November's Middletown Book for Discussion: A Lesson Before Dying (Nov. 23)

 

The MUM Book Discussion group will next meet on Tuesday, November 23.  Our title is Ernest Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying.  Here is a brief summary of this tale of unexpected family discoveries:

"A Lesson Before Dying, is set in a small Cajun community in the late 1940s. Jefferson, a young black man, is an unwitting party to a liquor store shoot out in which three men are killed; the only survivor, he is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins, who left his hometown for the university, has returned to the plantation school to teach. As he struggles with his decision whether to stay or escape to another state, his aunt and Jefferson's godmother persuade him to visit Jefferson in his cell and impart his learning and his pride to Jefferson before his death. In the end, the two men forge a bond as they both come to understand the simple heroism of resisting—and defying—the expected."  

Here is where you can find the book:

• There are several copies available through Miami, OhioLINK, and SearchOhio.  
  
• Amazon has the paperback, Kindle, and audiobook available, and Bookshop.org has links to purchase the title from independent booksellers.

Our group is always finding interesting titles to share, and we look forward to the new things you'll bring to the table.  On October 26th the members of the group discussed Akin, and also shared these titles to add to your reading/viewing lists:

• A Slow Fire Burning, Paula Hawkins
  
• The Last Thing He Told Me, Laura Dave
• Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, Anderson Cooper
• Apples Never Fall, Liane Moriarty
• The Lincoln Highway, Amor Towles
• Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys
• Coraline, Neil Gaiman
• Where the Past Begins, Amy Tan
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers
• The Four Winds, Kristin Hannah
• The Women in the Castle, Jessica Shattuck
• No Time Like the Present, Nadine Gordimer
• Factory Man and TrueVine, Beth Macy

We will meet at 12 pm on the 23rd both in Room 123 in the Library and in Zoom at 

Join Zoom Meeting

You may also join by calling +1 253-215-8782‬

Passcode: 893374
‬

Add this event to your Google Calendar!  (which includes the Zoom and calling information)

Please come along to our discussion to share what you've been reading/watching/listening to/experiencing!

If you're looking for something interesting to read, check out our page of past and future reads at http://www.mid.miamioh.edu/library/bookdiscussion.htm

John

"prison" by Kim Daram is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0