Book Club II

All Book Club II articles are collected here.

Fourth Friday Book Club April 25

Event Date:

The Black Count: Glory and Betrayal by Tom Reiss, published in 2012 and winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in biography, will be the selection for discussion when UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 25. Newcomers are welcome.

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The Black Count, book cover

Fourth Friday Book Club meeting in March

Event Date:

UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club will discuss The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson when it meets on Friday, March 28, via Zoom. It is a horrifying and compelling read.

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The Devil in the White City," book cover

Fourth Friday Book Club to meet February 28

Event Date:

The Fourth Friday Book Club will meet via Zoom on February 28 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. CST to discuss The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

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Huckleberry Finn, book cover

Fourth Friday Book Club in January

Event Date:

Selection: Middlemarch by George Elliot.

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Middlemarch

Book Club II: White Noise

Event Date:

UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club will discuss White Noise, the eighth novel by the master storyteller Don DeLillo, when it meets on Friday, November 22, by way of Zoom. Newcomers are welcome.

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White Noise

Book Club II: Vintage Munro

Event Date:

Vintage Munro is a collection of short stories from throughout the literary career of author Alice Munro, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013. 

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Vintage Munro

Fourth Friday Book Club: 'Main Street'

Event Date:

October is the season for Nobel Prize announcements, so it is fitting that UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club will be reading books by two Nobel Prize-winning authors this fall: Main Street by Sinclair Lewis and Vintage Munro by Alice Munro. 

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Main Street

In the Garden of Beasts

Event Date:

Erik Larson’s non-fiction narrative recounts the struggles of middle-class University of Chicago, Professor William Dodd, was appointed as U.S. ambassador to Germany during the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich. Dodd not only had to deal with the threats to democracy, but his thriftiness was criticized by State Department officials who mainly came from wealthy elite families. In addition, Dodd’s daughter began dating Nazi officials.

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In the Garden of Beasts

Edith Wharton – The Age of Innocence

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Edith Wharton is best known for her stories about upper-class New York society into which she was born. Age of Innocence is her eighth novel, published in 1920 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1921.

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Fourth Friday Book Club to meet May 24

Event Date:

UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.

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The Shakespeare Requirement, book cover

FF Book Club to meet April 26

Event Date:

Silk Parachute, an anthology of essays and the 40th of 44 published books by author John McPhee, will be the topic of discussion when UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club meets via Zoom from 2 to 3:30 p.m. CDT on April 26.

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Silk Parachute, book cover

Fourth Friday Book Club to meet March 22

Event Date:

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, a recipient of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and other awards, is the Fourth Friday Book Club’s selection for March. The setting is Appalachia in the early days of the opioid epidemic.

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Demon Copperhead, book cover

Fourth Friday Book Club to read 'The Bluest Eye' by Toni Morrison

Event Date:

The Bluest Eye, published in 1970 and the first novel by Toni Morrison, is next up for UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club when it meets via Zoom on February 23. Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.

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The Bluest Eye, book cover

Fourth Friday Book Club to welcome special guest Julie Schumacher

Event Date:

.UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club discuss Dear Committee Members with special guest and New York Times bestselling author Julie Schumacher when it meets via Zoom on January 26.

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Julie Schumacher

Book Club II to meet December 1

Event Date:

UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club will discuss The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy when it meets on Friday, December 1. This is a departure from the usual fourth Friday meeting to accommodate the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. 

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UMRA Events