Greetings! The next book club selection is Love Life by Ray Kluun, translated from the Dutch by Shaun Whiteside.

We will meet on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 from 12 noon – 1 pm in Kalmanovitz Hall, Room 265. Bring your lunch and tell your friends — the book club is open to the whole USF Community.

To get a copy of the book, request it through Link+. Gleeson Library is purchasing a copy but we haven’t received it yet.

From what I understand, this novel, set in Amsterdam, is dark and gritty — it tells the story of a man coping with his wife’s terminal breast cancer, so at times he is despicable but the story is told with probing honesty. I hear it’s beautifully written and is a page turner — the book club member who suggested it read it in 3 days!

To read full reviews, check out the book’s Amazon page.

Check it out and join us for a lively discussion. You don’t need a background in literary criticism to join us. You just have to like books

UPDATE: The Gleeson copy has arrived! If you want it, click “request” on its record in the catalog.

Greetings! The USF Book Club will discuss Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout on Tuesday November 17, 2009. We will meet in the seminar room of Gleeson Library (room 209) from 12 noon – 1 pm. Bring your lunch and tell your friends!

Olive Kitteridge is a short story cycle where all the pieces are about Olive Kitteridge, a “redoubtable seventh-grade math teacher in Crosby, Maine,” and work to create a full tapestry that illustrates her life, but each piece can stand alone. It is very popular right now so make sure to order it soon!

How to get a copy: you can try requesting it through Gleeson Library’s free service, Link+, although the book is very popular and may not be available. Try requesting it through this link, this link, or this link. If you successfully request it, the book will be delivered to USF within about 4 business days. Also, you can put a hold on one of the Public Library’s copies. (They currently have 10 copies but are processing at least 30 more.)

“Anyone who gets in Olive’s way had better watch out, for she crashes unapologetically through life like an emotional storm trooper. She forces her husband, Henry, the town pharmacist, into tactical retreat; and she drives her beloved son, Christopher, across the country and into therapy. But appalling though Olive can be, Strout  manages to make her deeply human and even sympathetic, as are all of the characters in this “novel in stories.” Covering a period of 30-odd years, most of the stories (several of which were previously published in the New Yorker and other magazines) feature Olive as  their focus, but in some she is bit player or even a footnote while other characters take center stage to sort through their own fears and insecurities. Though loneliness and loss haunt these pages, Strout also supplies gentle humor and a nourishing dose of hope. People are sustained by the rhythms of ordinary life and the natural wonders of coastal Maine, and even Olive is sometimes caught off guard by life’s baffling beauty.” –BookList

Hope to see you there!

Hello! The USF Book Club will discuss The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson on October 13, 2009 (Tuesday) from 12-1 pm.Weather permitting we will meet in the USF Community Garden, just west of the School of Education, on the side of Lone Mountain.

The book club is an informal drop-in group of USF staff and students who meet at lunch time to discuss the pick of the month. All members of the USF Community are welcome to join us. Bring your lunch and your friends!

How to get the book through the library:

Since Gleeson’s copy is checked out, you can request the book through Link+ which is a free service. The book will be delivered to Gleeson within 4 business days. Click here to request it.

From Library Journal: Wealthy young Harriet Vanger disappeared 40 years ago, and Uncle Henrik always thought she was murdered. Now he’s drafted a hotshot journalist and a tattooed hacker to investigate. An expert on right-wing extremists, Swedish author Larsson died in 2004. This international best seller arrives here with a 100,000-copy first printing.

We’re shaking it up at the USF Book Club!

We enjoyed challenging ourselves by reading heady, nonfiction essays so much that we’re discussing a   g r a p h i c  n o v e l   in July!

We’re reading American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang and will discuss it on Tuesday, July 14, 2009, from 12 noon – 1 pm. We’re meeting in the Community Garden (East side of Lone Mountain, next to the Education building), which is a lovely respite from our stuffy offices.

You can request American Born Chinese through the library’s free service, Link+, by clicking here. The book will be delivered to Gleeson Library in about 4 business days.

Hope to see you there!