What: This Spring we're reading Mia Alvar's highly acclaimed In the County: Stories. Three times this semester, we enjoy discussions as an informal group via Zoom and/or in-person @ Skyline College. No homework beyond reading is required.
For April 12, please read from page 63 to page 154. If you're using the audiobook, listen to the following three stories: Legends of the White Lady, Shadow Families and The Virgin of Monte Ramon.
Who: The Book Club is facilitated by librarian Jessica Silver-Sharp.
When: Our second meeting takes place Tuesday April 12 @ 2:00-3:00pm. Didn't attend the first meeting? No problem - just sign up here so we'll know you're coming: bit.ly/MiaAlvar
Where: This is a hybrid club! You can join in person at the Library (Skyline College, Building 5, 2nd floor) or by zoom at this link:
https://smccd.zoom.us/j/83121121288?pwd=SGRPYzBGSU03bFJxSGNFL2oxQkxkUT09
Who can join? The Book Club is open to students, faculty and staff in SMCCCD. Undocumented students are especially welcome. The Book Club is a safe space for discussions about sometimes difficult topics. The theme of this book of fiction is the Filipinx diaspora.
Can I get credit for participating? This is a non-academic book club. However, you may speak to your professor to learn whether they might offer extra credit for facilitating a club meeting.
Do I need to read the entire book? As this is a book of short stories, we'll discuss only selected stories at each meeting. Attendance at every meeting is not required. You can also listen to the audiobook if you choose. Send Jessica an email message if you need help locating a copy of the book. (Skyline's copies are checked out but others are available).
Questions? Please contact Jessica Silver-Sharp, Librarian <silversharpj@smccd.edu>
Summer Library Hours (starting June 13th, 2022)
In the Country: Stories by These nine globe-trotting, unforgettable stories from Mia Alvar, a remarkable new literary talent, vividly give voice to the women and men of the Filipino diaspora. Here are exiles, emigrants, and wanderers uprooting their families from the Philippines to begin new lives in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere--and, sometimes, turning back again. A pharmacist living in New York smuggles drugs to his ailing father in Manila, only to discover alarming truths about his family and his past. In Bahrain, a Filipina teacher drawn to a special pupil finds, to her surprise, that she is questioning her own marriage. A college student leans on her brother, a laborer in Saudi Arabia, to support her writing ambitions, without realizing that his is the life truly made for fiction. And in the title story, a journalist and a nurse face an unspeakable trauma amidst the political turmoil of the Philippines in the 1970s and '80s. In the Country speaks to the heart of everyone who has ever searched for a place to call home. From teachers to housemaids, from mothers to sons, Alvar's powerful debut collection explores the universal experiences of loss, displacement, and the longing to connect across borders both real and imagined. Deeply compassionate and richly felt, In the Country marks the emergence of a formidable new writer.Book Reviews:
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/books/review/in-the-country-by-mia-alvar.html
Kirkus: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/mia-alvar/in-the-country-alvar/