The Book Club at Dearborn First UMC
Take part in our monthly book club:
2nd Thursday of every month (Sept. - June)
2 p.m. in Wesleyan Hall (newly renovated area)
ZOOM LINK ALSO AVAILABLE.
Please contact:
library@dearbornfirstumc.org.
Form new friendships with people who share your passion for books and the insightful conversation they inspire!
2024-2025 READING LIST:
JULY OR AUGUST, 2024
Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books
by Kirsten Miller
Our book club organizer stumbled across this book by chance and loved it! However, she had already chosen the titles for the year and didn’t see any that she wanted to delete.
So…here’s the deal….if anyone reads it and would like to discuss it any time during July/August 2024, contact Tara at library@dearbornfirstumc.org!
This is a very timely tale that is both funny and poignant. Wilma Jean will be your new hero. Available through the Dearborn Public Library on Libby, audiobook and hardcover and on Amazon on Kindle and hardcover.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2024
The Wager
by David Grann
This is a great story of human behavior told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann masterfully recreates the world of an 18th century British warship including chasing a Spanish ship filled with treasure, a ship wreck, castaways and a life or death court martial. Available through the Dearborn Public Library, on Hoopla, Libby, audiobook, in print and through Amazon on Kindle and in hardcover.
OCTOBER 10, 2024
We Hope for Better Things
by Erin Bartels
Set in Detroit and Lapeer, Michigan this recounts the experiences of one family as they confront racism from the Civil War to the present day. This enthralling story will make you reconsider some of the history you thought you knew and give you some hope for the future. Available through the Dearborn Public Library on Libby, Hoopla and audiobook and through Amazon on Kindle and paperback.
NOVEMBER 14, 2024
North Woods
by Daniel Mason
The story of a cabin in the woods and its inhabitants over time. Exploring the environment, history and human nature, it asks the timeless question: How do we live on, even after we are gone? Set in New England, this title is thought-provoking and was a New York Times top ten book for 2023. Available through the Dearborn Public Library on Libby, audiobook and hardcover and on Amazon in Kindle and hardcover formats.
JANUARY 9, 2025
The Briar Club
by Kate Quinn
This story is set in Washington, DC during the McCarthy era in a women’s boarding house. Following the lives of the occupants, the book explores the changing roles of women in postwar America. It is a thrilling novel of secrets and loyalty. Available through the Dearborn Public Library, but it is so new it is still on order. It is also available for pre-order on Amazon. It is due to be published July 9, 2024.
FEBRUARY 13, 2025
Heaven and Earth Grocery Store
by James McBride
A murder mystery locked in a Great American Novel, McBride has set this story in Pottstown, Pennsylvania in 1972. While digging for a new development a skeleton is found at the bottom of what had been a well. The characters’ stories overlap as McBride shows us that it is love and community that sustains us. Available through the Dearborn Public Library on Hoopla, audiobook and in hardcover, on Amazon on Kindle and in paperback and at the DFUMC library.
MARCH 13, 2025
The Women
by Kristin Hannah
This is a story of the Vietnam War told through the eyes of American women serving in Vietnam. So much is made of the struggles of male soldiers returning from war, but Kirstin Hannah focuses on war survivors in the Army Nurse Corps. A novel of deep friendship and bold patriotism that shines a light on all of the costs of war. Available at the Dearborn Public Library on Hoopla, Libby, audiobook and hardcover and on Amazon on Kindle and hardcover.
APRIL 10, 2025
The Demon of Unrest
by Erik Larson
This book covers a short, but pivotal, point in American history. Abraham Lincoln is elected president in 1860 in a nation deeply divided. This illuminates the five months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter. Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers and plantation records Larson weaves a political horror story that may provide a cautionary tale for today. Available through the Dearborn Public Library on Libby, audiobook and hardcover and at Amazon on Kindle, in hardcover and paperback.
MAY 8, 2025
The River We Remember
by William Kent Krueger
Set in a small Minnesota town in 1958, this novel explores the aftermath of World War II and the challenges to racism in a small town. Written as a murder mystery, Kreuger offers an unflinching look at the wounds left by the wars we fight abroad and at home. Available at the Dearborn Public Library on Libby, Hoopla, audiobook and hardcover and through Amazon on Kindle and in hardcover and paperback.
JUNE 12, 2025
In the Upper Country
by Kai Thomas
A novel of the Underground Railroad from Virginia into Michigan and then across the border to Canada, this tells the interwoven stories of Black and Indigenous peoples in North America. A 2024 Michigan Notable Book, this is a story of love, courage and hope in the face of overwhelming odds. Available through the Dearborn Public Library on Libby, audiobook and hardcover and through Amazon on Kindle, hardcover and paperback.
