For the first time since 2020, our Second Saturday Book Club is meeting in-person at the DeMott Lane branch! No library card, registration, or membership of any kind is required to attend. You don’t even need to finish the book (as long as you don’t mind spoilers)! The only requirement is that you come prepared to have an enjoyable conversation about an interesting story. This club has no set theme, and a large variety of both fiction and nonfiction titles will be selected in the months to come. Just as the name implies, the club will meet at the same time on the second Saturday of every month. So, if you can’t make it this time around, then we hope to see you at the next meeting!
Our first selection for Saturday, April 1st*, 2023, will be “The Island of Sea Women” by Lisa See.
*The library is closed on the second Saturday of April 2023 for Easter, so the club was moved forward one week. All subsequent clubs will meet on the second Saturday of the month.
“Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends who come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook’s mother. As the girls take up their positions as baby divers, they know they are beginning a life of excitement and responsibility—but also danger.
Despite their love for each other, Mi-ja and Young-sook find it impossible to ignore their differences. The Island of Sea Women takes place over many decades, beginning during a period of Japanese colonialism in the 1930s and 1940s, followed by World War II, the Korean War, through the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers. Throughout this time, the residents of Jeju find themselves caught between warring empires. Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator. Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers in their village. Little do the two friends know that forces outside their control will push their friendship to the breaking point.”
For questions about the book club, please leave a comment below or call 732-873-8700 opt. 3.
Thanks for reading,
George, FTPL
