UPB Book Club Selections:

Book club meetings are at Jan & Gene Barbato's, 7pm unless otherwise noted

• Oct 2 The Alchemist, Paul Coehlo
  More information The Alchemist tells the story of a young shepherd named Santiago who is able to find a treasure beyond his wildest dreams. Along the way, he learns to listen to his heart and, more importantly, realizes that his dreams, or his Personal Legend, are not just his but part of the Soul of the Universe.
  
  Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. The Alchemist is such a book. With over two million copies sold in English and twenty-one million copies worldwide, The Alchemist has established itself as a modern classic that will enchant and inspire readers for generations to come.
• Nov 6 Breakfast at Sally's, Richard LeMieux (to be held at Barbara & Bob Cozzolino's)
  More information This astonishingly frank memoir tells the story of one man's resilience in the face of economic disaster. LeMieux chronicles his journey from enjoying lavish vacations and an opulent home to being penniless, estranged from his family, and living in his van.
• Dec 4 Garlic and Sapphires, Ruth Reichl (to be held at Diane Eade's)
  More information Garlic and Sapphires is Ruth Reichl's account of her experience undercover in her position as food critic for The New York Times. She throws back the curtain on the sumptuously appointed stages of the epicurean world to reveal the comic absurdity, artifice and excellence there, giving us (along with some of her favorite recipes and reviews) her remarkable reflections on role playing and identity.
• Jan 8, 2010 Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortensen
  More information Three Cups of Tea traces Mortenson's decade-long odyssey to build schools (especially for girls), throughout the region that gave birth to the Taliban and sanctuary to Al Qaeda. While he wages war with the root causes of terrorism - poverty and ignorance - Mortenson must survive kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, death threats from Americans who consider him a traitor, and wrenching separations from his family.
• Feb 5 Killer Angels, Michael Shaara
  More information In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation's history, two armies fought for two dreams at Gettysburg. One dreamed of freedom, the other a way of life. Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Shattered futures, forgotten innocence, and crippled beauty were also the casualties of war. … unique, sweeping, unforgettable — a dramatic historical novel of the battleground for America's destiny. (The movie Gettysburg is based on this book.)
• Mar 5 History of the World in 6 Glasses, Tom Standage
  More information Whatever your favourite tipple, when you pour yourself a drink, you have the past in a glass. You can likely find them all in your own kitchen — beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, cola. Line them up on the counter, and there you have it: thousands of years of human history in six drinks. Tom Standage opens a window onto the past in this tour of six beverages that remain essentials today. En route he makes fascinating forays into the byways of western culture: Why were ancient Egyptians buried with beer? Why was wine considered a classier drink than beer by the Romans? How did rum grog help the British navy defeat Napoleon? What is the relationship between coffee and revolution? And how did Coca-Cola become the number one poster-product for globalization decades before the term was even coined? From the Hardcover edition.
• April 9 90 Minutes in Heaven, Don Piper
  More information Baptist minister Piper tells of experiencing heaven for the 90 minutes he was pronounced dead at the scene of a car accident. After miraculously coming back to life and working through a long and painful recovery, friends and family finally convinced him to share his remarkable story.
• May 7 A Year of Living Biblically, A.J. Jacobs, Jonathan Todd Ross
  More information This documents the author's quest to live one year in literal compliance with biblical rules, from being fruitful and multiplying to growing a beard and avoiding mixed-fiber clothing.
• June 4 Sisters of Sinai, Janet Soskice (tentative)
• Summer Reading, for September 2010 meeting, TBA The Power of One, Bryce Courtenay
  More information In 1939, hatred took root in South Africa, where the seeds of apartheid were newly sown. There a boy called Peekay was born. He spoke the wrong language- English. He was nursed by a woman of the wrong color — black. His childhood was marked by humiliation and abandonment. Yet he vowed to survive- he would become welterweight champion of the world, he would dream heroic dreams. But his dreams were nothing compared to what awaited him. For he embarked on an epic journey, where he would learn the power of words, the power to transform lives, and the mystical power that would sustain him even when it appeared that villainy would rule the world: The Power of One. From the Hardcover edition.