USG Book Group List of Books for 2020-2021 Season 

• Sept. 18, 2020:  Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, a novel, 368 pp. [a mystery, When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens. Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder].
• Oct. 16, 2020: The Other Einstein by Maria Benedict, a novel, 336 pp. [It is the story of Einstein’s wife, a brilliant physicist in her own right, whose contribution to the special theory of relativity is hotly debated and may have been inspired by her own profound and very personal insight].
• Nov. 20, 2020:  Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl, 219 pp. [Memoir in the form of brief essays; touching; “I loved the resilience”]
• Dec. 18, 2020: The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony, non-fiction, 368 pp. [a delight (though sad); a heartwarming, exciting, funny, and sometimes sad memoir of Anthony’s experiences with these huge yet sympathetic creatures. … Lawrence Anthony devoted his life to animal conservation, protecting the world’s endangered species].
• Jan. 15, 2021: Looking for Lorraine Hansberry by Imani Perry, a biography, 258 pp. [a powerful insight into Hansberry’s extraordinary life—a life that was tragically cut far too short. A revealing portrait of one of the most gifted and charismatic, yet least understood, Black artists and intellectuals of the twentieth century] – paired with The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin,  non-fiction, 128 pp., [At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin’s early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document from the iconic author of If Beale Street Could Talk and Go Tell It on the Mountain].
• Feb. 19, 2021: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, a novel, 352 pp. [The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are].
• Mar. 19, 2021: A Life of My Own: A Biographer’s Life by Claire Tomalin, a memoir, 334 pp. [This enthralling memoir follows Tomalin through triumph and tragedy in about equal measure, from the disastrous marriage of her parents and the often difficult wartime childhood that followed, to her own marriage to the brilliant young journalist Nicholas Tomalin. When he was killed on assignment as a war correspondent she was left to bring up their four children – and at the same time make her own career].
• April 16, 2021: Brave Companions by David McCullough, historical biographies, 275 pp. [From Alexander von Humboldt to Charles and Anne Lindbergh, these are stories of people of great vision and daring whose achievements continue to inspire us today, brilliantly told by master historian David McCullough].
• May 21, 2021: Educated by Tara Westover, a memoir, 229 pp. Westover recounts overcoming her survivalist Mormon family in order to go to college, and emphasizes the importance of education to enlarging her world].
• June 18, 2021: I Am Malala by Christiana Lamb (and Malala herself), autobiography, 313 pp. [the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls’ education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons].
• July 16, 2021: Growing Up by Russell Baker, a memoir, 278 pp., [An autobiography chronicling Baker’s youth in Virginia and his mother’s strength of character during the Great Depression, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1983].
• Aug. 20, 2021: Meeting for selection of books for USG Book Group’s 2021 – 2022 season.

Sept. 17, 2021: A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende,  historical fiction re: the late 1930’s, 314 pp. [a beautiful love story; touching, hopeful, about the late 1930’s, about belonging, poetry of Neruda included].