Mister Dickens

Our book group choice for March 2022 is Call for the Dead by John le Carré. This classic novels deftly navigate readers through the intricate shadow worlds of international espionage with unsurpassed skill and knowledge.

Our book group choice for Februrary 2022 is Heartburn by Nora Ephron. Is it possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage? If the writer is Nora Ephron, the answer is a resounding yes.

Our book group choice for January 2022 is Free by Lea Ypi. For precocious 11-year-old Lea Ypi, Albania’s Soviet-style socialism held the promise of a preordained future, a guarantee of security among enthusiastic comrades.

Our book group choice for December 2021 is Murder in the Crooked House by Sōji Shimada. The Crooked House sits on a snowbound cliff overlooking icy seas at the remote northern tip of Japan.

Our book group choice for October 2021 is Middle England by Jonathan Coe. Set in the Midlands and London over the last eight years, Jonathan Coe follows a brilliantly vivid cast of characters through a time of immense change and disruption in Britain.

Our book group choice for September 2021 is Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. A masterly, haunting novel, Half of a Yellow Sun recreates a seminal moment in modern African history.

Our book group choice for July 2021 is The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away.

Our book choice for June 2021 is The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles.

Our book group choice for May 2021 is Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan. Ava moved to Hong Kong to find happiness, but so far, it isn’t working out. Since she left Dublin, she’s been spending her days teaching English to rich children — she’s been assigned the grammar classes because she lacks warmth — and her nights avoiding petulant roommates

Our book group choice for April 2021 is Family Lexicon by Natalia Ginzburg. The father, Giuseppe Levi, is a Jewish scientist, consumed by his work and a mania for hiking. Impatient and intractable, he is constantly at odds with his impressionable and wistful wife Lidia – yet he cannot be without her.