Notes from the Library

​By  Faye Herold, originally published in the April 2025 issue of the 1666 Coffman Newsletter

Guess what these book titles have in common:

• Red Earth, White Earth, Will Weaver
• Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling
• How to Know a Person, David Brooks
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig
• Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
• Oxford English Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
• Harlem Shuffle, Colson Whitehead

​These books are representative of a couple hundred titles that have been read and mentioned by at least one Coffman resident who attended our end-of-the-month “Conversations about Books.” For the past year, between five and fifteen women show up in the Dining Room each month on the last Wednesday at 10:00 am to take a few minutes to talk about what they have been reading (Men are welcome!).

As we go around the circle, we find some of us prefer nonfiction to fiction, mysteries to other fiction, or we have a 

preference for memoirs. We remember favorite authors, and even make connections to movies or series that are spin-offs from books. And sometimes we just listen to what our neighbors have been reading.

Not all the “reviews” are positive—sometimes we get tips about books we may not want to read because they are too long, or too depressing, too specialized, or not well written.

Unlike book clubs, where (I hear) the conversation may stray off-topic, or maybe not everyone in the club has had time read the prescribed book, our conversations stick close to things we have read. Although at one meeting I got tips on where to buy the best bread!

Conversations about Books is not sponsored by the Coffman Library, but in promoting books, we do promote our reading showplace.

​If you ever want ideas for something to read, whether it can be found in our Library or the public library, or is only obtainable via interlibrary loan, you are sure to pick up a tip at one of our meetings, where enthusiasm about books reigns.  ​