Book Club

 
In 2002 the Temple Israel Book Club was started.  It has now grown to include readers who are part of the general community.  We have read over 100 books covering a variety of themes.  Some are historical fiction, memoirs, Jewish themes, multi-generational stories, relationship issues and, recently, we are, including current, non fiction, topical books.  Scroll down for a complete list of books read since our inception.
For many years we met in people’s homes for dessert and coffee but, in recent years, we are meeting at a local restaurant and combining discussion with dinner.  Often members bring items of interest from the internet which spur thought provoking discussions.  The most important feature of this book club is that everyone is respectful of different opinions, everyone loves to read and we always have lots of fun together.  Members are welcome to bring guests and we are always delighted when new people join us.  
 
Meetings are generally held on Mondays or Wednesdays, in person, at Theo’s Metro, Luzerne.  If COVID levels rise meetings are held virtually via ZOOM. 
 
For more information about the Book Club, email us, or call the Temple Israel office  at 570-824-8927
 
BOOKS READ SINCE 2002: 

Miriam’s Kitchen:  Elizabeth Ehrlich

Good Harbor: Anita Diament

Turbulent Souls:  Stephen Dubner

The Inn at Lake Divine:  Elinor Lipman

The Color of Water:  James McBride

Secret Life of Bees:  Sue Kidd Monk

The Bee Season:  Myla Goldberg

Three Daughters:  Lottie Cottin Pogrebin

When the Elephants Dance:  Tess Uriza Holthe

The Jew Store

Bel Canto:  Ann Patchette

The River Midnight:  Lillian Nattel

The Song of Names

The Kite Runner:  Khalid Hosseini

My Sister’s Keeper;  Jodi Picoult

Before You Know Kindness:  Chris Bohjalian

Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons

The Mermaid Chair:  Sue Monk Kidd

Vanishing Act:  Jodi Picoult

The Memory of Running:  Ron McLarty

Joy Comes in the Morning:  Jonathan Rosen

The Ha-Ha:  Dave King

Pearl: Mary Gordon

Snowflower and the Secret Fan:  Lisa See

The Interpreter:  Suki Kim

The Last of her Kind:  Sigrid Nunez

The History of Love:  Nicole Krauss

Suite Francaise:  Irene Nemirovsky

The Samurai’s Garden:  Gail Tsukiyana

Ishmael:  An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit:  Daniel Quinn

The World to Come: Dana Horn

Exile: Richard North Patterson

Peony in Love:  Lisa See

The Spiral Staircase:  Karen Armstrong

One Thousand White Women:  Jim Fergus

The Blood of Flowers:  Anita Amirrezvani

The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit:  Lucette Lagnado

The Hour I First Believed:  Wally Lamb

People of the Book:  Geraldine Brooks

Day After Night: Anita Diament

The Commoner:  John Burnham Schwartz

The Legend of Colton H. Bryant: Alexandra Fuller       (#43)

Have a Little Faith: A True Story: Mitch Albom

Winter Garden:  Kristin Hannah

Cutting for Stone:  Abraham Vershese

Great House: Nicole Kraus

Let the Great World Spin:  Colum McCann

The Invisible Bridge: Julie Orringer

Someone Knows My Name:   Lawrence Hill

Caleb’s Crossing: Geraldine Brooks

The Dovekeepers:  Alice Hoffman

Rules of Civility: Amor Towles

A Fierce Radiance: Lauren Belfer

Unorthodox:  the Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots:  Deborah Feldman

The Barbarian Nurseries: Hector Tobar

The Sense of an Ending:  Julian Barnes

Wench: Dolen Perkins-Valdez

The Orchardist: Amanda Coplin

Coal Dust is White:  Irwin Sagenkhan

A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story: Qais Akbar Omar   

The Lowland:  Jhumpa Lahiri

The Sisters Weiss:  Naomi Regan

Unbroken:  Laura Hillenbrand

My Beloved World:  Sonia Sontemayor

Margaret Fuller—A New American Life:  Megan Marshall

American Gods: Neil Gaiman

One Thousand Acres:  Jane Smiley

Necessary Lies:  Diane Chamberlain

All the Light We Cannot See:  Anothony Doerr

The Rosie Project:  Graeme Simsion

Boston Girl:  Anita Diament

I am Malala:  Malala Yousafzai

Our Souls at Night:  Ken Haruf

The Bridge Ladies:  Betsy Lerner

Saving Sophie:  R. Balson

A Long Way Home:  Saroo Brierley

Orphan #8:  Kim Van Alkemade

Leaving Lucy Pear:  Anna Solomon

Hillbilly Elegy: J.D.Vance

The Life We Bury:  Allen Eskens

We Were Strangers Once:  Betsy Carter

Little Fires Everywhere:  Celeste Ng

Breathe a Scarlet Sky:  Mark Sullivan

As Close to Us as Breathing:  Elizabeth Poliner

Museum of Extraordinary Things:  Alice Hoffman

Pachinko:  Min Jin Lee

And After the Fire:  Lauren Belfer 

Ordinary Heroes:  Scott Turow

The Last Watchman of Old Cairo:  Michael David Lukas

The Red Thread:  Ann Hood

Before You Were There:  Lisa Wingate

The Gift of Stars:  Jojo Moyes

A Gentleman in Moscow:  Amor Towles

Just Mercy:  Bryan Stephenson (#95)

American Dirt:  Jeanine Cummins

The Dutch House:  Ann Patchett

The Vanishing Half:  Brit Bennett 

Little Bee:  Chris Cleave

Killers of the Flower Moon-Osage Murders and Birth of FBI:  David Grann

The Midnight Library:  Matt Haig

What the Wind Knows:  Amy Haarmon

The Personal Librarian:  Marie Benedict

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane:  Lisa See

The Rose Code:  Kate Quinn

The Violin Conspiracy:  Brendan Slocumb   

Mercury Pictures Presents:  Anthony Marra

The Lost Apothecary:  Sarah Penner

The Dictionary of Lost Words:  Pip Williams

Hello Beautiful:  Ann Napolitano

Dear Edward:  Ann Napolitano

The First Ladies:  Marie Benedict 

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store:  James McBride  (113th book)