Putnam and Beyond Book Club

This month we will read then discuss "The Little Liar" by Mitch Albom.

Please note I have started to collect a $2 per event, to help offset the meetup fees charged to organizers, which have gone up substantially. Thanks to all that have donated in the past.

A reminder about RSVP'ing. Please be considerate to others and don't hold a spot if you are not sure about attending, as changing to a no last minute does not allow people on the waiting list enough time to read the book. I will give priority to regular members with a good attendance record.

Event fee: I will collect $2 at the event, to help offset the fees that meetup charges organizers (these have gone up substantially)

*** The Little Liar - Mitch Albom: 352 pages (Amazon Rating 4.7)

Beloved bestselling author Mitch Albom returns with a powerful novel of hope and forgiveness that moves from a coastal Greek city during WWII to America in the golden age of Hollywood, as the intertwined lives of three young survivors are forever changed by the perils of deception and the grace of redemption.
Eleven-year-old Nico Krispis has never told a lie. His schoolmate, Fannie, loves him because of it. Nico’s older brother Sebastian resents him for both these facts. When their young lives are torn apart during the war, it will take them decades to find each other again.
Nico’s innocence and goodness is used against his tightly knit community when a German officer barters Nico’s reputation for honesty into a promise to save his loved ones. When Nico realizes the consequences of the betrayal, he can never tell the truth again. He will spend the rest of this life changing names, changing locations and identities, desperate to find a way to forgiveness—for himself and from the people he loves most.
Albom’s extraordinary storytelling is at its powerful best in his first novel to confront the destruction that lying can wreak both on the world stage as well as on the individual lives that get caught up in it. As The Stranger in the Lifeboat spoke to belief, The Little Liar speaks to hope, in a breathless page-turner that will break your heart open and fill it with the power of the human spirit and the goodness that lies within us all.
Narrated by the voice of Truth itself, The Little Liar is a timeless story about the power of love to ultimately redeem us, no matter how deeply we blame ourselves for our mistakes.

This month we will read then discuss 2 shorter books:
Right before the holidays - "A Dog Named Christmas" by Greg Kincaid and as we move towards the New Year- "The Path Made Clear" by Oprah Winfrey.
We will discuss both, but if you are only able to finish one that is fine too.

Event Fee: I have started to collect at each event: suggested amount $3 per person, to help offset the meetup fees charged to me, as the organizer. These have almost doubled recently to around $400 a year. Thanks to all that have donated in the past.

A reminder about RSVP'ing. Please be considerate to others and don't hold a spot if you are not sure about attending, as changing to a no last minute does not allow people on the waiting list enough time to read the book. I will give priority to regular members with a good attendance record.

*** A Dog Named Christmas - Greg Kincaid: 160 pages (Amazon Rating 4.6/Goodreads 4.2)

In this heartwarming novel, author Greg Kincaid tells the tender story of how one very special dog changed the lives of his adoptive family—and an entire town—forever.

“Todd, they always want you to adopt a dog. That’s what they do. Besides, we don’t need another animal around here, and most definitely not a dog.”

When Todd McCray, a developmentally challenged young man still living on his parents’ Kansas farm, hears that a local animal shelter is seeking temporary homes for its dogs during the days leading to Christmas, he knows exactly what he wants for the holidays. His father objects, but Todd’s persistence quickly wins out. Soon the McCrays are the short-term foster family for a lovable pooch the young man names Christmas.

But what about all the other dogs who will be forced to spend the Yuletide season in cages? In the days that follow, Todd uses his special gifts of persuasion to encourage his hometown to participate in the “Adopt a Dog for Christmas Program.” What follows from his small act of kindness will teach his family, and his community, about peace on earth and good will toward men—and animals.

*** The Path Made Clear - Oprah Winfrey: 208 pages (Amazon Rating 4.6/Goodreads 4.0)

Everyone has a purpose. And, according to Oprah Winfrey, “Your real job in life is to figure out as soon as possible what that is, who you are meant to be, and begin to honor your calling in the best way possible.”
That journey starts right here.

In her latest book, The Path Made Clear, Oprah shares what she sees as a guide for activating your deepest vision of yourself, offering the framework for creating not just a life of success, but one of significance. The book’s ten chapters are organized to help you recognize the important milestones along the road to self-discovery, laying out what you really need in order to achieve personal contentment, and what life’s detours are there to teach us.

Oprah opens each chapter by sharing her own key lessons and the personal stories that helped set the course for her best life. She then brings together wisdom and insights from luminaries in a wide array of fields, inspiring readers to consider what they’re meant to do in the world and how to pursue it with passion and focus. Renowned figures such as Eckhart Tolle, Brene Brown, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Elizabeth Gilbert, Jay-Z, and Ellen DeGeneres share the greatest lessons from their own journeys toward a life filled with purpose.

Paired with over 100 awe-inspiring photographs to help illuminate the wisdom of these messages, The Path Made Clear provides readers with a beautiful resource for achieving a life lived in service of your calling – whatever it may be.