In mid-December 2017, in a phone call with Carolyn, Ann-Marie proposed an e-book club. Carolyn suggested Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenback. Marianne read the novel in its original German, “Gehen, Ging, Gegangen,” published two years earlier in 2015. In March 2018, we had our first e-club book discussion on google hangouts. From that point on, each month we selected a book (fiction, non-fiction or memoir), by reading reviews and taking suggestions from friends. Serendipitously, many turned out to be Man Booker finalists, National Book Award winners and/or Pulitzer Prize-winning selections. We continued reading and having in-depth discussions on zoom. Erica joined the trio for our November 2018 discussion, having suggested Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie.

We soon noticed a common thread among the books we had chosen. Many of them peered into history to tell stories in rich context, about diverse individuals and characters, describing both their internal and external landscapes. These works mapped ways of living and perceiving the world that engaged with, and transcended, time and space.

In May 2020, we added weekly e-discussions of poems. Keeping poetry close during the pandemic has nourished us spiritually. As Margaret Renkl stated, we are thankful to the poets for reminding us of “love and beauty” (New York Times, April 5, 2021).

Our archive on this site includes all the fiction, non-fiction and memoirs we discussed, along with a selection of the poetry we shared and savored.