Every Thursday afternoon, a fellow Chautauquan will present a book of their choice over lunchtime.  They will present and discuss their book and then open the porch for questions, discussion, and observations.  Come spend your lunchtime with us as we discover a new book together!

Make it a point to join us for these wonderful book presentations this summer!

 

 

 

July 4, 2024
12:15 PM
Porch of Alumni Hall

 

Welling Hall

"Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelists Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation"

by Kristin Kobes DuMez

 

A lifelong Chautauquan and an award winning educator, Dr. Hall is also a writer, an artist, and a Recorded Minister in the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Welling has a BA in Ancient Greek from Oberlin, a PhD in Political Science from Ohio State, and an MDiv degree from Boston U. School of Theology. She is passionate about engaging in conversations about the challenges posed to democracy by white Christian nationalism. 

 

 

 

July 11, 2024
12:15 PM
Porch of Alumni Hall

Sally Rosch Wagner
author of
"Sisters in Spirit: Iroquois/Haudenosaunee Women’s  Influence on Women’s Rights"

 

Dr. Wagner is also the author of the classic "The Woman’s Suffrage Movement".  Dr. Wagner has taught women’s studies for 53 years, currently in Syracuse’s Honors Program and when the state Humanities Councils in the 1980's re-established the early Chautauquans, she spent several summers as a scholar/performer throughout the Midwest, California, and Oregon. Dr. Wagner currently sits on the advisory councils of The Women’s Suffrage National Centennial Council and The National Women’s History Museum.

 

July 18, 2024
12:15 PM
Porch of Alumni Hall

 

MJ Johnson
"The Measure"
by Nikki Ehrlich

 

 

A luminous, spirit-lifting blockbuster that asks: would you choose to find out the length of your life?

 

Eight ordinary people. One extraordinary choice.

 

It seems like any other day. You wake up, pour a cup of coffee, and head out. But today, when you open your front door, waiting for you is a small wooden box. This box holds your fate inside: the answer to the exact number of years you will live.

 

From suburban doorsteps to desert tents, every person on every continent receives the same box. In an instant, the world is thrust into a collective frenzy. Where did these boxes come from? What do they mean? Is there truth to what they promise?

 

As society comes together and pulls apart, everyone faces the same shocking choice: Do they wish to know how long they’ll live? And, if so, what will they do with that knowledge?

 

The Measure charts the dawn of this new world through an unforgettable cast of characters whose decisions and fates interweave with one another: best friends whose dreams are forever entwined, pen pals finding refuge in the unknown, a couple who thought they didn’t have to rush, a doctor who cannot save himself, and a politician whose box becomes the powder keg that ultimately changes everything.

 

Enchanting and deeply uplifting, The Measure is an ambitious, invigorating story about family, friendship, hope, and destiny that encourages us to live life to the fullest.

 

                                                                                               - Amazon Reviews

 

 

 

 

July 25, 2024
12:15 PM
Porch of Alumni Hall

 

 

Doug Conroe

 

Doug is the Executive Director of the Chautauqua Lake Association, an organization researching the ramifications for the health of our own lake. Since 1980, Doug has served the CLA in a variety of capacities including that of President of the Board of Directors.  Doug is involved with state and national lake management organizations in addition to currently serving as a NYS Commissioner to the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission and as Vice Chair of the Board of the Foundation for Ohio River Education.  

 

 

 

 

August 1, 2025
12:15 PM
Porch of Alumni Hall

Destiny Kinal
"Burning Silk"

 

Burning Silk is the first of Destiny's Textile Trilogy series. She transports us to an exquisitely imagined 19th century: from French perfumeries in Grasse…to the silk magnanerie where French Huguenot women-of-the-silk raise silkworms each spring…to the matrilineal way-of-led of the Iroquois/Haudenosaunee. A young woman’s metamorphosis from uninitiated naivete into maturity in her profession of Maitresse de la soie…inextricably linked to her own sexual and personal awakening.

 

 

 

 

August 15, 2024
12:15 PM
Porch of Alumni Hall

Stephine Hunt
"The Reformatory"
by Tananarive Due

2024 Chautauqua Prize Winner