Alumni Book Club
The Alumni Book Club was created to give an avenue for alumni book enthusiasts to meet and discuss a variety of books. The Alumni Book Club meets the fourth Thursday of each month to review the current book selection, select future book selections and to set future meeting dates. Join the excitement. Call the Alumni Relations Office at 708.534.4128 to join the Alumni Book Club Now or e-mail alumnirelations2@govst.edu and say “sign me up for the Book Club.” There is no cost to join.
Book Club Schedule
The Alumni Book Club meets monthly (typically the fourth Thursday of the month). An additional book will be chosen at each meeting to add to the schedule. All alumni are welcome to attend the meetings and are requested to share their ideas on future books to review. We are also looking for volunteer moderators.
Thursday, June 27, 2013 - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 6:30 p.m. - Panera Bread, 4864 211th St, Matteson, IL (corner of Cicero and Rt 30)
Thursday, July 25, 2013 - Life of Pi by Yann Martel 6:30 p.m. - Panera Bread, 4864 211th St, Matteson, IL (corner of Cicero and Rt 30)
Book Summaries
June 27, 2013 - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
A sweeping story of family, love, and friendship told against the devastating backdrop of the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful novel that has become a beloved, one-of-a-kind classic.
July 25, 2013 - Life of Pi by Yann Martel
A fabulous romp through an imagination by turns ecstatic, cunning, despairing and resilient, this novel is an impressive achievement "a story that will make you believe in God," as one character says. The peripatetic Pi (ne the much-taunted Piscine) Patel spends a beguiling boyhood in Pondicherry, India, as the son of a zookeeper. Growing up beside the wild beasts, Pi gathers an encyclopedic knowledge of the animal world. His curious mind also makes the leap from his native Hinduism to Christianity and Islam, all three of which he practices with joyous abandon. In his 16th year, Pi sets sail with his family and some of their menagerie to start a new life in Canada. Halfway to Midway Island, the ship sinks into the Pacific, leaving Pi stranded on a life raft with a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. After the beast dispatches the others, Pi is left to survive for 227 days with his large feline companion on the 26-foot-long raft, using all his knowledge, wits and faith to keep himself alive. The scenes flow together effortlessly, and the sharp observations of the young narrator keep the tale brisk and engaging. Martel's potentially unbelievable plot line soon demolishes the reader's defenses, cleverly set up by events of young Pi's life that almost naturally lead to his biggest ordeal. This richly patterned work, Martel's second novel, won Canada's 2001 Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. In it, Martel displays the clever voice and tremendous storytelling skills of an emerging master.
Past books that have been reviewed
The following books have been reviewed by the Alumni Book Club
May 23, 2013 - Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
April 25, 2013 - The Next Time You See Me by Holly Goddard Jones
March 21, 2013 - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
February 28, 2013 - No Easy Day by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer
January 24, 2013 - Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
December, 2013 - No meeting
November 15, 2012 - Nop's Trials by Donald McCaig
October 25, 2012 - The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore
September 27, 2012 - The Host by Stephanie Meyer
August 27, 2012 - The Pacific Vortex by Clive Cussler
July 26, 2012 - A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
June 26, 2012 - The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
May 24, 2012 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
April 26, 2012 - The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
March 22, 2012 - The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larsson
February 23, 2012 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
January 26, 2012 - Mountain Windsong: A Novel of the Trail of Tears by Robert Conley
December 22, 2012 - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
November 17, 2011 - High Five by Janet Evanovich
October 27, 2011 - The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Stockett
September 22, 2011 - The Help by Kathryn Stockett
August 25, 2011 - The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
July 28, 2011 -The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
June 16, 2011 -The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Governors State University Alumni Authors
If you are a GSU Alumni and have authored a book, we'd like to know. E-mail alumnirelations2@govst.edu and give us your name (name of alumni author), the title of the Book, a one sentence description, the name of the publisher and the date of publication.
The GSU Alumni Book Club would like to recognize our GSU Alumni Authors. Authors are listed in alphabetical order.
Ricardo Antono Alonzo, Ph.D., MHS, ‘93
Dias Patrias
Dog Ear Publishing
January, 2008
ISBN: 978-1598585100
Theresa Banks, MS ’05
Women of Integrity
Ellacec Publishing, Matteson, IL
May, 2000
ISBN: 978-0967771007
Theresa Banks, MS ’05
Becoming a Published Author
Ellacec Publishing, Matteson, IL
May, 2002
ISBN: 978-0967771014
Theresa Banks, MS ’05
BARRENhood
Ellacec Publishing, Matteson, IL
December, 2004
ISBN: 978-0967771021
Theresa Banks, MS ’05
Surviving a Layoff
Ellacec Publishing, Matteson, IL
July, 2008
978-0967771038
Ken Bult, MA ’01
Glenwood
Arcadia Publishing
August, 2011
ISBN: 0738583235
Dr. Curtis J. Crawford, BA ’72; MA ’74
Manager's Guide to Mentoring
McGraw-Hill
August, 2009
ISBN: 978-0071627986
Dr. Curtis J. Crawford, BA ’72; MA ’74
Corporate Rise: The X Principles of Extreme Personal Leadership
XCEO, Inc.
September, 2005
ISBN: 978-0071627986
Sharon Cronk-Raby, MA, ’06
Distraction Destruction
Inkwater
August, 2008
ISBN: 978-1592993741
Dwight DeRamus, MA, "02
A Slice of Truth
Trey Nickel Publishing
August 2010
ISBN: 978-0578061658
Pedus Eweama, BA ’02
Nursing Stories: Ordinary People, Extra-Ordinary Journey
Xlibris Corporation
March, 2010
ISBN: 978-1441531537
Pstr. Janice M. Green, BA, ’79
How to Make a Graceful Exit: Letting Go of the Past
AuthorHouse
July, 2009
ISBN: 978-1438994390
Pstr. Janice M. Green, BA, ’79
Nobody Knows I'm Here
AuthorHouse
May, 2007
ISBN: 978-1434308931
Debbie Halvorson, BA '01; MA '03
Playing Ball with the Big Boys: and Why the Big Girls Better Get in the GameSolutions Unlimited
November 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-0985819705
Carla LaVern Jenkins, BSN '09
The Disappearance of Mrs. Brown
November 2010
ISBN: 978 1425166595
Bill Lawless, BS '87; MBA '07
Topless Delivery
2008
ISBN: 978 1440431449
Bill Lawless, BS '87; MBA '07
Forever Autumn
Create Space Independent Publishing Platform
September 2009
AISN: B00A001IAQ
Thomas C. Lux, BA ’02; MA ’03
The Golden Attitude
TCL Consulting Group, Motivation Concepts Publishing
2009
ISBN: 978-0-692-00614-6
Andrea Mells, BA '94; MA '98
My Liberty
Eloquent Books
July 27, 2010
ISBN: 978-1609114152
Michael Menard, BA '80
A Fish in Your Ear: The New Discipline of Project Portfolio Management
CreateSpace Independent Publishing
June 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-1475299359
Diana Muhammad, BA ’02
True to Me: An Olympian's Victory Over Steroids
Book-Broker
August, 2008
ISBN: 978-0981601069
Dr. Romeo Munoz, MA '90
Filipino Americans: Journey from Invinsibility to Empowerment
Nyala Publishing
2002
ISBN: 978-0964206878
William Olson, MPA ’00
Right on Time
Pelican Books
2010
ISBN: 978-0-9749604-1-8
LaRichelle Porter-Dillard, BA ’07; MA '08
What's Love Got To Do With It ... Everything!
AuthorHouse
July, 2009
ISBN: 9781438935294
Peter Robertson, BA ’06
Permafrost
Gibson House
June, 2012
ISBN: 978-0985515805
Peter Robertson, BA ’06
MissionGibson House
May 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-0985515836
Dr. Lois Roelofs, BHS ’77
Caring Lessons: A Nursing Professor's Journey of Faith and Self
Dee River Books
October, 2010
ISBN: 978-1935265375
