What Are You Reading? book chat. Join us to chat about favorite reads\, books that changed our lives\, or the book we just couldn’t put down. No need to make reservations--just come and enjoy a little conversation about books. Carol Lynch will facilitate the discussion.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120504T230000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120504T230000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/20th-century-wars URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/20th-century-wars SUMMARY:20th Century Wars DESCRIPTION:The 20th Century Wars group will discuss The Imperial Cruise\: A Secret History of Empire and War by James Bradley (Back Bay Books\, $16.99). On the success of his two bestselling books about World War II\, Bradley began to wonder what the real catalyst was for the Pacific War. What he discovered shocked him. In 1905 President Teddy Roosevelt dispatched Secretary of War William Taft\, his daughter Alice\, and a gaggle of congressmen on a mission to Japan\, the Philippines\, China\, and Korea with the intent of forging an agreement to divide up Asia. This clandestine pact lit the fuse that would-decades later-result in a number of devastating wars\: WWII\, the Korean War\, and the communist revolution in China. Bradley retraced that epic voyage and discovered the remarkable truth about America's vast imperial past. Full of fascinating characters brought brilliantly to life\, The Imperial Cruise will powerfully revise the way we understand U.S. history.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120505T150000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120505T150000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/us-presidents-group-3 URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/us-presidents-group-3 SUMMARY:U.S. Presidents Group DESCRIPTION:The U.S. Presidents group reads and discusses concise biographies of past presidents\, their leadership abilities and how well their reputations have withstood the test of time. The biography for May is James Monroe by Gary Hary (Times Books\, $22.00). Hart sees Monroe as a president ahead of his time\, whose priorities and accomplishments in establishing America's "\;national security"\; have a great deal in common with chief executives of our own time. Monroe was at his core a military man. He joined the Continental Army at the age of seventeen and served with distinction in many pivotal battles. And throughout his career as a senator\, governor\, ambassador\, secretary of state\, secretary of war\, and president\, he never lost sight of the fact that without secure borders and friendly relations with neighbors\, the American people could never be truly safe in their independence. As president he embarked on an ambitious series of treaties\, annexations\, and military confrontations that would secure America's homeland against foreign attack for nearly two hundred years.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120505T200000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120505T200000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/golden-sowers URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/golden-sowers SUMMARY:Golden Sowers DESCRIPTION:The Golden Sowers group will discuss The Heroes of Olympus\: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (Hyperion\, $9.99). Jason doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently she’s his girlfriend Piper\, his best friend is a kid named Leo\, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School\, a boarding school for "\;bad kids."\; What he did to end up here\, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong. Piper’s father has been missing for three days\, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her\, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip\, she\, Jason\, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on? Leo’s new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with tools. Seriously\, the place beats Wilderness School hands down\, with its weapons training\, monsters\, and fine-looking girls. What’s troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about\, and that a camper’s gone missing. Weirdest of all\, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120507T230000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120507T230000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/sandra-dallas-will-sign-true-sisters URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/sandra-dallas-will-sign-true-sisters SUMMARY:Sandra Dallas will sign True Sisters DESCRIPTION:In 1856\, Mormon converts outfitted with two-wheeled handcarts set out on foot from Iowa City to Salt Lake City\, the "\;promised land."\; The Martin Handcart Company\, a ragtag group of weary families\, is the last to leave on this 1\,300-mile journey. Three companies that left earlier in the year have completed their trek successfully\, but for the Martin Company the trip proves disastrous. True Sisters tells the story of four women from the British Isles traveling in this group. Four women whose lives will become inextricably linked as they endure unimaginable hardships\, each one testing the boundaries of her faith and learning the true meaning of survival and friendship along the way. There's Nannie\, who is traveling with her sister and brother-in-law after being abandoned on her wedding day. There's Louisa\, who's married to an overbearing church leader who she believes speaks for God. There's Jessie\, who's traveling with her brothers\, each one of them dreaming of the farm they will have in Zion. And finally\, there's Anne\, who hasn't converted to Mormonism but who has no choice but to follow her husband since he has sold everything to make the trek to Utah.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120507T233000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120507T233000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/i-should-have-read-school URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/i-should-have-read-school SUMMARY:I Should Have Read That in School DESCRIPTION:The I Should Have Read That in School classics group will discuss The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (Vintage\, $14.00). The Sound and the Fury is the tragedy of the Compson family\, featuring some of the most memorable characters in literature\: beautiful\, rebellious Caddy\; the manchild Benjy\; haunted\, neurotic Quentin\; Jason\, the brutal cynic\; and Dilsey\, their black servant. Their lives fragmented and harrowed by history and legacy\, the character's voices and actions mesh to create what is arguably Faulkner's masterpiece and one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120512T150000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120512T150000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/sherlock-holmes-book-club-10 URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/sherlock-holmes-book-club-10 SUMMARY:Sherlock Holmes Book Club DESCRIPTION:The Sherlock Holmes Book Club will discuss "\;The Adventure of the Dancing Men"\; from The Return of Sherlock Holmes. These stories are included in Sherlock Holmes\: The Complete Novels and Stories\, volume I by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Bantam Classics\, $6.95). All Sherlock Holmes fans are welcome.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120512T190000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120512T190000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/ted-kooser-will-sign-house-held-trees URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/ted-kooser-will-sign-house-held-trees SUMMARY:Ted Kooser will sign House Held up by Trees DESCRIPTION:To celebrate Children’s Book Week\, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Ted Kooser will sign his new book for children\, House Held up by Trees (Candlewick Press\, $16.99). When the house was new\, not a single tree remained on its perfect lawn to give shade from the sun. The children in the house trailed the scent of wild trees to neighboring lots\, where thick bushes offered up secret places to play. When the children grew up and moved away\, their father\, alone in the house\, continued his battle against blowing seeds\, plucking out sprouting trees. Until one day the father\, too\, moved away\, and as the empty house began its decline\, the trees began their approach. At once wistful and exhilarating\, this lovely\, lyrical story evokes the inexorable passage of time - and the awe-inspiring power of nature to lift us up. Mr. Kooser will also sign Bag in the Wind (Candlewick Press\, $17.99). One cold morning in early spring\, a puff of wind lifts a plastic bag from the landfill into the lives of several townsfolk -- a can-collecting girl\, a homeless man\, a store owner -- not that all of them notice. Kooser fashions an understated yet compassionate world full of happenstance and connection\, neglect and care.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120515T233000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120515T233000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/international-intrigue-book-group-0 URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/international-intrigue-book-group-0 SUMMARY:International Intrigue Book Group DESCRIPTION:The International Intrigue Book Group will discuss The Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill (Soho\, $13.00). Laos\, 1975. The Communist Pathet Lao has taken over this former French colony. Dr. Siri Paiboun\, a 72-year-old Paris-trained doctor\, is appointed national coroner. Although he has no training for the job\, there is no one else\; the rest of the educated class has fled. He is expected to come up with the answers the party wants. But crafty and charming Dr.Siri is immune to bureaucratic pressure. At his age\, he reasons\, what can they do to him? And he knows he cannot fail the dead who come into his care without risk of incurring their boundless displeasure. Eternity could be a long time to have the spirits mad at you.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120517T233000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120517T233000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/worm-turns-book-group-3 URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/worm-turns-book-group-3 SUMMARY:As the Worm Turns Book Group DESCRIPTION:The As the Worm Turns Book Group will discuss Straight Man by Richard Russo (Vintage\, $15.95). William Henry Devereaux\, Jr.\, spiritually suited to playing left field but forced by a bad hamstring to try first base\, is the unlikely chairman of the English department at West Central Pennsylvania University. Over the course of a single convoluted week\, he threatens to execute a goose\, has his nose slashed by a feminist poet\, discovers that his secretary writes better fiction than he does\, suspects his wife of having an affair with his dean\, and finally confronts his philandering elderly father\, the one-time king of American Literary Theory\, at an abandoned amusement park. Robert Runyon will facilitate the discussion. Space is limited\, so please call to reserve your place.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120519T140000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120519T170000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/paths-publication-session-3 URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/paths-publication-session-3 SUMMARY:Paths to Publication\, session 3 DESCRIPTION:Alex Kava and Joe Starita will discuss their experiences following the traditional path to getting published by major publishing houses. Alex Kava is the author of the New York Times bestselling Maggie O’Dell mystery series\, published by Mira Books\, Random House and Brilliance Audio. Visit her website at www.alexkava.com. Joe Starita has his books published by Macmillan\, Penguin\, and the University of Nebraska Press. His I Am a Man is the 2012 One Book\, One Nebraska selection. His biography is at http\://journalism.unl.edu/cojmc/about/bios/starita.shtml. Those interested in participating should contact Ellen Scott at ellen.scott@bookwormomaha.com.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120519T180000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120519T180000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/joe-starita-will-sign-one-book-one-nebraska-selection-2012-i-am-man-chief-standing-bears-journ URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/joe-starita-will-sign-one-book-one-nebraska-selection-2012-i-am-man-chief-standing-bears-journ SUMMARY:Joe Starita will sign the One Book\, One Nebraska selection for 2012\, I Am a Man\: Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice DESCRIPTION:In 1877\, Chief Standing Bear's Ponca Indian tribe was forcibly removed from their Nebraska homeland and marched to what was then known as Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). I Am a Man chronicles what happened when Standing Bear set off on a six-hundred-mile walk to return the body of his only son to their traditional burial ground. Along the way\, it examines the complex relationship between the United States government and the small\, peaceful tribe and the legal consequences of land swaps and broken treaties\, while never losing sight of the heartbreaking journey the Ponca endured. It is a story of survival---of a people left for dead who arose from the ashes of injustice\, disease\, neglect\, starvation\, humiliation\, and termination. On another level\, it is a story of life and death\, despair and fortitude\, freedom and patriotism. A story of Christian kindness and bureaucratic evil. And it is a story of hope---of a people still among us today\, painstakingly preserving a cultural identity that had sustained them for centuries before their encounter with Lewis and Clark in the fall of 1804.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120520T160000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120520T160000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/books-and-bagels-1 URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/books-and-bagels-1 SUMMARY:Books and Bagels DESCRIPTION:The book group Books and Bagels will discuss Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (Algonquin Books\, $13.95). It is 1946\, and city-bred Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband's Mississippi Delta farm a place she finds foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family's struggles\, two young men return from the war to work the land. Jamie McAllan\, Laura's brother-in-law\, is everything her husband is not charming\, handsome\, and haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson\, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm\, has come home with the shine of a war hero. But no matter his bravery in defense of his country\, he is still considered less than a man in the Jim Crow South. It is the unlikely friendship of these brothers-in-arms that drives this powerful novel to its inexorable conclusion. The men and women of each family relate their versions of events and we are drawn into their lives as they become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T190000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120521T190000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/world-war-ii-history-book-group-0 URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/world-war-ii-history-book-group-0 SUMMARY:World War II History Book Group DESCRIPTION:The World War II History Book Group will discuss Japanese Destroyer Captain\: Pearl Harbor\, Guadalcanal\, Midway--The Great Naval Battles as Seen Through Japanese Eyes by Tameichi Hara (U.S. Naval Institute Press\, $21.95). This highly regarded war memoir was a best seller in both Japan and the United States during the 1960s and has long been treasured by historians for its insights into the Japanese side of the surface war in the Pacific. The author was a survivor of more than one hundred sorties against the Allies and was known throughout Japan as the "\;Unsinkable Captain."\;
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120522T233000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120522T233000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/crime-through-time-book-group URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/crime-through-time-book-group SUMMARY:The Crime Through Time Book Group DESCRIPTION:The Crime Through Time Book Group\, formerly the History/Mystery Book Group\, will discuss Dissolution by C. J. Sansom (Penguin\, $15.00). The year is 1537\, and England is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is brutally murdered in a monastery on the south coast of England\, Thomas Cromwell\, Henry VIII's feared vicar general\, summons fellow reformer Matthew Shardlake to lead the inquiry. Shardlake and his young protege uncover evidence of sexual misconduct\, embezzlement\, and treason\, and when two other murders are revealed\, they must move quickly to prevent the killer from striking again.
END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130521T082951Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120526T150000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20120526T150000Z UID:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/civil-war-book-group-0 URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.bookwormomaha.com/event/civil-war-book-group-0 SUMMARY:Civil War Book Group DESCRIPTION:The Civil War Book Group will discuss by Stealing Secrets\: How a Few Daring Women Deceived Generals\, Impacted Battles\, and Altered the Course of the Civil War by H. Donald Winkler (Cumberland House\, $18.99). During America's most divisive war\, both the Union and Confederacy took advantage of brave and courageous women willing to adventurously support their causes. These female spies of the Civil War participated in the world's second-oldest profession-spying-a profession perilous in the extreme. The tales of female spies are filled with suspense\, bravery\, treachery\, and trickery. They took enormous risks and achieved remarkable results-often in ways men could not do. Winkler uses primary Civil War sources such as memoirs\, journals\, letters\, and newspaper articles\, plus the latest in scholarly research\, to make these incredible stories come alive.
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