EMPTY NEST BOOK CLUB | ||
The Empty Nest Book Club began in the
fall of 1998 when a group of us met to rejoice sending our youngest
children out into the world and/or off to college. Hence the name. Below
are the books we are reading and have read.
|
DATE | HOSTESS | TITLE | AUTHOR |
2025 | |||
Friday, March 7 | Zoom | TBA | TBA |
Friday, February 7 | Zoom | Iona Ivereson's Rules for Commuting | Clare Pooley |
Friday, January 3 | Zoom | Seed Keeper | Diane Wilson |
2024 | |||
Friday, Dec 6 | Pleasant Vista | West With Giraffes | Linda Rutledge |
Friday, Nov 1 | Pleasant Vista | Looking for Jane | Heather Marshall |
Friday, Oct 4 | Pleasant Vista | James | Percival Everett |
Friday, Sept 6 | Pleasant Vista | Remarkably Bright Creatures | Shelby Van Pelt |
Friday, Aug 2 | Pleasant Vista | The Measure | Nikki Erlick |
Friday, July 12 | Pleasant Vista | The Women | Kristen Hannah |
Friday, June 7 | Pleasant Vista | Broken Horses | Brandi Carlile |
Friday, May 3 | Pleasant Vista | Hello Beautiful | Ann Napolitano |
Friday, April 5 | Library | Heaven and Earth Grocery Store | James McBride |
Friday, March 1 | Zoom | Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow | Gabrielle Zevin |
Friday, Feb 2 | Zoom | Tom Lake | Ann Patchett |
Friday, Jan 5 | Zoom/hybrid | American Dirt | Jeanine Cummins |
2023 | |||
Monday Nov 13 | Library | Dear Edward | Ann Napolitano |
Monday, Oct 16 | Library | Horse | Geraldine Brooks |
Monday, Sept 18 | Library | Beekeeper of Aleppo | Christy Lefteri |
Monday, Aug 14 | In Hot Water | City of Girls | Elizabeth Gilberg |
Monday, July 10 | In Hot Water | Liar's Bench | Kim Richardson |
Monday, June 5 | In Hot Water | Dinners With Ruth | Nina Totenberg |
Monday, May 1 | In Hot Water | Carrie Soto is Back | Taylor Reid |
Monday, April 10 | In Hot Water | Mad Honey | Jodi Picoult |
Monday, March 6 | In Hot Water | Lessons in Chemistry | Bonnie Garmus |
Monday, Feb 6 | In Hot Water | Winemakers Wife | Kristin Harmel |
Monday, Jan 9 | In Hot Water | Girls in the Stilt House | Kelly Mustian |
2022 | |||
Monday, Nov 14 | In Hot Water | Cultural Toolbox | Anton Treuer |
Monday, Oct 17 | In Hot Water | Henna Artist | Alka Joshi |
Monday, Sept 19 | In Hot Water | Firefly Lane | Kristin Hannah |
Monday, Aug 15 | In Hot Water | Personal Librarian | Marie Benedict |
Monday, July 11 | In Hot Water | Vanishing Half | Brit Bennett |
Monday, June 6 | In Hot Water | State of Terror | H. Clinton & L. Penny |
Monday, May 2 | In Hot Water | Good Talk | Mira Jacob |
Monday, April 11 | Jill, Zoom | This Tender Land | William Kent Krueger |
Monday, March 7 | Jill, Zoom | Me and Earl and the Dying Girl | Jesse Andrews |
Monday, February 7 | Gloria, Zoom | Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell | Robert Dugoni |
Monday, January 10 | Jill, Zoom | Lincoln Highway | Amor Towles |
2021 | |||
Monday, November 15 | Judy | Color of Water | James McBride |
Monday, October 18 | Barb | Hidden Valley Road | Robert Kolker |
Monday, Sept 20 | Liz | Four Winds | Kristin Hannah |
Monday, August 16 | Mary | Gold Rush Widows of Little Falls | Linda Peavy |
Monday, July 12 | Jill | Invisible Life of Addie Larue | V. E. Schwab |
Monday, June 7 | Zoom mtg, Patti | Anxious People | Fredrik Backman |
Monday, May 10 | Zoom mtg, Patti | Caste | Isabel Wilderson |
Monday, April 12 | Zoom mtg, Patti | The Unlikely Disciple | Kevin Roose |
Monday, March 8 | Zoom mtg, Patti | Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek | Kim Richardson |
Monday, February 8 | Zoom mtg, Patti | The Tattooist of Auschwitz | Heather Morris |
Monday, January 11 | Zoom mtg, Patti | Nickel Boys | Colson Whitehead |
2020 | |||
Monday, November 16 | Zoom mtg, Patti | Rising Out of Hatred | Eli Saslow |
Monday, October 19 | Zoom mtg, Patti | White Fragility | Robin DiAngelo |
Monday, September 21 | Zoom mtg, Patti | Dutch House | Ann Patchett |
Monday, August 17 | Zoom mtg, Patti | How to Be an Antiracist | Ibram X. Kendi |
Monday, July 13 | Zoom mtg, Gloria | Between the World and Me | Ta-Nahisi Coates |
Monday, June 1 | Zoom mtg, Gloria | Magic Hour | Kristin Hannah |
Monday, April 20 | Zoom mtg, Gloria | Pachinko | Min Jin Lee |
Monday, January 6 | Liz | Inheritance | Dani Shapiro |
2019 | |||
Monday, November 18 | Judy | Glory Over Everything | Kathleen Grissom |
Monday, October 21 | Liz | Lemon Tree | Sandy Tolan |
Monday, September 23 | Gloria | Educated: A Memoir | Tara Westover |
Monday, August 19 | Phyl | A Gentleman in Moscow | Amor Towles |
Monday, July 15 | Dayle | Before We Were Yours | Lisa Wingate |
Monday, June 3 | Delores | The Great Alone | Kristin Hannah |
Monday, April 22 | Jill | Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine | Gail Honeyman |
Monday, March 25 | TBD | cancelled | |
Monday, February 25 | Patti | Fire Road: The Napalm Girl's Journey - meeting cancelled | Kim Phuc Phan Thi |
Monday, January 7 | Jill | Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen | Jose Vargas |
2018 | |||
Monday, November 12 | Dayle | Waking up White | Debby Irving |
Monday, October 22 | Barb I | Little Paris Book Shop | Nina George |
Monday, September 24 | Judy S | Americanah | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi |
Monday, August 20 | Gloria | The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian | Sherman Alexie |
Monday, July 16 | Phyl | The Handmaid's Tale | Margaret Atwood |
Monday, June 4 | Jill | On Gold Mountain | Lisa See |
Monday, April 23 | Patti | The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules | Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg |
Monday, February 26 | Gloria |
Hillbilly Elegy and Strangers in their Own Land |
J. D. Vance Arlie Hochschild |
Monday, January 8 | Barb P. | Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane | Lisa See |
2017 | |||
Monday, October 23 | Dayle | Other End of the Leash | Patricia McConnell |
Monday, September 25 | Holly | Being Mortal | Atul Gawande |
Monday, August 21 | Delores | Lilac Girls | Martha Hall Kelly |
Monday, July 17 | Barb I. | Orphan Train | Christina Kline |
Monday, June 5 | Rose Mary | The Girls from Ames | Jeffrey Zaslow |
Monday, April 24 | Delores | Elegance of the Hedgehog | Muriel Barbery |
Monday, March 27 | Gloria | American Pastoral | Philip Roth |
Monday, February 27 | Barb P. | Me Before You | Jojo Moyes |
Monday, January 9 | Jill | The Buddha in the Attic | Julie Otsuka |
2016 | |||
Monday, November 14 | Dayle | My Brilliant Friend | Elena Ferrante |
Monday, October 24 | Delores | Tale for the Time Being | Ruth Ozeki |
Monday, September 26 | Barb I. | A Man Called Ove | Fredrik Backman |
Monday, August 22 | Mary | Nightengale | Christian Hanna |
Monday, July 11 | Rose Mary | Inside the O'Briens | Lisa Genova |
Monday, June 6 | Phyl | Confessions | Kanae Minato |
Monday, April 25 | Holly | Two Old Women | Velma Wallis |
Monday, March 28 | Judy | Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse | Faith Sullivan |
Monday, February 29 | Gloria | The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden | Jonas Jonasson |
Monday, January 11 | Jill | Where'd You Go, Bernadette | Maria Semple |
2015 | |||
Monday, November 16 | Delores | The Children Act | Ian McEwan |
Monday, October 26 | Dayle | Go Set a Watchman | Harper Lee |
Monday, September 28 | Barb I. | The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates | Wes Moore |
Monday, August 10 | Delores | All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr |
Monday, July 13 | Jill | Language of Flowers | Vanessa Diffenbaugh |
Monday, June 1 | Judy S | Boys in the Boat | Daniel James Brown |
Monday, April 27 | Holly | Light Between Oceans | M. L. Stedman |
Monday, March 30 | Rose Mary | Aviator's Wife | Melanie Benjamin |
Monday, February 23 | Judy S | Power of One | Bryce Courtenay |
Monday, January 26 | Mary | Frog Music | Emma Donoghue |
Monday, January 5 | Mary | Pastrix | Nadia Bolz-Weber |
2014 | |||
Monday, November 17 | Gloria at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | The Art of Hearing Heartbeats | Jan-Philipp Sendker |
Monday, October 27 | Dayle at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves | Karen Joy Fowler |
Monday, September 29 | Rose Mary at Southbrook | Wednesday Letters | Jason Wright |
Monday, August 11 | Delores at cabin | Art of Fielding | Chad Harbach |
Monday, July 14 | Jill at cabin | Ordinary Grace | Kent Krueger |
Monday, March 31 | Phyl at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Shoemaker's Wife | Adriana Trigiani |
Monday, February 24 | at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Fall of the Giants | Ken Follett |
Monday, January 27 | Judy S at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Vacationland | Sarah Stonich |
2013 | |||
Monday, November 25 | Rose Mary at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Gone Girl | Gillian Flynn |
Monday, October 28 | Gloria at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window | Jonas Jonasson |
Monday, September 30 | Jill at cabin | Major Pedigrew's Last Stand | Helen Simonson |
Monday, August 12 | Delores | Fault in Our Stars | John Green |
Monday, July 15 | Holly | Wonder | R. J. Palacio |
Monday, June 3 | Rose Mary at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Life After Murder | Nancy Mullane |
Monday, April 29 | Dayle at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Devil in the White City | Erik Larson |
Monday, March 25 | Gloria at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Infidel | Ayaan Hirsi Ali |
Monday, February 25 | at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Kitchen House | Kathleen Grissom |
Monday, January 28 | Delores at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Sandcastle Girls | Chris Bohjalian |
2012 | |||
Monday, November 26 | at Delores's | The Appeal | John Grisham |
Monday, October 29 | at Phyl's | To Kill a Mockingbird | Harper Lee |
Monday, September 24 | at Mary's | Girl in Translation | Jean Kwok |
Monday, May 21 | at Dayle's | Stanley James | Clyde Henry |
Monday, April 30 | at Jill's | Wench | Dolen Perkins-valdez |
Monday, March 26 | at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Bel Canto | Ann Patchett |
Monday, February 27 | at Mary's | Turtle Catcher | Nicole Lea Helget |
Monday, January 23 | at Delores's | The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir | Kao Kalia Yang |
2011 | |||
Monday, December 5 | at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Happiness Project | Gretchen Rubin |
Monday, October 17 | at Irish Blessings Coffeehouse | Wicked River | Lee Sandlin |
Monday, September 26 | at Linda's | Cutting for Stone | Abraham Verghese |
Monday, June 20 | at Rose Mary's | People of the Book | Geraldine Brooks |
Monday, May 23 | at Judy's | Little Bee | Chris Cleave |
Monday, April 25 | at Opal's | Sarah's Key | Tatiana de Rosnay |
Monday, March 28 | at Mary's | The Book Thief | Markus Zusak |
Monday, February 28 | at Gloria's | I, Mona Lisa | Jeanne Kalogridis |
Monday, January 24 | at Delores' | Every Day is a Good Day | Wilma Mankiller |
2010 | |||
Monday, November 29 | at Dayle's | Dreamers of the Day | Mary Doria Russell |
Monday, October 25 | at Barb's | House Rules | Jodi Piccoult |
Monday, September 27 | at Jill's | Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society | Mary Ann Shaffer |
Monday, June 21 | at Rose Mary's | Lacuna | Barbara Kingsolver |
Monday, May 24 | at Phyl's | Jesus for the Non-Religious | John Shelby Spong |
Monday, April 26 | at Barb's | Lost Symbol | Dan Brown |
Monday, March 29 | at Mary's | Honeymoon in Tehran | Azadeh Moaveni |
Monday, February 22 | at Gloria's | The Help | Katherine Stockett |
Monday, January 25 | at Linda's | Five Smooth Stones | Ann Fairbairn |
2009 | |||
Monday, November 30th | at Dayle's | The Story of Edgar Sawtelle | David Wroblewski |
Monday, October 26th | at Jill's | So Brave, Young and Handsome | Leif Enger |
Monday, September 28th | at Phyl's | Shack | William P. Young |
Monday, June 1st | at Rose Mary's | The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-- Three Women Search for Understanding | Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner |
Monday, April 27th | at Marlene's | The View from Mount Joy | Lorna Landvik |
Monday, March 30th | at Linda's | Years of Wonder | Geraldine Brooks |
Monday, February 23rd | at Mary's | Until They Bring the Streetcars Back | Stanley Gordon West |
Monday, January 5th | at Gloria's | Eat, Pray, Love | Elizabeth Gilbert |
2008 | |||
Monday, November 24th | at Jill's | A Woman of Independent Means | Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey |
Monday, October 27th | at Jan's | Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress | Susan Jane Gilman |
Monday, September 29th | at Dayle's | Plum Wine | Angela Davis-Gardner |
Monday, June 2nd | at Rose Mary's | Out Stealing Horses | Per Petterson |
Monday, April 28th | at Linda's | Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ...One School at a Time | Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin |
Monday, March 31, 2008 | at Jan's | A Thousand Splendid Suns | Khaled Hosseini |
Friday, March 7, 2008 | at Gloria's | One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd | Jim Fergus |
Monday, January 28, 2008 | at Jill's | Moloka'i | Alan Brennert |
2007 | |||
Monday, November 26, 2007 | at In Hot Water | Tell No One | Harlan Coben |
Monday, October 29, 2007 | at Linda's | Rise and Shine | Anna Quindlen |
Monday, September 24, 2007 | at Dayle's | Oh My Stars | Lorna Landvik |
Monday, June 4, 2007 | at Rose Mary's | Middlesex | Jeffrey Eugenides |
Monday, April 30, 2007 | at Jan's | A Girl Named Zippy | Haven Kimmel |
Monday, March 26, 2007 | at Jill's | Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen |
Monday, February 26, 2007 | at In Hot Water | Whale Caller | Zakes Mda |
Monday, January 29, 2007 | at In Hot Water | Glass Castle | Jeanette Walls |
2006 | |||
Monday, November 27, 2006 | at In Hot Water | Broken for You | Stephanie Kallos |
Monday, October 30, 2006 | at In Hot Water | Memory Keeper's Daughter | Kim Edwards |
Monday, September 25, 2006 | at In Hot Water | Animal Dreams | Barbara Kingsolver |
Monday, May 22, 2006 | at In Hot Water | Ellen Foster | Kaye Gibbons |
Monday, April 24, 2006 | at In Hot Water | The Year of Magical Thinking | Joan Didion |
Monday, March 27, 2006 | at In Hot Water | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Mark Haddon |
Monday, February 27, 2006 | at In Hot Water | Class Action | Clara Bingham and Laura Leed Gansler |
Monday, January 30, 2006 | at In Hot Water | Master Butchers Singing Club | Louise Erdich |
2005 | |||
Monday, November 28, 2005 | at In Hot Water | Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting by in America | Barbara Ehrenreich |
Monday, October 31, 2005 | at Mary I's house | Let Me Whisper in Your Ear | Mary Jane Clark |
Monday, September 26, 2005 | Jan - at In Hot Water | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency | Alexander McCall Smith |
Monday, July 25, 2005 | Dayle - at In Hot Water | The Birth of Venus | Sarah Dunant |
Monday, June 27, 2005 | trip to Bound to Be Read, bookstore in St. Paul on Grand Avenue | ||
Monday, May 23, 2005 | reading various books about Benjamin Franklin | ||
Monday, April 25, 2005 | Jill - at In Hot Water | One For the Money | Janet Evanovich |
Monday, March 28, 2005 | Linda - at In Hot Water | Three Junes | Julia Glass |
Monday, February 28, 2005 | Patti - at In Hot Water | Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood | Alexandra Fuller |
Tues, February 1, 2005 | at In Hot Water | Monkeewrench | P.J. Tracy |
Mon, Jan. 3, 2005 | at In Hot Water | Anthem | Ayn Rand |
2004 | |||
Wed., Dec. 1, 2004 | Jill | bring children's bks to give away | various |
Tues., Nov. 2, 2004 | Jan | Second Glance | Jodi Picoult |
Mon., Oct. 4, 2004 | Judy | Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress | Dai Sijie |
Wed., Sept. 8, 2004 | Marlene | Last Juror | John Grishom |
Mon., Aug. 2, 2004 | Sharon | Tending Roses | Lisa Wingate |
July, 2004 | Rose Mary | The Sprit Catches You and You Fall Down | Anne Fadiman |
June, 2004 | Jill | A Prayer for Owen Meany | John Irving |
May, 2004 | Char | Gai-Jin - Part One | James Clavell |
April, 2004 | Dayle | Gods and Generals | Jeffrey Sharra |
March, 2004 | Patti | Sacajewea | Anna Waldo |
February, 2004 | Mary | Romance Reader | Pearl Abraham |
January, 2004 | Judy | Life of Pi | Yann Martel |
2003 | |||
December, 2003 | Linda | Xmas books | various |
November, 2003 | Jan | Cold Sassy Tree | Olive Ann Burns |
October, 2003 | Jill | The Da Vinci Code | Dan Brown |
September, 2003 | Rose Mary | Five Quarters of an Orange | Joanne Harris |
August, 2003 | Marlene | Forever Ours | Janis Amatuzio |
July, 2003 | Sharon | Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons | Lorna Landvik |
June, 2003 | Kathy | Holes | Louis Sachar |
May, 2003 | Dassel | Secret Garden | Frances H. Burnett |
April, 2003 | Sauk Center | Main Street | Sinclair Lewis |
March, 2003 | In Hot Water | The Secret Life of Bees | Sue Monk Kidd |
February, 2003 | In Hot Water | The Tapestries | Kien Nguyen |
January, 2003 | Sharon | Lovely Bones | Alice Sebold |
2002 | |||
December, 2002 | Linda | Xmas books | various |
November, 2002 | Jan | Pope Joan | Donna Woolfolk Cross |
October, 2002 | Jill | White Oleander | Janet Fitch |
September, 2002 | Patti | Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All | Allan Gurganus |
May, 2002 | In Hot Water Coffeeshop | Seasons of Sun and Rain | Marjory Dorner |
April, 2002 | Sharon | Alias Grace | Margaret Atwood |
March, 2002 | Kathy | Plain Truth | Jodi Picoult |
February, 2002 | Linda | Peace Like a River | Leif Enger |
January, 2002 | Char | Circle of Three | Patricia Gaffney |
2001 | |||
June, 2001 | Jill | Diary of Ann Frank | Ann Frank |
May, 2001 | In Hot Water Coffeeshop | Memoirs of a Geisha | Arthur Golden |
April, 2001 | Pull of the Moon | Elizabeth Berg | |
February, 2001 | Red Tent | Anita Daimant | |
January, 2001 | All the Pretty Horses | Cormac McCarthy | |
2000 | |||
November, 2000 | Greatest Generation | Tom Brokow | |
October, 2000 | Oxalis - A Story of Renewal | Keith Davis | |
September, 2000 | Rapture of Canaan | Sheri Reynolds | |
August, 2000 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Bk 1) | J.K. Rowling | |
July, 2000 | In Hot Water Coffeeshop | 10 Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went out in the Real World | Maria Shriver |
June, 2000 | In Hot Water Coffeeshop | The Fig Eater | Jody Shields |
April, 2000 | Maple Lake Coffeeshop | Green Mile | Steven King |
March, 2000 | Maple Lake Coffeeshop | Poisonwood Bible | Barbara Kingsolver |
February, 2000 | Char | assorted works about Eleanor Roosevelt | various |
January, 2000 | Mary | Plainsong | Kent Haruf |
1999 | |||
November, 1999 | Kathy | Catcher in the Rye | J. D. Salinger |
October, 1999 | Jill | Angela's Ashes | Frank McCourt |
June, 1999 | Marlene | The Edible Woman | Margaret Atwood |
May, 1999 | Char | The Reader | Bernhard Schlink |
February, 1999 | Mary | Tuesdays with Morrie | Mitch Albom |
January, 1999 | Laurel | Midwives | Chris Bohjalian |
1998 | |||
December, 1998 | Jill | Joshua by Joseph Girzone and Mark of the Maker by Tom Hegg |
|
November, 1998 | Patti | The Notebook | Nicholas Sparks |
October, 1998 | Marlene | Mutant Message Down Under | Marlo Morgan |
September, 1998 | Linda | Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood | Rebecca Wells |
BOOK CLUB POLICIES
BOOK SOURCES
- Local
- Great River Regional Library (order online, pick up at Annandale Library)
- Buffalo Books (Buffalo, Minnesota) 763-682-3147
- Online