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Life & Style Books

The St. Paul of the Cross Book Group

The St. Paul of the Cross Book Group started in 1997, after our former associate pastor the Rev.Robert Barron gave a talk at our parish on his newly published book, "Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master." One of the parishioners at the talk was a former Chicago schoolteacher and administrator who suggested starting a book group at the parish that could provide a venue for those who love reading and discussing good books. Fifteen years and 142 books later, we are going strong!

We have 25 members, with 15-20 members usually attending a meeting. We meet once a month August-June in a meeting room at the parish, in Park Ridge. Each summer we choose our longest book of the year and always pick something in the genre of American history for our summer read.

We discuss the book for 45 minutes to an hour and then spend about 15 minutes deciding on future titles as well as discussing other interesting books, concerts, lectures and movies.

Five books we loved: "No Ordinary Time" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, "Stones from the River" by Ursula Hegi, "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson, "Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner, "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder.

We love everything by David McCullough.

We loved David McCullough's "John Adams" particularly because of the narrative of John Adams' early life, his life with Abigail, the detail of his role in the Revolution and his complicated relationship with Thomas Jefferson.

We didn't like "Untold Story" by Monica Ali. It's about the impossibility of reinventing a life, and we thought it was completely implausible that the famous princess could pull off the deception even for a minute.

We'd like to meet David McCullough and Doris Kearns Goodwin. We would ask each of them what their favorite books are by other authors and which of their own books are their favorites.

Worst excuse for not reading a book: "It's too heavy!" One of our members with a shoulder injury was challenged by the heft of McCullough's "Truman." Her son came up with the solution of purchasing the paperback version and cutting it into thirds for easier manageability.

Up next: "Destiny of the Republic" by Candice Millard and "11/22/63" by Stephen King

Editor's note: Entries are edited for space and content.

Copyright © 2015, Chicago Tribune
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