Evan Genest's Learning Log

I keep notes here. Most of these are related to travel, work, or books.

The BotMASS Book Club

booksgang

A book club that meets on the third Sunday each month.

Voting for our next ten books

Finished! Thanks for voting. Results are in the schedule below.

Upcoming book discussions

Sunday, July 20
Postponed to
Sunday August 3
Richard Powers: The Overstory 502 pages

Sunday, August 17
Silk by Alessandro Baricco, Guido Waldman (Translator )
91 Pages
LINK
Optional: The Egg by Andy Weir. Out of print short story. Where to find?

Sunday, September 21
Heartwood by Amity Gage
by Amity Gage
320 pages
LINK

Sunday, October 19
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
528 pages - non fiction
LINK

Sunday, November 16
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, Megan Backus (Translator)
by Banana Yoshimoto, Megan Backus (Translator)
160 pages
LINK

Sunday, December 21
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
by Kaveh Akbar
331 pages
LINK

Sunday, January 18
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams
by Sarah Wynn-Williams
382 pages, non fiction
LINK

Sunday, February 15
Semiosis (Semiosis #1) by Sue Burke
by Sue Burke
333 pages, science fiction
LINK

Sunday, March 15
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
by Neil Gaiman
195 pages
LINK

Sunday, April 19
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams
by Terry Tempest Williams
208 pages, non fiction
LINK

Sunday, May 17
The Arrival By Shaun Tan
By Shaun Tan
132 pages - graphic novel
LINK

Day and time

We meet the third Sunday of each month.
Time Netherlands: 7pm**, Detroit: 2pm, Chicago: 1pm, Pacific: 11am

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✏️ Runners up

In no particular order, here are books which have been nominated in the past and for one reason or another, were not chosen. Consider them for the future.

The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing
Adam Moss
LINK

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
Yuval Noah Harari
LINK

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
Michelle Alexander
LINK

Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl
Stacey O'Brien
LINK

City of Thieves
David Benioff
LINK

Prescription for a Healthy Nation: A New Approach to Improving Our Lives by Fixing Our Everyday World
Tom Farley
LINK

Past Meetings

December 2024
Raymond Carver: Bicycles, Muscles, Cigarettes
Lauren Groff: The Midnight Zone

January 2025
The Hermit's Story, by Rick Bass
The Last Thing We Need, by Claire Vaye Watkins

February 2025
The Red Convertible by Louise Erdrich
The Fix by Percival Everett

March 2025
Ursula K Le Guin: The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Sunday, April 20
Raymond Carver: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, 159 pages

Sunday, May 18
Percival Everett: James, 302 pages

Sunday June 15
Samantha Harvey: Orbital, 207 pages

Welcome

Bring friends and guests: they are welcome and appreciated.