LWVCC Book Group

League of Women Voters^®
of Concord-Carlisle, Massachusetts

The League of Women Voters of Concord-Carlisle hosts a book discussion several times a year, usually on Wednesday morning in the Concord Free Public Library on Main Street. For information, contact BookGroup@lwvcc.org.

Next Meeting. Meetings Thus Far. This Year's Books. Books We've Read.

Enjoy lively discussions of books chosen by group members. All are welcome.

Next Meeting

Wednesday, March 28, 2012: Trustees Room, Concord Public Library 10:00 am - 11:30 am

Corporations Are Not People: Why They Have More Rights Than You Do and What You Can Do About It by Jeff Clements

Summary
Campaign Finance Reform has been at the top of the League of Women Voters "to do" list for decades. We have always been at the forefront of the efforts to clean up our elections, put limits on campaign contributions, and create a strong and forceful Federal Election Commission.
The Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United case two years ago gave everyone, corporations as well as individuals, the right to spend unlimited amounts of money during campaigns. We are seeing the results of this decision in the effect that the SuperPACs are having all across the country in the presidential campaign.

If you would like to learn more about the background of this court case, the issues that are involved, and some of the ways that this ruling can be reversed, please read Corporations Are Not People and come to our March book group meeting. This will be an excellent opportunity to become informed about this important and timely League issue.

The LWVCC book group is open to all Concord and Carlisle residents. Advance notice is not necessary and all are welcome to attend and participate in the discussion. For more information contact BookGroup@lwvcc.org.
See past book selections below.

Meetings 2011-2012

Our first meeting for 2011-2012 was October 12, and as usual it was highly informative and enjoyable. Ten of us met and discussed Descent into Chaos by Ahmed Rashid. While this book was not easy reading--over 400 pages that were packed with information--it definitely increased everyone's understanding of what has happened in Pakistan and Afghanistan since 9/11.
We decided that we wanted to continue our focus on the Middle East and Asia this year. Our second meeting was on January 25. We discussed the book The Gun and the Olive Branch : The Roots of Violence in the Middle East by David Hirst

Books and Dates for This Year

Nov. 16, 2011: Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler

Jan. 25, 2012: The Gun and the Olive Branch : The Roots of Violence in the Middle East by David Hirst

March 28, 2012: Corporations Are Not People by Jeffrey D. Clements

May 30, 2012: TBA

Books We've Read

Past LWVCC Book Group Selections

Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, by Ahmed Rashid (10/12/11)
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealert (5/25/11)
The Places in Between, by Rory Stewart (3/23/11)
Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, by Douglas A. Blackmon (1/26/11)
Middle Passages: African American Journeys to Africa, 1787-2005, by James T. Campbell (11/17/10)
Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World, by Margaret MacMillan (9/29/10)
Black Walden: Slavery and its Aftermath in Concord, Massachusetts, by Elise Lemire (6/9/10)
Stones into Schools and Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson (3/31/10)
Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion, by Alan Burdick (1/27/10)
Hot, Flat and Crowded and The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman (10/21/09)
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies; Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed; and The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal, by Jared Diamond (5/13/09)
The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism, by Megan Marshall (3/12/09)
Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (2/18/09)
The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, by Jeffrey Toobin (11/19/08)
The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver (9/24/08)
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, by Walter Isaacson (5/28/08)
Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq, by Stephen Kinzer (3/26/08)
American Bloomsbury, by Susan Cheever (1/30/08)

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