Book Club Selections
The PA3 book club meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month (except July, August & December) from 7-8:30 pm at one of several locations on campus, at a private home in Princeton and/or via Zoom. If a holiday or major Princeton event falls on a fourth Wednesday, meetings are moved up or back one week, give or take a day or two.
Selections alternate, with occasional exceptions, between fiction and non-fiction, and the authors or books typically have a Princeton connection. Book club meetings are open to all PA3 members and their spouses/partners, and no RSVP is necessary. Book titles are announced in PA3's monthly newsletter and posted on this page and under "Upcoming Events" on the homepage.
If you would like to be added to the PA3 book club mailing list, or to receive the location or Zoom link for an upcoming meeting, or if you have questions, please email Chip Jerry '69 or Arlen Hastings '80.
Authors whose names appear in orange participated (or will participate) in the discussion.
- UPCOMING: April 26, 2023 - Don't Let My Baby Do Rodeo, by Boris Fishman '01
- TBD - A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication, by Michael Friendly *70 and Howard Wainer *68
- March2023 - Every Day the River Changes: Four Weeks Down the Magdalena, by Jordan Salama '19
- February 2023 - The Prodigal Daughter, by Mette Ivie Harrison *95
- January 2023 - How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future, by Maria Ressa '86
- November 2022 - Storm, by George R. Stewart 1917
- October 2022 - South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation, by Prof. Imani Perry
- September 2022 - Tender Is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald 1913
- June 2022 - Translating Myself and Others, by Prof. Jhumpa Lahiri
- May 2022 - Wish You Were Here, by Jodi Picoult '87 S86 h16
- April 2022 - Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir, by Marie Yovanovitch '80
- March 2022 - The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid '93
- February 2022 - American Urbanist: How William H. Whyte's Unconventional Wisdom Reshaped Public Life, Richard K. Rein '69
- January 2022 - Them, Prof. Joyce Carol Oates
- November 2021 - The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, Michael Lewis '82
- October 2021 - Beloved, Prof. Toni Morrison
- September 2021 - Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment, Prof. Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony & Cass Sunstein (Kahneman interview here)
- June 2021 - The Optimist's Daughter, Eudora Welty h88, Belknap Visiting Professor in the Humanities 1985
- May 2021 - Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution, Prof. David A. Bell *91
- April 2021 - Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami h08
- March 2021 - The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, Joshua Hammer '79
- February 2021 - Harbor of Spies, Robin Lloyd '73
- January 2021 - White Girls, Hilton Als, Presidential Visiting Scholar 2020-21
- November 2020 - The Weight of Ink, Rachel Kadish '91
- October 2020 - Thinking, Fast and Slow, Prof. Daniel Kahneman
- September 2020 - Trump Sky Alpha, Mark Doten, Lecturer in Creative Writing, Lewis Center for the Arts
- June 2020 - The Perpetual Now, Michael Lemonick, Visiting Lecturer
- May 2020 - Refuge, Dina Nayeri '01
- April 2020 - Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life's Fundamental Bond, Lydia Denworth '88 S87 (a special joint event with the Princeton Women's Network of Princeton Book Club)
- February 2020 - Information Wars: How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation and What We Can Do About It, Richard Stengel '77 P20 P23
- January 2020 - Death in the Off-Season, Francine Barron Mathews '85 P17
- November 2019 - Working, Robert Caro '57
- October 2019 - Family Lexicon, by Natalia Ginzburg, translated from the Italian by Jenny McPhee, Lecturer in Creative Writing
- September 2019 - The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present, David Treuer '92
- June 2019 - Home, Prof. Toni Morrison
- May 2019 - The Second Kind of Impossible, Prof. Paul Steinhardt
- April 2019 - Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Hodder Fellow at Princeton, 2005-06
- March 2019 - Millions, Billions, Zillions: Defending Yourself in a World of Too Many Numbers, Prof. Brian Kernighan
- February 2019 - Self Portrait with Boy: A Novel, Rachel Lyon '05
- January 2019 - Why Religion? A Personal Story, Prof. Elaine Pagels
- November 2018 - The News from the End of the World, Emily Jeanne Miller '95
- October 2018 - Blowing America's Mind: A True Story of Princeton, CIA Mind Control, LSD and Zen, John Selby '68 & Paul Jeffrey Davids '69
- September 2018 - The Magnificent Ambersons, Booth Tarkington 1893
- June 2018 - The Control of Nature, John McPhee '53
- May 2018 - The Final Club, Geoffrey Wolff '66
- April 2018 - Truth or Truthiness: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction by Learning to Think Like a Data Scientist, Howard Wainer *68
- March 2018 - Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life, Prof. Yiyun Li
- February 2018 - Exit West, Mohsin Hamid '93
- January 2018 - An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and an Epic, Daniel Mendelsohn *94
- November 2017 - Camino Island, John Grisham
- October 2017 - Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, A. Scott Berg ’71
- September 2017 - I'd Die for You and Other Lost Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, ed. Anne Margaret Daniel *99
- June 2017 - The Incidental Oriental Secretary and Other Tales of Foreign Service, Richard L. Jackson ’62
- May 2017 - Small Great Things, Jodi Picoult ’87 S86 h16
- April 2017 - The Undoing Project: A Friendship that Changed Our Minds, Michael Lewis ’82
- December 2016 - Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance
- November 2016 - After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead, Prof. Alan Blinder '67
- September 2016 - Middlesex, Prof. Jeffrey Eugenides
- June 2016 - Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
- May 2016 - Digging to America, Anne Tyler
- April 2016 - The Great Escape, Prof. Angus Deaton
- March 2016 - The Fisherman, Chigozie Obioma
- January 2016 - Far from the Tree, Andrew Solomon
- December 2015 - The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri
- November 2015 - The Interestings, Meg Wolitzer
- September 2015 - Wilson, A. Scott Berg '71
- June 2015 - Devo’s Freedom of Choice, Evie Nagy ’98
- May 2015 - Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking, Susan Cain ’89
- April 2015 - The Fifth Gospel, Ian Caldwell '98
- March 2015 - Would You Kill the Fat Man?, David Edmonds
- February 2015 - Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer '99
- December 2014 - Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Wife, Queen Noor '73
- November 2014 - The Surrendered, Prof. Chang-Rae Lee
- October 2014 - Independence Day, Richard Ford
- September 2014 - The Alchemist, Paolo Coehlo
- November 2013 - The Accursed, Prof. Joyce Carol Oates (precursor to and inspiration for the book club)
Related Events
Book Club: Family Lexicon (
Thursday, October 24, 2019 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: East Pyne 111
Book Club: Harbor of Spies (
Thursday, February 25, 2021 - 7:00 PM to
8:00 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu (
Thursday, March 25, 2021 - 7:00 PM to
8:00 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: Norwegian Wood (
Thursday, April 29, 2021 - 7:00 PM to
8:00 PM
)
Book Club: Men on Horseback, with author Prof. David A. Bell *91 (
Thursday, May 27, 2021 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: The Optimist's Daughter (
Thursday, June 24, 2021 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: Noise (
Thursday, September 30, 2021 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: Beloved (
Thursday, October 28, 2021 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: The Premonition (
Thursday, December 2, 2021 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: Them (
Thursday, January 27, 2022 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: American Urbanist (
Thursday, March 3, 2022 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: The Reluctant Fundamentalist (
Thursday, March 31, 2022 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: Lessons from the Edge (
Wednesday, April 27, 2022 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: Wish You Were Here (
Wednesday, May 25, 2022 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: Translating Myself and Others (
Wednesday, June 29, 2022 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: Tender Is the Night (
Wednesday, September 28, 2022 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Zoom
Book Club: South to America (
Wednesday, October 26, 2022 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: private home in Princeton
Book Club: Storm (
Tuesday, November 29, 2022 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: private home in Princeton
Book Club: How to Stand Up to a Dictator (
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: via Zoom
Book Club: The Prodigal Daughter (
Wednesday, February 22, 2023 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Hybrid: private home & Zoom
Book Club: Every Day the River Changes (
Wednesday, March 22, 2023 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: Hybrid: private home & Zoom
Book Club: Don't Let My Baby Do Rodeo (
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: hybrid: private home & Zoom
Posted by Arlen about 7 years ago.
More
North Korea, the U.S. & the Search for a Solution
Evans Revere '76 Talk
(Tuesday, Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m., location: Friend Center, Convocation Room)
In 2012, Evans led PA3 members in a fascinating
precept-like session discussing the complex diplomacy between the DPRK, the USA
and China. Clearly, this issue has moved
to the forefront of foreign policy concerns, and Evans remains deeply involved.
We're most fortunate that he has agreed to revisit this topic with PA3. Space
is limited, so please RSVP to Tom Swift at tswift@alumni.princeton.edu.
More
about Evans: Evans Revere '76 graduated with a degree in East Asian studies. He
retired from the foreign service in 2007, having served in numerous capacities
including Acting Assistant Secretary of
State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary, managing U.S. relations with the Asia-Pacific region and leading an
organization of 950 American diplomats and 2,500 Foreign Service National
employees. He has been a visiting lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School and CEO
of the Korea Society. He is currently a Senior Advisor to the Albright
Stonebridge Group, a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution,
and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has traveled to Pyongyang
many times. He posts frequently on Brookings "Order from Chaos" blog,
such as this September post.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2017/09/05/decision-time-north-koreas-nuclear-and-missile-threat-and-u-s-policy/
Related Events
North Korea, the U.S. & the Search for a Solution (
Tuesday, October 24, 2017 - 7:30 PM to
9:00 PM
)
A talk by Evans Revere '76, former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and former Pacific Affairs and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. Mr. Revere current serves as Senior Advisor to the Albright Stonebridge Group, a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Location: Friend Center, Convocation Room
Cost: No Charge
Organized by: PA3
Posted by Teegger about 7 years ago.
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2017 Annual Dinner & Meeting
The
Princeton Area Alumni Association (PA3)
cordially
invites you to its
ANNUAL
DINNER & MEETING
Thursday,
November 2nd, 2017
6:00pm Cocktails - 7:00pm Dinner
Colonial
Club, 40 Prospect Ave. Princeton
A Conversation with Pete Carril h'[numerous!]
Princeton's all-time winningest men's basketball
coach
led by Coach Mitch
Henderson ‘98
EVENT TICKETS
All guests: $100 per person
(as of 10/28/17)
'William of Nassau' Sponsor:
$250
'Prince of Orange' Sponsor:
$500
Suggested Dress: Festive Orange & Black!
RSVP by Fri., October 27 or email below
Questions?: contact activities@princetonaaa.org
Thank
you to The Bank of Princeton
for its generous sponsorship of this evening's
libations.
Related Events
Annual Dinner & Meeting (
Thursday, November 2, 2017 - 6:00 PM to
9:00 PM
)
A Conversation with Dr. Pete Carril h'[numerous!], led by Coach Mitch Henderson '89
Early Bird Pricing Ends Fri. 10/27/17
Location: Colonial Club, 40 Prospect Avenue
Organized by: PA3
Posted by lydia about 7 years ago.
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PA3 Book Club: October Meeting
Sept. 29, 2017 - The book club will meet on
Thursday, October 26, from 7-8:30 pm in East Pyne 111. Inspired by a stimulating discussion at our
September meeting with Anne Margaret Daniel *99, editor of
I'd Die For You and Other Lost Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, our October selection will be the story of Fitzgerald's longtime editor, Max Perkins.
Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, by A. Scott Berg '71--
The PA3 book club meets on the last Thursday of each month (except July, August & December) from 7-8:30 pm at a location on campus. Selections alternate between fiction and non-fiction, and the authors typically have a Princeton connection.
A list of all books the club has discussed can be found
here.
To be added to the book club mailing list, please email
bookclub.admin@princetonaaa.org.
Related Events
Book Club meeting (
Thursday, October 26, 2017 - 7:00 PM to
8:30 PM
)
Location: East Pyne 111
Posted by Arlen about 7 years ago.
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Automobile Aficionados' Fall Drive
The PA5 (Princeton Area Alumni Association of Automobilie
Afficianados) is planning a "fall drive" on Sunday, Oct 8. We will be
meeting at the Brick Farm Market parking lot in Hopewell at 10 a.m., departing
at 10:30. Wil Wong has graciously charted a special course for us, meandering
through beautiful scenic roads with an end target of the Sergentsville Inn in
Delaware Twp around noon. Hopefully we will have some fall color to enjoy as
well. Note, you do NOT need a fancy nor exotic nor fast car to participate. A
love of motor driven devices helps (can be combustion or electric!) and the
desire for a fun tour of beautiful countryside, fabulous Princeton Alumni
camaraderie, and tasty food.
Please contact John Epstein at jandkepstein@hotmail.com to place your name on the RSVP list. In your email,
please let him know if you will be driving on the tour, and how many people in
your party. If you just want to meet up at the restaurant, that is fine as well
but again, please let us know as soon as possible so we can make the
reservation.
Related Events
PA3's Automobile Aficianados' Fall Drive (
Sunday, October 8, 2017 - 10:00 AM to
3:00 PM
)
Location: TBA
Organized by: PA3's John Epstein
Posted by Teegger about 7 years ago.
More
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