GFWC INDIANA FEDERATION OF CLUBS

INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM

EPSILON SIGMA OMICRON

SPECIAL READING LIST # 107

2017

Epsilon Sigma Omicron

Epsilon Sigma Omicron (ESO) began as an adult education program of the GFWC Indiana Federation of Clubs to assist and encourage clubwomen, individually or as a club, to read and study systematically. The meaning of the Greek letters is: “Enlighten Your Own Pathway.”

A Federation clubwoman qualifies for membership by following the authorized ESO reading courses, which list books as well as a point value assigned to each book. To obtain the current list, please write the State ESO Chairman.

The reader sends a report on each book (no longer an actual book report, but the name of the book and author, the number of the book, group and number of points assigned to the book if it is on the official reading list) to the State ESO Chairman. If the book is not on the list, the report should contain the name of the author and book title along with the number of pages-if known. If the book is read electronically, the number of pages can be determined by the State ESO Chairman.

The chairman keeps a record of the books read and points earned, and a

certificate is awarded when the reader has earned 140 points. A reader may order back reading lists and read and report on any book from any list. When the reader has accumulated points sufficient to earn four certificates, she is eligible to purchase and wear the Epsilon Sigma Omicron pin.

Further awards include: Star (10 certificates); Torch (16 certificates); First Century (100 books); Second Century (200 books); and further Century awards.

Contacts effective July 1, 2017:

Lou RobertsTric Heepe

State ESO ChairmanState ESO Administrator

8 Shore Dr5145 Esteb Rd

Chesterton IN 46304Richmond IN 47374

Group I World Affairs and History

  1. ALEXANDER HAMILTON by Ron Chernow. A biography of the first Treasury secretary. Originally published in 2004 and the basis of the Broadway musical. 40 points
  2. HIDDEN FIGURES by Margot Lee Shatterly. The story of the black women mathematicians who worked at NASA during World War II and contributed to the space program. The basis of the movie. 30 points
  3. KILLING THE RISING SUN: HOW AMERICA VANQUISHED WORLD WAR II JAPAN by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. The Host of “The O’Reilly Factor” recounts the final years of World War II. 20 points
  4. LEADERSHIP by Rudolph W. Giuliani. The minutes and house following 11th September terror attacks on the World Trade Center posed the greatest challenge to governance in New York City’s history. ** 40 points
  5. LINCOLN’S WHITE HOUSE by James B. Conroy. An inside look at the place Lincoln called the “big white house”, including his open-door policy to guests Herman Melville and P.T.Barnum. 30 points
  6. THANK YOU FOR BEING LATE by Thomas L. Friedman. How the globalization, climate change and the accelerating pace of technology are reshaping the world, and what we can do about it. 30 points
  7. THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD by Douglas Preston. A frightening search for a lost civilization in the Honduran rain forest. 30 points
  8. THREE DAYS IN JANUARY: DWIGHT EISENHOWER’S FINAL MISSION by Bret Baler and Catherine Whitney. Eisenhower’s farewell address and his role in the Kennedy transition. 30 points

Group II About People

  1. CARRIE AND ME: A MOTHER-DAUGHTER LOVE STORY by Carol Burnett. Authentic, intimate and full of love, this book is a funny and moving memoir about mothering an extraordinary young woman through the struggles and triumphs of her life. ** 20 points
  2. HILLBILLY ELEGY by J. D. Vance. A Yale Law school graduate looks at the struggles of the white working class through the story of his own childhood in the Rust Belt. 30 points
  3. THE MAGNOLIA STORY by Chip Gaibes and Joanna Gaines with Mark Dagostino. The couple who star in the HGTV show “Fixer Upper.” 20 points
  4. THE PRINCESS DIARIST by Carrie Fisher. 20 points
  5. THE RAINBOW COMES AND GOES: A MOTHER AND SON ON LIFE, LOVE AND LOSS by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt. A beautiful and affectionate celebration of the universal bond between parent and child and a thoughtful reflection on life. 20 points
  6. THIS LIFE I LIVE: ONE MAN’S EXTRAORDINARY, ORDINARY LIFE AND THE WOMAN WHO CHANGED IT FOREVER by Rory Feek. 20 points
  7. TRAIL OF 32: THE TRUE STORY OF A YOUTHFUL SPIRIT THAT KNEW NOT OF DEFEAT by Paul Rega. The astonishing true story of a group of 32 boys and leaders, who accomplished an amazing feat in 1972, when they rode their bicycles from Wood Dale, IL to Jacksonville, Fl. 20 points
  1. WHEN BREATH BECOME AIR by Paul Kalanithl. A memoir by a physician who received a diagnosis of Stage IV lung cancer at the age of 36. 20 points
  1. WRITER, SAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY by William Morrow. We know about most of Ernest Hemingway’s remarkable life, but for the first time we are discovering another incredible side to the legendary writer—that he worked closely with the Americans and the Russians during WWII in the effort to bring down Hitler. 20 points

Group III Religion &Philosophy

18.GOOD GRIEF: HEAL YOUR SOUL, HONOR YOUR LOVED ONES, AND LEARN TO LIVE AGAIN by Theresa Caputo. Heal your soul, honor your loved ones, and learn to live again. Caputo, the Long Island Medium, uses lessons from Spirit to guide you through grief to a place of solace and healing. 20 points

19. HOMO DEUS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF TOMORROW by Yuval Noah Harari. The author looks ahead to a number of possible outcomes for us. 30 points.

20.JESUS ALWAYS: EMBRACING JOY IN HIS PRESENCE by Sarah Young. 30 points

  1. NOTHING TO PROVE: WHY WE CAN STOP TRYING SO HARD by Jennie Allen. Are you trying your best to measure up—yet you still feel as if you’re losing ground?20 points
  2. TEARS WE CANNOT STOP: A SERMON TO WHITE AMEREICA by Michael Eric Dyson. A frank and searing discussion of race by a sociologist who is also an ordained minister. 20 points
  3. THE BOOK OF JOY by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. A discussion between two spiritual leaders about how to find joy in the face of suffering. 20 points
  4. THE PROPHET by Kahlil Gibran. The book conveys the yearning for a unity of being that can only be achieved, according to the mystic tradition that Gibran followed, through love. 20 points
  5. YOU ARE THE UNIVERSE by Deepak Chopra and Menas Kafatos. Defining a human universe in which each of us is a co-creator of reality. 20 points

Group IV Special Interests

  1. ATLAS OBSCURS:AN EXPLORER’S GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S HIDDEN WONDERS by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras and Ella Morton. 30 points
  2. BLACK EDGE by Sheelah Kolhatkar. The career of the hedge-fund manager Steven A. Cohen, whose firm was the target of a seven-year investigation that resulted in a plea of guilty to insider trading, although he himself was not charged. 20 points
  3. FOOD, HEALTH, AND HAPPINESS:115 ONPOINT RECIPES FOR GREAT MEALS

AND A BETTER LIFE by Oprah Winfrey. 20 points

  1. JUST MERCY by Bryan Stevenson. A powerful book on criminal justice showing the extent to which brutality, unfairness and racial bias continue to infect criminal law in the United States. 20 points
  2. MILK AND HONEY by Rupi Kaur. Poetic approaches to surviving adversity and loss. 20 points
  3. THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS by Rebecca Skloot. A woman who unknowingly gave doctors the chance to research cancer cells. 20 points
  4. THE ZOOKEEPERS WIFE: A WAR STORY by Diane Ackerman. How a Warsaw couple sheltered Jews and members of the Resistance during World War II. Originally published in 2007. 20 points

Group V Fiction

  1. A DOG’S PURPOSE by W. Bruce Cameron. A canine narrator undergoes a series of reincarnations. 30 points
  2. A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW by Amor Towles. The utterly entertaining second novel from the author of Rules of Civility. Amor Towles skillfully transports us to The Metropol, the famed Moscow hotel where movie stars and Russian royalty hobnob, where Bolsheviks plot revolutions and intellectuals discuss the merits of contemporary Russian writers, where spies spy, thieves thieve and the danger of twentieth century Russia lurks outside its marbled walls. 30 points
  3. A MAN CALLED OVE: A NOVEL by Fredrik Backman. The angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. 20 points
  4. ALL AROUND THE TOWN by Mary Higgins Clark. When Laurie Kenyon, a twenty-one-year-old student, is accused of murdering her English professor, she has no memory of the crime. 20 points
  5. ALL BY MYSELF. ALONE by Mary Higgins Clark. A glamorous cruise on a luxurious ocean liner turns deadly in the latest mystery by MHC. Released4/7/17. 20 points
  6. ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr. 30 points
  7. CHAOS by Patricia Cornwell. Investigating a bicyclist’s death, Dr. Kay Scarpetta draws the attention of a cyber-bully called Tailend Charlie. 30 points
  8. DANGEROUS GAMES by Danielle Steel. TV correspondent Alix Phillips takes risks for a living as she reports the important news to the world. But her latest assignment puts her in the center of an ugly story that will endanger lives, including her own. 20 points
  9. ECHOES IN DEATH by J. D. Robb. The 44th book in the IN-DEATH series. Once you get started you will be hooked! (Tric says to read them in order) 20 points
  10. EXIT WEST by Mohsin Hamid. The author captures the dilemma of two lovers trying to escape civil-war chaos in an unidentified Near Eastern metropolis. 20 points
  11. HOME by Harlan Coben. 30 Points
  12. HOME FRONT by Kristin Hannah. A profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family. 30 points
  13. IF NOT FOR YOU by Debbie Macomber. He seems so wrong, can he be Mr. Right? 20 points
  14. LINCOLN IN THE BARDO by George Saunders. 30 points
  15. MILLERS VALLEY by Anna Quindlen. A young woman learns to love-and leave- home in this coming of age novel about family and the secrets that we keep. 20 points
  16. NEVER NEVER by James Patterson and Candice Fox.30 points
  17. NIGHT SCHOOL by Lee Child. Jack Reacher is back to school and back to uniform, crisscrossing two continents in his power-packed 21st adventure. 20 points
  18. NORSE MYTHOLOGY by Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales. 20 points
  19. PLUM PUDDING by Joanne Fluke. The yuletide season in Lake Eden, Minnesota, guarantees a white Christmas, delectable holiday goodies from Hannah Swensen’s bakery and a murder to solve. ** 20 points
  20. POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE by Carrie Fisher. 20 points
  21. SMALL GREAT THINGS by Jodi Picoult. A medical crisis entangles a blacknurse, a white supremacist father and a white lawyer. 30 points
  22. SNOW CHILD by Eowyn Ivey. In this beautiful violent Alaska of 1920 things are rarely as they appear and Jack and Mabel struggle to understand the child of the woods. 20 points
  23. THE BOOK THAT MATTERS MOST by Ann Hood. A lonely woman seeks an elusive author in this novel about love, loss, friendship and the healing power of literature. 20 points
  24. THE GIRL BEFORE: A NOVEL by J. P. Delaney. An enigmatically sadistic architect builds a modern house that controls its young inhabitants in this psychological thriller. 20 points
  25. THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins. A psychological thriller set in the environs of London is full of complications and betrayals. 30 points
  26. THE LAST TIME I WAS ME by Cathy Lamb. When Jeanne Stewart stops at the Opera Man’s Café in Weltana, Oregon, to eat pancakes for the first time in twelve years, she has no idea she’s also about to order up a whole new future. ** 30 points
  27. THE MISTRESS: A NOVEL by Danielle Steel. 20 points
  28. THE OBSESSION by Nora Roberts. 30 points
  29. THE SHACK by William P. Young. A man whose daughter was abducted is invited to an isolated shack, apparently by God. 30 points
  30. THE TWO-FAMILY HOUSE by Lynda Cohen Loigman. Brooklyn, 1947, in the midst of a blizzard, in a two -family brownstone, two babies are born. Raising their families side by side, supporting each other, Rose and Helen share an impenetrable bond forged before and during that dramatic winter night. 20 points
  31. THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by Colson Whitehead. A teenage girlheadsnorth on the network that helped slaves escape to freedom, envisioned in this novel as a secret system of actual tracks and tunnels. 20 points
  32. THE WHISTLER by John Grisham. 20 points
  33. THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 by Ruth Ware. 20 points
  34. WHAT I REMEMBER MOST by Cathy Lamb. In a new novel rich in grace, warmth and courage, acclaimed author Cathy Lamb tells of one woman’s journey of reinvention in the wake of deep betrayal. 30 points
  35. WHERE HAVE ALL THE GIRLS GONE by Jayne Ann Krentz. To find her sister, a woman hires a down-on-his luck Seattle PI in this novel of online deception, passion ad vengeance. 20 points

FRONTIER MAGIC TRILOGY

  1. THIRTEENTH CHILD by Patricia Wrede. Book 1 Bestselling author returns toScholastic with an amazing new trilogy about the use of magic in the wild, wild west. 20 points
  2. ACROSS THE GREAT BARRIER by Patricia Wrede. Book 2 20 points
  3. THE FAR WEST by Patricia Wrede. Book 3 20 points

**Recommended by GFWC ESO Joyce Wargo Reading Club