Marilyn’s Chapter
Forty Martyrs Book Club
Marilyn’s Chapter is named after Marilyn Davidson, who passed away in March 2011. Marilyn had been in the process of developing a book club
at Forty Martyrs parish as a way to encourage fellowship and strengthen our faith community. Marilyn loved to read and had a very strong Catholic faith. Marilyn’s Chapter is our way of keeping her memory alive. We hope you will join us as we try to learn a little more about ourselves
and our Catholic faith.
7:00 pm - Forty Martyrs Church Hall
Spring 2020 Books!
Past Books...
Thursday, January 16 Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan Henry
This text is a continuation of our exploration of C.S.Lewis and his philosophy and writings of Christian theology. In Ms Henry's work, we learn how the American writer Joy Gresham came into Lewis' life. He was the well-known British writer, lecturer, professor and author of The Chronicles of Narnia; she was an accomplished American writer, much of it poetry. The story of their meeting, relationship, and marriage are told in this work of historical fiction!
Thursday, February 20 Educated by Tata Westover
This memoir follows the author through her difficult childhood with an isolationist, religious family, to her achievements despite her seemingly-doomed future. this is sometimes a difficult story to read, but the author highlights her dreams as well as her challenges. She takes control of her life and becomes a determined, self-motivated woman w ho has survived her past.
Thursday, March 19 Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
Kingsolver is a renowned writer of essays, poetry, and of award-winning fiction. she writes passionately about environmental issues and, in her fiction, family dynamics. This text follows 2 families who occupy the same house several generations apart. Home normally means safety and security for most, but the characters find it a struggle to fee safe in a world that is changing all around them.
Thursday, April 16 My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
This tale was published in the U.K. as My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and apology. It was published in Swedish in 2013. In the story we follow 7-year-old Elsa, who is very close to her Granny. After Franny's death, she sets out on an adventure that affirms life's mysteries, sorrows and joys. An important these is that it's okay to be different.
Past Books...
Thursday, January 17 Leonie Martin: A Difficult Life by Marie Baudouin-Croix
This is a follow-up to a book we read last year. Leonie Martin is the sister of St. Therese of Lisieux. She was the least gifted of the 5 Martin daughters. She overcame a difficult and unhappy childhood to become a Sister of the Visitation, and at the end of her life (in 1941) she was recognized as a spiritual and holy sister in her own right.
Thursday, February 21 Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
Zentner is an acclaimed young adult novelist. This story asks the question: What would you do if you could spend one last day with someone you lost? As we follow the narrator in his quest for peace, the reader may find new insights into love, hope, and forgiveness. From the New York Times Review: "Gorgeous, heart-breaking, ultimately life affirming."
Thursday, March 21 Amanda, Miranda by Richard Peck
Decatur born author Richard Peck is well known for his young adult fiction. He won the Caldecott Prize for one. This text is one of his only adult novels and is meticulously researched story of a wealthy family and their servants and their fate aboard the Titanic. Mr. Peck passed away in 2018, so the discussion of this book will be a proper Midwestern farewell to him.
Thursday, April 25 The Monk of Mocha by Dave Eggers
Given the current upheaval in Yemen, this is a timely story of the history of coffee and the many family-owned plantations in that country. The nonfiction tale revolves around Mokhtar Alkhanshali, a Yemeni-American living in San Francisco, and his quest to enable the Yemeni farmers to sell their high quality coffee beans at a fair price. The twists and turns in this story read like a spy novel in parts, and at times it seems certain that Mokhtar will lose hope (and perhaps his life), bu he perseveres. The text was written in 2018; I would be curious to know where things stand today.
Thursday, January 18 The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
This book has a little bit of everything - humor, romance, a touch of suspense, but most of all love, of books and bookish people and an adorable toddler named Maya. The title character, bookstore owner A.J., is a bit of a book snob but also very lonely. His life is not what he thought it would be as the book opens, but fate takes him in quite unexpected directions.
Thursday, February 15 The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
McDermott writes movingly of New York City's Irish Catholic community at the beginning of the 20th century. In this novel, set in Brooklyn, she writes of a young widow and her daughter who are "adopted" by nuns in a convent. This book demonstrates the respect and admiration accorded to those who chose the religious life, especially when those priests and sisters were a part of one's everyday life.
Thursday, March 15 Nearing Home by Billy Graham
The world-renowned author, preacher, and evangelist, who turned 90 this past year explores aging as well as truths from Scripture. In this memoir, he "proclaims the greatest message the world will ever hear: Jesus Christ came to earth to bring hope to a lost and dying world." (publisher's quote)
Thursday, April 19 The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
This novel describes the life of Albert Einstein's first wife, Mileva Maric, a brilliant physicist and mathematician. "Beautifully written and filled with fasicinating historical detail... a finely drawn portrait of not only what it was like to be a woman in love with physics at the time, but also what it was like to be a woman in love with the wrong man." (Jillian Cantor)
Thursday, Sept 21, 2017 The Extraordinary Parents of St. Therese Lisieux by Helene Mongin
St. Therese of the Little Flower famously said: "God gave me a mother and a father more worthy of heaven than of earth." In October 2015 Louis and Zelie Martin were the first married couple to be canonized. They had 9 children, 5 of whom survived and all of whom became nuns. This text draws from Zelie's correspondence and shows in vivid detail how Louis and Zelie created a joyful Catholic home for their family.
Thursday, Oct 19, 2017 The Girl With Seven Names by Hyeon-seo Lee
The author grew up in North Korea but escaped to China in 1997. She presents us with an extraordinary insight into life under one of the most ruthless and secretive dictatorships. The author recounts her terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her family to freedom.
Thursday, Nov 16, 2017 A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
An angry old man hides a terrible loss beneath a cranky and short-tempered exterior while clashing with new neighbors, a boisterous family. The text delineates their evolving and unexpected friendship.
Past Books...
Thursday, January 16 Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan Henry
This text is a continuation of our exploration of C.S.Lewis and his philosophy and writings of Christian theology. In Ms Henry's work, we learn how the American writer Joy Gresham came into Lewis' life. He was the well-known British writer, lecturer, professor and author of The Chronicles of Narnia; she was an accomplished American writer, much of it poetry. The story of their meeting, relationship, and marriage are told in this work of historical fiction!
Thursday, February 20 Educated by Tata Westover
This memoir follows the author through her difficult childhood with an isolationist, religious family, to her achievements despite her seemingly-doomed future. this is sometimes a difficult story to read, but the author highlights her dreams as well as her challenges. She takes control of her life and becomes a determined, self-motivated woman w ho has survived her past.
Thursday, March 19 Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver
Kingsolver is a renowned writer of essays, poetry, and of award-winning fiction. she writes passionately about environmental issues and, in her fiction, family dynamics. This text follows 2 families who occupy the same house several generations apart. Home normally means safety and security for most, but the characters find it a struggle to fee safe in a world that is changing all around them.
Thursday, April 16 My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
This tale was published in the U.K. as My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and apology. It was published in Swedish in 2013. In the story we follow 7-year-old Elsa, who is very close to her Granny. After Franny's death, she sets out on an adventure that affirms life's mysteries, sorrows and joys. An important these is that it's okay to be different.
Past Books...
Thursday, January 17 Leonie Martin: A Difficult Life by Marie Baudouin-Croix
This is a follow-up to a book we read last year. Leonie Martin is the sister of St. Therese of Lisieux. She was the least gifted of the 5 Martin daughters. She overcame a difficult and unhappy childhood to become a Sister of the Visitation, and at the end of her life (in 1941) she was recognized as a spiritual and holy sister in her own right.
Thursday, February 21 Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
Zentner is an acclaimed young adult novelist. This story asks the question: What would you do if you could spend one last day with someone you lost? As we follow the narrator in his quest for peace, the reader may find new insights into love, hope, and forgiveness. From the New York Times Review: "Gorgeous, heart-breaking, ultimately life affirming."
Thursday, March 21 Amanda, Miranda by Richard Peck
Decatur born author Richard Peck is well known for his young adult fiction. He won the Caldecott Prize for one. This text is one of his only adult novels and is meticulously researched story of a wealthy family and their servants and their fate aboard the Titanic. Mr. Peck passed away in 2018, so the discussion of this book will be a proper Midwestern farewell to him.
Thursday, April 25 The Monk of Mocha by Dave Eggers
Given the current upheaval in Yemen, this is a timely story of the history of coffee and the many family-owned plantations in that country. The nonfiction tale revolves around Mokhtar Alkhanshali, a Yemeni-American living in San Francisco, and his quest to enable the Yemeni farmers to sell their high quality coffee beans at a fair price. The twists and turns in this story read like a spy novel in parts, and at times it seems certain that Mokhtar will lose hope (and perhaps his life), bu he perseveres. The text was written in 2018; I would be curious to know where things stand today.
Thursday, January 18 The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
This book has a little bit of everything - humor, romance, a touch of suspense, but most of all love, of books and bookish people and an adorable toddler named Maya. The title character, bookstore owner A.J., is a bit of a book snob but also very lonely. His life is not what he thought it would be as the book opens, but fate takes him in quite unexpected directions.
Thursday, February 15 The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
McDermott writes movingly of New York City's Irish Catholic community at the beginning of the 20th century. In this novel, set in Brooklyn, she writes of a young widow and her daughter who are "adopted" by nuns in a convent. This book demonstrates the respect and admiration accorded to those who chose the religious life, especially when those priests and sisters were a part of one's everyday life.
Thursday, March 15 Nearing Home by Billy Graham
The world-renowned author, preacher, and evangelist, who turned 90 this past year explores aging as well as truths from Scripture. In this memoir, he "proclaims the greatest message the world will ever hear: Jesus Christ came to earth to bring hope to a lost and dying world." (publisher's quote)
Thursday, April 19 The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict
This novel describes the life of Albert Einstein's first wife, Mileva Maric, a brilliant physicist and mathematician. "Beautifully written and filled with fasicinating historical detail... a finely drawn portrait of not only what it was like to be a woman in love with physics at the time, but also what it was like to be a woman in love with the wrong man." (Jillian Cantor)
Thursday, Sept 21, 2017 The Extraordinary Parents of St. Therese Lisieux by Helene Mongin
St. Therese of the Little Flower famously said: "God gave me a mother and a father more worthy of heaven than of earth." In October 2015 Louis and Zelie Martin were the first married couple to be canonized. They had 9 children, 5 of whom survived and all of whom became nuns. This text draws from Zelie's correspondence and shows in vivid detail how Louis and Zelie created a joyful Catholic home for their family.
Thursday, Oct 19, 2017 The Girl With Seven Names by Hyeon-seo Lee
The author grew up in North Korea but escaped to China in 1997. She presents us with an extraordinary insight into life under one of the most ruthless and secretive dictatorships. The author recounts her terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her family to freedom.
Thursday, Nov 16, 2017 A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
An angry old man hides a terrible loss beneath a cranky and short-tempered exterior while clashing with new neighbors, a boisterous family. The text delineates their evolving and unexpected friendship.
