Join us on Oct 12th at Mugs Charlotte
October 9, 2021 by
Chapter Members, join us LIVE for our
GREAT GROUP READS BOOKCLUB MEETUP
Tuesday, October 12th, 7:00pm
Mugs Coffee, 5126 Park Rd, Charlotte
Please rsvp if you wish to attend or vote on books.
RSVP HERE
Join us in picking our book club choices for December 2021 to September 2022. GGR Chair Kristen Knox will give an informative run-down of the newest Great Group reads list, which will be the basis of all titles for the calendar. We’ll decide what books to read and when.
WHAT IS GREAT GROUP READS?
Great Group Reads (GGR) is an initiative started by WNBA National in 2009. Books chosen are a resource for book clubs, reading groups, bookstores and libraries.
Titles for GGR are selected on the basis of their appeal to reading groups for whom they are certain to open up lively conversations about an array of timely and provocative topics. The GGR Selection Committee focuses attention on under-represented books from independent presses and mid- list releases from larger houses.
WHEN DOES THE CHARLOTTE CHAPTER BOOKCLUB MEET?
After books are selected and assigned, the WNBA-Charlotte’s Bookclub will meet the first Tuesday of every month, from November to September. Meetups will be from 7-8:30pm at Mugs Coffee Shop. Should there be a need to, for social distancing purposes, meet ups will be virtual on Zoom and chapter members will know in advance. Titles are picked and scheduled at the October 12th meetup. The list and schedule distributed to members asap.
WHAT ARE THE 2021 TITLES?
There were 20 titles selected, in the genres of fiction, short stories and memoir (we will choose to read to).
After Francesco by Brian Malloy (John Scognamiglio Books, HC) LGBT, Contemporary Fiction, Own Voices, AIDS Epidemic
All Sorrows Can Be Borne by Autumn Stephens (Rare Bird Books, HC) Saga, Coming-of-Age, Family Life
All the Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks (Grove Press, TP) Memoir, LGBT, Aids Epidemic, Personal Activism
The Baddest Girl on the Planet by Heather Frese (Blair, HC) Southern Fiction, Small Town/Rural Fiction
A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Tin House Books, TP) Coming-of-Age, Japanese History, Historical Fiction
Hell of a Book by Jason Mott (Dutton, HC) African-American Literary Fiction, Southern U.S.
Mona at Sea by Elizabeth Gonzalez James (Santa Fe Writer’s Project, TP) Coming of Age, Latinx
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai (Algonquin, TP) Coming of Age,Vietnamese, Cultural Heritage
No Hiding in Boise by Kim Hooper (Keylight Books, TP) Literary, Psychological
The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot: A Novel by Marianne Cronin (Harper Perennial, TP) Friendship, Women’s Fiction
The Paris Library by Janet Skeslian Charles (Atria, HC) Historical [WWII] Fiction, Women’s Fiction
The Parted Earth by Anjali Enjeti (Hub City Press, HC) Literary, Asian-American, Cultural Heritage
The Portrait: A Novel by Ilaria Bernardini (Pegasus Books, HC) Women’s Fiction, Family Life
The Prince of Mournful Thoughts and Other Stories by Caroline Kim (U. Of Pittsburgh Press, HC) Asian-American, Short Story Collection
A Recipe for Daphne by Nektaria Anastasiadou (Hoopoe, TP) Cultural Heritage, Women’s Fiction
The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson (Milkweed Editions, TP) Native American History, Aboriginal History, Nature & the Environment
The Son of the House by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia (Dundurn Group, TP) Literary, Women’s Fiction, Cultural Heritage
The Third Mrs. Galway by Deirdre Sinnott (Kaylie Jones Books, HC) Hist. Fiction, Civil War Era, Women’s Fiction
When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson (Kensington, TP) Biographical Fiction, Middle Eastern
Why Birds Sing by Nina Berkhout (ECW Press, TP) Family Life, Women’s Fiction
I LOVE READING! HOW DO I FIND OUT ABOUT JOINING THE COMMITTEE? Contact GGR Chair Kristen Knox, at KKnox.NatlReadingGrpMonth@gmail.com *Note, you must be a full-paid up Member to serve.
2021 Fall Kick-Off & Networking Party
September 14, 2021 by
Members and Friends,
Please join us at our
Annual Fall Kick-Off & Networking Party
Monday, September 27, 2021
6:30 – 8:30 PM
BURTONS GRILL & BAR, 1601 E. Woodlawn Rd. (Park Road Shopping Center), Charlotte
RSVP
Join us for great conversation over good wine at our annual fall get together! Rendezvous with your fellow WNBA Charlotte members over drinks and appetizers. If you’re a new or potential member, come and meet everyone!
Find out what’s ahead for 2021-22, and how to get more involved!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, WELCOME 2021
January 4, 2021 by
Please view our array books, written by Chapter Members!
Authors: Nicole Ayers; Sandy Altschuler, Carolina Aponte, Sarah Archer, Sarah Blanchard, Carla A. Carlisle, Shawn Keller-Cooper, Patt Fero, KC Freeman, Judy Goldberg, Maureen Ryan Griffin, Nancy Howie
Authors: Holly Hughes, Juanita Jackson, Renee Johnson, Lisa Kinkleman, Bridgett Langson, MJ. Maddox, Paula Martinac, Vickie Morrow, Shamyra Parker
Authors: Emily Pearce, Janet Perkins, Linda Vigen Phillips, Nancy Werking Poling, Fabi Preslar, Lucy Sams, Maureen Sherbondy, Tyrra Turner, Laura Valtora, Sarah Thompson, Nancy White
Join us at Mugs on October 28th
October 23, 2020 by
Chapter Members, join us LIVE for our
GREAT GROUP READS BOOKCLUB MEETUP
Wednesday, October 28th, 7:00pm
Mugs Coffee, 5126 Park Rd, Charlotte
Please rsvp if you wish to attend.
RSVP HERE
Great Group Reads List
Our first live event since March, we are getting together to pick the book club choices for December 2020 to September 2021. GGR Chair Kristen Knox will give an informative run-down of the newest Great Group reads list, which will be the basis of all titles for the calendar. We’ll decide what books to read and when.
WHAT IS GREAT GROUP READS?
Great Group Reads (GGR) is an initiative started by WNBA National in 2009. Books chosen are a resource for book clubs, reading groups, bookstores and libraries.
Titles for GGR are selected on the basis of their appeal to reading groups for whom they are certain to open up lively conversations about an array of timely and provocative topics. The Selection Committee focuses attention on under-represented books from independent presses and mid- list releases from larger houses. Titles were submitted by over 100 publishers–20 books were chosen.
WHAT ARE THE 2020 TITLES?
There were 20 titles selected, in the genres of fiction, short stories and memoir. The following is the exact list, to see descriptions, go to the 2020 GGR PAGE on the national website, or the WNBA Bookshop page
Anna Eva Mimi Adam by Marina Antropow Cramer
The Beauty of Her Face by Sahar Mustafah
The Bitch by Pilar Quintana, Lisa Dillman (Translator)
Continental Divide by Alex Myers
The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline
Godshot by Chelsea Bieker
Goshen Road by Bonnie Proudfoot
The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
In Our Midst by Nancy Jensen
Invented Lives by Andrea Goldsmith
The Last Goldfish by Anita Lahey
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels
The Road to Urbino by Roma Tearne
The Royal Abduls by Ramiza Shamoun Koya
Tea By the Sea by Donna Hemans
Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify by Carolyn Holbrook
The Wanting Life by Mark Rader
Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur
I LOVE READING! HOW DO I FIND OUT ABOUT JOINING THE COMMITTEE? Contact GGR Chair Kristen Knox, at KKnox.NatlReadingGrpMonth@gmail.com *Note, you must be a full-paid up Member to serve.
To attend the October 28th meetup, or give your picks, click here.
BIBLIOFEAST 2020
October 6, 2020 by
Join us as well celebrate National Reading Group Month and the newest Great Group reads collection!
Monday, October 19th, 7:00-8:30pm
Online Via Zoom
* Book Giveaways for Attendees *
* Author Readings and Q&A *
*Recorded for Facebook & More*
Our Annual Bibliofeast book & author event is a virtual format this year! Enjoy a panel discussion featuring four outstanding authors, and their 2020 Great Group Reads-chosen titles!
-
Donna Hemans, author of Tea by the Sea (Red Hen Press, TP)
Summary: When Plum’s daughter is kidnapped at birth, by the baby’s father, she spends the next 17 years searching for her With travels that extend from Jamaica to Brooklyn, this novel examines issues of parenthood, tragedy, identity, redemption, and betrayal.
-
Nancy Jensen author of In Our Midst (Dzanc Books, HC)
Summary: In 1940s Indiana, community fear and suspicion has grown about German immigrants. Nina and Otto Aust and their sons are first separated by the FBI, then interrogated, and ultimately sent to an internment camp in this WWII-set historical fiction.
-
Christina Baker Kline author of The Exiles (Custom House, HC)
Summary: Set in the early days of Australia, this is a story of three women: Two English convicts, and a young Aboriginal girl who’s taken from her people to be raised as a sort of pet by the governor and his wife. This novel takes on colonization, native peoples, and the determination that enabled them to persevere in the face of exile.
-
Sahar Mustafah author of The Beauty of Your Face (W.W. Norton, HC)
Summary: High School principal Afaf Rahman hides as a shooter guns down students at a Muslim girls school in Chicago. The novel alternates between Afaf’s live account of the attack and flashbacks to childhood incidents, including the relationship with her mother, her sister’s disappearance, and her own discovery of the comfort of Islam.
VIEW THE FULL 2020 GREAT GROUP LIST HERE
Book Club Meetup, Tuesday, February 4th
January 22, 2020 by
Come and discuss Southernmost by Silas House (Algonquin, TP)
Tuesday, February 4, 7:00pm
AMELIE’S BAKERY (updated!) 4321 Park Road., Charlotte, NC.
Synopsis: An evangelical minister in Tennessee reexamining his beliefs and teachings finds himself at odds with his congregation and his wife over the issue of homosexuality in this soul-searching novel about tolerance, family, right versus wrong, and forgiveness.
All are welcome to attend, to give your input or learn about a new book to read!
? ? All titles for our bookclub are selected from WNBA’s Great Group Reads List.
Interested in knowing more about that committee? Contact Kristen Knox, KKnox.NatlReadingGrpMonth@gmail.com
Book Club Meetup: Tuesday, January 7th
January 2, 2020 by
Come and discuss Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner (Atria)
Tuesday, January 7th, 7:00pm
Panera Bread, 5940 Fairview Rd., Charlotte, NC.
Synopsis: Growing up in 1950s Detroit, they live in a perfect “Dick and Jane” house, where their roles in the family are clearly defined. Jo is the tomboy, the bookish rebel with a passion to make the world more fair; Bethie is the pretty, feminine good girl, a would-be star who enjoys the power her beauty confers and dreams of a traditional life. But the truth ends up looking different from what the girls imagined. Jo and Bethie survive traumas and tragedies, and neither sister inhabit the world she dreams of, or a life that feels authentic or joyful. Is it too late for the women to finally stake a claim on happily ever after?
All are welcome to attend, to give your input or learn about a new book to read!
? ? All titles for our bookclub are selected from WNBA’s Great Group Reads List.
Interested in knowing more about that committee? Contact Kristen Knox, KKnox.NatlReadingGrpMonth@gmail.com
Book Club Meetup: Tuesday, December 3rd
December 2, 2019 by
Come and discuss Laurentian Divide by Sarah Stonich (Univ. of Minnesota Press, TP)
Tuesday, December 3rd, 7:00pm
Panera Bread, 5940 Fairview Rd., Charlotte, NC
Synopsis: A small, northern Minnesota community waits for semi-hermit Rauri Paar to reappear in their midst, signaling the end of winter. As the residents wait, their own lives move forward even without Rauri. This is a warm, wise, and wonderful look at the inhabitants of a small town, at connection, and support in good times and bad.
Please come, whether you’ve read / liked the book or not!
All titles for our bookclub are selected from WNBA’s Great Group Reads List. Interested in knowing more about that committee? Contact Kristen Knox, KKnox.NatlReadingGrpMonth@gmail.com
Book Club Meetup: Tuesday, November 5th
October 29, 2019 by
Come and discuss Tomorrow’s Bread by Anna Jean Mayhew (Kensington Books)
Tuesday, November 5th, 7:00pm
Panera Bread, 5940 Fairview Rd., Charlotte, NC
ABOUT CHARLOTTE HISTORY, Y’ALL!
In 1961 Charlotte, North Carolina, the predominantly black neighborhood of Brooklyn is a bustling city within a city. Self-contained and vibrant, it has its own restaurants, schools, theaters, churches, and night clubs. There are shotgun shacks and poverty, along with well-maintained houses like the one Loraylee Hawkins shares with her young son, Hawk, her Uncle Ray, and her grandmother, Bibi. Loraylee’s love for Archibald Griffin, Hawk’s white father and manager of the cafeteria where she works, must be kept secret in the segregated South.
Loraylee has heard rumors that the city plans to bulldoze her neighborhood, claiming it’s dilapidated and dangerous. The government promises to provide new housing and relocate businesses. But locals like Pastor Ebenezer Polk, who’s facing the demolition of his church, know the value of Brooklyn does not lie in bricks and mortar.
Please come, whether you’ve read / liked the book or not!
All titles for our bookclub are selected from WNBA’s Great Group Reads List. Interested in knowing more about that committee? Contact Kristen Knox, KKnox.NatlReadingGrpMonth@gmail.com
Follow Us!