Moke Hill READS Book Club

Feb 10, 2017 by contributor

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday March 7 — 7 PM, Moke Hill Library/Archives

BOOK: News of the World, by Paulette Jiles.

In 1870s’ Texas, retired Civil War Veteran Captain Kidd, age 70, travels from town to town presenting readings from East Coast newspapers.  He is persuaded to transport 10-year-old Johanna, orphaned and held captive by Kiowa, 400 miles to her aunt and uncle.  Thus begins an epic Western adventure filled with danger and survival, told by the award-winning author who also supplies a soul.

April 4, 2017 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Henrietta Lacks, was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.

May 2, 2017 America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate, protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France. From Paris to Virginia and on to the White House, Patsy must decide, as scandal, tragedy, and poverty threaten her family, how much she will sacrifice to protect her father’s reputation, in the process defining not just his political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.

Member recommendations:

At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier A family’s adventures exporting redwood seedlings, including our local Angles Camp.

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain (author of The Paris Wife) Set in 1920s Colonial Kenya, the story of Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa.

Slow Curve on the Coquihalla (A Hunter Rayne Highway Mystery, Book 1) When a well respected truck driver plunges his truck down a steep embankment in the mountains of British Columbia, his distraught daughter wants to know why he died. Not long afterwards, while driving the same highway, her husband’s brakes are tampered with, almost creating another fatal accident This compels Hunter Rayne, a fellow trucker and retired RCMP detective, to help her find answers.

Moke Hill Reads Book Club:  First Tuesday of every month. No commitment, No attendance taken, No restrictions, No membership, No dues. For everyone interested in good books and discussions about them. Sponsored by the Mokelumne Hill Friends of the Library. Send your email address or watch for announcements on mokehill.org and other news sources. Contact Janet Dock:  janetdock@me.com