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UUCY Book Club
November 2026: The Bartender’s Tale by Ivan Doig
We are back to Montana once again with our next selection, The Bartender’s Tale by Ivan Doig. Those familiar with Doig’s This House of Sky will recognize similarities to episodes from the author’s own life turned into historical fiction.
“Running a venerable bar in 1960 Montana while raising his 12-year-old son, Rusty, single father Tom Harry finds his world upended by the arrival of a woman from his past and her beatnik daughter, who claims Tom as her father and upends the town with her passionate and pretentious modern views.” (description from YVL.org)
Discussion will be led by Gean Dindia and Rosemary Saul on Wed., Nov 11, 2026 at 5 p.m. in the Fireside Room (or the sofa in the lobby). Hope to see you there!
10 Plus Years of UUCY Book Club Selections
2026
September 2026 – The Big Burn by TImothy Egan. Nonfiction.
July 2026 – The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. Fiction
May 2026 – This House of Sky by Ivan Doig. Memoir.
March 2026 – The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Fiction.
January 2026 – Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. Fiction.
2025
November 2025 – One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Fiction.
September 2025 – The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams. Fiction.
July 2025 – The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish (second half). Fiction.
May 2025 – The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish (first half). Fiction.
March 2025 – The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin. Historical fiction.
January 2025 – The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss. Historical fiction.
2022-2024
November 2024 – March by Geraldine Brooks. Historical Fiction.
September 2024 – All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung. Nonfiction.
July 2024 – The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. Fiction.
May 2024 – The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are by Libby Copeland. Nonfiction.
March 2024 – The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Fiction.
January 2024 – The Bees by Laline Paull. Fiction.
November 2023 – Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. Fiction.
September 2023 – The Bartender’s Tale by Ivan Doig. Fiction.
July 2023 – The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout. Fiction.
May 2023 – Bold Spirit by Linda Hunt. Nonfiction.
March 2023 – Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam. Fiction.
January 2023 – Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Nonfiction.
November, 2022 – Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Speculative fiction.
September, 2022 – Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Fiction.
July, 2022 – Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge. Historical Fiction.
May, 2022 – Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Fiction.
March, 2022 – The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. Fiction.
January, 2022 – The Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet. Fiction.
2019-2021
November, 2021 – Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. Historical Fiction.
September, 2021 – The Bookshop of the Broken-Hearted by Robert Hillman. Fiction.
July, 2021 – The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. Fiction.
May, 2021 – 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds In This Strange World by Elif Shafak. Fiction.
March, 2021 – Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles. Historical Fiction.
January, 2021 – The Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig. Fiction.
November, 2020 – Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. Nonfiction.
September, 2020 – The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald. Humorous Fiction.
July, 2020 – The Overstory by Richard Powers. Fiction.
May, 2020 – Scythe by Neal Shusterman. Dystopian Fiction.
March, 2020 – Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Historical Fiction.
January, 2020 – Educated by Tara Westover. Memoir.
November, 2019 – Manhattan Beach: A Novel by Jennifer Egan. Historical Fiction.
September, 2019 – Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Fiction.
July, 2019 – A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Historical Fiction.
May, 2019 –The Underground Railroad: A Novel by Colson Whitehead. Fiction.
March, 2019 –The One-in-a Million Boy by Monica Wood. Fiction.
January, 2019 –The Other Einstein: A Novel by Marie Benedict. Historical Fiction.
2009-2018
November, 2018-A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole, Fiction
September, 2018-White Trash: The 400-year Untold History of Class in America, Nancy Isenberg, Nonfiction
July, 2018-Beartown, Fredrik Backman, Fiction
May, 2018- H is for Hawk, Helen MacDonald, Memoir
March, 2018-The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd, Fiction
January, 2018-Orhan’s Inheritance, Aline Ohanesian, Fiction
November, 2017-Await Your Reply, Dan Chaon, Fiction
September, 2017-You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, Sherman Alexie, Memoir
July, 2017-My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry, Fredrik Backman, Fiction
May, 2017-The Nest, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, Fiction
March, 2017-House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus III, Fiction
January, 2017-Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Fiction
November, 2016-Remarkable Creatures,Tracy Chevalier, Historical Fiction
September, 2016-Maphead, Ken Jennings, Nonfiction
July, 2016-Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Helen Simonson, Fiction
May, 2016-I am Malala, Malala Yousafzai, Memoir
March, 2016-Plainsong, Kent Haruf, Fiction
January, 2016-The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver, Fiction
November, 2015-The Martian, Andy Weir, Science Fiction
October, 2015-Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier, Historical Fiction
August, 2015-The Boys in the Boat, Daniel James Brown, Nonfiction
June, 2015-The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared,Jonas Jonasson, Comic Fiction
April, 2015-All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr, Historical Fiction
February, 2015-Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline, Historical Fiction
December, 2014-Life After Life, Kate Atkinson, Fiction
October, 2014-My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayor, Memoir
August, 2014-Nation, Terry Pratchett, Fiction
June, 2014-Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Fiction
April, 2014-Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks, Historical Fiction
February, 2014-The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, Jose Saramago, Fiction
November, 2013-Into the Beautiful North, Luis Alberto Urrea, Fiction
October, 2013-The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton, Fiction
August, 2013-The Lotus Eaters, Tatjana Soli, Historical Fiction
May, 2013-Woodsburner, John Pipkin, Historical Fiction
March, 2013-Carry the One, Carol Anshaw, Fiction
January, 2013-The Book Thief, Markus Zusak, Historical Fiction
October, 2012-West of Here, Jonathan Evison, Fiction
August, 2012-Train Dreams, Denis Johnson, Fiction
July, 2012-State of Wonder, Anne Patchett, Fiction
May, 2012-Acts of Faith, Eboo Patel, Biography
March, 2012-The Women in White, Wilkie Collins, Fiction
January, 2012-Galileo’s Daughter, Dava Sobel, Historical Fiction
November, 2011-The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald,Fiction
September, 2011-Border Songs, Jim Lynch, Fiction
July, 2011-The Known World, Edward P. Jones, Historical Fiction
May, 2011-Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese, Fiction
March, 2011-Half Broke Horses, Nannette Walls, Historical Fiction
January, 2011-The Bright Forever, Lee Martin, Fiction
2010-The Whistling Season, Ivan Doig, Historical Fiction
2010-In the Land of the Grasshopper Song: Two Women in the Klamath River Indian Country in 1908-09, Mary Ellicott Arnold and Mabel Reed, Memoir
2010-The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini, Fiction
2010-Lottery, Patricia Wood, Fiction
2010-The Tortilla Curtain, T. C. Boyle, Fiction
2010-The Highest Tide, Jim Lynch, Fiction
2009-Ahab’s Wife: Or, The Star Gazer, Sena Jeter Naslund Fiction
2009-Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, Christopher Moore, Comic Fiction