LAVA, a book group of the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY, reads a variety of books, especially literary fiction.    Reading and discussion resources are available for our selections since 2004.

Upcoming Discussions

2025
May Animal Farm by George Orwell, about 125 pages, 1945.

In this classic satire of the Soviet Union written by a democratic socialist, animals on a farm rebel against the farmer and attempt to create a free and equal society. They end up instead under the control of a dictatorial pig and are worse off than before. This novella is number 31 on the Modern Library's list of the best 20th-Century novels, and it is a selection in the Great Books of the Western World series

June Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, 386 pages, 2022.

Amazon's description: "Set in 1960s California, this blockbuster debut is the hilarious, idiosyncratic and uplifting story of a female scientist whose career is constantly derailed by the idea that a woman's place is in the home, only to find herself as the reluctant host of America's most beloved TV cooking show." Times (UK): "Garmus's earlier career as a copywriter specializing in technology serves her well. Here, scientific theory becomes sparkling, sprightly entertainment. A delight of her rip-roaring, funny book is how it bonds familiar plot and character elements with the unexpectedly unconventional."Washington Post: "At the center of the novel is Elizabeth Zott, a gifted research chemist, absurdly self-assured and immune to social convention." Kirkus Reviews: "A more adorable plea for rationalism and gender equality would be hard to find."

July We do not meet in July.
Aug It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, 1935, about 400 pages.

Amazon describes it as, "A cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, it is an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression, when the country was largely oblivious to Hitler's aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a president who becomes a dictator to save the nation from welfare cheats, sex, crime, and a liberal press."

Sept We do not meet in September.
Oct Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride, 381 pages, 2023.

The story revolves around a skeleton found at the bottom of a well in 1972 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania in a dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side. New York Times: "With this story, McBride brilliantly captures a rapidly changing country, as seen through the eyes of the recently arrived and the formerly enslaved ... And through this evocation, McBride offers us a thorough reminder: Against seemingly impossible odds, even in the midst of humanity's most wicked designs, love, community and action can save us." The Atlantic referred to, "McBride's spitfire dialogue and murder-mystery-worthy plot machinations; his characters' big personalities and bigger storylines; his wisecracking, fast-talking humor; and prose so agile and exuberant that reading him is like being at a jazz jam session ... Reading McBride just feels good--we are comforted and entertained, and braced for the hard lessons he also delivers." This novel won the 2024 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction and was listed as one of the best books of the year by several newspapers.

Nov In March we traditionally open our discussion to the public for the book chosen by Writers & Books for their "Rochester Reads" program. 
Dec Orbital by Samantha Harvey, 207 pages, 2023.

This novel imagines a day in the lives of six astronauts from America, Russia, Italy, Britain, and Japan as they orbit the earth. It won the 2024 Booker Prize. Booker Prize judges: "Moving from the claustrophobia of their cabins to the infinitude of space, from their wide-ranging memories to their careful attention to their tasks, from searching metaphysical inquiry to the spectacle of the natural world, Orbital offers us a love letter to our planet as well as a deeply moving acknowledgement of the individual and collective value of every human life." Boston Globe says that this book, "contains on almost every page sentences so gorgeous that you want to put down the book in awe ... The sense of wonder and delight conveyed by Harvey's elegant prose and philosophical musings makes this a deeply pleasurable book for serious fiction lovers." The New Yorker: "Orbital is the strangest and most magical of projects, not least because it's barely what most people would call a novel but performs the kind of task that only a novel could dare."

Jan In January we hold a special meeting to share information and opinions about the books that have been proposed for the coming year. 
Feb Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls, 346 pages, 2023.

According to a review in the Historical Novel Society's website, "The plot of this Prohibition-era tale borrows heavily from the real-life history of the Tudor court. The Elizabeth I figure is the spunky heroine Sallie Kincaid, who rises to power in a small Virginia town. Her father, the Duke, is a charismatic Godfather-type who controls a number of the town's businesses, including bootlegging ... Once the reader grasps the Tudor parallels, it becomes obvious that Sallie will eventually take over the bootlegging business. The question is: how will she carve her own path in the shadow of her larger-than-life father?" New York Times: "A rip-roaring, action-packed novel set during prohibition filled with head-spinning plot twists and enough dead bodies, doomed romances, and sudden betrayals to make you wonder if George R.R. Martin had decided to ditch fantasy for Southern Gothic."