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Visitors and new friends always welcome!
Morning Group 10:30 a.m. — Evening Group 7:00 p.m.
The BBC Meets in THE ANNEX on Kennedy Street
If you are interested or have questions please contact
Dr. Bill Arthur
(864-991-5354 or barthur@fpcspartanburg.org)
| Book Selections 2012-2013 |
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DISSOLUTION (C. J. Sansom) - Tuesday, September 4, 2012
A mystery - exciting and elegantly written, set in Tudor England, 1537. The country is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is brutally murdered in a monastery, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's feared vicar general, summons fellow reformer Matthew Shardlake to lead the inquiry. Bits of history, theology add to the interest. |
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EVERY DAY BY THE SUN (Dean Faulkner Wells) - October 1, 2012
Dean Wells recounts the story of the Faulkners of Mississippi, whose legacy includes pioneers, noble and ignoble war veterans, three never-convicted murderers, the builder of the first railroad in north Mississippi, the founding president of a bank, an FBI agent, four pilots (all brothers), and a Nobel Prize winner, arguably the most important American novelist of the twentieth century. She also reveals wonderfully entertaining and intimate stories and anecdotes about her family—in particular her uncle William, or “Pappy,” with whom she shared colorful, sometimes utterly frank, sometimes whimsical, conversations and experiences.
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THE IGUANA TREE (Michel Stone) - November 5, 2012
A Hub City publication, set amid the perils of illegal border crossings, is this suspenseful saga of Lilia and Hector, who separately make their way from Mexico into the US – into the Carolinas. Our friend Michael Curtis, of Wofford and The Atlantic, says “Her story is powerful, its melancholy truths hard to ignore or forget.” Author Michel Stone will be present to discuss her book with us.
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BBC – CHRISTMAS GATHERING – December 3, 2012 – 7 PM
Just one meeting this time. Join us for another great experience of Charles Dickens’ celebration of Christmas. We will discuss this classic, dramatically read selected portions from it, and share some of our own personal Christmas stories, poetry, as well as Christmas stories derived elsewhere in literature. Once again we hope to make this meeting a real event “Dickens’ style” with cookies, cakes, puddings, and a few savories as well. Always a great evening—an event you won’t want to miss!
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BONHOEFFER: PASTOR, MARTYR, PROPHET, SPY (Eric Metaxas)
January 7, 2013
From the New York Times bestselling author of Amazing Grace, a groundbreaking biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the greatest heroes of the twentieth century, the man who stood up to Hitler. A definitive, deeply moving narrative. A story of moral courage in the face of monstrous evil.
Watch the video below of Bill Arthur's remarks about this book!
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VANISHED SMILE: THE MYSTERIOUS THEFT OF THE MONA LISA
(R. A. Scotti) - February 4, 2013
On August 21, 1911, the unfathomable happened—Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa vanished from the Louvre. Thousands flocked to see the empty space where the painting had hung. They mourned as if Mona Lisa were a lost loved one, left flowers and notes, and set new attendance records. For more than two years, Mona Lisa’s absence haunted the art world, provoking the question: Was she lost forever? What had happened? A century later, questions still linger.
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A DIARY FROM DIXIE (Mary Boykin Chestnut) - March 4, 2013
Mary Boykin Chestnut’s southern classic about everyday life within the magic circle of the leading families of the Confederacy. Much of the diary was written in South Carolina and it provides a behind the scenes glimpse into life 1861-65, peppered with Chestnut’s personal observations and evaluations of historical personalities. |
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CLEOPATRA (Stacy Schiff) - Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. In a return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. |
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IN THE GARDEN OF THE BEASTS (Erik Larson) - May 6, 2013
The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd (a mild-mannered professor from Chicago) becomes America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s Germany. Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. Here’s a stunning, eyewitness perspective on events as they unfold in real time, revealing an era of surprising nuance and complexity. Why didn’t more people (including US leaders) recognize the grave threat posed by Hitler? |
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A SLAVE IN THE WHITE HOUSE (Paul Jennings) - June 10, 2013
A memoir, based on correspondence, legal documents, and journal entries rarely seen before this is the story of Paul Jennings who was born a slave on the plantation of James and Dolley Madison and serving them later in the White House. Emancipated by Senator Daniel Webster later in life, he would give an aged and impoverished Dolley Madison, his former owner, money from his own pocket, write the first White House memoir, and see his sons fight with the Union Army in the Civil War.
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Page updated
May 17, 2013
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