Food for Thought: Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks (September 11 Noble Creature)

Food for Thought kicks off a new series! You are welcome to join us each month or select a few books that fit into your busy schedule. We meet September-May, 5:30pm on the 2nd Thursday at Noble Creature, 126 E. Rayen. Our book discussion is sponsored by the Raymond J. Wean Foundation. Haven't read the book yet? No worries.

The September title is Memorial Days By Geraldine Brooks. This book is available at the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County, and POP Arts, Book, Culture via Bookshop. 

"Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz – just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy – collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk. After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine and Tony settled down to raise two boys on Martha’s Vineyard. The life they built was one of meaningful work, good humor, and tenderness, as they spent their days writing and their evenings cooking family dinners or watching the sun set with friends at the beach. But all of this ended abruptly when, on Memorial Day 2019, Geraldine received the phone call we all dread. The demands were immediate and many. Without space to grieve, the sudden loss became a yawning gulf."

Upcoming titles in this series:

October (journalism) Ghosting the News by Margaret Sullivan

November (graphic memoir) Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast

December (drama) Passion Play by Sarah Ruhl

January (speculative fiction) Bewilderment by Richard Powers

February (memoir) There's Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib

March (novel) Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

April (novel) Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling

May (novel) State of Wonder by Ann Patchett