Hot Off the Press Summer 2020
Join a special three-class summer session of Hot Off the Press!
In this lively monthly book discussion class led by Lynn Rosen, participants read and discuss new literary fiction. Class conversations include a thorough and thoughtful analysis of the book as well as background information provided by Lynn about the author and the book’s path to publication. We talk serious book talk, but have a lot of laughs too!
CLASS DATES/TIME:
Class meets virtually on Wednesday evenings from 7pm EST to 8:30pm EST on:
July 15
August 12
September 9
LOCATION: via Zoom
Sign up HERE.
CLASS READING SCHEDULE:
July 15
Red At The Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
A spectacular novel that only this legend can pull off.” -Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST, in The Atlantic
“An exquisite tale of family legacy….The power and poetry of Woodson’s writing conjures up Toni Morrison.” – People
An unexpected teenage pregnancy pulls together two families from different social classes, and exposes the private hopes, disappointments, and longings that can bind or divide us from each other, from the New York Times-bestselling and National Book Award-winning author of Another Brooklyn and Brown Girl Dreaming.
Moving forward and backward in time, Jacqueline Woodson’s taut and powerful new novel uncovers the role that history and community have played in the experiences, decisions, and relationships of these families, and in the life of the new child.
Note: Hot Off the Press typically features brand new fiction. Our original selection was The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (an author whose earlier work, The Mothers, we read in this class when it first came out). However, the publisher is out of stock of the book, so I made a last minute change. Although Woodson’s book is no longer brand-new, it’s a powerful read from an important writer.
August 12
Some Go Home by Odie Lindsey Norton
“… incandescent debut novel… This is a consummate portrait of human fragility and grim determination.” — Publishers Weekly
An Iraq war veteran turned small town homemaker, Colleen works hard to keep her deployment behind her—until pregnancy brings her buried trauma to the surface. She hides her mounting anxiety from her husband, Derby, who is in turn preoccupied with the media frenzy surrounding the long-overdue retrial of his father, Hare Hobbs, for a civil rights–era murder.
September 9
Hieroglyphics by Jill McCorkle
“McCorkle weaves a powerful narrative web, with empathy for her characters and keen insight on their motivations. This is a gem. ” — Publishers Weekly
Lil and Frank married young, launched into courtship when they bonded over how they both—suddenly, tragically— lost a parent when they were children. Over time, their marriage grew and strengthened, with each still wishing for so much more understanding of the parents they’d lost prematurely. In her deeply layered and masterful novel, Jill McCorkle deconstructs and reconstructs what it means to be a father or a mother, and what it means to be a child piecing together the world around us, a child learning to make sense of the hieroglyphics of history and memory.
COST: $100
Sign up HERE.
BUY THE BOOKS:
Books are not included in the cost. A special discounted package of the books is available for $75 for all three books, tax inclusive, and can be purchased by class members at a discount from Open Book Productions.
Buy the books HERE.
Note: if you can’t take the class but still want to purchase the book package, we can accomodate that. Just make your purchase through the link above!
