Thank you to everyone who participated in our discussion both in the comments section of SeniorPlanet.org and at our meeting over Zoom about “The Kitchen God’s Wife” by Amy Tan.

Now it is time to select our next reading!

Each Tuesday, we’ll post a thread on SeniorPlanet.org inviting your comments on the next section of the book and then we’ll host a discussion over Zoom the final week of reading the book together.

But first! We’ve put together a shortlist engaging books suggested by our members and staff. Now it’s up to you pick which one we’ll read together next. Read on for details about each book, then take the poll at the end and tell us: What should the Senior Planet Book Club read next?

We’ll announce the result of the poll in addition to how you can access a copy of the chosen book next Tuesday!

Have any feedback on book club? Tell us what you think in the comments or email supporters@seniorplanet.org!

The Books:

Passing by Nella Larsen

There, There by Tommy Orange 

“Tommy Orange’s wondrous and shattering novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle’s death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American–grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism. Hailed as an instant classic, There There is at once poignant and unflinching, utterly contemporary and truly unforgettable.” – GoodReads.com

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

“When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case. With the cops treating her like she’s the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila’s left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block.” – GoodReads.com

“A man escapes from his native Zanzibar to England. His furtive departure makes it unlikely that he will ever return, but he and his family agree a bright future lies ahead. He meets an English woman and they build a life together. She is writing a thesis on narrative theory; he becomes a teacher in a cramped London school. His release is to weave stories, often fictional, for her and her comfortably suburban parents. These are romantic and reassuring tales of postcolonial Africa, of the scented terrace where he would sit and listen to his mother’s lyrical voice. But for all these stories of warmth and hospitality, the man has not heard from his family since his departure, nor has he written to tell them of his new life. And then the barriers come down and he is able, finally, to return for a visit. He finds a different country, more ramshackle than he had ever imagined or remembered, a country that allows him to see his life with a new clarity. Out of this confrontation he comes to understand the transformations that have befallen him.” – GoodReads.com

Take the poll!

Photo by Paul Schafer on Unsplash