|
Below are the recommended picks for the first six months of the book club, just as an idea. Look into them and let me know what you think, and if I need to not include one! I’ve included two non-fiction, one memoir, and three fiction. Brooke Schilling, Chair of the Book Club
February (Black History Month): Women of the Post by Joshunda Sanders
An emotional story, based on true events, about the all-Black battalion of the Women's Army Corps who found purpose, solidarity and lifelong friendship in their mission of sorting over one million pieces of mail for the US Army.
· Interview with the author: https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/joshunda-sanders-on-uncovering-marginalized-stories-in-historical-fiction
· Netflix Movie: The Six Triple Eight (2024)
March (Women’s History Month): On the Line: A Story of Class, Solidarity, and Two Women’s Epic Fight to Build a Union by Daisy Pitkin
On the Line takes us inside a bold five-year campaign to bring a union to the dangerous industrial laundry factories of Phoenix, Arizona. The fight is led by two courageous women: Daisy Pitkin, a young labor organizer, and Alma, a second-shift immigrant worker who risks her livelihood fighting for safer working conditions. On the Line illuminates the harsh realities that workers in these factories face—routine exposure to biohazardous waste, surgical tools left in hospital sheets, and overheating machinery—as well as the ways broken US labor law makes it nearly impossible for them to fight back.
· Interview with the author: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01MPw6F9puo
· Podcast with the author: https://thedigradio.com/podcast/on-the-line-w-daisy-pitkin/
April: Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding My Way by Steve Grant
An exuberant, hilarious, and profound memoir by a mailman in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, who found that working for the post office saved his life, taught him who he was, gave him purpose, and educated him deeply about a country he loves but had lost touch with.
May (Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month): Mendell Station by Janice Whang / J.B. Hwang
Debut novel about a woman who quits her job as a Scripture teacher after her best friend's death, joins the postal service in San Francisco, and finds solace in her mail route while navigating grief and the early days of the pandemic. The book explores themes of faith, loss, friendship, and the quiet dignity of essential work, set against the backdrop of 2020's societal upheaval.
· Interview with the author: https://www.bookweb.org/news/indies-introduce-qa-jb-hwang-1632091
June (World Day Against Child Labor – June 12th): Coal River: A Powerful and Unforgettable Story of 20th Century Injustice by Ellen Marie Wiseman
A historical fiction novel set in early 20th-century Pennsylvania, focusing on the exploitation of coal miners and their families, particularly child labor, through the eyes of protagonist Emma Malloy, who returns to her hometown and fights against the injustices of the company store and dangerous working conditions.
July (National Postal Worker Day – July 1st): Neither Snow Nor Rain: A History of the United States Postal Service by Devin Leonard
Neither Snow Nor Rain is a rich, multifaceted history, full of remarkable characters, from the stamp-collecting FDR, to the revolutionaries who challenged USPS’s monopoly on mail, to the renegade union members who brought the system—and the country—to a halt in the 1970s. An exciting and engrossing read, Neither Snow Nor Rain is the first major history of the USPS in over fifty years.
.
|
