December Book and Dinner Club

Pamela is hosting our December Book and Dinner Club as our annual Christmas party! It will be in a private room at Mandarin Court offering inspired Chinese & Japanese favorites, including sushi & dim sum. Please BYOB.

We will have a Yankee Swap gift exchange. . Please bring a $25 wrapped gift with a tag stating who it is from.

Kathy chose a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, The Personal Librarian, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. This NPR Best Book of the Year is a remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, a Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity in order to leave a lasting legacy.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built library. Belle becomes a fixture in New York City society and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She is the daughter of the first Black graduate of Harvard who is also a well-known advocate for equality. Belle’s complexion isn’t dark because of Portuguese heritage—her complexion is dark because she is African American!

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go to—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

NOTE: Please bring used books to share!