St. James' Diversity Book Club
The Diversity Book Club’s Fall Season
The Fall 2024 season of St. James’ Diversity Book Club begins on Oct. 13 with Celeste Ng’s Our Missing Hearts. Dive into a story where children are separated from their families, Chinese Americans are vilified, and books are “pulped’ into toilet paper—all in the name of national security. The discussion will be held at noon in the Toppie Bates Lakeside Room. Tea and light refreshments will be served. A Zoom link will also be available. Join us when you can. Our goal is to enrich your reading experience through fellowship and sharing ideas—along with tasty treats.
The Diversity Book Club is a ministry of St. James’ Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission. The discussions are held at noon in the Toppie Bates Lakeside Room (and via Zoom) and are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Judy Holmes (judyholmes76@gmail.com) or Meg Osborne (mhosborne7@gmail.com).
October 13
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng’s
Published in 2022, the novel focuses on a 12-year-old boy, whose Chinese-American mother has disappeared in much the same way as library books have disappeared off of shelves and school children have disappeared from families. What’s more, no one talks about the disappearances; it is as if the people and books never existed. Approved public discourse focuses on how the “Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act (PACT)” enabled the U.S. to recover from “The Crisis.”
Is Ng’s brilliantly written novel a simple example of dystopian fiction or a thinly disguised commentary on extreme nationalism, racial violence, police brutality, economic inequality, free speech and book banning? Read the book and join our discussion on Oct. 13.
November 24
The Fall 2024 season will continue on Nov. 24 with Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others by Barbara Brown Taylor, an author, teacher and Episcopal priest. Holy Envy describes Taylor’s experiences teaching an undergraduate course in comparative religions and how those experiences both deepened her faith and led to a deep appreciation and understanding of the faith of others. In an era where Christian Nationalism is making headlines, Holy Envy presents a reflective side of the equation revealing the richness inherent in the diverse array of religious practices in our nation.
“Part of my ongoing priesthood is to find the bridge between my faith and the faiths of other people, so that those of us who draw water from wells on different sides of the river can still get together from time to time, making the whole area safer for our children,” Taylor says.
Sneak preview of the Spring 2025 Season (Specific dates forthcoming)
The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith and Refounding Democracy by Jim Wallis, the inaugural Archbishop Desmond Tutu Chair in Faith and Justice at the McCourt School of Public Policy and the Faculty Director of Georgetown University’s Center on Faith and Justice.
The Wind Knows My Name by Isabel Allende, Chilean-American novelist, feminist, philanthropist and founder of the Isabel Allende Foundation to support the empowerment of women and girls worldwide.
Sold by Patricia McCormick, two-time National Book Award finalist and author of several critically acclaimed novels. Sold is listed on the American Library Association’s Top 10 Most Challenged Books of 2023.
Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by Brandy Colbert, award-winning author of several books for children and teens. In 2022, Colbert was told she could not discuss her book during a Black History Month program for high school students in Texas. She withdrew from the program.
Past Book Discussions & Suggested Reads
March 17- Once I was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America (2020) by Maria Hinojosa
February 2024 – The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan
November 2023 – Black Klansman: Race, Hate and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime by Ron Stallworth
October 2023 – Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
June 2023 – Justified by her Children: Deed of Courage Confronting a Tradition of Racism by Roy G. Pollina
April 2023 – Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
March 2023 – Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
Feb 2023 – The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times by Michelle Obama
January 2023 – This Band of Sisterhood: Black Women Bishops on Race, Faith, and the Church Edited by Westina
