Book Group

The SIR Book Group is a discussion group for SIR members who are interested in increasing their reading enjoyment by reading a book a month and meeting to discuss it. For each book, one Group member presents additional research on the author and literary and academic criticisms. Discussions are invariably energetic and stimulating and frequently generate broader ideas that interest the group. 

To get the year going, the members submit their suggestions for books during October and Book Group members vote on 6 fiction and 6 non-fiction books for the year. The selections invariably reflect the extremely varied interests within the group and expose many of us to books we would never have otherwise read. As the adage goes, “Books follow you home, pry open your head, and rearrange the things inside.”

If you like to read and have lively discussions about the books you have read, you should think about joining our group. If you are interested, please contact our chairman, Ron Rizzo, at ronbrizzo@gmail.com. We meet at 10:30 AM on the first Tuesday of each month at:

 Round Table Pizza

 2960 Treat Boulevard

 Concord, CA

 

Chairman: Ron Rizzo
ronbrizzo@gmail.com

925/676-0286

Asst. Chairman – Phil Trapp 
prtrapp@sbcglobal.net

For 2025 we will be reading the following books:

Book Meeting Date Fiction/Non Author Title Researcher
February NF Rachel Maddow Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism Ron Rizzo
March F Patrick O’Brien Master and Commander Bill Adler
April NF Nick Lloyd  The Eastern Front: The History of the Great War 1914-1918 Zoltan Saary
May F James McBride The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store Larry McEwen
June NF Brian Kilmeade George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution Nat Bitton
July F Percival Everett James Jim Sowell
August NF McKenzie Funk The Hank Show: How a House-Painting, Drug-Running DEA Informant Built the Machine That Rules Our Lives Steve Greene
September F Walter Mosely Down the River unto the Sea Phil Trapp
October NF Stephen Kinzer The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire Carl Ludwig
November F Ross MacDonald The Chill Ron Cassano
December NF Stephen Ambrose Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad Tom Doll
January 2026 F Joseph Heller Catch-22 Bill Espey

 

For 2024 we read the following books:

Book Discussion Date Fiction/Non Author Title Researcher
February NF Walter Isaacson Benjamin Franklin: An American Life Bill Adler
March F Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Cat’s Cradle Bill Espey
April NF David McCullough A Greater Journey: Americans in Paris Ron Rizzo
May F William M. Miller, Jr. A Canticle for Leibowitz Tom Doll
June NF Bill Bryson A Short History of Nearly Everything Rich Knowles
July F Bonnie Garmus Lessons in Chemistry Jim Sowell
August NF Pekka Hamalainen Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America Alan Curtis
September F Michael Shaara The Killer Angels David Scotting
October NF Erik Larson Thunderstruck Ron Cassano
November F Barbara Kingsolver Unsheltered Carl Ludwig
December NF David Cordingly Cochrane: The Real Master and Commander Larry McEwen
January 2025 F John Steinbeck East of Eden Steve Greene

 

 

Last updated on 11/13/24 by MLF