Our women's book club began meeting in April 2015 and continues to welcome new members each month!

We are happy to have grown to nearly 20 active members and encourage everyone to give our book club a try!

Questions about book club can be addressed to Simone McGuinness via email or 518-928-6954.

Upcoming Reads and Meeting Dates

(Book club meetings begin at 7pm in the Parish Center Library, unless noted otherwise)

2025 Reads

January 8: New Year Reflection (the 2nd Wednesday of the month)

February 5: How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley

March 5: MEETING IS CANCELLED

April 2: We will discuss: The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

May 7: Nice Work, Nora November by Julia London

June 4: Lifestyles of Gods and Monsters by Emily Roberson

July 9: Summer Activity - no read! (the 2nd Wednesday of the month because of July 4th)

August 6: The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki

September 3: West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

October 1: The Lioness of Boston by Emily Franklin (We may need to purchase this book as there are not enough copies in the library)

November 5: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

December 3: Brave the Wild River by Melissa Sevigny

December Service Project Recipients

Books we have read:

Each December our Book Club selects an organization to support.

We are happy to have provided much needed donations to the following community organizations:

2024 Birthright of Schenectady

2023 Safe Inc. of Schenectady (Hair Care Products)

2022 Family Life Center of Schenectady City Mission (Bra Drive)

2021 Family Life Center of Schenectady City Mission (Kitchen Products)

2020 Family Life Center of Schenectady City Mission (Bra Drive)

2019 Joan Nicole Prince Home

2018 Family Promise of the Capital Region

2017 Eyes Wide Open

2016 Family through City Mission of Schenectady

2019 Reads

1-2 New Years Reflection

2-6 Cancelled due to weather

3-6 The Rooster Bar by John Grisham

4-3 Vox by Christina Dalcher

5-1 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

6-5 No book, just discussion on previous topics

7-10 The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

8-7 Educated by Tara Westover

9-4 Annelies by David Gillham

10-2 The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff

11-7 Saving Simon: How a Rescue Donkey Taught Me the Meaning of Compassion by Jon Katz

12-4 God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

2024 Reads

1-3 New Years Reflection and Discussion

2-7 The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

3-6 Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

4-3 This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

5-1 The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare

6-5 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

7-10 Summer social meeting

8-7 Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

9-4 The Little Liar by Mitch Albom

10-2 Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall

11-6 The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman

12-4 Us Against You by Fredrick Backman

2023 Reads

1-5 New Years Reflection and Discussion

2-4 Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks

3-1 I, Eliza Hamilton by Susan Holloway Scott

4-5 The Good Earth by Pearl Buck

5-3 Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts

6-7 Following Atticus by Tom Ryan

7-5 Book Exchange and Social

8-2 The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

9-6 Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger

10-4 The Doctors Blackwell by Janice Nimira

11-8 The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

12-6 Manchester Christmas by John Gray

2022 Reads

1-5 New Years Reflection and Discussion

2-2 No book club due to snow

3-2 No book club due to snow

4-6 Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

5-4 The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

6-1 The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

7-6 Book exchange and social

8-3 The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom

9-7 The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

10-5 The Woman's March by Jennifer Chiaverini

11-2 The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict

12-14 Marley by Jon Clinch

2021 Reads

1-6 New Years Reflection and Discussion

2-3 The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

3-3 ‘Learning By Heart with Miss Duffy’ by Dr Tod Worner

4-7Inheritance by Dani Shapiro

5-5News of the World by Paulette Jiles

6-2The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

7-7Summer activity

8-4The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

9-1The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg

10-6 The Alchemist by Paoulo Coehlo

11-3 Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict

12-1 Family Reunions by Nancy Thayer

2020 Reads

1-8 New Years Reflection and Discussion

2-5 The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

3-4 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

8-5 'George Washington's Boyhood Rules' from Josephine Pollard's book The Life of George Washington

9-2 'God Sees the Truth, But Waits' by Leo Tolstoy

10-7 'The Student' by Anton Chekhov

11-4 Thomas Merton experience

12-2 'Keep Looking Up' by Laura Phelps

2018 Reads

1-4 Nicole Johnson “Stretch Out Your Hand” and Julie Garmon blog, December 21, 2016

2-1 Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle

3-8 Eve by W. M. Paul

4-5 The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom

5-3 My Sisters the Saints by Colleen Carroll Campbell

6-7 The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic by Darby Penney

and Peter Stastny

7-5 The Dumbest Idea Ever! by Jimmy Gownley

8-2 A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

9-6 Good Sam by Date Meserve

10-4 On Fire by John O'Leary

11-1 Silence by Shusaku Endo

12-6 My Badass Book of Saints by Marie Morera Johnson and Pat Gohn

2017 Reads

1-3 Deb Hadley "My Amazing Life" (video clip)

2-7 Cancelled due to weather

3-7 It snowed again!

4-4 The Light Between Oceans and Preaching in Hitler's Shadow

5-2 The Family Gene by Joselin Linder

6-6 Something Other than God by Jennifer Fulwiler

7-11 TED Talk "What I Learned from 100 days of rejection" by Jia Jiang

8-1 In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White

9-5 Saving Charlotte by Pia de Jong

10-3 Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

11-7 In This Moment by Karen Kingsbury

12-5 Vacuum Like No One is Watching ... and other lessons from my mother by Kim Perone

2016 Reads

1-6 Touched by an Angel The Good Earth

2-3 Faithfully Feminist: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Feminists on Why We Stay by Messina-Dysert, Zobair and Levin

3-3 Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather

4-7 Thriftstore Saints - Finding Jesus 25 Cents at a Time by Jane Knuth

5-4 The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate

6-1 The Saints in Mercy Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization

7-6 Nicole Johnson “When I Was Little” and “Rocks”

8-3 Goodnight Mr Wodehouse by Faith Sullivan

9-7 The Devil in Pew Number Seven by Becky Alonzo and Bob DeMoss

10-5 Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

11-2 The Abbey: A Story of Discovery by James Martin S.J.

12-14 The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck

2015 Reads

4-29 Introductory Meeting

5-27 The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

7-1 The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkerson

8-11 Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

9-2 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

10-7 Inside the O’Briens by Lisa Genova

11-4 The Second Sister by Marie Bostwick

12-2 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson