Members:
Walt Bentley | Doug Bowes | John Colbert |
Jody Graves | Lew Griswold | Steve Harrell |
Frank Linik | Brian Newton | George Pilling |
Dale Rowden | Warren Sargent | Sandy Sherriffs |
Doug Snider | George Sward | Scott Timmons |
Former Members
Don Stone
Books:
Title – author – date of meeting – short synopsis – person who chose the book or where we met
- Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose September 2014 Jody
- In Search of King Solomon’s Mines: A Modern Adventurer’s Quest for Gold and History in the Land of the Queen of Sheba by Tahir Shah. ¿Jan-Feb. 2015? 20th century adventurer finds a map to immense riches and follows it on a wild travel through Ethiopia.– met at Pillings
- The Telling Room by Michael Paterniti March 10, 2015 Cheese in Spain – met at Newton’s
- All The Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr April 21 2015 Blind French girl and German boy meet in occupied France. Met at Dale’s house
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. June 2015 at Lew’s.
- The Martian by Andy Weir Guy stuck alone on the red planet figures out how to get home. Jody
- The Men Who United the States: America’s Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics, and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible by Simon Winchester. September 2015? Hosted by Doug.
- The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. Fictionalized account of the life of abolitionist Sarah Grimke, her sister Nina, and their family slave named Handful. Hosted by Steve
- H is for hawk by Helen MacDonald December 1 2015 Woman in mourning for her father flies Goshawks in England. Met at Don’s house.
- The Wright Brothers by David McCullough Feb. 9 2016 Two brothers decide to take off. Met at Newton’s
- The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko March 2016 Speeding through the Grand Canyon with oars met at Jody’s
- Dear Leader – my escape from North Korea by Jang Jin-sung. March 2016 Jody.
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari Met at Dale’s?
- Lab girl by Hope Jahren Sept. 13 2016 Botanist professional and personal adventures – met at Steve’s.
- Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging by Sebastian Junger 10/18/16 met at Colbert’s
- American Heiress by Jeffrey Toobin 12/6/16 Patty Hearst story met at Newtons
- The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee 1/24/17
- Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance. March 7 2017 Excuses for people to vote for Trump. Met at Colbert’s
- A Man called Ove by Fredrik Backman. April 18th 2017 Grumpy old man meets new neighbors. Met at Lew’s
- A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towls. Overqualified waiter fools the reds. Jody. Hosted by Steve.
- The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. It actually was a railroad underground. George
- Zealot: the Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Resa Aslan. 9/25/17 History surrounding Jesus. Met at Walt’s
- Chickenhawk by Robert Mason Nov. 13 2017 Helicopter pilot in Vietnam. 11/13/17 Met at Doug’s
- Reading with Patrick by Michelle Kuo. Life and justice in the Arkansas Delta. George selected met at Jody’s
- Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward. Ghosts return to haunt dysfunctional family. Met at John’s
- A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal by Ben Macintyre and John le Carré. March 2018 British class system causes problems for intelligence. March 2018 Met at Walt’s
- The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. The battle of Gettysburg. May 2018. Met at Jody’s.
- Educated: a Memoir by Tara Westover. Woman escapes her Idaho upbringing sort of. June 26, 2018 at Steve’s.
- The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan. September 2018 Met at George’s
- Red Notice , Bill Browder. American financier runs afoul of Putin. Met at John’s September 25, 2018
- The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels by Jon Meacham. Lessons in history say we have survived it before. Jody’s October 30, 2018
- White Fang by Jack London. No meeting.
- The Quiet American by Graham Greene. Vietnam with the French.Walt’s 12/11/18
- The Tenth Island: Finding Joy, Beauty, and Unexpected Love in the Azores by Diana Marcum Lew’s with author 1/16/19
- Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan. Doug’s Feb. 19 2019
- The Line Becomes a River by Francisco Cantu Borderlands angst. George’s 3/26/19
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Resourceful recluse gets away with murder. Steve’s 4/23/19
- The Man Who Planted Trees: Lost Groves, Champion Trees, and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet by Jim Robbins. Cloning the oldest. Walt’s 6/11/19
- The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown. George P. 8/19
- Franciscan Frontiersmen: How Three Adventurers Charted the West by Robert A Kittle. John’s in Los Osos with author. 9/14/19
- Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors and the Drug Company That Addicted America, Beth Macy. The opioid crisis is huge. Sandy’s 10/30/19
- Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Re-imagining Life, Louise Aronson. Get yourself a good gerontologist – now! Lew’s 12/17/19
- The Log from the Sea of Cortez, John Steinbeck. Steinbeck the scientist with his friend Richter, a scientist. Doug’s 1/16/20
- News of the World, Paulette Jiles . 70 year-old civilizes 11 year-old white Indian captive. Home of George S. 2/26/20
- The Overstory, Richard Powers. Tree stories. Steve’s 4/1/20
- Blowout, Rachel Maddow. Big oil rules the world. It’s even worse than you thought. Sandy’s 5/13/20
- Last Bus to Wisdom, Ivan Doig. Eleven year old cowboy has adventures. Walt hosts 6/24/20
- The Splendid and the Vile, Eric Larson. Churchill and WWII personalized. Brian hosts 8/12/20
- A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold. George P. hosts (virtual) 9/23/20.
- A Branch of the Sky: Fifty Years of Adventure, Tragedy, and Restoration in the Sierra Nevada, Steven R. Sorensen. Testosterone fueled adventures in SEKI for and against the Park Service. Lew hosts 11/11/20. Joined by author (zoom)
- Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride, Daniel James Brown. Jody hosts 12/16/20
- Braiding Sweetgass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. By Robin Wall Kimmerer. Doug hosts 2/3/21
- Apeirogon by Colum McCann. George S hosts 3/17/21 Fathers of daughters killed in conflict try for peace in Israel/Palestine.
- How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, by Bill Gates. Steve hosts 4/28/21
- Robert E Lee and Me by Ty Seidule. subtitled A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause. Lee the traitor exposed. Sandy hosts 6/8/21
- Life on a Little Known Planet by Howard Ensign Evans. Bugs, bugs and more bugs. Walt hosts 7/29/21
- No One Cares About Crazy People by Ron Powers. The tragedy that is Schizophrenia. Brian hosts 9/15/21
- A Matter of Semantics: A Young Officer’s Decision: Duty or Loyalty in the Vietnam War by Frank Linik . Second Lieutenant has second thoughts. George P hosts 10/26/21. Joined by author (zoom)
- The Heart of California – Exploring the San Joaquin Valley, by Aaron Gilbreath. Cruise the valley floor. Lew hosts 12/6/21
- The World Rushed In: The California Gold Rush Experience, by J.S. Holliday. Slow oxen to California. Jody hosts 1/19/22
- The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War, by Ben Mcintyre. Russian spy escapes to boring British life. Frank hosts 3/9/22
- The Sun is a Compass, by Caroline Van Hemert. Woman on epic journey takes husband along. Doug S. hosts 4/20/22
- The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich. Preserving a way of life, maybe. George S. hosts 5/24/22
- Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, by Patrick Radden Keefe. Philanthropic coverup. Doug B. hosts 7/6/22
- The Premonition by Michael Lewis. It took a woman to see it coming; men did not listen. John hosts 8/10/22
- The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. Just desserts for characters on an epic journey. Steve hosts 9/21/22
- The Jealous Kind by Burke, James Lee. Scott hosts. 11/2/22
- Forgotten Heroes by Sandy Ware. Sandy hosts. 1/4/23
- If…..Then by Jill LePore. Warren hosts. 2/15/23
- The Flag, The Cross, and the Station Wagon, by Bill McKibben. Walt hosts. 3/22/23
- The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, by Nikole Hannah-Jones. George P. hosts 5/3/23.
- Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness, by Guy MacLean Rogers. Brian hosts 6/14/23.
- The High Sierra A Love Story, by Kim Stanley Robinson. Lew hosts. 7/24/23. Joined by author (zoom)
- Road to Surrender, by Evan Thomas. Jody hosts. 8/31/23
- The Disappeared, by C.J. Box. Frank hosts. 10/11/23
- Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana. Doug S. hosts 11/29/23
- The Ministry for the Future: A Novel, by Kim Stanley Robinson. George S. hosts 1/24/24
- The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, by David Grann. Doug B. hosts. 3/6/24
- Going Infinite, by Michael Lewis. John hosts. 5/1/24
- Steve hosts.
- Scott hosts.