The first meeting of 2015 will be on Monday afternoon, January 19th, 2-4 p.m., at the home of Jean Turner, 3422 Del Campo Circle in San Leandro. Directions to Jean’s home will be available before the meeting.

The meeting as described on the master schedule for the year has been changed. This will not be a group read as the book selected was difficult to obtain and was expensive. Carol Jarvis and Gail Lundholm have volunteered to review a special book they both recently enjoyed, Tale for the Time Being by Canadian author Ruth Ozeki, published in early 2014. The novel tells the story of a woman novelist living on a remote corner of Vancouver Island who finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed up on shore. What she finds in the lunchbox links her to an unhappy teenager in Tokyo.

All members of the branch are welcome to come and join the afternoon of books and friends. Refreshments will be served. If you are new to the group, please call Jean to let her know you are coming. If you are a regular member and cannot come, please let Jean know. It’s a courtesy to our hostess to let her know just how many are coming so she can plan accordingly. Jean’s telephone number is 408-505-9716; her email address is bjturner2226@sbcglobal.net.

For those who were at the November 17th book group meeting, you know what a special afternoon we had! Relaxing in comfort in Genie Lester’s living room, enjoying tea or coffee and delicious brownies, we had a meaningful and rewarding conversation via Skype with Alec Nevala-Lee, author of our group read, The Icon Thief. Alec was relaxed and comfortable in his Oak Park, Illinois, study as he answered our questions and shared his thoughts and insights to the novel It was a truly rewarding afternoon! Genie did a fantastic job making it all run so smoothly.

Looking ahead to February, we will have another local author visit us to review his recently published historical fiction book. Retired educator, Nels B. Nelson, will review Blockade: Captain Danielson Arms Formosa 1883-1885. Dr. Nelson is the nephew of Captain Jens Danielson, who, as member of the Norwegian navy, played a major role in a little remembered military battle between Norway and France over the island of Formosa (now Taiwan) in the late 19th century. Dr. Nelson will have copies of his book available for purchase for those interested.