ONLINE: A Zoom invitation link will be sent the Friday before each class session begins.
1st session: Monday, September 28
2nd session: Monday, October 26
3rd session: Monday, November 23
Using prepared questions and our own observations, the discussion each month will explore a book selected by book club members.
Selected books for the Fall 2026 term are:
September Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Published 2021 118 pages Fiction
Small Things Like These is a critically acclaimed novella by Irish author Claire Keegan. Set in 1985 Ireland, the book is about a coal merchant named Bill Furlong, who confronts the Catholic Church's control and a dark secret at a local convent during the Christmas season, forcing him to make a difficult moral choice. Praised for its precise prose and emotional depth, the book won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, exploring themes of courage, love, and complicity. It was also adapted into a film starring Cillian Murphy.
October Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America by Beth Macy
Published 2025 368 pages Nonfiction
Paper Girl is a memoir exploring the decline of Macy’s Ohio hometown, Urbana, due to economic hardship, the opioid crisis, and political polarization, contrasting it with her own escape through education and journalism. The book blends personal narrative with investigative reporting to examine issues like the mental health crisis, misinformation, and the hollowing out of the middle class, questioning if a similar path out is possible for today's youth.
November The Correspondent: A Novel by Virginia Evans
Published in 2025 304 pages Fiction
The Correspondent is a 2025 debut epistolary novel that tells the life story of Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired lawyer in her seventies, through her letters and emails. The book explores themes of aging, forgiveness, and memory as Sybil writes to friends, family, and even strangers, while confronting a painful event from her past. It has been praised as a moving and witty story with a memorable, cantankerous protagonist, and is recommended for fans of literary fiction and epistolary novels.
Please read Small Things Like These before the first class.
The facilitator will send a list of discussion questions for each book to all registrants prior to each Book Club session.
Debie White has been a member of the Elderwise Book Club for 10 plus years. She is an avid reader and welcomes an exchange of ideas, opinions, and interpretations.
