We are beginning the next round of reading in our online literary group, the Mother of All Book Clubs! This club is open to anyone with a connection to Mary Washington–alumni, parents, donors, faculty, and staff. Join us!

Our next selection is The Lowland, by Jhumpa Lahiri. This book was a finalist for the National Book Award, among other honors, and appears on dozens of booklists.

From Amazon:

“The Lowland is an engrossing family saga steeped in history: the story of two very different brothers bound by tragedy, a fiercely brilliant woman haunted by her past, a country torn apart by revolution, and a love that endures long past death. Moving from the 1960s to the present, and from India to America and across generations, this dazzling novel is Jhumpa Lahiri at the height of her considerable powers.”

Pick up a copy of the book and start reading–we will begin posting discussion questions on Monday, January 10. You might consider supporting an independent bookstore, or you could try your local library system.

We look forward to reading with you!

All the best,
The Alumni Relations Team

We are beginning the next round of reading in our online literary group, the Mother of All Book Clubs! This club is open to anyone with a connection to Mary Washington — alumni, parents, donors, faculty, and staff. Join us!

Our next selection is The Night Watchman, by Louise Erdrich. This book won the Pulitzer Prize this year, is a New York Times bestseller, and is on countless booklists.

From The New York Times:

“Early in this banquet of a novel that invites us back into Louise Erdrich’s ongoing Chippewa chronicles, a character on the reservation boasts, ‘Law can’t take my Indian out of me.’ Unfortunately, the United States government is hoping to do just that through the Termination Bill, an Orwellian plan that promises to ’emancipate’ Indigenous people from their lands and their tribal affiliations…

The novel’s title character, Thomas Wazhashk, is a night watchman for a factory where women of the Turtle Mountain clan work by day, using gemstones as drill bits for Defense Department ordnance and for Bulova watches. Among these working women is Thomas’s niece, Patrice, known against her will as Pixie. Thomas watches over the dark, possibly haunted factory to protect these gems from thieves. The novel follows the fates and struggles and adventures of these two people and the ever-expanding circles of their relations.”

Pick up a copy of the book and start reading–we will begin posting discussion questions on Monday, November 22. You might consider supporting an independent bookstore, or you could try your local library system.

We look forward to reading with you!

All the best,
The Alumni Relations Team

We are beginning the next round of reading in our online literary group, the Mother of All Book Clubs! This club is open to anyone with a connection to Mary Washington–alumni, parents, donors, faculty, and staff. Join us!

Our next selection is Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng. This critically acclaimed book was the debut novel from the author of Little Fires Everywhere.

From Amazon: “Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet. So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos. A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.”

Pick up a copy of the book and start reading–we will begin posting discussion questions on Monday, August 23. You might have a small-business bookseller you like to support, or you might want to try your local library system. But if you need the book shipped, below are some links to larger online providers.

We look forward to reading with you!

All the best,
The Alumni Relations Team

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Target

Looking ahead to future selections in order to get on library waitlists? Here is the next book we plan to read (keep in mind that changes are possible):

The Code Breaker, by Walter Isaacson

Fredericksburg-area alumni are invited to join us at the FredNats ballpark for Mary Washington Alumni Night!

We’ll be cheering on our FredNats as they battle the Carolina Mudcats. Wear your Mary Wash gear and come join us!

Register here for a free game ticket. Then meet us at the stadium on gameday to pick up your ticket starting at 6:15pm; look for the blue UMW Alumni tent near the main gate. The ballpark has food and beverage concessions available; Thursday also is “Thirsty Thursday” with $2 beer specials.

Thursday, August 26
7:00-10:00pm (EDT)

FredNats Ballpark
42 Jackie Robinson Way
Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401

Please note: Masks are required for unvaccinated attendees, though masks are welcome and encouraged for any guests who feel more comfortable wearing them. The outdoor nature of this event will enable social distancing for those who prefer it.

Pre-registration is required for this event, as tickets are limited. Parking is $5 per vehicle, and the park is cashless.

We look forward to seeing you at the ballpark!

REGISTER

We are beginning the next round of reading in our online literary group, the Mother of All Book Clubs! This club is open to anyone with a connection to Mary Washington–alumni, parents, donors, faculty, and staff. Join us!

Our next selection is The Overstory, by Richard Powers. This book was the Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction and spent more than one year on The New York Times bestseller list.

From The New York Times: “In this series of interconnected stories, the human characters are just the underbrush; the true protagonists are the trees that they encounter. Powers combines botany and storytelling in this majestic novel.”

Pick up a copy of the book and start reading–we will begin posting discussion questions on Monday, April 19. You might have a small-business bookseller you like to support, or you might want to try your local library system. But if you need the book shipped, below are some links to larger online providers.

We look forward to reading with you!

All the best,

The Alumni Relations Team

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Target

Looking for a way to stay connected to other alumni? We are beginning the next round of reading in our online literary group–the Mother of All Book Clubs!

Alumni read and discuss via a private Facebook group, so only approved members can see posts or participate in the discussion. This is informal and low-pressure–read along with us and chime in on the discussion as much or as little as you like.

Our next selection is The Widow Washington, by Martha Saxton. Saxton attempts to explore and correct what is known about Mary Ball Washington, George Washington’s mother.

Adapted from Amazon: George’s biographers have, for the most part, painted Mary as self-centered and crude, a trial and an obstacle to her oldest child. But the records tell a very different story. Mary Ball was orphaned young and grew up working hard, practicing frugality and piety. Later, as a widow deprived of most of her late husband’s properties, Mary struggled to raise her five children, but managed to secure them places among Virginia’s elite.

In her later years, she and George had a contentious relationship. Yet Mary had a greater impact on George than mothers of that time usually had on their sons. The Widow Washington is a necessary and deeply insightful corrective, telling the story of Mary’s long, arduous life on its own terms, and not treating her as her son’s satellite.

Pick up a copy of the book and start reading–we will begin posting discussion questions on Monday, November 30–which just happens to be Mary Washington’s 308th birthday. You might have a small-business bookseller you like to support, or you might want to try your local library system, some of which even offer ebooks. But if you need the book shipped, below are some links to larger online providers.

We look forward to reading with you!
All the best,
The Alumni Relations Team

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Target