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Join TNCC faculty, staff, students and community members in a discussion of current literary works. To participate, sign up at the Student Activities Office, Room 224 Griffin Hall (825-2863). Then read one or more of the following books and come join the circle discussions on Wednesday, November 11 from 3:30-5:00 pm in the Wythe Hall Library Gallery.
Contact Professor Lisa Ray rayl@tncc.edu for more information.
Participation in the Book Circles counts towards the President's Cultural scholarship and SVD 100. Reserve copies of each of the titles are available for checkout in the Library and for purchase in the college bookstore. The books for the Fall 2009 semester are:
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Isabella Swan, 17, narrates this riveting first novel, propelled by suspense and romance in equal parts. The story opens with a cryptic scene of the heroine "facing death," then flashes back to Bella's departure from Phoenix, where her mother lives with her new husband, as the teen heads off to live with her father, the police chief in Forks, Wash. From the first day at her new high school, she finds herself magnetically drawn to Edward Cullen, whose behavior towards her is erratic ("I'd just explained my dreary life to this bizarre, beautiful boy who may or may not despise me"). Then she finds out why his interest in her runs hot and cold: he is a vampire-but of an unusual variety. Edward, his siblings and their adoptive parents have disciplined themselves to feed on animals rather than humans; and Edward is obsessed with Bella. Other elements factor into the plot, including a rival group of vampires who are not as disciplined as the Cullens. This plot twist (which includes a subplot about one of the Cullens' past life) contributes to a rushed denouement (much of it takes place offstage) that is perhaps the novel's only weakness. The main draw here is Bella's infatuation with outsider Edward, the sense of danger inherent in their love, and Edward's inner struggle-a perfect metaphor for the sexual tension that accompanies adolescence. These will be familiar to nearly every teen, and will keep readers madly flipping the pages of Meyer's tantalizing debut. -- Review Copyright 2005 Publisher's Weekly
Last Man Standing by David Baldacci
The hero of Baldacci's latest thriller is Web London, a member of the elite FBI Hostage Rescue Team. One night, on what seems like a routine drug raid, Web freezes up, hesitant to rush into the fray. It turns out to be a trap; the team members trigger unmanned machine guns and are slaughtered. Web is the last one in and manages to drop to the ground without getting hit. He destroys the machine guns and saves a little boy, Kevin, but he is tormented by the feeling that he let his team down. Web is regarded as a hero by most people in the FBI because of his actions during a hostage situation at a school, where he saved a member of his team and took two bullets and a fireball, which left him scarred. After his team's death, some members of the FBI are suspicious of Web, and when the news media gets wind of the fact that he froze up, they begin to hound him. He seeks counseling from Claire Daniels, a psychiatrist, who tries to draw out Web's buried feelings. Meanwhile, Web tries to find out exactly who set up his team, searching for drug dealers who had the ability to execute the plan, but as he investigates, he finds he may have enemies closer to home. Baldacci's fans, of which there are many, will be happy to see him back in thriller-writing mode. -- Review Copyright 2005 Kristine Huntley, Booklist.
To read about previous book circle selections, click here.
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