NOVEMBER 18

All The Beauty In The World
By Patrick Bringley

Named one of the best books of the year by the New York Public Library, the Financial Times, the New York Post, Book Riot, and The Sunday Times (London). An “exquisite” (The Washington Post) “hauntingly beautiful” (Associated Press) portrait of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its treasures by a former New Yorker staffer who spent a decade as a museum guard.

Facilitated by Deborah Geller

Step aboard one of the most legendary ocean liners of the twentieth century as René Silvin brings the remarkable story of the SS Normandie to life. Celebrated for its extraordinary Art Deco interiors, world class service, and groundbreaking design, the French liner was considered by many to be the ultimate expression of elegance at sea.

René will explore the ship’s glamorous history, its famous passengers, the coveted Blue Riband for transatlantic speed, and the events that led to its tragic end in New York Harbor during World War II. Drawing on his lifelong fascination with the great ocean liners, René offers a captivating look at a vessel remembered as both a technological marvel and a floating work of art.

JANUARY 20

Theo of Golden

By Allen Levi

One spring morning, a stranger named Theo arrives in the small Southern city of Golden. He doesn’t explain much about where he came from or why he’s there, but when he visits the local coffeehouse, where pencil portraits of the people of Golden hang on the walls, he begins purchasing them, one at a time, and giving each portrait to the person depicted. In exchange, he asks only for the person’s story. And so portrait by portrait, person by person, secrets are revealed, regrets are shared, and ordinary lives are profoundly altered. A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is an unforgettable novel about the power of generosity, the importance of connection, and the quiet miracles that happen when we choose kindness and wonder.

Facilitated by Deborah Geller

FEBRUARY 17

The Personal Librarian

By Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

“Historical fiction at its best!”. A remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation, from New York Times bestselling authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray.

Facilitated by Deborah Geller

MARCH 17

Mystic Wind

By James Barretto

The last remaining fragment of truth, hidden in the mire of the Mystic Creek. Boston star prosecutor turned corporate attorney Jack Marino has risen fast and far from his upbringing in the Mystic housing projects. But after he’s savagely beaten in retaliation for his work as head of the District Attorney’s Urban Gang Unit, he’s fired because his powerful boss is running for governor and fears the beating may have shaken Jack’s formidable confidence. Jack lands a plush suite at his father-in-law’s mega law firm, making big money practicing corporate law. Although he seemingly has everything, money, privilege, and an heiress for a wife, what he doesn’t have is his own self respect.

Facilitated by Deborah Geller