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Carol Whittaker
She/Her/Hers
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Reference 989-686-9560
Email 
Text 989-319-1079
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About the Booked for Lunch Book Club
The Booked for Lunch Book Club is open to the entire Delta College community, including students, staff, faculty and community members. The Book Club is facilitated by Delta College Library and will be a space to read and discuss popular fiction, non-fiction and graphic novels in a relaxed atmosphere. You can attend in-person on the Delta College main campus or virtually. Attendees will need to acquire book selections on their own but all titles have many copies available through local public libraries and MeLCat. Please contact Booked for Lunch coordinator Carol Whittaker or Delta Library staff if you need assistance finding a copy of the book. You do not need to read the book to attend Book Club! I hope to leave a few minutes at each meeting to talk about books in general and to hear what you've been reading. I hope to see you at book club this year!
Please register if you plan to attend so we can plan accordingly. Zoom link will be provided in registration confirmation.
2023-2024 Meeting Dates:
| Date | Time | Location | Book Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, October 19th | 12pm-1pm | J-132 (Delta College main campus) or via Zoom | The Sentence by Louise Erdrich |
| Thursday, December 7th | 12pm-1pm | J-132 (Delta College main campus) or via Zoom |
The Guncle by Steven Rowley |
| February 2024 (exact date TBD) | 12pm-1pm | TBD | Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue |
| April 2024 (exact date TBD) | 12pm-1pm | TBD | Hello Beautiful : A Novel by Ann Napolitano |
Booked for Lunch does not qualify for Delta College Professional Development credit.
**Please contact Carol Whittaker if you need any accommodations such as an interpreter to attend Booked for Lunch.
2023-2024 Book Selections
The Guncle by Steven Rowley (December 7th, 2023)
The Guncle by ISBN: 9780525542285Publication Date: 2021-05-25Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits. However, tragedy strikes and Patrick suddenly finds himself taking on the role of primary guardian. Having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled acting career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Soon he realizes the level of responsibility and that even being larger than life means you're unfailingly human.
How do I find a copy of this book?
- Find a copy of the book through Valley Library Consortium. Either request to have the book delivered to Delta College Library using your Delta Library Account number or pick the book up at your local library (Bay County Library System, Public Libraries of Saginaw, etc.).
- Find a copy through the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library (Midland) and pick it up in Midland
- Find a copy through MelCat and request to have the book delivered to Delta College Library using your Delta Library Account number.
- Request a copy of the book by completing the Library Interlibrary Loan Request form and we will contact you when it comes in!
- Need a Delta Library Account? Come visit the library front desk to create your Library Account!
- Need assistance finding a copy of this book? Contact Librarian Carol Whittaker.
Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (February 2024)
Behold the Dreamers by Call Number: PS3613 .B84 B44 2016ISBN: 9780812998481Publication Date: 2016-08-23A compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream--the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy New York Times Bestseller * Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award * Longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award * An ALA Notable Book NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR * The New York Times Book Review * San Francisco Chronicle * The Guardian * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * Chicago Public Library * BookPage * Refinery29 * Kirkus Reviews .
Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty--and Jende is eager to please. Clark's wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses' summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future. However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers' façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende's job--even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.
In this CBS This Morning segment from June 26th, 2017 Imbolo Mbue, author of "Behold the Dreamers" and winner of the 2017 PEN/Faulkner Award joins Studio 57 to discuss the inspiration behind her debut novel.
How do I find a copy of this book?
- Delta College Library owns a copy of this book.
- Find a copy of the book through Valley Library Consortium. Either request to have the book delivered to Delta College Library using your Delta Library Account number or pick the book up at your local library (Bay County Library System, Public Libraries of Saginaw, etc.).
- Find a copy through the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library (Midland) and pick it up in Midland
- Find a copy through MelCat and request to have the book delivered to Delta College Library using your Delta Library Account number.
- Request a copy of the book by completing the Library Interlibrary Loan Request form and we will contact you when it comes in!
- Need a Delta Library Account? Come visit the library front desk to create your Library Account!
- Need assistance finding a copy of this book? Contact Librarian Carol Whittaker.
Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (April)
Hello Beautiful (Oprah's Book Club) by ISBN: 9780593243732Publication Date: 2023-03-14NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * From the author of Dear Edward comes a "powerfully affecting" (People) family story that asks: Can love make a broken person whole? William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him--so when he meets the spirited and ambitious Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, it's as if the world has lit up around him. With Julia comes her family, as she and her three sisters are inseparable: Sylvie, the family's dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book; Cecelia is a free-spirited artist; and Emeline patiently takes care of them all. With the Padavanos, William experiences a newfound contentment; every moment in their house is filled with loving chaos. But then darkness from William's past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia's carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters' unshakeable devotion to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most? An exquisite homage to Louisa May Alcott's timeless classic, Little Women, Hello Beautiful is a profoundly moving portrait of what is possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it.
In this segment from CBS Mornings from March 14th 2023, Oprah Winfrey talks with author Ann Napolitano about her book "Hello Beautiful".
How do I find a copy of this book?
- Find a copy of the book through Valley Library Consortium. Either request to have the book delivered to Delta College Library using your Delta Library Account number or pick the book up at your local library (Bay County Library System, Public Libraries of Saginaw, etc.).
- Find a copy through the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library (Midland) and pick it up in Midland
- Find a copy through MelCat and request to have the book delivered to Delta College Library using your Delta Library Account number.
- Request a copy of the book by completing the Library Interlibrary Loan Request form and we will contact you when it comes in!
- Need a Delta Library Account? Come visit the library front desk to create your Library Account!
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Booked for Lunch qualify as Professional Development credit? No, unfortunately this book club does not qualify for Professional Development credit.
- Is there only one meeting time to discuss each book? Yes, there is only one meeting time to discuss each book. There are no plans to record book discussions.
- Do I need to read the book or finish the book to attend book club? No! You can just come and listen to discussion or to decide if you might want to read the book in the future. We can't guarantee there won't be spoilers though!
- Do I need to prepare any questions or anything before coming to book club? No, the Librarian will bring questions and lead the discussion. But please do bring any questions you'd like to ask, comments, opinions, etc. Your level of participation is completely up to you. It's okay if you just want to listen to the discussion.
- How were the books chosen for book club? For this inaugural year of book club the Librarian chose the titles. Titles were chosen based on having diverse characters, having been well-reviewed and having a lot of copies in multiple formats available at local libraries. Hopefully we can gather ideas for additional titles for future meetings as the club gets established. We would like to have a good rotation of genres and inclusive stories and characters.
- Can I bring my lunch to Booked for Lunch? Yes! You are welcome to eat your lunch at book club.
- Will there be cookies? There may or may not be cookies :)
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich (October 19th, 2023)
The Sentence by ISBN: 9780062671127Publication Date: 2021-11-09In this New York Times bestselling novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich creates a wickedly funny ghost story, a tale of passion, of a complex marriage, and of a woman's relentless errors. Louise Erdrich's latest novel, The Sentence, asks what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book. A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading "with murderous attention," must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning. The Sentence begins on All Souls' Day 2019 and ends on All Souls' Day 2020. Its mystery and proliferating ghost stories during this one year propel a narrative as rich, emotional, and profound as anything Louise Erdrich has written.
From PBS Newshour (November 5th, 2021), Newshour correspondent Jeffrey Brown speaks with author Louise Erdrich about The Sentence.
How do I find a copy of the book?
- Find a copy of the book through Valley Library Consortium. Either request to have the book delivered to Delta College Library using your Delta Library Account number or pick the book up at your local library (Bay County Library System, Public Libraries of Saginaw, etc.).
- Find a copy through the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library (Midland). They have several print, electronic and audiobook copies.
- Find a copy through MelCat and request to have the book delivered to Delta College Library using your Delta Library Account number.
- Request a copy of the book by completing the Library Interlibrary Loan Request form and we will contact you when it comes in (Library Account not needed when you submit request, set it up when you pick up the book).
- Need a Delta Library Account? Come visit the library front desk to create your Library Account!
- Need assistance finding a copy of this book? Contact Librarian Carol Whittaker.