Fireside Readers Book Discussion Group

Fireside Readers Book Discussion Group

On December 6^th the book group will meet to discuss The Good Soldiers by David Finkel. The book details the last-chance moments of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it "the surge." "Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences," he told a skeptical nation. Among those listening were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them.

Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home forever changed. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Finkel was with them in Bagdad almost every grueling step of the way.

What was the true story of the surge? Was it really a success? Those are the questions he grapples with in his remarkable report from the front lines. In telling the story of these good soldiers, the heroes and the ruined, David Finkel has also produced an eternal tale--not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.

The group meets at 7 p.m. in the Community Room. As always, new members and guests are always welcome. Join us, even if you haven’t finished the book! Light refreshments will be served. Stay up to date with the new Web page for the Fireside Readers:

http://www.wayne.uakron.edu/library/fi reside.php

Library Workshops Deadline October 27th

The library workshop deadline is fast approaching. Please be sure to complete all library information literacy workshop tutorial content and quizzes plus any retakes by midnight Wednesday, October 27th. No extensions will be granted this semester, so please be sure to allow plenty of time to complete your quizzes. The library staff requires 3 days to grade your tests, so this also impacts how much time you might need to complete any retakes.

Fireside Readers Book Discussion Group

Fireside Readers Book Discussion Group

On November 1^st, the group will meet to discuss the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. The book details the true story of how a single, abbreviated life grew a seemingly immortal line of cells that made some of the most crucial innovations in modern science possible. Skloot has fashioned in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks a fascinating and moving story of medicine and family, and the intriguing details of how life is sustained in laboratories and in memory. Henrietta Lacks was a mother of five in Baltimore, a poor African American migrant from the tobacco farms of Virginia, who died from a cruelly aggressive cancer at the age of 30 in 1951. A sample of her cancerous tissue, taken without her knowledge or consent, as was the custom then, turned out to provide one of the holy grails of mid-century biology: human cells that could survive--even thrive--in the lab. Known as HeLa cells, their stunning potency gave scientists a building block for countless breakthroughs, beginning with the cure for polio.

Skloot tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, her family, and their fight to uncover the truth and the deception behind the use of Henrietta’s cells.

The group meets on the first Monday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Community room. As always, new members and guests are always welcome. Join us, even if you haven’t finished the book! Light refreshments will be served. Stay up to date with the Fireside Readers by visiting our web page. http://www.wayne.uakron.edu/library/fi reside.php