1st Zoom Book Club Get Together, April 3, 2020
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DYNAMIC DESIS BOOK GROUP
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- Co-ordinator:
- Kalpana
- Webmaster:
- Vasan
- Current Members:
- Sanjay, Kalpana, Shyam, Mira, Prasad, Varsha, Arun, Poornima, Vasan, Neerja, Kalyan, Parvati, Sid, Smita, Shobhna, Naren, Raj, Madhu, Biba
1
| DATE | HOST | BOOK | AUTHOR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sanjay | ||
| Apr 10, '25 | Smita | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | Betty Smith |
| Feb 20, '25 | Raj | The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin | Benjamin Franklin |
| Jan 9, '25 | Naren | The Worlds I See : Curiosity, Exploration and Discovery at the Dawn of AI | Dr. Fei-Fei Li |
| Nov 18, '24 | Shobhana | Lessons in Chemistry | Bonnie Garmus |
| Oct 3, '24 | Kalyan | Table for Two | Amor Towles |
| Aug 9, '24 | Neerja | Loot | Tania James |
| Jun 28, '24 | Shyam | Remarkably Bright Creatures | Shelby Van Pelt |
| May 3, '24 | Madhu | House of Cards | Sudha Murthy | Mar 8, '24 | Prasad | The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump | Michiko Kakutani |
| Jan 19 '24 | Mira | Honor | Thrity Umrigar |
| Dec 8, '23 | Shobhna | The Great Escape | Saket Soni |
| Sep 22, '23 | Neerja | The Signature of All Things | Elizabeth Gilbert |
| Aug 4, '23 | Smita | Victory City | Salman Rushdie |
| Jun 23, '23 | Parvati | All Systems Red | Martha Wells |
| May 12,''23 | Kalpana | Jitterbug Perfume | Tom Robbins |
| Mar 31, '23 | Raj | Last Queen | Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni |
| Feb 10, '23 | Vasan | Disgraced | Ayad Akhtar |
| Jan 13, '23 | Shyam | His Only Wife | Peace Adzo Medie |
| Nov 18, '22 | Kalyan | Harlem Shuffle | Colson Whitehead |
| Oct 7, '22 | Sid | The Magnolia Palace | Fiona Davis |
| Aug 26, '22 | Naren | Finding Me - A Memoir | Viola Davis |
| Jul 22, '22 | Sanjay | The Diamond Eye | Kate Quinn |
| May 6, '22 | Neerja | A Rising Man | Abir Mukherjee |
| Mar 25, '22 | Mira | Sparks like Stars | Nadia Hashimi |
| Feb 11, '22 | Parvati | The Summer Country | Laura Willig |
| Jan 7, '22 | Madhu | The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi | Vicki Mackenzie |
| Nov 19, '21 | Smita | The Moon and Sixpence | W. Somerset Maugham |
| Sep 29, '21 | Shobhana | Christine Falls | Benjamin Black |
| Aug 20, '21 | Kalpana | Winterdance | Gary Paulsen |
| Jul 09, '21 | Shyam | Whereabouts | Jhumpa Lahiri |
| May 28, '21 | Vasan | A Burning | Megha Majumdar |
| Apr 16, '21 | Prasad | Why We're Polarized | Ezra Klein |
| Mar 5, '21 | Kalyan | Rules of Civility | Amor Towles |
| Jan 22, '21 | Sid | Deacon King Kong | James McBride |
| Dec 11, '20 | Raj | Lucky Man | Michael J. Fox |
| Oct 30, '20 | Poornima | American Dirt | Jeanine Cummins |
| Sep 18, '20 | Sanjay | Killers of the Flower Moon:The Osage murders and the Birth of the FBI | David Grann |
| Aug 7, '20 | Naren | Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine | Gail Honeyman |
| Jun 26, '20 | Prasad | The New Class War | Michael Lind |
| May 15, '20 | Neerja | Gun Island | Amitav Ghosh |
| Apr 3,'20 | Smita | A Doll's House | Henrik Ibsen |
| Feb 21, '20 | Mira | Blonde Roots | Bernardine Evaristo |
| Jan 17, '20 | Madhu | The Storytellers's Secret | Sejal Badani |
| Dec 13, '19 | Kalpana | Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens |
| Nov 1, '19 | Parvati | Dark Matter | Blake Crouch |
| Sep 20, '19 | Vasan | The Immortalists | Chloe Benjamin |
| Aug 2, '19 | Raj | Educated | Tara Westover |
| Jun 21,'19 | Prasad | The Happiness Hypothesis | Jonathan Haidt |
| May 24,'19 | Sid | Mother India | Tova Reich |
| Apr 12,'19 | Kalyan | Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man | U.R. Ananthamurthy and A. K. Ramanujan |
| Feb 23, '19 | Shyam | Ways to Disappear | Idra Novey |
| Dec 14, '18 | Sanjay | Home Fire | Kamila Shamsie |
| Oct 5, '18 | Shobhana | The Geography of Bliss | Eric Weiner |
| Aug 10,'18 | Naren | Born a Crime | Trevor Noah | Jun 15, '18 | Mira | Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows | Balli Kaur Jaswal |
| May 11,'18 | Raj | When Breath Becomes Air | Paul Kalanithi |
| Mar 30, '18 | Smita | The Handmaid's Tale | Margaret Atwood |
| Feb 16,'18 | Neerja | Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress | Dai Sijie |
| Jan 5,'18 | Shobhana | Glass Houses | Louise Penny |
| Nov 10,'17 | Parvati | Persepolis-1 | Marjane Satrapati |
| Oct 13,'17 | Madhu | Option B | Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant |
| Sep 8,'17 | Kalpana | Station Eleven | Emily St. John Mandel |
| Jul 27,'17 | Naren | The pearl that broke its shell | Nadia Hashimi |
| Apr 21,'17 | Shyam | The Underground Railroad | Colson Whitehead |
| Mar 3,'17 | Poornima | Hillbilly Elegy | J. D. Vance |
| Jan 27,'17 | Sid | The Forgetting Time | Sharon Guskin |
| Dec 2,'16 | Vasan | A Man Called Ove | Fredrik Backman |
| Oct 14,'16 | Prasad | Man's Search for Meaning | Viktor E. Frankl |
| Aug 26,'16 | Shobhana | Where'd you go, Bernadette | Maria Semple |
| Jul 15, '16 | Kalyan | Go Set a Watchman | Harper Lee |
| Jun 3,'16 | Sanjay | The Promise of Joy | Allen Drury |
| Apr 22,'16 | Amita | The Moor's Account | Laila Lalami |
| Mar 18,'16 | Kalpana | Circling the Sun: A Novel | Paula McLain |
| Feb 5, '16 | Prasad | Waking Up:A Guide to Spirituality without Religion | Sam Harris |
| Jan 8, '16 | Neerja | The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry | Gabrielle Zevin |
| Nov 13 '15 | Naren | The Boys in the Boat | Daniel James Brown |
| Sep 25 '15 | Shyam | All The Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr |
| Aug 14, '15 | Parvati | The City and the City | China Miéville |
| Jul 10, '15 | Shobhana | The Rosie Project | Graeme Simsion |
| Jun 5, '15 | Raj | I Never Had It Made | Jackie Robinson |
| Apr 17,'15 | Sidhu | The Nightingale | Kristin Hannah |
| Mar 6, '15 | Sanjay | When Broken Glass Floats | Chanrithy Him |
| Jan 23,'15 | Mira | Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff | Christopher Moore |
| Nov 7 '14 | Vasan | The Pregnant King | Devdutt Pattanaik |
| Oct 3 '14 | Poornima | Americanah | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie |
| Sep 12 '14 | Amita | A Tale for the Time Being | Ruth Ozeki |
| Jul 11 '14 | Kalyan | India: A Portrait | Patrick French |
| Jun 13 '14 | Smita | The Dinner | Herman Koch |
| Apr 25 '14 | Shobhana | Stag's Leap - a collection of poems | Sharon Olds |
| Mar 14 '14 | Neerja | 11/22/63 | Stephen King |
| Jan 24 '14 | Kalpana | Remarkable Creatures | Tracy Chevalier |
| Jan 10, '14 | Prasad | The Emotional Life of Your Brain | Richard Davidson w/ Sharon Begley | Oct 25 '13 | Naren | Beautiful Ruins | Jess Walter |
| Sep 6, '13 | Poornima | The Light Between Oceans | M. L. Stedman |
| Jul 19, '13 | Mira | Dark Continent My Black Arse | Sihle Khumalo |
| Jun 7, '13 | Kalyan | The Orphan Master's Son | Adam Johnson |
| Apr 19 '13 | Varsha | The Happiness Project | Gretchen Rubin |
| Feb 22 '13 | Smita | Return to India: An Immigrant Memoir | Shoba Narayan |
| Jan 18, '13 | Vasan | Dark Tangos | Lewis Sherman |
| Dec 7, '12 | Sanjay | City of Thieves | David Benioff |
| Oct 19, '12 | Amita | Sarah's Key | Tatiana de Rosnay |
| Sep 7, '12 | Shyam | The Paris Wife | Paula McLain |
| Jul 27, '12 | Sid | Tunnel Vision | Gary Braver |
| Jun 15, '12 | Shobhna | The Sense of an Ending | Julian Barnes |
| May 4, '12 | Arun | Behind the Beautiful Forevers | Catherine Boo |
| Mar 16,'12 | Parvati | After Dark | Haruki Murakami |
| Jan 13, '12 | Prasad | The Glass Castle: A Memoire | Jeannette Wells |
| Dec 8, '11 | Neerja | Phantoms in the Brain | V. S. Ramachandran |
| Nov 4, '11 | Naren | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Stieg Larsson |
| Sep 9, '11 | Kalpana | Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet | Jamie Ford |
| Aug 19, '11 | Varsha | Major Pettigrew's Last Stand | Helen Simonson |
| Cancelled | Smita | Freedom | Jonathan Franzen |
| May 6, '11 | Mira | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Rebecca Skloot |
| Mar 18, '11 | Arun | The Upanishads | Eknath Easwaran |
| Feb 18, '11 | Kalyan | The Janissary Tree | Jason Goodwin |
| Sep 25 '10 | Vasan | Two States | Chetan Bhagat |
| Aug 6, '10 | Sanjay | Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society | Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows |
| Jun 11, '10 | Amita | Gang Leader for a Day | Sudhir Venkatesh |
| Apr 30 '10 | Shyam | Netherland | Joseph O'Neill |
| Mar26 '10 | Shobhna | Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life | Barbara Kingslover |
| Feb 26 '10 | Poornima | In Other Rooms, Other Wonders | Daniyal Mueenuddin |
| Jan 22 '10 | Parvati | Stormy Weather | Carl Hiassen |
| Dec 4 '09 | Sid | Outliers - The Story of Success | Malcolm Gladwell |
| Aug 14 '09 | Neerja | Cutting for Stone | Abraham Verghese |
| Jun 26'09 | Arun | The Post-American World | Fareed Zakaria |
| Apr24,'09 | Varsha | The White Tiger | Aravind Adiga |
| Jan 30'09 | Neerja | Lush Life | Richard Price |
| Dec 19 '08 | Sanjay | Ghost Train To The Eastern Star | Paul Theroux |
| Jul 22 '08 | Smita | Big Russ & Me | Tim Russert |
| Jun 20'08 | Mira | Johnny Got His Gun | Dalton Trumbo |
| May 2 '08 | Kalyan | Rosario Tijeras | Jorge Franco / Gregory Rabassa |
| Mar14 '08 | Prasad | Eat Pray Love | Elizabeth Gilbert |
| Jan 24'08 | Kalpana | The Alchemist (Plus) | Paulo Coelho |
| Nov 15 '07 | Sid | Divisadero | Michael Ondaatje |
| Sep 21 '07 | Shobhna | The Reluctant Fundamentalist | Mohsin Hamid |
| Jul 27 '07 | Shyam | The Final Solution | Michael Chabon |
| Jun 15 '07 | Vasan | Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less | Jeffrey Archer |
| May 4 '07 | Parvati | American Gods | Neil Gaiman |
| Mar 9 '07 | Varsha | The Measure of A Man: A Spiritual Autobiography | Sidney Poitier |
| Feb 9 '07 | Poornima | The Inheritance of Loss | Kiran Desai |
| Dec 1 '06 | Arun | The Argumentative Indian | Amartya Sen |
| Sep 8 '06 | Kalpana | Bel Canto | Ann Patchett |
| Jun 6 '06 | Mira | In the Company of Cheerful Ladies | Alexander McCall Smith |
| Apr 21 '06 | Vasan | Three Men in a Boat | Jerome K. Jerome |
| Mar10,'06 | Kalyan | Proof | David Auburn |
| Jan 20'06 | Poornima | Shalimar the Clown | Salman Rushdie |
| Nov 18 '05 | Prasad | The Enlightened Heart | Stephen Mitchell |
| Oct 14 '05 | Sanjay | Middlesex | Jeffrey Eugenides |
| Sep 2 '05 | Shyam | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | Mark Haddon |
| Jul 15 '05 | Neerja | The Kite Runner | Khaled Hosseini. |
| Jun 24'05 | Parvati | The 9/11 Commission Report, Chapters 4-6 | Thomas H. Kean, Chairman |
| Apr 1 '05 | Mira | Me talk pretty one day | David Sedaris |
| Feb25 '05 | Kalpana | Life of Pi | Yann Martel |
| Jan 28'05 | Vasan | A Tourist in the Yucatan | James McNay Brumfield |
| Sep 17 '04 | Arun | Nehru | Sashi Tharoor |
| Aug 13 '04 | Prasad | Hunger of Memory | Richard Rodriguez |
| Jun 4 '04 | Shyam | Galahad at Blandings | P. G. Wodehouse |
| Apr 16 '04 | Sanjay | Seabiscuit: An American Legend | Laura Hillenbrand |
| Mar12 '04 | Poornima | DaVinci Code | Dan Brown |
| Feb 13 '04 | Neerja | Into Thin Air | Jon Krakauer |
| Dec 12 '03 | Varsha | Interpreter of Maladies | Jhumpa Lahiri |
| DATE | HOST | BOOK | AUTHOR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Prasad | ||
| 2025 | Mira | ||
| 2025 | Vasan | ||
| 2025 | Parvati | ||
| 2026 | Biba | ||
| 2026 | Madhu | ||
| 2026 | Sid | ||
| 2026 | Kalpana |
| HOST | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amita | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Arun | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Biba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kalpana | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Kalyan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Madhu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Mira | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| Naren | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Neerja | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Parvati | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Poornima | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Prasad | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Raj | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Sanjay | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| Shobhna | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Shyam | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Sidhu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Smita | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Varsha | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Vasan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| TOTAL | 1 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 162 |
New Guide lines:
- Here are a couple of new notes on the Book group Guide lines:
- Book choice remains the prerogative of the host.
- Book discussion format is modified, as follows, to suite the current size of the group:
The host and the moderator are requested to come prepared with questions or discussion points. After the hosts opening remarks (why you chose the book, synopsis, why you liked/disliked it, your overall reaction to the book - etc.)- he/she will pose a question to the group to spark a discussion.
After one topic has been discussed enough, the moderator will ask the next question or raise a new topic or ask others to start a new thread. In summary, we are moving away from "giving everyone a turn to speak" format. Instead we are moving towards a "thread" format where everyone is welcome to add their view points on a certain topic. The moderator will ensure that everyone who wants to speak gets a chance to speak and we do explore the topic on the table to some extent and switch topics when people start losing interest in it. - Folks are reminded to send their book choice at least 2 weeks before the current book discussion so that people have a chance to acquire the book in good time.
- Each member chooses a book and hosts the discussion. Finalize selection 8 weeks prior. Schedule to choose and host posted above.
- New guideline for next round, in choosing the book, it's "fair" to get input from the group but the decision is entirely up to the host.
- Meet approximately every 6 weeks
- Meeting details to be organized by host
- Discussion to be lead by host, starting with why you chose the book and what you liked/disliked about it and what's the most burning question.
- Moderator - Next host will moderate the discussion and keep things on schedule.
-
Just to share some "gems" about reading your book club books.
This information is gleaned from a book about book clubs - enjoy!
- While reading the book:
- grasp the basic plot and form your impressions of the plot
- determine the author's purpose
- interpret the characters' actions
- formulate your emotional response to the book
- think about the memorable and favorite characters
- detect important themes ( recurring reference to particularly symbolic items like water, red color, certain animals, certain relationships, events, settings - you get the idea?)
- reflect on the significance of the title of the book
- evaluate the authors writing style ( use of analogies, symbolism, allegories, motifs...)
- think of the unanswered questions
- finally - would you recommend the book to others?
- While reading the book:
- Meeting format - roughly
- 7:00-7:30
- Arrivals and socialize
- 7:30-9:00
- Discuss book (last 5 minutes discuss for next time)
- 9:00-open
- Dinner and more socialize
1 Bookcase Clipart:Clipart Collection ©
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Last Update: March 5, 2025 4:20PM