History
In September 2002 Lauren Van Buren led a small group of avid readers in the first Plattsmouth Book Club meeting.
At first we read only part of the book. Soon members chose to read and review the entire work each month.
That's the format we've used ever since.
After Lauren moved away, Susanne Astley assumed Lauren's role.
Our numbers grew. With each additional member comes another perspicacious viewpoint on literature and life.
We grew so much we moved to a dual format in 2009. Now every month readers choose one of two suggested selections to discuss.
Archive
Special thanks to Susanne for providing this complete archive.
Year
2002
September 7th and 21st, 2002
Girl with the Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
October 5th
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
November 2nd
Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
December 7th
Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
2003
Girl in Hyacinth blue by Susan Vreeland
February 1st
Rim of the Prairie by Bess Streeter Aldrich
March 1st
Ghost in the Little House by William Holtz
April 5th
The Practical Heart by Allan Gurganus
May 3rd
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
June 7th
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
July 12th
Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose
August 2nd
The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells
September 6th
Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen by Bob Greene
October 4th
Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
November 1st
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
December 6th
The Passion of Artemesia by Susan Vreeland
2004
January 3rd
A Time to Die: The Kursk Disaster by Robert Moore
February 7th
Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow
March 6th
Local Girls by Alice Hoffman
April 3rd
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
May 1st
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
June 5th
Having our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First 100 Years by Sarah Louise Delaney and Annie Elizabeth Delaney
July 10th
The Flyers: In Search of Wilbur and Orville Wright by Noah Adams
August 7th
Will Rodgers: His Life and Times by Richard Ketchum
September 4th
Silas Marner by George Eliot
October 2nd
A Lantern in her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich and field trip to Bess Streeter Aldrich House
November 6th
Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour
December 4th
The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code by Richard Abanes
2005
Gentian Hill by Elizabeth GoudgeFebruary
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
March
Triangle: The Fire that Changed America by David Von Drehle
April
Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
May
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
June
House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
July
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
August
Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams by Lynne Withey
September
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
October
Trace by Patricia Cornwell
5th November
Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie
3rd December
Hiroshima by John Hershey
2006
7th January 2006
The Children’s Blizzard by David Larkin
4th February
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi and/or Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia by Carmen bin Ladin
4th March
The Number One Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
1st April
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
6th May
The Curious Incident of a Dog at Night-time by Mark Haddon
meeting at the Garfield Park bandstand
3rd June
Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan
8th July
Holes by Louis Sachar
5th August
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
2nd September (Labor Day Weekend)
Adolescent/Children’s—pick one to read and tell the group about, or just come listen
7th October
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
4th November
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
2nd December
Saturday by Ian McEwan
2007
6th January
Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson
3rd February
The Floor of the Sky by Pamela Carter Joern (author is Leania’s sister-in-law)
3rd March
The Terrorist by John Updike
7th April
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
5th May
I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron
2nd June
The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley (get started early)
7th July
Pick a biography to discuss with the group, or just come to listen
4th August
My Mortal Enemy by Willa Cather
1st September
The Source by James Michener
6th October
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
3rd November
Choose a Classic to discuss with the group, or just come to listen
1st December
Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books by Maureen Corrigan
This meeting will be held at Susanne’s house—call 296-5600 for directions; feel free to bring a Christmas memory, story, or item
2008
5th January
Any books we gave or received for Christmas
2nd February
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
1st March
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot
4th April
84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
3rd May
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
7th June
Reader's Choice, any book by Cyndy Salzmann
1st August
Reader's Choice, any biography or autobiography of a woman
6th September
The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini or
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
4th October
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
1st November
Reader's Choice, any book by Alex Kava
6th December
Uncommon Carriers by John McPhee
2009
3rd January
Books given or received for Christmas
7th February
Reader's Choice, any book by Mari Sandoz
7th March
Better by Atul Gawande
4th April
Reader's Choice, short stories by Saki
2nd May
All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
6th June
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
11th July
In the Land of White Death by Valerian Albanov
ist August
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
5th September
The Oregon Trail by Francis Parkman
3rd October
The Bridge of San Luis Rey or Our Town by Thornton Wilder
7th November
Into the Wild by John Krakauer or Holocaust Theme, readers' choice
5th December
Christmas anecdotes, short stories, memories
2010
2nd January
Books given / received for Christmas
6th February
The Little Ice Age by Brian Fagan or The Innocent Man by John Grisham
6th March
The Help by Kathryn Stockett or The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
3rd April
The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy or Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
1st May
Personal Reflections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain or The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
5th June
Conquests and Cultures by Thomas Sowell or reader's choice by Daphne du Maurier
11th July
Will by G. Gordon Liddy or The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow
7th August
The Summer of 1787 by David O. Stewart or The Lost City of Z by David Grann
4th September
The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton or Sins of the Father by Ronald Kessler
2nd October
The Great Mortality by John Kelly or Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
6th November
Frozen in Time by Nikki Nichols or The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
4th December
Etymology for Wordbrains Like Me by Norm Bomer
2011
8th January
Books given / received for Christmas
5th February
Lucy's Legacy by Donald Johansson or Omaha Gold by Lawson McDowell
5th March
Water by Alice Outwater or Dear Enemy by Jean Webster
2nd April
The Department of Mad Scientists by Michael Belfiore or The Home Place by Wright Morris
7th May
The Code Book by Simon Singh or Blackbird by Jennifer Lauck
4th June
Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
9th July
Interpreter of Maladies or Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri or The Time it Never Rained by Elmer Kelton
6th August
Red Star Rogue by Kenneth Sewell and Clint Richmond or Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
3rd September
RashÅmon and Other Stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa or I Am a Man by Joe Starita
1st October
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot or Empire Falls by Richard Russo
5th November
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville / Tocqueville's Discovery of America by Leo Damrosch or Catch Me if You Can by Stan Redding and Frank W. Abagnale
3rd December
Who the Hell is Pansy O'Hara? by Jenny Bond and Chris Sheedy
2012
7th January
Books we gave or received for Christmas
3rd March
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving/ The Long Exile by Melanie McGrath
7th April
Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks/ The Story of the Titanic by Jack Winocour
5th May
Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel/ In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
2nd June
Local Wonders or Lights on a Ground of Darkness by Ted Kooser/ Clever Maids by Valerie Paradiz
7th July
The Lobotomist by Jack El-Hai/ Southern Storm by Noah Andre Trudeau
4th August
Wild Nebraska Towns by Wayne C. Lee/ Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
1st September
The Devil and the Disappearing Sea by Rob Ferguson/ The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
6th October
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson/ Nothing Daunted by Dorothy Wickenden
3rd November
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee/ The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie