Celebration of Literary Discussion

Houston Great Books is hosting a day of discussions and workshops.
All sessions are open to the public.

NOTE: PLEASE RSVP WITH THE FOLLOWING LINK
RSVP : https://forms.gle/EHjxUeaLSEgn1njaA

(You may additionally RSVP with Meetup to receive the usual Meetup.com reminders, but our attendance list, lunch reservations, and free PDF copies of readings are only effective through the link above.)

Lunch will be provided for anyone who attends both a morning and afternoon session ​and RSVPs by October 15 with this link above.

Full information is available on our website at https://www.houstongreatbooks.net/celebration.html

Meet & Greet

​Doors open at 9:45 am
Sign in, talk to old and new friends, and meet your HGB Councilmembers.

Houston Great Books Membership Meeting
10 - 10:15 am
We will have a very short business meeting and vote for re-election of councilmembers.

Understanding Shared Inquiry:

How to Improve Our Book Discussion Skills
led by Helen Cohen & Leigh Anderson

"Shared Inquiry promotes an intellectually stimulating interpretative discussion of a work—a group exploration of meaning that leads to engaging and insightful conversation. It helps participants read actively, articulate probing questions about the ideas in a work, and listen and respond effectively to each other. And it is based on the conviction that participants can gain a deeper understanding of a text when they work together and are prompted by a leader’s skilled questioning."
from the Shared Inquiry Handbook

This is a great workshop for people new to book discussion and also for people with experience who want to hone their skill.

"The Poor Relation's Story" by Charles Dickens

A PDF of the readings and the Shared Inquiry Handbook will be sent when you RSVP.

Morning Workshop B

10:15 am - 12:15 am

Discussion of
​Lone Stars by Justin Deabler
partnering with Gulf Coast Reads
led by Kristen Stewart

Justin Deabler's Lone Stars follows the arc of four generations of a Texan family in a changing America. Julian Warner, a father at last, wrestles with a question his husband posed: what will you tell our son about the people you came from, now that they're gone? Finding the answers takes Julian back in time to Eisenhower's immigration border raids, an epistolary love affair during the Vietnam War, crumbling marriages, queer migrations to Cambridge and New York, up to the disorienting polarization of Obama's second term. And in these answers lies a hope: that by uncloseting ourselves—as immigrants, smart women, gay people—we find power in empathy.

This book will be read and discussed as part of the Gulf Coast Reads: On the Same Page. This is an annual regional reading initiative focused on promoting the simultaneous reading or listening to a selected title by those living along the upper Texas Gulf Coast. Find more at [www.GulfCoastReads.org](http://www.gulfcoastreads.org/)

Participants will need to procure the book on their own. Participating area libraries will have copies.

Lunch & Chat

12:15 am - 1:30 pm
Lunch will be provided for anyone who attends both a morning and afternoon session ​and RSVPs by October 15 with this link:

RSVP for full day + lunch: https://forms.gle/EHjxUeaLSEgn1njaA

Afternoon Workshop

1:30 to 3:30 pm

What’s Great about Great Books?
led by Kent Guida and Eric Timmreck

"The Great Conversation: The Substance of a Liberal Education" by Robert M. Hutchins
was the first volume of the Britannica Great Books. In this essay he makes the case for liberal education based on reading and discussing great books.

Join us for a discussion of this fine essay and its meaning for you, for our organization and for civilization. A PDF of the reading will be sent to you when you RSVP.