The group meets on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 1pm in the Conference Room at the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Contact our Library Specialist by email or phone (402) 334-6464.
November 15, 1979 marked the debut of the Jewish Federation Library Book Discussion Group, later renamed the “Dorothy Kaplan Book Discussion Group.” In association with the Jewish Federation of Omaha Library, a group of dedicated women, including the late “library diva” Dorothy Kaplan z”l, began the club. It is believed that throughout the country this is the oldest Jewish book group in continuous existence. The group selects books with Jewish content and/or books written by Jewish authors which are designed to appeal to readers of different ages and tastes. With the diversity of topics – everything from poetry and mysteries to science fiction and biographies – and with occasional guest facilitators, including authors, today’s “Dorothy Kaplan Book Group” offers something for everyone. The group welcomes new members.
The Dorothy Kaplan Book Group meets on the third Thursday of the month at 1pm in the Wiesman Family Reception Room at the Jewish Federation of Omaha. There is no cost to join and there is always an insightful exchange of observations, opinions and critiques during the group meetings.
Contact our Library Specialist by email or phone (402) 334-6464.
October | Half Life by Jillian Cantor
In Poland in 1891, Marie Curie (then Marya Sklodowska) was engaged to a budding mathematician, Kazimierz Zorawski. But when his mother insisted she was too poor and not good enough, he broke off the engagement. A heartbroken Marya left Poland for Paris, where she would attend the Sorbonne to study chemistry and physics. Eventually Marie Curie would go on to change the course of science forever and be the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.But what if she had made a different choice?
What if she had stayed in Poland, married Kazimierz at the age of twenty-four, and never attended the Sorbonne or discovered radium? What if she had chosen a life of domesticity with a constant hunger for knowledge in Russian Poland where education for women was restricted, instead of studying science in Paris and meeting Pierre Curie?
Entwining Marie Curie’s real story with Marya Zorawska’s fictional one, Half Life explores loves lost and destinies unfulfilled—and probes issues of loyalty and identity, gender and class, motherhood and sisterhood, fame and anonymity, scholarship and knowledge. Through parallel contrasting versions of Marya’s life, Jillian Cantor’s unique historical novel asks what would have happened if a great scientific mind was denied opportunity and access to education. It examines how the lives of one remarkable woman and the people she loved – as well as the world at large and course of science and history—might have been irrevocably changed in ways both great and small.
Nov | Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr
Dec | The Assignment by Liza Wiemer
Jan | Mr. Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer
Feb | The Auschwitz Detective by Jonathan Dunsky
Mar | The Stranger in the Lifeboat by Mitch Albom
May | Not Quite Kosher by Stuart Kaminsky
June | The Dinner Party by Brenda Janowitz
July | The Outside World by Tova Mirvis
August | An Unorthodox Match by Naomi Ragen
September | Fifth Avenue Glamor Girl by Renee Rosen
Feb | As Close to Us as Breathing by Elizabeth Poliner
Mar | We were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
May | You and Me and Us by Alison Hammer
Jun | The Yid: A Novel by Paul Goldberg
Jul | Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner
Aug | The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Sep | Queen for a Day by Maxine Rosaler
Nov | Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy by Anne Sebba
Dec | A Jewish Girl in Paris by Melanie Levensohn
