Alumni Book Club
Book-lovers unite!
Connect with the Western community online to read and discuss a variety of engaging books of genres ranging from novels to memoirs, social justice to personal growth, and more.
Joining the book club is completely free and exclusive to Western Alumni and Friends.
How it works:
Pick up a copy of the book- at your library, Western’s bookstore, Western Libraries or online to enjoy. Book club members will connect through a private forum where they can discuss the current book and network with each other. We will spend about two months on each book that take an average of nine hours to read cover to cover. If you have between one and two hours a week to read, you can make it happen! Plus, you don’t have to commit to reading every book—we’re not grading you.
Upcoming Reading Period Begins March 17, 2023
On a Night of a Thousand Stars by Andrea Yaryura Clark
New York, 1998. Santiago Larrea, a wealthy Argentine diplomat, is holding court alongside his wife, Lila, and their daughter, Paloma, a college student and budding jewelry designer, at their annual summer polo match and soiree. All seems perfect in the Larreas’ world—until an unexpected party guest from Santiago's university days shakes his usually unflappable demeanor. The woman's cryptic comments spark Paloma’s curiosity about her father’s past, of which she knows little.
When the family travels to Buenos Aires for Santiago's UN ambassadorial appointment, Paloma is determined to learn more about his life in the years leading up to the military dictatorship of 1976. With the help of a local university student, Franco Bonetti, an activist member of H.I.J.O.S—a group whose members are the children of the Desaparecidos, or the “Disappeared,” men and women who were forcibly disappeared by the state during Argentina’s “Dirty War”—Paloma unleashes a chain of events that not only leads her to question her family and her identity but also puts her life in danger.
Andrea Yaryura Clark grew up in Argentina amid the political turmoil of the 1970s until her family relocated to North America. After completing her university studies, she returned to Buenos Aires to reconnect with her roots. By the mid-1990s, many sons and daughters of the “Disappeared”—the youngest victims of Argentina’s military dictatorship in the 1970s—were coming of age and grappling with the fates of their families. She interviewed several of these children, and their experiences, not widely known outside Argentina, inspired her debut novel. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, two sons and a spirited terrier.
Joining the alumni book club is the perfect way to stay connected with Western, the friends you’ve made, and learn something new at the same time. All this on your own timeline and from the comfort of your home!
PBC Guru manages professional book clubs for companies, libraries, and alumni associations. They will be moderating our book club to help make this program a great experience for all participants. Please email them at info@pbc.guru with any questions or visit their website at http://www.pbc.guru to see more of what they do.
