and expanded versions of the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What If? will be required reading for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.
Printed Book: 320 pages
Audio Book: 06 hours, 36 minutes
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The Accidental Tourist: A Novel
Travel writer Macon Leary hates travel, adventure, surprises, and anything outside of his routine. Immobilized by grief, Macon is becoming increasingly prickly and alone, anchored by his solitude and an unwillingness to compromise his creature comforts. Then he meets Muriel, an eccentric dog trainer too optimistic to let Macon disappear into himself. Despite Macon’s best efforts to remain insulated, Muriel up-ends his solitary, systemized life, catapulting him into the center of a messy, beautiful love story he never imagined. A fresh and timeless tale of unexpected bliss, The Accidental Tourist showcases Tyler’s talents for making characters—and their relationships—feel both real and magical. “Incandescent, heartbreaking, exhilarating…One cannot reasonably expect fiction to be much better than this.” —The Washington Post
Printed Book: 352 pages
Audio Book: 12 hours, 43 minutes
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Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
A mesmerizing tale of unjust imprisonment and offbeat escape, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption is one of Stephen King’s most beloved and iconic stories, and it helped make Castle Rock a place readers would return to over and over again. Suspenseful, mysterious, and heart-wrenching, this iconic King novella, is populated by a cast of unforgettable characters — Andy Dufresne, a banker, was convicted of killing his wife and her lover and sent to Shawshank Prison. He maintains his innocence over the decades he spends at Shawshank during which time he forms a friendship with "Red", a fellow inmate.
Printed Book: 128 pages
Audio Book: 03 hours, 58 minutes
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The Guest List
ONE OF "THE NEW YORK TIMES" BEST THRILLERS OF THE YEAR. The bride – The plus one – The best man – The wedding planner – The bridesmaid – The body. On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
Printed Book: 336 pages
Audio Book: 10 hours, 22 minutes
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Anatomy of a Scandal
Sophie Whitehouse has a lovely home, 2 adorable children and a handsome, successful husband. In other words her life is perfect. But everything changes when her husband confesses an indiscretion. As it turns out, James's revelation is just the tip of the iceberg. He stands accused of a terrible crime. The truth is more shocking than anyone ever could have thought. Is James the guilty perpetrator or an innocent victim of a Toxic agenda? This is a riveting story of love, revenge and deception. No one's motives are pure, but some people's secrets are much darker than others.
Printed Book: 400 pages
Audio Book: 10 hours, 56 minutes
A.S. Book Club Ratings
(1 to 5 stars, with 5 being great!)
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The Rosie Project: A Novel
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The Little Prince
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Holly
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Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
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On Earth as It Is on Television
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The Housemaid
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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First Lie Wins
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Remarkably Bright Creatures
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The Road
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The Authenticity Project
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Lessons in Chemistry
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Crime and Punishment
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The Cruelest Month
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Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead: A Novel
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1984
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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
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The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Past Events
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Readers Become Writers
In August 2023 it was suggest that club members become writers. At our December 13 meeting, four club members shared stories they had written. Each one was very well received by the group. The readers who became writers were highly praised for their creativity and passion.
VIEW MEMBERS' WORKS