Squeeze Me by Carl Hiassen (Zoom)

 It was time for some comic relief, so we selected this book and were not disappointed.  It's a missing person story, involving an elderly fan of a certain president near the winter White House in Palm Beach.  The story quickly pivots to a rogue ex-governor who raises man-eating Burmese pythons and is up to no good.  There's plenty of mayhem and not-so-far fetched intrigue, but, while entertaining, the book got only a mediocre rating from our group.  (One of us thought the book too vulgar and another read the wrong book altogether.)

Our next book is Seasons by Ellen Meloy.  Other works considered were Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, and Animal Farm by George Orwell.  We plan to meet on November 25; Bill is next in line to suggest the following book.  

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (Zoom)

The book is a well-known classic, but most of us had read it long ago or not at all.  It's easy to see why it made a big impression almost 60 years ago: written in the modest form of everyday correspondence, it's a bold and eloquent assessment of the state of race relations in America.  It was good to read it during this contemporary period of racial re-assessment, and it's amazing how it reflects much of the current dialogue.

Our next book is Carl Hiassen, Squeeze Me.  Other titles considered were P. D. James' Death Comes to Pemberley and Eric Larson's The Splendid and the Vile.  We'll connect again via Zoom on October 28 and Max will suggest the next book,