
- Discussions are currently held on Zoom and in-person.
- To arrange a visit, please call (207) 621-3551 or send a message.
MONDAY BOOK GROUP
MONDAY BOOK GROUP UPDATE:
The Senior College Monday Book Group reads a diverse mix of books: history and social issues, historical fiction, science fiction, memoirs, and coming-of age stories, among others. Group members select the titles and take turns facilitating the discussions. We meet the second Monday of each month from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm at the University of Maine Augusta campus, and also provide a Zoom option to accommodate the needs of members who may not be able to attend in person.
The Monday Book Group is not currently accepting new members, as we have reached the maximum capacity to ensure inclusive and interactive discussions. For further information on book group openings, or if you would like to start up another Senior College book group, please contact the Senior College office team.
THURSDAY BOOK GROUP
June 22 Meeting:
THE GIRL WHO FELL FROM THE SKY
BY HEIDI W. DURROW
This month’s book selection
is from Dennis Cline.
Our group selects new books to read about once a year. Sometime, usually in the fall, each person recommends two books. We vote for one of them and build our schedule for the coming months. The process is designed to be random, and we have all enjoyed good books we would not have selected on our own. Nevertheless, some years it has seemed we collaborated to focus on a theme. Maybe it was serendipity. Maybe it was just the times. We have mused that maybe the Universe has wanted to send us a message. If so, this year the Universe wanted us to look at how it feels to be young and on the short end of social justice.
In June we are reading The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow. Rachel is a blue-eyed child born in Germany of a black American GI and a white Danish mother. She survives a suicidal jump from a tall building which leaves her mother and brother dead. Rachel is left to live with her father’s mother. Both grandmother and aunt are kind and love her, but Rachel misses her mother and her mother’s ways. In her class at school 15 students see themselves as “black,” while seven others identify as “white.” One
girl, Carmen LaGuardia, has both hair and skin tone like Rachel’s, but still counts as black. Rachel wonders “How does she know?” Where do I belong? Rachel’s quest for a racial identity and belonging is set in 1980s Portland, Oregon, and covers three years of her young life. Would it be different for Rachel today? Would her experience have been any different in the American Deep South?
I can barely wait to get into this book and to hear what others have to say when we meet on June 22. You are welcome to join us. We meet on Zoom. “Achingly honest,” says NPR. “Hauntingly beautiful,” writes the Dallas Morning News. The Christian Science Monitor writes, “Stunning…What makes Durrow’s novel soar is her masterful sense of voice, her assured, nuanced handling of complex racial issues—and her heart.”
MONDAY BOOK GROUP INFORMATION

The Monday Book Group meets the second Monday of the month from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Group Leader: Patrice Wehner
- January: Dead Wake by Erik Larson
- February: Stand Your Ground by Victoria Christopher Murray
- March: Country of the Pointed Firs by Sara Orne Jewett
- April: Wish You Were Here by Jody Picoult
- May: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
- June: Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
(Maine Humanities – Read ME) - July: Lungfish by Meghan Gilliss
(Maine Humanities – Read ME) - August: News of the World by Paulette Giles
- September: Horse by Geraldine Brooks
- October: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- November: Dinners with Ruth by Nina Totenberg
- December: The Traveling Cat Chronicles by Hira Arikawa
*Subject to change
THURSDAY BOOK GROUP INFORMATION

The Thursday Book Group meets the fourth Thursday of the month from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Group Leader: Norma Blazer
- January 26: The Lincoln Highway: A Novel by Amor Towles
- February 23: The U. S. and the Holocaust – Full Documentary on Maine Public TV
- March 23: Time and Again by Jack Finney
- April 27: No-No Boy by John Okada
- May 25: Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty
- June 22: The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
- July 27: The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline
- August 24: Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
- September 28: Deadline by Gerry Boyle
- October 26: Birds of a Feather(Maisie Dobbs Book 2) by Jacqueline Winspear
- No Meeting in November
If you would like more information about either book group, please contact the UMASC office by phone (207-621-3551) or send a message.