Free-For-All Newsletter #15

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In case you missed the meeting last night, here's a list of some of the books that we discussed.

Enjoy! :)

Fiction:
Normal People

At school, Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He’s popular and well-adjusted, star of the school soccer team while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her housekeeping job at Marianne’s house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers — one they are determined to conceal.

O Jerusalem

At the close of the year 1918, forced to flee England's green and pleasant land, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes enter British-occupied Palestine under the auspices of Holmes' enigmatic brother, Mycroft.

House of Correction

Tabitha is accused of murder. She is in prison awaiting trial. There is a strong case against her, and she can’t remember what happened on December 21st. She is alone, frightened, and confused. But somehow, from the confines of her cell, she needs to prove everyone wrong.

The Turn of the Key

A live-in nannying post with a generous salary. When Rowan Caine arrives at Heatherbrae House for her first day on the job, she is smitten by the luxurious “smart” home and the picture-perfect family. What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare — one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.

Black Light

In this debut collection of enormously perceptive and brutally unsentimental short stories, Parsons illuminates the ache of first love, the banality of self-loathing, the scourge of addiction, the myth of marriage, and the magic and inevitable disillusionment of childhood.

My Sweet Audrina

V.C. Andrews, author of the phenomenally successful Dollanganger series, has created a fascinating new cast of characters in this haunting story of love and deceit, innocence and betrayal, and the suffocating power of parental love.

Watching You

Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you.

This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall!

Bruno and Boots are always in trouble. So the Headmaster decides it would be best to separate them. Bruno must now room with ghoulish Elmer Dimsdale, and Boots is stuck with nerdy, preppy, paranoid George Wexford-Smyth III. Of course, this means war. Because Bruno and Boots are determined to get their old room back, no matter what it takes.

Don't Ever Get Old

When Buck Schatz, senior citizen and retired Memphis cop, learns that an old adversary may have escaped Germany with a fortune in stolen gold, Buck decides to hunt down the fugitive and claim the loot. But a lot of people want a piece of the stolen treasure, and Buck's investigation quickly attracts unfriendly attention from a very motley (and murderous) crew.

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Allan ends up in a nursing home, but he’s still in good health, so he climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey. It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has had an eventful life: he has not only witnessed some of the most important events of the 20th century but actually played a key role in them. Quirky and utterly unique, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed readers across the world.

Non-Fiction:
Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered

Show Your Work! offers ten transformative rules for being open, generous, brave, and productive. 

The Glass Castle

As the dysfunction of the Walls family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler

At the dawn of the twentieth century, humanity was facing mass starvation. This is the story of the two enormously gifted, fatally flawed men who discovered a way to make bread out of air. Their invention continues to feed us today; without it, more than two billion people would starve.

One Child: The True Story of a Tormented Six-Year-Old and the Brilliant Teacher Who Reached Out

Torey fought to reach Sheila, to bring the abused child back from her secret nightmare, because, beneath the rage, Torey saw in Sheila the spark of genius. And together they embarked on a wondrous journey — a journey gleaming with a child's joy at discovering a world filled with love and a journey sustained by a young teacher's inspiring bravery and devotion.

Sounds of the River: A Young Man's University Days in Beijing

Poetic, hilarious, and heartbreaking, Sounds of the River is a gloriously written coming-of-age saga that chronicles a remarkable journey—a travelogue of the heart.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and It's All Small Stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things From Taking Over Your Life

In thoughtful and insightful language, author Richard Carlson reveals ways to calm down in the midst of your incredibly hurried, stress-filled life.

The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus

The Hot Zone gives a hair-raising account of the appearance of rare and lethal viruses and their "crashes" into the human race. Shocking, frightening, and impossible to ignore, The Hot Zone proves that truth really is scarier than fiction.

The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company

In 2005, Robert Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company during a difficult time. Morale had deteriorated, competition was more intense, and technology was changing faster than ever.

Twelve years later, Disney is the largest, most-respected media company in the world, and Iger is recognized as one of the most innovative and successful CEOs of our time.

Night

Born in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were taken from their home in 1944 to Auschwitz concentration camp, and then to Buchenwald. Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel's memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man.

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer — from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence.

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

Gawande, a practicing surgeon, addresses his profession's ultimate limitation, arguing that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families. Gawande offers examples of freer, more socially fulfilling models for assisting the infirm and dependent elderly, and he explores the varieties of hospice care to demonstrate that a person's last weeks or months may be rich and dignified.

Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: The Uncensored Story of the JonBenet Murder and the Grand Jury's Search for the Truth

A brilliant portrait of an inscrutable family thrust under the spotlight of public suspicion and an affluent, tranquil city torn apart by a crime it couldn't handle, Perfect Murder, Perfect Town uncovers the mysteries that have bewildered the nation.

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row

A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit.

Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian

While his friends and classmates advance in the world, Avi Steinberg remains stuck at a crossroads, unable to meet the lofty expectations of his Orthodox Jewish upbringing. And his romantic existence as a freelance obituary writer just isn’t cutting it. Seeking direction — and dental insurance — Steinberg takes a job as a librarian in a tough Boston prison.

Other Recommendations:
Hungry Hungry Hipsters Card Game

One of our members, Magda Pepper, created this game!

Get points for eating the most pretentious food, but be careful, though, the other hipsters will accuse you of being a poser for eating food that is too mainstream. Show them up proper by eating that mainstream food ironically, that will put a fedora in their yapper!

That's all, folks!

Hakuna Matata,

May the Force Be With You,

To Infinity and Beyond,

Live Long and Prosper,

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor,

Roll Credits,

Love, 

Trace & Caitlyn

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The Free-For-All Book Club

921 N Woodbridge Drive

Bloomington, IN, 47408

United States


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