BCCC Public Book Club Announces Fall Titles

With the new school year comes the start of Bucks County Community College’s Book Discussion Group.

The group, which college officials say is one of the longest running public book groups in the county, is open to all area residents. The club meets on the second Thursday of the month at 7:30 p.m. during the academic year at the college’s . The next meeting is Oct. 13.

Michael Hennessey, a BCCC literature professor who organizes the meetings, said the titles are selected through a democratic process.

At the last meeting each semester, participants suggest titles they’d like to discuss next semester, Hennessey said.” We vote on the suggestions. It’s very democratic this way.”

Then at the December meeting, participants will select titles for the January to June discussions.

The following books will be discussed this semester:

Oct. 13:  “The Last September” by Elizabeth Bowen.

“The Last September” is a novel about life at a country mansion during the Irish War of Independence.

Nov. 10: “No Crystal Stair” by Eva Rutland

Library Journal says the book chronicles the lives of Ann Elizabeth Carter and Army Air Corps pilot Robert Metcalf – “their romance, their struggles, and their ultimate happiness -- as it sweeps its characters from the genteel, segregated world of Atlanta's black elite through the rough realities of war, prejudice, and civil rights activism and into the present.”

Dec. 8: “The Imperfectionists” by Tom Rachman

“The Imperfectionists” is a novel set in Rome. It’s comprised of interwoven stories of the lives of news reporters, executives and copy editors working at an international newspaper.

Hennessey said the group members come from a variety of backgrounds and share a love of reading.

“We love to read and consider it a social activity; by that I mean reading is a conversation, first between reader and text,” Hennessey said. “We like to share our thoughts with others to verify how well (or not) we understand the text and its relation to ourselves and the larger world.”

He said made up of readers “engaging the world through particular lenses or texts that intrigue us.”

The college's Book Discussion Group was founded in 1988. Meetings, which are free and open to the public, are held in the Student Lounge, located next to the Fireside Lounge on the lower level in the Rollins Center.

For more information, contact Hennessey at 215-968-8164 or hennesse@bucks.edu.