What we’re about
Welcome to the Harrisburg Book Club. If you enjoy reading and discussing good books and getting to know interesting new people, this club is for you! We meet on the third Wednesday of each month to discuss a book with new found friends. The meetings are held in the evening at a local area restaurant or at a member's home. We usually read modern fiction but we also consider reading non-fiction books depending on our members' interests. We try to choose a variety of books and everyone is welcome to make suggestions and vote on the books we read.
Anyone is welcome to join - more members lead to better discussions and more friends! Please feel free to come to the next meeting even if you haven't read the book. We look forward to discussing interesting books and eating great food with as many people as possible.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- The Names by Florence KnappRookie's Craft Burger Bar, Harrisburg, PA
The Names by Florence Knapp
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Names-Novel-Florence-Knapp/dp/0593833902
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/217245618-the-names
Synopsis:
The extraordinary novel that asks: Can a name change the course of a life?In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son's birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she'd like to call the child, Cora hesitates...
Spanning thirty-five years, what follows are three alternate and alternating versions of Cora's and her young son's lives, shaped by her choice of name. In richly layered prose, The Names explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse, the messy ties of family, and the possibilities of autonomy and healing.
With exceptional sensitivity and depth, Knapp draws us into the story of one family, told through a prism of what-ifs, causing us to consider the "one . . . precious life" we are given. The book’s brilliantly imaginative structure, propulsive storytelling, and emotional, gut-wrenching power are certain to make The Names a modern classic.
About the Author:
FLORENCE KNAPP is a writer whose short stories have been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and won the Bath Short Story Award’s Acorn Award. She is the author of a non-fiction book about a centuries-old method of quilt-making and has also contributed to a book for the Victoria and Albert Museum. She is passionate about children’s literacy and has worked alongside her husband for the past fifteen years creating educational apps for use in schools. Florence lives in Kent with a dog, Nell, and her musician husband, who, thankfully, is absolutely nothing like the one in her novel. Her two children have recently flown the nest. The Names is her first novel.Author’s Website: https://www.florenceknapp.com/
Article – Breakfast with Florence Knapp:
https://us.toa.st/blogs/magazine/florence-knapp - The Stand by Stephen King - Meeting No. 1Rookie's Craft Burger Bar, Harrisburg, PA
Note: We are reading the Complete and Uncut version which originally came out in 1990. Please don’t get the original version, which came out in 1978, and has about 300 fewer pages.
Due to the length of this book, we will read it over three months, for our October, November and December meetings. For our October meeting, we will discuss Book I of the novel, which ends with Chapter 42.
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Stand-Complete-Uncut-Stephen-King/dp/0385199570
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57666531
Synopsis:
Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and tangled in an elemental struggle between good and evil remains as riveting—and eerily plausible—as when it was first published.One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years! This edition includes all of the new and restored material first published in The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition.
A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world’s population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge—Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious “Dark Man,” who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them—and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.
About the Author:
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes NEVER FLINCH, YOU LIKE IT DARKER (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), HOLLY (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), FAIRY TALE, BILLY SUMMERS, IF IT BLEEDS, THE INSTITUTE, ELEVATION, THE OUTSIDER, SLEEPING BEAUTIES (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: END OF WATCH, FINDERS KEEPERS, and MR. MERCEDES (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works THE DARK TOWER, IT, PET SEMATARY, DOCTOR SLEEP, and FIRESTARTER are the basis for major motion pictures, with IT now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.Author’s Website: https://stephenking.com/the-author/
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