Central Book Club
The Central Lutheran Book Club meets monthly, 10 times per year, with a mission to share the love of books that invite thoughtful and provocative discussion, promoting critical thinking. Books are selected by the members that span all genres, including history, sports, religion, science, love, morality, and inclusion in all its forms. Instead of avoiding controversial subjects, we invite those topics to our table. All are welcome, always.
Monthly Gatherings
The Central Book Club meets in person on the second Thursday of the month at 1:30 p.m. Books are chosen by the group in advance and shared in weekly church communications, as well as here on this page. The group is led by volunteers with at least one pastor attending each gathering. We look toward faith and life in everything we read, across a variety of genres.
Hybrid (Zoom combined with in-person) meetings are an option; just let one of the organizers know at least three days in advance. Organizers are Carol Rieger and Cathy Fuller.
February
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
One of the most beloved and bestselling novels of spiritual adventure ever published, Ishmael has earned a passionate following.
It is the story of a man who embarks on a highly provocative intellectual adventure with a gorilla—a journey of the mind and spirit that changes forever the way he sees the world and humankind’s place in it.
In Ishmael, which received the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship for the best work of fiction offering positive solutions to global problems, Daniel Quinn parses humanity’s origins and its relationship with nature, in search of an answer to this challenging question: How can we save the world from ourselves?
March
The Blue Team by Peter Young
Unsung and humiliated, Thomas begins his freshman year of college on the bench. Determined to prove everyone wrong, he’s obsessed with becoming the next Larry Bird.
When Thomas falls in love with Jenae, the beautiful and altruistic volleyball player, a whole new world opens up to him. She introduces him to Ray, a middle aged alcoholic struggling to stay sober and off the streets. Thomas tries to help, giving him purpose beyond basketball.
But Thomas still dreams of greatness. When he punches a dirty opponent, he jeopardizes his career and his relationship with Jenae. Ray returns to the bottle and it feels like Thomas’ life is spiraling out of control.
About to lose everything, Thomas has to figure out who he is competing against and why.
April
Climate Church, Climate World: How People of Faith Must Work for Change by Jim Antal
Climate Church, Climate World contends that climate change is the greatest moral challenge humanity has ever faced. Hunger, refugees, poverty, inequality, deadly viruses, war―climate change multiplies all forms of global social injustice. Environmental advocate Rev. Jim Antal calls on the church to meet this moral challenge, to embrace a new vocation so that future generations might live in harmony with God’s creation. Antal proposes how people of faith can embrace new approaches to worship, preaching, witnessing, and other spiritual practices that honor creation and cultivate hope. This revised and updated edition includes a new chapter on political and policy shifts under the Trump and Biden administrations; the influence of Greta Thunberg and climate change activists; and updated information on the current science of climate change.
May
Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times that Made Handel’s Messiah by Charles King
George Frideric Handel’s Messiah is arguably the greatest piece of participatory art ever created. Adored by millions, it is performed each year by renowned choirs and orchestras, as well as by audiences singing along with the words on their cell phones.
But this work of triumphant joy was born in a worried age. Britain in the early Enlightenment was a place of astonishing creativity but also the seat of an empire mired in war, enslavement, and conflicts over everything from the legitimacy of government to the meaning of truth. Against this turbulent background, prize-winning author Charles King has crafted a cinematic drama of the troubled lives that shaped a masterpiece of hope.
Every Valley presents a depressive dissenter stirred to action by an ancient prophecy; an actress plagued by an abusive husband and public scorn; an Atlantic sea captain and penniless philanthropist; and an African Muslim man held captive in the American colonies and hatching a dangerous plan for getting back home. At center stage is Handel himself, composer to kings but, at midlife, in ill health and straining to keep an audience’s attention. Set amid royal intrigue, theater scandals, and political conspiracy, Every Valley is entertaining, inspiring, unforgettable.