The 1st Battle of the Books: Shteyngart, Leichter, Ishiguro, Murata

Group read-aloud: In this session, we will read the first chapter or so from each of four novels, spending about 20 minutes with each -- so it'll be like speed-dating a novel. Then at the end of the session, we'll decide which of the four we most want to read together, and continue with it on subsequent Sundays.

Here are our four selections; the text for each will be screen-shared (you are of course encouraged to buy your own copy though!):

Temporary, by Hilary Leichter. "A young woman's workplace is the size of the world. She fills increasingly bizarre placements in search of steadiness, connection, and something, at last, to call her own." (208 p.)

Convenience Store Woman, by Sayaka Murata. "Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life." (176 p.)

Vera, or Faith, by Gary Shteyngart. "A poignant, sharp-eyed, and bitterly funny tale of a family struggling to stay together in a country rapidly coming apart, told through the eyes of their wondrous ten-year-old daughter." (241 p.)

Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro. "Looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?" (320 p.)

(In our readalouds, the text is screen-shared. No experience in reading aloud or prep necessary. Latecomers (unless we know you) will generally NOT BE ADMITTED once the reading starts. If this is your first time with us, consider joining five minutes early, so we can work out any technical issues you may be having.)