ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS
1
DateTitle (click links for blog write-ups)AuthorTopic/GenreCategoryCommentsHost
2
10/14/2025HamnetMaggie O'FarrellShakespeare, loss of child, griefHistorical fiction(Zoom meeting)
3
9/11/2025Balancing Act: Mountains, Family, Career Betsy WhiteWomen's studies, human rights, and mountaineeringMemoirBook club member Betsy White's memoirBetsy
4
8/13/2025Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather CancelLoretta J. RossCommunication strategies, social justiceNon fictionSmith reads selection(Zoom meeting)
5
7/8/2025This Tender LandWilliam Kent KruegerMississippi River, Depression era lifeFiction (Zoom meeting)
6
6/14/2025Murder on the Orient ExpressAgatha ChristieMysteryPlayTheater outing in Orinda, featuring Pat Wright in the cast.-
7
5/14/2025Bad Indians: A Tribal MemoirDeborah MirandaNative American experienceMemoirBetsy W.
8
4/8/2025The GiverLois LowryYoung adult, dystopian fantasyFictionJennie Abbingsole recommended, and joined from Amherst!(Zoom meeting)
9
3/13/2025The Thursday Murder ClubRichard OsmanMysteryFiction (Zoom meeting)
10
2/13/2025Demon CopperheadBarbara KingsolverAppalachia, Opioid CrisisFictionChapter-by-chapter retelling of Dicken's David Copperfield set in modern day Appalachia. 2023 Pulitzer Prize (shared with Trust)Deebie S.
11
1/14/2025Hijab Butch BluesLamya HMuslim immigrant experience, coming of age queerMemoir(Zoom meeting)
12
12/12/2024Poetry night: bring a poem to shareVariousPoetryPoetryNancy S.
13
11/13/2024The SentenceLouise ErdrichNative American culture, bookstores, ghosts Fiction(Zoom meeting)
14
10/8/2024The Scarlet Sisters: Sex, Suffrage, and
Scandal in the Gilded Age		Myra MacPhersonSocial history, women's rightsNonfiction(Zoom meeting)
15
9/12/2024World of Wonders: In Praise of
Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other
Astonishments		Aimee NezhukumatathilNature, memoirEssays, memoirSmith Reads selectionBetsy W.
16
8/14/2024All the Light We Cannot SeeAnthony DoerrHistorical fiction, WWIIFiction(Zoom meeting)
17
7/16/2024Their Eyes Were Watching GodZora Neale HurstenAfrican American experienceFictionPreviously read in 2003(Zoom meeting)
18
6/23/2024Spider's WebAgatha ChristieMysteryPlayTheater outing in Orinda, featuring Pat Wright in the cast.-
19
5/7/2024The Ohlone WayMalcolm MargolinLocal history, Native American cultureNonfiction(Zoom meeting)
20
4/9/2024TrustHernan DiazFinance, novel-within-a-novel, historicalFiction2023 Pulitzer Prize (shared with Demon Copperhead)(Zoom meeting)
21
3/14/2024The PearlJohn SteinbeckFolklore, colonialism, social classFiction30th anniversary readSherrill L.
22
2/13/2024An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around UsEd YongScience, animal sensesNonfictionMaggie S.
23
1/19/2024Betty Wales, FreshmanMargaret WardeHistorical, college lifeFictionSmithie author(Zoom meeting)
24
12/14/2023Poetry night: bring a poem to shareVariousPoetryPoetryDeebie S.
25
11/8/2023The Ride of Her LifeElizabeth LettsTravel, mortalityNonfiction(Zoom meeting)
26
10/10/2023SolitoJavier ZamoraImmigration, communityMemoir(Zoom meeting)
27
9/14/2023The Book of DelightsRoss GayEssaysMemoirSmith Reads selection(Zoom meeting)
28
8/9/2023Are You There God? It's Me, MargaretJudy BlumePuberty, religionFiction(Zoom meeting)
29
7/11/2023NightcrawlingLeila MottleyOakland, exploitationFictionSmithie author(Zoom meeting)
30
6/17/2023"Gypsy" at Woodminster Theater-Vaudeville, family-Theater outing-
31
5/10/2023Braiding SweetgrassRobin Wall KimmererBiology, Native AmericanNonfictionNancy S. and Zoom
32
4/11/2023Wuthering HeightsEmily BronteRevengeFiction(Zoom meeting)
33
3/9/2023The Secret Lives of Church LadiesDeesha PhilyawSexuality, short storiesFictionSherrill L. and Zoom
34
2/8/2023The Elephant WhispererLawrence AnthonyElephantsMemoir(Zoom meeting)
35
1/10/2023This Is HappinessNiall WilliamsIrelandFiction(Zoom meeting)
36
12/8/2022Poetry night: bring a poem to shareVariousPoetryPoetryBetsy W. and Zoom
37
11/9/2022In the Shadow of the MountainSilvia Vasquez-LavadoTrauma, mountaineeringMemoirHazel W. and Zoom
38
10/11/2022My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's SorryFredrick BackmanFamily historyFictionBetsy W. and Zoom
39
9/8/2022The Book of Form and EmptinessRuth OzekiFamily, sanity, librariesFictionSmith Reads selectionDeebie S. and Zoom
40
8/6/2022Summer outing to "Hella Feminist" at OMCA-----
41
7/12/2022My Life in FranceJulia ChildFrance, cookingMemoirSmithie authorCharmaine D. and Zoom
42
6/9/2022The Orphan KeeperCamron WrightAdoption, IndiaFictionBarbara B. and Zoom
43
5/11/2022Band of SistersLauren WilligWWI, humanitarianismFictionSmith historySherrill L. and Zoom
44
4/12/2022The Undocumented AmericansKarla Cornejo VillavicencioImmigration, communityNonfictionNancy S. and Zoom
45
3/10/2022Conjure WomenAfia AtakoraFreed people, superstitionFiction(Zoom meeting)
46
2/9/2022The Night WatchmanLouise ErdrichNative Americans, communityFiction(Zoom meeting)
47
1/11/2022The FriendSigrid NunezNew York, writingFiction(Zoom meeting)
48
12/9/2021Poetry night: bring a poem to shareVariousPoetryPoetryBetsy W. and Zoom
49
11/10/2021Say NothingPatrick Radden KeefeIreland, historyNonfiction(Zoom meeting)
50
10/12/2021Mrs. DallowayVirginia WoolfLondon, societyFiction(Zoom meeting)
51
9/9/2021Exit WestMohsin HamidRefugees, datingFictionSmith Reads selection(Zoom meeting)
52
8/11/2021Paris in the Present TenseMark HelprinParis, memoryFiction(Zoom meeting)
53
7/13/2021On Earth We're Briefly GorgeousOcean VuongFamily, warFictionCharmaine D. and Zoom
54
6/10/2021Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The DeadOlga TokarczukAnimal rights, murder, astrologyFiction(Zoom meeting)
55
5/12/2021Lincoln in the BardoGeorge SaundersAbraham Lincoln, ghosts, afterlifeFiction(Zoom meeting)
56
4/13/2021A Woman of No ImportanceSonia PurnellWWII, spies, woman heroesBiography(Zoom meeting)
57
3/11/2021When No One Is WatchingAlyssa ColeGentrification, BrooklynThriller(Zoom meeting)
58
2/10/2021Little Fires EverywhereCeleste NgFamily, art, adoptionFiction(Zoom meeting)
59
1/12/2021Born a CrimeTrevor NoahHumor, race, familyMemoir(Zoom meeting)
60
12/10/2020Poetry night: bring a poem to shareVariousPoetryPoetry(Zoom meeting)
61
11/11/2020The New Jim CrowMichelle AlexanderMass incarceration, racial justiceNonfiction(Zoom meeting)
62
10/6/2020Black Is the BodyEmily BernardFamily, BlacknessMemoir(Zoom meeting)
63
9/10/2020EducatedTara WestoverSurvivalismMemoirSmith Reads selection(Zoom meeting)
64
8/5/2020A Gentleman in MoscowAmor TowlesRussia, aristocracy, (hotel) arrestFiction(Zoom meeting)
65
7/7/2020CommencementJ. Courtney SullivanSmith, friendshipFictionSmithie author(Zoom meeting)
66
6/11/2020The PowerNaomi AldermanFeminismScience fiction(Zoom meeting)
67
5/6/2020The OverstoryRichard PowersTreesFiction(Zoom meeting)
68
4/7/2020None---Social gathering on Zoom due to onset of COVID-19 pandemic(Zoom meeting)
69
3/12/2020There, ThereTommy OrangeNative American stories and cultureFictionBetsy W.
70
2/5/2020BelovedToni MorrisonTrauma, slavery, familiesFictionToni Morrison had recently diedBev F.
71
1/7/2020Children Playing Before a Statue of HerculesVariousShort storiesShort stories selected by David SedarisNancy S.
72
12/12/2019Poetry night: bring a poem to shareVariousPoetryPoetryRuth M.
73
11/6/2019In the DarkroomSusan FaludiBiography, transgender, HungaryMemoirDeebie S.
74
10/8/2019CirceMadeline MillerGreek mythsFictionNancy S.
75
9/12/2019How Culture Shapes the Climate Change DebateAndrew J. HoffmanClimate change, scienceNonfictionSmith Reads selectionMary Ann C.
76
8/7/2019MilkmanAnna BurnsPolitical conference, gender violenceFictionCatherine C.
77
7/9/2019The Left Hand of DarknessUrsula K. LeGuinGender and societyScience fictionCharmaine D.
78
6/8/2019A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam ShakespearePlaySummer Theater Outing at CalShakes-
79
5/8/2019Age of InnocenceEdith WhartonClassics, class satireFictionNancy S.
80
4/9/2019A Tale for the Time BeingRuth OzekiFamily historyPrevious Smith Reads selectionMary S.
81
3/7/2019Sing, Unburied, SingJesmyn WardThe effects of racism on familiesFiction25th anniversary meetingSherrill L.
82
2/6/2019A Pearl In The StormTori Murden McClureRowing, love, adventureMemoirSmithie authorNancy S.
83
1/15/2019Being MortalAtul GawandeMedicine, deathNon-fictionBetsy W.
84
12/13/2018Poetry night: bring a poem to shareVariousPoetryPoetryRuth M.
85
11/7/201848 Peaks: Hiking and Healing in the White MountainsCheryl SuchorsHiking, cancerMemoirGuest authorPat W.
86
10/9/2018My AntoniaWilla CatherFrontier lifeFiction100th anniversary of the book's publicationBetsy W.
87
9/13/2018From Krakow to Berkeley: Coming out of Hiding, An Immigrant’s Search for Identity and BelongingAnna RabkinWorld War II, local politicsMemoirGuest authorNancy S.
88
7/10/2018We Are All Completely Beside OurselvesKaren Joy FowlerAnimal rights, dysfunctional familiesFictionSmith Reads selectionMary S.
89
6/14/2018Killers of the Flower MoonDavid Grannthe Osage Reign of Terror, the FBINon-fictionCharmaine D.
90
5/9/2018Word by WordKory StamperModern lexicographyNon-fictionSmithie AuthorPat W.
91
4/10/2018The Women in the CastleJessica ShattuckWomen in post-WWII GermanyHistorical fictionMaggie S.
92
3/15/2018Happier?Daniel HorowitzPositive psychologyNon-fictionFaculty speakerSports Basement
93
2/7/2018EmbersSandor MaraiHungarian fiction, friendship and betrayalFictionDeebie
94
1/9/2018Liar Temptress Soldier SpyKaren AbbottCivil War, Women's historyNon-fictionLinda G.
95
12/14/2017The Shepherd’s Life James RebanksFarming, Lake District of EnglandMemoirBetsy W.
96
11/8/2017Lab GirlHope JahrenBotany, Bipolar disorder, life in scientific researchMemoirDeebie
97
10/10/2017Homegoing Yaa GyasiAfrican diaspora, impacts of slave tradeFictionNancy
98
9/14/2017The Book of Unknown AmericansCristina HenriquezLatino immigrant experienceFictionSmith Reads selectionKathryn
99
7/11/2017The SympathizerViet Thanh NguyenVietnam, Vietnamese immigrant community in LAFictionCharmaine
100
6/8/2017The Handmaid’s TaleMargaret AtwoodDystopia, Women's subjugationFictionNancy B.