GFWC Civic Club of Oakland
Welcome! Check back often for updates
GFWC Civic Club of Oakland
Welcome! Check back often for updates
Our Book Club meets on the 3rd Friday of the month at noon. Meeting place varies but it is usually at Perkins in McHenry during the winter months and at Dutch's in the summer months. The patio facing the lake is a great spot to discuss the book, enjoy lunch and the beautiful lake as well.
Here is the reading list developed to begin 2023:
For January -- Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: the inspiring story of the woman who saved the Appalachian Trial, by Ben Montgomery. Emma Gatewood in 1955 became the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian trail alone. This biography of her hike and the aftermath was compiled from her diaries, trail journals, correspondence, and interviews with surviving family members and those she met along the trail.
For February -- Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: four women undercover in the Civil War, by Karen Abbott. This is the story of four real-life women who risked everything to take on a life of espionage during the Civil War. The historical novel is based on the lives of Belle Boyd, Rose O’Neal Greenhow, Elizabeth Van Lew, and Mary Elizabeth Bowser.
For March – The Authenticity Project: a novel by Clare Pooley. Julian Jessop is an eccentric seventy-nine-year-old artist who leaves behind in Monica’s Café a green notebook in which he had written “Everybody lies about their lives. What would happen if you shared the truth?” His notebook brings together six strangers and leads to unexpected friendship, and even love.
Each year the group tries to select books from various genre. Here is a list of the books read and discussed in 2022:
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict (Historical fiction)
The P.A.N. by Jenny Hickman (Fairytale)
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (Historical fiction)
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (Historical fiction)
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult (Fiction)
The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki (Historical fiction)
Elephant Company by Vicki Croke (Nonfiction)
What's Mine and Yours by Naima Coster (Fiction)
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (Fiction)
French Braid by Anne Tyler (Fiction)