Intercontinental Readers Book Club
The Intercontinental Readers meet at 11:00 am at the Peoria Public Library Main Branch in the Gallery Classroom. This is a unique book discussion that virtually connects readers from Peoria and Clonmel to share both American and Irish literature.
If you have any questions about the Intercontinental Book Club please reach out to Kathy and Terry Tate at knttate@mchsi.com.
The following are the book selections and meeting dates for 2024.
All descriptions from Goodreads summaries.
March 23, 2024
Three Girls from Bronzeville by Dawn Turner
They were three Black girls. Dawn, tall and studious; her sister, Kim, younger by three years and headstrong; and her best friend, Debra, already prom-queen pretty by third grade. They bonded as they roamed the concrete landscape of Bronzeville, a historic neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, the destination of hundreds of thousands of Black folks who fled the ravages of Jim Crow South.
June 5, 2024
Love by Roddy Doyle
Two old friends reconnect in Dublin for a dramatic, revealing evening of drinking and storytelling. Davy and Joe were drinking pals back in their Dublin youth. Davy rarely sees Joe for a pint anymore - maybe one or two when Davy comes over from England to check on his elderly father. But tonight Davy's father is dying in the hospice, and Joe has a secret that will lead the two on a bender back to the haunts of their youth.
September 4, 2024
West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave.
It's 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California's first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow.
December 4, 2024
The Gathering by Anne Enright
The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan are gathering in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother, Liam, drowned in the sea. His sister, Veronica, collects the body and keeps the dead man company, guarding the secret she shares with him - something that happened in their grandmother's house in the winter of 1968.