The Brown Bag Book Discussion Group was founded in 2001 , and it's members have shared over one hundred books since then. Many of the original members of the group are still regular participants.

The group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 1:00 PM. The meetings originally included a brown bag lunch, hence the name. This tradition is still occasionally observed, particularly for our Holiday meeting.

We choose our reading material democratically, our choices being based on personal recommendations, "most popular" lists, recent publications and bestseller lists and a little of what we fancy. The group is registered with Reading Group Guides, Book Movement and Random House Reader's Circle.

We are all committed to discussing our literature to the full. Discussions are occasionally led by members of the group who have a special interest in the book. Now and then it has been appropriate to explore the movie version of the story instead of, or as well as, reading the book.

Every effort is made to accommodate members of the group who require large print or audio versions of the discussion material.

We always welcome new members and enjoy everyone's point of view. No sign up is required.

For more information please contact Donna Hine at 203-758-2634 or at donnahine1953@gmail.com.

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September 2013

 

The Brown Bag Book Discussion Group will meet at the Middlebury Public Library on Wednesday, September 18th at 1:00 PM to discuss The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian. Books are available at the library. For more information, please contact Donna at 203-758-2634. All are welcome! Please remember that we are temporarily located at 199 Park Road Ext. in Middlebury.

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Book Description:

When Elizabeth Endicott arrives in Aleppo, Syria, she has a diploma from Mount Holyoke, a crash course in nursing, and only the most basic grasp of the Armenian language. It’s 1915, and Elizabeth has volunteered to help deliver food and medical aid to refugees of the Armenian Genocide during the First World War. There she meets Armen, a young Armenian engineer who has already lost his wife and infant daughter. After leaving Aleppo and traveling into Egypt to join the British Army, he begins to write Elizabeth letters, realizing that he has fallen in love with the wealthy young American.

Years later, their American granddaughter, Laura, embarks on a journey back through her family’s history, uncovering a story of love, loss – and a wrenching secret that has been buried for generations.

(Image provided courtesy of www.goodreads.com.)