Second Saturday Book Group
Meeting the Moment
Saturday, February 14, 2026, 10:00 a.m. – Noon
in the Channing Room
“The Sentence”
Louise Erdrich
In “The Sentence”, by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Louise Erdrich, we meet recently incarcerated, book loving, Minneapolis resident and Ojibwe woman, Tookie, who gets a job in a community bookstore. Unfortunately, she finds out that the store is haunted by its most aggravating customer. While she sets out to solve the mystery of the haunting, she also contends with the changes in her city during the year George Floyd was murdered by police. As Tookie navigates the tumultuous year in the middle of the COVID pandemic, Minneapolis is once again in the headlines with the shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent on January 7th . We are looking forward to our book discussion and how the book’s themes are Meeting the Moment in 2026.
This year’s General Assembly theme, “Meet the Moment”, inspired us to adopt it as the theme for the upcoming season of our Second Saturday Book Group.
Political, economic, religious and social landscapes change over time and place. Solutions that make sense in one era often no longer apply in another era. It impels us – and the characters we will come to know in our book selections – to evolve to meet the moment we find ourselves in, especially when the stakes are incredibly high, as they are today.
The higher the stakes, the more moral courage and clarity of purpose are required. How do we show up to face our threats and challenges? How do we affect change and seize opportunities? How do we transform ourselves to meet the moment? What do we sacrifice? What do we gain? How do we evolve to live in a way that serves us and live our most authentic lives?
We wanted to bring forth stories that touch us with inspiration and humility by showing us the different ways the characters struggle for what they want and value in life.
We hope you will join us for the 2025 – 2026 season of the 1stUUPB’s Second Saturday Book Group to grapple with and celebrate how our characters (and we) are Meeting the Moment.
Your coordinating group,
Lauren Furst, Steve Pock, Dorie Maxwell, Nancy Stone
Book List for 2025-26
All sessions are from 10:00 a.m. to noon.
In Person sessions will be in the Channing Room
December 13th (Zoom): Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen) (depends on edition, approximately 350 pp) (Audiobook – 12 hrs, 43 mins)
January 10th (in person): Small Things Like These (Claire Keegan) (128 pp) (Audiobook – 1 hr, 57 mins)
February 14th (in person): The Sentence (Louise Erdrich) (400 pp) (Audiobook – 11 hrs, 49 mins)
March 14th (in person): The Safekeep (Yael van der Wouden) (288 pp) (Audiobook – 9 hrs, 30 mins)
April 11th (in person): Yes, I Can Say That (Judy Gold) (224 pp) (Audiobook – 6 hrs, 32 mins)