Book Clubs at Christ Church

Non Fiction Book Club

We will meet on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 at 3:00 pm to discuss Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present by Fareed Zakaria.  "The CNN host and best-selling author explores the revolutions—past and present—that define the polarized and unstable age in which we live.  Populist rage, ideological fracture, economic and technological shocks, war, and an international system studded with catastrophic risk—the early decades of the twenty-first century may be the most revolutionary period in modern history. But it is not the first. Humans have lived, and thrived, through more than one great realignment. What are these revolutions, and how can they help us to understand our fraught world?  In this major work, Fareed Zakaria masterfully investigates the eras and movements that have shaken norms while shaping the modern world. Three such periods hold profound lessons for today. First, in the seventeenth-century Netherlands, a fascinating series of transformations made that tiny land the richest in the world—and created politics as we know it today. Next, the French Revolution, an explosive era that devoured its ideological children and left a bloody legacy that haunts us today. Finally, the mother of all revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, which catapulted Great Britain and the US to global dominance and created the modern world.  Alongside these paradigm-shifting historical events, Zakaria probes four present-day revolutions: globalization, technology, identity, and geopolitics. ... As few public intellectuals can, Zakaria combines intellectual range, deep historical insight, and uncanny prescience to once again reframe and illuminate our turbulent present. His bold, compelling arguments make this book essential reading in our age of revolutions. (goodreads.com)

We will meet on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 3:00 pm to discuss Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global by Laura Spinney.  "Daughter. Duhitár-. Dustr. Dukte. Listen to these English, Sanskrit, Armenian and Lithuanian words, all meaning the same thing, and you hear echoes of one of history's most unlikely journeys. All four languages-along with hundreds of others, from French and Gaelic, to Persian and Polish-trace their origins to an ancient tongue spoken as the last ice age receded. This language, which we call Proto-Indo-European, was born between Europe and Asia and exploded out of its cradle, fragmenting as it spread east and west. Its last speaker died thousands of years ago, yet Proto-Indo-European lives on in its myriad linguistic offspring and in some of our best loved works of literature, including Dante's Inferno and the Rig Veda, The Lord of the Rings and the love poetry of Rumi. How did this happen?  The book combines linguistics, genetics, and archaeology to tell the story of this ancient diaspora, following the migrations of people and the spread of their language across continents and millennia, from the Eurasian steppes to modern-day India, Europe, and beyond."

Our meetings are in hybrid format, with attendance both in person and by Zoom.  Details on Zoom access will be distributed closer to the date of the meeting

To get more information about the book club, to be added to our distribution list or to suggest a book discussion, please get in touch with Jim Baroody (jimbaroody@gmail.com).

Women's Book Club

Women’s Book Club 

Thursday, February 26 at 7:00 pm

We will be sharing thoughts about Victory City which the MCLS summarizes: NY Times Bestseller The epic tale of a woman who breathes a fantastical empire into existence, only to be consumed by it over the centuries--from the transcendent imagination of Booker Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author Salman Rushdie. We hope you can join us at 7pm in the Fellowship Room or on Zoom (link to follow later).

For more information please contact Pam Burch, pburch1@rochester.rr.com.