Book Club I
All Book Club I articles are collected here.
'52 Loaves' by William Alexander
Event Date:52 Loaves: One Man's Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust by William Alexander will be the selection for discussion when the UMRA Book Club gathers via Zoom for its first monthly meeting of 2026.
More...
Book Club I in December
Event Date:Meeting to plan books for next year.
More...
Book Notes | ‘An Unfinished Love Story’
Event Date:
Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin turns personal in this illuminating memoir of the unparalleled 1960s and the life she shared with her husband of 42 years, Richard “Dick” Goodwin, speech writer and confidant of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Robert F. Kennedy.
More...
Book Notes | ‘The Cello Still Sings’
Event Date:
Author Janet Horvath was the associate principal cello of the Minnesota Orchestra from 1980 until 2012. The thrust of this story is about the her journey to uncover her father’s depravations during World War II, when he was forcibly relocated to a labor camp along with thousands of other Hungarian Jews.
More...
Book Notes | ‘West with the Night’
Event Date:
Figurative language, including personifications of animals and inanimate objects, give "West with the Night," a memoir by Beryl Markham, a poetic quality. As Ernest Hemingway said, “…She can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers—it really is a bloody wonderful book.”
More...
Book Notes | ‘Blue Ribbon’
Event Date:
Do you love the Minnesota State Fair and want to know more about its history? Then 'Blue Ribbon' by Karal Ann Marling, U of M professor emerita of American art and culture, is your chance.
More...
Book Notes | ‘Daisy Jones & the Six’
Event Date:
Written by New York Times bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid, "Daisy Jones & the Six" is about the rise of a fictional rock and roll band in the 1970s. It is also now a limited series available on Amazon Prime.
More...
Book Notes | ‘The Great River’
Event Date:
A storehouse of information, author John Boyce Upholt’s 2024 book is an ambitious take on the geological, hydrological, ecological, sociological, political, and historical story of the “mighty Mississippi.”
More...
Book Notes | ‘The Frozen River’
Event Date:
Author Ariel Lawhon's book of historical fiction is based on the real life of Martha Ballard, a midwife and healer in 1789 colonial Maine. Members of the UMRA Book Club liked the first-person narrative with Martha telling the story. Also, the descriptions of the woods and landscape, the Ballard mill, and the Kennebec River. It is a good read.
More...
Book Notes | ‘Random Family’
Event Date:
Author Adrian Nicole LeBlanc spent 10 years hanging out in the Bronx with one loosely defined family, while she tracked its fate. Most UMRA Book Club members thought LeBlanc’s “unflinching documentary” provided more questions than answers.
More...
Book Notes | ‘Good Night, Irene’
Event Date:
Luis Alberto Urrea’s historical novel about the Red Cross Clubmobile women who served in Europe during World War II is based on the experiences of his mother, who joined the service in 1943.
More...
Book Notes | ‘A Walk in the Woods’
Event Date:
Author Bill Bryson describes his experience hiking the Appalachian Trail with Stephen Katz, a childhood friend from Iowa. The Appalachian Trail is 2,100 miles long and traverses 14 states, from Georgia to Maine. Bryson's commentary is done with accuracy, environmental consciousness, and hilarious wit and humor.
More...
Book Notes | ‘Tom Lake’
Event Date:
'Tom Lake' by Ann Patchett is set in the early summer of 2020 at a cherry orchard on the shores of Lake Michigan, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the three daughters of the main character have returned home to help with the harvest.
More...
Book Club I in December
Event Date:Planning meeting for 2025.
More...Book Notes | ‘A Fever in the Heartland’
Event Date:
This riveting story of the Ku Klux Klan’s reemergence in the 1920s, particularly in the Midwest, has many parallels with today. Members of UMRA’s Book Club were surprised to learn of the Klan’s phenomenal rise and control over the North in the ’20s. They agreed that there are differences today but that there is still much to be done.
More...