COOK YOUR WAY THROUGH…
Cookbook Discussion Group on Zoom
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WINTER 2026 Session:
An Unapologetic Cookbook by Joshua Weissman
Free copies of the book available to registered participants starting Dec. 1 (while supplies last). Cook a recipe from the book and join us on Zoom to discuss!
This discussion takes place virtually on Zoom. Meeting Log-in information will be emailed to registered participants on or before the day of the program and posted to our bookclubs.com page.
TUESDAY, MAR 3rd 2026 @ 6:30pm on Zoom—— chapters: Vegetables and Salads, Soup, & Dessert
Join our group on Bookclubs.com to access meeting information, photo albums, discussion boards, polls, and much more! Visit https://bookclubs.com/clubs/5968796/join/ec9466/ to join.
We would love to see pictures of your culinary creations! Email all photos to uppermoreland@mclinc.org prior to each meeting to share your dishes with the group and to add to our group photo album on bookclubs.com!
SPRING/SUMMER 2026 Session:
**REGISTER HERE!**
MASTER CLASS: Julia Child
Cook any Julia Child recipe and join us on Zoom to discuss!
TUESDAY, MAY 5th 2026 @ 6:30pm on Zoom
TUESDAY, JUN 2nd 2026 @ 6:30pm on Zoom
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TRUE CRIME TALES
*** REGISTER HERE***
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Tuesday, March 17
@ 6:30pm on Zoom
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
A Saturday in 1978 in Florida: In the middle of the night, a man breaks into a female student dormitory. He goes from room to room and kills several residents. He will soon be known as one of the most famous serial killers in the USA. But he was observed committing his crime.
The survivors, including key witness Pamela Schumacher, will be forever changed by this night. They have all become victims. But they tell their perspectives here, they remain masters of their stories. And they hunt the perpetrator on their own – against resistance from the justice system and the police; against public opinion, which idolizes the serial killer. – goodreads.com
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Tuesday, May 19
@ 6:30pm on Zoom
Carrie Carolyn Coco by Sarah Gerard
On the night of September 28, 2016, twenty-five-year-old Carolyn Bush was brutally stabbed to death in her New York City apartment by her roommate Render Stetson-Shanahan, leaving friends and family of both reeling. In life, Carolyn had been a gregarious, smart-mouthed aspiring poet, who had seemingly gotten along well with Render, a reserved art handler. Where had it gone so terribly wrong?
This is the question that has plagued acclaimed author Sarah Gerard and driven her obsessive pursuit to understand this horrifying tragedy. In Sarah’s exploration into Carolyn’s life and death, she spent thousands of hours interviewing her and Render’s friends and family, poring over court documents and news media, attending memorials for Carolyn, and Render’s trial, and reading obscure writings and internet posts from both parties. Even as she gleaned through this work a deeper understanding of Carolyn, her murderer, and the reasons for the crime, Sarah couldn’t help but turn her gaze to the greater forces that enabled it. – goodreads.com
UMFPL BOOK DISCUSSION
In person & on Zoom – join us however works best for you!
♦ This event is free & open to all adults ♦
Click below to receive an email with discussion points and Zoom details each month.
Click here to add your email! (No need to sign-up each month, we’ll keep you on our list all year. Register each January to continue to receive Book Discussion information.)
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April 29, 2026 @ 6:30pm
The Bee Sting
by Paul Murray
2023
The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under — but rather than face the music, he’s spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife, Imelda, is selling off her jewelry on eBay, while their teenage daughter, Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way through her final exams. And 12-year-old PJ is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home. Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favor to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil — can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written, is there still time to find a happy ending?
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May 27, 2026 @ 6:30pm
In the Distance
by Hernan Diaz
2017
A young Swedish immigrant finds himself penniless and alone in California. The boy travels East in search of his brother, moving on foot against the great current of emigrants pushing West. Driven back again and again, he meets naturalists, criminals, religious fanatics, swindlers, Indians, and lawmen, and his exploits turn him into a an outlaw and a legend. “In the Distance” offers a probing look at the stereotypes that populate our past and a portrait of radical foreignness.
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June 24, 2026 @ 6:30pm
The Night Watchman
by Louise Erdrich
2020
Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel-bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a 1953 “emancipation” bill on its way to the floor of the United States Congress. He and the other council members know the bill isn’t about freedom; Congress is fed up with Indians. Meanwhile, Pixie Paranteau, the class valedictorian, has no desire to wear herself down with a husband and kids. She makes jewel bearings at the plant, a job that barely pays her enough to support her mother and brother. And Patrice is saving to follow her missing sister to Minneapolis — a fateful trip that introduces her to unexpected forms of exploitation and violence.
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July 29, 2026 @ 6:30pm
The God of the Woods
by Liz Moore
2024
Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel-bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a 1953 “emancipation” bill on its way to the floor of the United States Congress. He and the other council members know the bill isn’t about freedom; Congress is fed up with Indians. Meanwhile, Pixie Paranteau, the class valedictorian, has no desire to wear herself down with a husband and kids. She makes jewel bearings at the plant, a job that barely pays her enough to support her mother and brother. And Patrice is saving to follow her missing sister to Minneapolis — a fateful trip that introduces her to unexpected forms of exploitation and violence.
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August 26, 2026 @ 6:30pm
Everything’s Fine
by Cecilia Rabess
2023
Josh, her preppy, white, conservative sparring partner from college who loves playing the devil’s advocate. But when Jess finds herself the sole Black woman on the floor, overlooked and underestimated, Josh shows up for her in surprising ways. Before long, an unlikely friendship — one tinged with undeniable chemistry — forms between the two, and their electrifying romance shocks them both. Despite their differences, the force of their attraction propels the relationship forward, and Jess begins to question whether it’s more important to be happy than right. But then, it’s 2016, and the cultural and political landscape shifts underneath them. And Jess, who is just beginning to discover who she is and who she has the right to be, is forced to ask herself what she’s willing to compromise for love and whether, in fact, everything’s fine.
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September 30, 2026 @ 6:30pm
The Berry Pickers
by Amanda Peters
2023
In July 1962, a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, 4-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her 6-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come. Meanwhile, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.
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October 28, 2026 @ 6:30pm
The Frozen River
by Ariel Lawhon
2023
When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in late-18th century Hallowell, Maine. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of a rape allegedly committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen — one of whom was the body in the ice. But when a physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.
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November 18, 2026 @ 6:30pm
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
1988
“The Alchemist” tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of worldly treasure. From his home in Spain he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and across the Egyptian desert to a fateful encounter with the alchemist. His quest will lead him to riches far different — and far more satisfying — than he ever imagined. Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.
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December 30, 2026 @ 6:30pm
The Strange Case of Jane O.
by Karen Thompson Walker
2025
In the first year after her child is born, Jane suffers a series of strange episodes: amnesia, premonitions, hallucinations, and an inexplicable sense of dread. As her psychiatrist struggles to solve the mystery of what is happening, Jane suddenly goes missing. A day later, she is found unconscious in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, in the midst of what seems to be an episode of dissociative fugue. When she comes to, she has no memory of what has happened to her. Are Jane’s strange experiences related to the stress of single motherhood, or are they the manifestation of a long-buried trauma? Why is she having visions of a young man who died 20 years ago, who warns her of a disaster ahead? Jane’s symptoms lead her psychiatrist and cause him to question everything he thought he knew about so-called reality — including events in his own life.This is a mesmerizing story about the bonds of love between a mother and child, a man and a woman, and those we’ve lost who may still be alive.