About us
Novel Lovers of Sonoma County, CA (originally Novel Lovers of Sebastopol) is a book discussion group where we talk in depth about contemporary literary fiction. We’ve been meeting since February 6, 2011, and online since March 2020. We discuss our chosen novels for 1.5 hours. We assume that you’ve read the entire book carefully and are eager to talk about it. We’re friendly and welcoming – not stodgy at all -- but we do take our book discussions seriously!
We read contemporary novels that have received critical acclaim and/or won literary awards. We try to schedule a few books ahead so you can get the book and plan your time. To participate in this process, comment in our Discord -- you'll get the link once you've paid for the year.
We schedule two meetings for each novel so we can keep our Zoom groups small. Sign up for only one of the two meetings.
We also have a lively short story group that discusses one story in depth for an hour every other Sunday. We recommend reading the story at least twice.
Please RSVP “yes” when you know for sure that you’ll be there, and please change your RSVP if your plans change. Don’t RSVP “yes” if you mean “maybe,” and please don’t be a no-show. As a courtesy to the wait list and organizer, change your RSVP if you can't attend, even at the last minute.
We keep our meetings small, maximum 12 people, and many meetings are smaller. Popular books fill the RSVP list quickly, and we may have a wait list. Almost everyone does get in (people's plans change, emergencies and illnesses happen, etc.), so if you're on the wait list, read the book. If you get in, even as late as the day of the meeting, you'll be ready.
We charge dues to cover Joan's exorbitant Meetup organizer fees and paid Zoom subscription. The fee is small: just $10 to try us for two months, or $40/year when paid in advance at first notice/ $45/year if you need reminders. (Dues prorated if you join later in the year.)
Here’s how it works:
1. If you wish to join or remain a member and attend our online meetings, send Joan $10 for the first two months to try us out, or $40 to join for the calendar year. (Dues prorated if you join later in the year.) Message organizer Joan Price or email directly joan[atsign]joanprice[dot]com. for payment options.
2. Your dues payment entitles you to “all you can eat” – as many of our discussions of novels and short stories as you wish to attend.
3. Only dues paying members may sign up for meetings.
4. If you love our group but it’s a hardship to pay, tell Joan. We have dues exemptions available.
Questions? Message organizer Joan Price or email directly joan[atsign]joanprice[dot]com.
Upcoming events
8
Mercy by Joan Silber - option 2
·OnlineOnline"A novel-in-stories, a single fictional universe with a rotating cast of narrators, connected by threads of plot and meaning that unfold over the course of the book as they would in a novel. At the same time, the sections leap decades and continents to uniquely dazzling effect." -Boston Globe
Publisher's description:
In the gritty East Village of 1970s New York, Ivan and his best friend, Eddie, a popular local bartender, are dabbling in drugs following a short tour of Europe. One night, as Ivan and Eddie experiment with heroin, things go horribly wrong. In a panic, Ivan rushes Eddie to a crowded local ER and, believing his friend is about to die, makes the awful choice to leave him there.This one act of abandonment haunts Ivan his entire life. He keeps this secret from his friends and later his family, forever searching for mercy from “a remorse that never dies.” Ivan’s decision also ripples across time through an extended community, affecting a host of other people unknowingly connected to that night.
Following a bold cast of characters across decades, and set against the changing social and sexual mores from the 1970s onward, Mercy is Silber’s most ambitious and expansive novel yet, proving once again how we are all connected in mysterious and often unknown ways.
Purchase from Bookshop.org, which benefits indie bookstores: https://bookshop.org/a/117447/9781640097070
7 attendees![Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood [OPTION 1]](https://secure.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/5/b/3/b/highres_531923355.jpeg)
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood [OPTION 1]
·OnlineOnlinePublisher's description:
Burnt out and in need of retreat, a middle-aged woman leaves Sydney to return to the place she grew up, taking refuge in a small religious community hidden away on the stark plains of rural Australia. She doesn’t believe in God, or know what prayer is, and finds herself living this strange, reclusive existence almost by accident.But disquiet interrupts this secluded life with three visitations. First comes a terrible mouse plague, each day signaling a new battle against the rising infestation. Second is the return of the skeletal remains of a sister who disappeared decades before, presumed murdered. And finally, a troubling visitor plunges the narrator further back into her past.
Meditative, moving, and finely observed, Stone Yard Devotional is a seminal novel from a writer of rare power, exploring what it means to retreat from the world, the true nature of forgiveness, and the sustained effect of grief on the human soul.
Ed: "I strongly recommend this 230 ebook page contemplative novel about a woman in despair over the futility of her leadership efforts in species conservation and joins a convent in Australia but not as a nun, immersed in work and dialog. And during her time there are visitations...a horde of mice, the remains of a murdered nun, and the return of a local accompanying the remains who was driven from the area decades ago. A study in the quietude of guilt, forgiveness, and connectivity."
Martha: "I was surprised by the power of this seemingly small setting and plot, and the richness embedded in the simplicity of Wood’s writing. I would happily read it again and would thoroughly enjoy discussing with the group."
Lucinda: "I also read the book a year ago and was moved by it. It still lingers. I would gladly read it again and discuss it with the group."
- A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
- A WASHINGTON POST TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
- A LOS ANGELES TIMES TOP FIFTEEN BOOK OF THE YEAR
- Shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize
Order from Bookshop.org, which benefits indie booksellers.
6 attendees
Past events
435
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