On Tuesday, August 11, at 2 pm we will meet virtually to discuss Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse. The meeting is on the second Tuesday of the month, as usual.

Questions and comments are welcome. Address them to tonilin@aol.com.

The link and info on attending the meeting will be sent to you upon RSVP to tonilin@aol.com.

The books to be discussed in August and beyond are described below.

August 2026 — Finite and Infinite Games,  James Carse (2011, 162 p)

Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played in order to be won, which is when they end. But infinite games are more mysterious. Their object is not winning, but ensuring the continuation of play, such as a marriage. Carse finds new ways of understanding everything, from how an actress portrays a role to how we engage in sex, from the nature of evil to the nature of science. Finite games, he shows, may offer wealth and status, power and glory, but infinite games offer something far more subtle and far grander.

Recommended for its unusual philosophical and thought-provoking style and format. Game theory-ish but more specific discussions on marriage (infinite game) vs say boardgames (finite game). 

September 2026 — The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri ( 2005, 242 p)  When two employees of the Splendour Refuse Collection Company discover the body of engineer Silvio Luparello, one of the local movers and shakers, apparently deceased in flagrante at the Pasture, the coroner’s verdict is death from natural causes. But Inspector Salvo Montalbano, as honest as he is streetwise and as scathing to fools and villains as he is compassionate to their victims, is not ready to close the case – even though he’s being pressured by Vigàta’s police chief, judge, and bishop.

Andrea Camilleri was one of Italy’s most popular writers and the author of the beloved Inspector Montalbano books. The series has been translated into thirty-two languages and was adapted into an Italian television series starring Luca Zingaretti, screened on BBC4.

October 2026 — Diary of a Provincial Lady, E. M. Delafield (2026, 171 p)          A British woman chronicles the absurdities of domestic life in diary form. Upper-middle-class woman living in rural Devon. The book became a beloved classic of interwar British literature for its wit and realism. – JG — Witty, observant, and irresistibly sharp, Diary of a Provincial Lady invites readers into the quietly chaotic life of an upper-middle-class woman in 1930s England.

November 2026 — Arrow, William Gadea. (2025, 219 p) In ARROW, William Gadea weaves together insights from neuroscience, evolutionary studies, the Buddhist tradition, history, imagination, and memoir – to tell the story of Story. How many different faculties, each with their own independent adaptive utility – consciousness, self, emotions, episodic memory, mental modeling, theory of mind, language – converged to create the majestic power of storytelling.

Includes a discussion with the author at our meeting.

December 2026 –The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (1869, 432 p)  The Innocents Abroad, published in 1869, is Mark Twain’s humorous travelogue about a five-month “Great Pleasure Excursion” to Europe and the Holy Land in 1867, chronicling his journey on the steamship Quaker City. The book satirizes American tourists’ reverence for European landmarks, contrasting it with Twain’s own no-nonsense, often irreverent perspective, and became his best-selling work during his lifetime. It’s a blend of travel guide, comedy, and social commentary, critiquing both American and European cultures. 

January 2027 — God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Kurt Vonnegut  (2007, 290 p)  Eliot Rosewater—drunk, volunteer fireman, and President of the fabulously rich Rosewater Foundation—is about to attempt a noble experiment with human nature . . . with a little help from writer Kilgore Trout. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is Kurt Vonnegut’s funniest satire, an etched-in-acid portrayal of the greed, hypocrisy, and follies of the flesh we are all heir to.

February 2027  — Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon  (2004, p 288) Book 1 of 33

A conductor succumbs to cyanide at the famed Venice opera house, in the first mystery in the New York Times–bestselling, award-winning series.
 
During intermission at the famed La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy, a notoriously difficult and widely disliked German conductor is poisoned—and suspects abound. Guido Brunetti, a native Venetian, sets out to unravel the mystery behind the high-profile murder. To do so, he calls on his knowledge of Venice, its culture, and its dirty politics. Along the way, he finds the crime may have roots going back decades—and that revenge, corruption, and even Italian cuisine may play a role.
 
“One of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever.” —The Washington Post

March 2027 — Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (2020, 349 p)  Amazon Best Book of the Year for 2020.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and “writer of astonishing depth” (The Washington Times) comes a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.

On Tuesday, July 14, at 2 pm we will meet virtually to discuss Windy City Blues by Renee Rosen The meeting is on the second Tuesday of the month, as usual.

Questions and comments are welcome. Address them to tonilin@aol.com.

The link and info on attending the meeting will be sent to you upon RSVP at tonilin@aol.com.

The books to be discussed in July and beyond are described below.

July 2026 — Windy City Blues by Renee Rosen  (2017,  476 p)  “Renee Rosen’s passion for her subject matter is evident in every single word of Windy City Blues. This novel about the rise of the Chicago Blues scene fairly shimmers with verve and intensity, and the large, diverse cast of characters is indelibly portrayed with the perfect pitch of a true artist.”—Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue

The bestselling author of White Collar Girl and What the Lady Wants explores one woman’s journey of self-discovery set against the backdrop of a musical and social revolution.

In the middle of the twentieth century, the music of the Mississippi Delta arrived in Chicago, drawing the attention of entrepreneurs like the Chess brothers. Their label, Chess Records, helped shape that music into the Chicago Blues, the soundtrack for a transformative era in American History.

But, for Leeba Groski, Chess Records was just where she worked…

August 2026 — Finite and Infinite Games,  James Carse (2011, 162 p)

Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life; they are played in order to be won, which is when they end. But infinite games are more mysterious. Their object is not winning, but ensuring the continuation of play, such as a marriage. Carse finds new ways of understanding everything, from how an actress portrays a role to how we engage in sex, from the nature of evil to the nature of science. Finite games, he shows, may offer wealth and status, power and glory, but infinite games offer something far more subtle and far grander.

Recommended for its unusual philosophical and thought-provoking style and format. Game theory-ish but more specific discussions on marriage (infinite game) vs say boardgames (finite game). 

September 2026 — The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri ( 2005, 242 p)  When two employees of the Splendour Refuse Collection Company discover the body of engineer Silvio Luparello, one of the local movers and shakers, apparently deceased in flagrante at the Pasture, the coroner’s verdict is death from natural causes. But Inspector Salvo Montalbano, as honest as he is streetwise and as scathing to fools and villains as he is compassionate to their victims, is not ready to close the case – even though he’s being pressured by Vigàta’s police chief, judge, and bishop.

Andrea Camilleri was one of Italy’s most popular writers and the author of the beloved Inspector Montalbano books. The series has been translated into thirty-two languages and was adapted into an Italian television series starring Luca Zingaretti, screened on BBC4.

October 2026 — Diary of a Provincial Lady, E. M. Delafield (2026, 171 p)          A British woman chronicles the absurdities of domestic life in diary form. Upper-middle-class woman living in rural Devon. The book became a beloved classic of interwar British literature for its wit and realism. – JG — Witty, observant, and irresistibly sharp, Diary of a Provincial Lady invites readers into the quietly chaotic life of an upper-middle-class woman in 1930s England.

November 2026 — Arrow, William Gadea. (2025, 219 p) In ARROW, William Gadea weaves together insights from neuroscience, evolutionary studies, the Buddhist tradition, history, imagination, and memoir – to tell the story of Story. How many different faculties, each with their own independent adaptive utility – consciousness, self, emotions, episodic memory, mental modeling, theory of mind, language – converged to create the majestic power of storytelling.

Includes a discussion with the author at our meeting.

December 2026 –The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (1869, 432 p)  The Innocents Abroad, published in 1869, is Mark Twain’s humorous travelogue about a five-month “Great Pleasure Excursion” to Europe and the Holy Land in 1867, chronicling his journey on the steamship Quaker City. The book satirizes American tourists’ reverence for European landmarks, contrasting it with Twain’s own no-nonsense, often irreverent perspective, and became his best-selling work during his lifetime. It’s a blend of travel guide, comedy, and social commentary, critiquing both American and European cultures. 

January 2027 — God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Kurt Vonnegut  (2007, 290 p)  Eliot Rosewater—drunk, volunteer fireman, and President of the fabulously rich Rosewater Foundation—is about to attempt a noble experiment with human nature . . . with a little help from writer Kilgore Trout. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater is Kurt Vonnegut’s funniest satire, an etched-in-acid portrayal of the greed, hypocrisy, and follies of the flesh we are all heir to.

February 2027  — Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon  (2004, p 288) Book 1 of 33

A conductor succumbs to cyanide at the famed Venice opera house, in the first mystery in the New York Times–bestselling, award-winning series.
 
During intermission at the famed La Fenice opera house in Venice, Italy, a notoriously difficult and widely disliked German conductor is poisoned—and suspects abound. Guido Brunetti, a native Venetian, sets out to unravel the mystery behind the high-profile murder. To do so, he calls on his knowledge of Venice, its culture, and its dirty politics. Along the way, he finds the crime may have roots going back decades—and that revenge, corruption, and even Italian cuisine may play a role.
 
“One of the most exquisite and subtle detective series ever.” —The Washington Post

March 2027 — Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (2020, 349 p)  Amazon Best Book of the Year for 2020.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove and “writer of astonishing depth” (The Washington Times) comes a poignant comedy about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.