Past Pageturners Books
2023 Books
January 2023
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers
- Tuesday, January 24 – Book Discussion (BTC 120, 2:30pm- 3:30pm)
- Thursday, January 26 – Movie/panel discussion (MC 100 B&C, 2:30pm- 5:00pm)
Book Details
The nine teller strokes from the belfry of an ancient country church toll out the death of an unknown man and call the famous Lord Peter Whimsey to investigate the good and evil that lurks in every person. Steeped in the atmosphere of a quiet parish in the strange, flat fen-country of East Anglia, this is a tale of suspense, character, and mood by an author critics and readers rate as one of the great masters of the mystery novel.
- Publisher: Mariner Books (September 28, 1966)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 374 pages
- ISBN-10: 9780156658997
- ISBN-13: 978-0156658997
February 2023
Outside Mullingar by John Patrick Shanley
(this is the Schoolcraft Theatre’s production for early Winter)
- Tuesday, February 14 – Book Discussion (BTC 120, 2:30pm- 3:30pm)
- Thursday, February 16 – Movie/panel discussion (MC 100 B&C, 2:30pm- 5:00pm)
- Watch the Events Virtually
Book Details
Outside Mullingar is about the romance of Anthony and Rosemary, neighbors in rural Ireland, who are nearing their middle years. It is by turns poetic, uplifting, dark and funny as hell. Anthony is an introverted farmer and Rosemary is the woman who vows to have him at all costs. When Anthony’s father threatens to disinherit his son, Rosemary steps into the middle of a land feud and family eccentricities beyond what one might imagine. On the brink of romantic catastrophe, this one-of-a-kind Irish heroine fights against time and mortality in hopes of securing her dream of love.
- Publisher: Theatre Communications Group (February 18, 2014)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 96 pages
- ISBN-10: 1559364750
- ISBN-13: 978-1559364751
March 2023
The Russian Five by Keith Gave
- Tuesday, March 28 – Book Discussion (BTC 120, 2:30pm- 3:30pm)
- Thursday, March 30 – Meet-the-Author Event with Keith Gave (MC 100 B&C, 2:30pm- 4:30pm)
- Watch the Events Virtually
Book Details
When the Detroit Red Wings were rebooting their franchise after more than two decades of relative futility, they knew the best place to find world-class players who could help turn things around more quickly were conscripted servants behind the Iron Curtain.
All they had to do then was make history by drafting them, then figure out how to get them out. That’s when the Wings turned to Keith Gave, the newsman whose clandestine mission to Helsinki, Finland, was the first phase of a of a years-long series of secret meetings from posh hotel rooms to remote forests around Europe to orchestrate their unlawful departures from the Soviet Union.
One defection created an international incident and made global headlines. Another player faked cancer, thanks to the Wings’ extravagant bribes to Russian doctors, including a big American car. Another player who wasn’t quite ready to leave yet felt like he was being kidnapped by an unscrupulous agent. Two others were outcast when they stood up publicly against the Soviet regime, winning their freedom to play in the NHL only after years of struggle.
They are the Russian Five: Sergei Fedorov, Viacheslav Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and Igor Larionov. Their individual stories read like pulse-pounding spy novels. The story that unfolded after they were brought together in Detroit by the masterful coach Scotty Bowman is unforgettable.
This story includes details never before revealed, and by the man who was there every step of the way – from the day Detroit drafted its first two Soviets in 1989 until they raised the Stanley Cup in 1997, then took it to Moscow for a victory lap around Red Square and the Kremlin.
The Russian Five did more to bridge Russian and American relations than decades of diplomacy and détente between the White House and the Kremlin. This is their story.
- Publisher: Gold Star Publishing; Reprint edition (February 18, 2020)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 288 pages
- ISBN-10: 1949709582
- ISBN-13: 978-1949709582
September 2023
It Came from Mars by Joseph Zettlemaier
- Tuesday, September 26 | 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Book discussion (Location BTC 120) - Thursday, September 28 | 2:30pm
Movie Screening of War of the Worlds (Location MC 100 B&C)
Watch the Events Virtually
+1-571-392-7650
PIN: 862 239 0911
Book Details
October 30, 1938. The members of Farlowe’s Mystery Theatre Hour are in rehearsal for their weekly radio show when they hear an alarming announcement come over the radio – Martians have landed! The actors fly into hysterics, barricading themselves in the studio, not expecting to live to see the next day. Passions ignite, secret identities are revealed and slapstick mayhem ensues when a washed-up director, his drama queen Ex, a wanna-be war hero, a ditzy actress, and a German sound effects wiz all think they are about to annihilated by men from Mars. Honesty and hilarity erupt as truth and loyalty square off against fear and paranoia.Winner of the Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, and nominee for the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association Award!
The Schoolcraft College Theatre Department will be performing It Came from Mars on October 27-29 and November 3-4. Information about the production and how to purchase tickets can be found on the Theatre website.
- Publisher: Sordelet Ink; 1st edition (August 25, 2014)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 154 pages
- ISBN-10: 0692271694
- ISBN-13: 978-0692271698
October 2023
The Revolt Against Humanity: Imagining a Future without Us by Adam Kirsch
- Tuesday, October 24 | 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Book discussion (Location BTC 120) - Thursday, October 26 | 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Mark Huston (Location MC 100 B&C)
Watch the Events Virtually
+1-571-392-7650
PIN: 862 239 0911
Book Details
In this blistering book about the history of an idea, one of our leading critics draws on his dazzling range and calls our attention to a seemingly inconceivable topic that is being seriously discussed: that the end of humanity’s reign on earth is imminent, and that we should welcome it. Kirsch journeys through literature, philosophy, science, and popular culture, to identify two strands of thinking: Anthropocene antihumanism says that our climate destruction has doomed humanity and we should welcome our extinction, while Transhumanism believes that genetic engineering and artificial intelligence will lead to new forms of life superior to humans.
Kirsch’s introduction of thinkers and writers from Roger Hallam to Jane Bennett, David Benatar to Nick Bostrom, Patricia MacCormack to Ray Kurzweil, Ian McEwan to Richard Powers, will make you see the current moment in a new light. The revolt against humanity has already spread beyond the fringes of the intellectual world, and it can transform politics and society in profound ways—if it hasn’t already.
- Publisher: Columbia Global Reports (January 10, 2023)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 104 pages
- ISBN-10: 1735913766
- ISBN-13: 978-1735913766
November 2023
Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
- Tuesday, November 14 | 12:00pm – 1:00pm
Book discussion collaboration with Prof. Helen Ditouras (Location BTC 120) - Thursday, November 16 | Begins at 12:00pm
Screening of Frontline documentary Growing up Poor in America (Location MC 035)
Watch the Events Virtually
+1-571-392-7650
PIN: 862 239 0911
Book Details
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.
Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.
- Publisher: Crown (March 21, 2023)
- Language: English
- Paperback: 304 pages
- ISBN-10: 0593239911
- ISBN-13: 978-0593239919
2022 Books
January 2022
The Magician’s Lie by Greer McAllister
February 2022
Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon
March 2022
Nomadland by Jessica Bruder
September 2022
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
October 2022
On the Fringe: Where Science Meets Pseudoscience by Michael Gordin
November 2022
True Biz by Sara Nović
2020 Books
November 2020
The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehead
October 2020
Conspiracy Theories: Philosophers Connect the Dots
edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison-Greene
September 2020
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
March 2020
2019-20 Great Michigan Read: What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City
by Mona Hanna-Attisha
February 2020
Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis
January 2020
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
2019 Books
November 2019
I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir by Malaka Gharib
November 2019
SEPARATE: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation by Steve Luxenberg
October 2019
“Master Harold”… and the Boys by Athol Fugard
September 2019
Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire
March 2019
Notes from a Public Typewriter by Michael Gustafson (Editor) and Oliver Uberti (Editor)
March 2019
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner
February 2019
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
January 2019
Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie
2018 Books
November 2018
Eat Drink Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Food Politics by Marion Nestle
October 2018
On Photography by Susan Sontag
September 2018
A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
March 2018
“Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped win the Space Race” by Margot Lee Shetterly
February 2018
“Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes
January 2018
“March: Book One” by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Illustrator)
2017 Books
November 2017
“The Trial” by Franz Kafka
October 2017
“X: A Novel” by Ilyasah Shabaz and Kekla Magoon
September 2017
“On Golden Pond” by Ernest Thompson
March 2017
“When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi
February 2017
“Paper Towns” by John Green
January 2017
“Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
2016 Books
November 2016
“Double Cup Love: On the Trail of Family, Food, and Broken Hearts in China” by Eddie Huang
October 2016
“On The Road” by Jack Kerouac
September 2016
“Sorry, Wrong Number and The Hitchhiker” by Lucille Fletcher
March 2016
“South of Superior” by Ellen Airgood
February 2016
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
January 2016
“Our Town: A Play in Three Acts” by Thornton Wilder
2015 Books
November 2015
“Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel
October 2015
“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley
September 2015
“Burying the Typewriter: A Memoir” by Carmen Bugan
March 2015
“I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot By the Taliban” by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb
February 2015
“The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green
January 2015
“A View From the Bridge” by Arthur Miller
2014 Books
November 2014
“A Thousand Letters Home” by Teresa K. Irish
October 2014
“The Sorrows of the Young Werther” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
September 2014
“Chicken With Plums” by Marjane Satrapi
March 2014
“Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption” by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo
February 2014
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
January 2014
“Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret” by Steve Luxenberg
2011 Books
November 2011
“The Long Exile: A Tale of Inuit Betrayal and Survival in the High Arctic” by Melanie McGrath
October 2011
“Gospel of a Cab Driver” by Roger M. Ajluni
September 2011
“The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness” by Epictetus
March 2011
“Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes” by Alison Swan (Editor)
January 2011
“Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History” by Thomas Norman DeWolf
2010 Books
November 2010
“Enemies, A Love Story” by Isaac Bashevis Singer
October 2010
“The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30)” by Mark Bauerlein
September 2010
“Finding Nouf” by Zoe Ferraris
March 2010
“Motown Burning” by John Jeffire
February 2010
“1984” by George Orwell
January 2010
“Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant” by Daniel Tammet
2009 Books
November 2009
“Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace… One School At a Time” by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
October 2009
“The Repatriate: Love, Basketball, and the KGB” by Tom Mooradian
September 2009
“The Glass Castle: A Memoir” by Jeannette Walls
April 2009
“The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
March 2009
“Across a Hundred Mountains: A Novel” by Reyna Grande
February 2009
“Siddhartha” by Hermann Hesse
January 2009
“Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood” by Marjane Satrapi