Come to view and purchase books, have
snacks and meet other book enthusiasts
Read the book prior to the discussion or just come to share in dialogue.
Bring food or beverages to enjoy during the discussion. Participants are
expected to gain greater understanding of a variety of diverse topics.
Limited copies of books available at MCC libraries. Contact 402.457.2253
or [email protected] for additional information or to suggest books
for future book series.
Participation is free and open to the public.
Monday, Sept. 21, 12:45–1:45 p.m.
Fort Omaha Campus
Building 10, Room 136C
30th & Fort streets
The Shed That Fed a Million Children:
The Extraordinary Story of Mary’s Meals
By Magnus MacFarlane-Barro
In 1992, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow was enjoying a pint with his brother
when he got an idea that would change his life—and radically change the
lives of others. After watching a news bulletin about war-torn Bosnia,
the two brothers agreed to take a week’s hiatus from work to help. What
neither of them expected is that what began as a one-time road trip in a
beaten-up Landrover rapidly grew to become Magnus’s life’s work—leading
him to leave his job, sell his house and direct all his efforts to feeding
thousands of the world’s poorest children. Magnus retells how a series of
miraculous circumstances and an overwhelming display of love from those
around him led to the creation of Mary’s Meals; an organization that could
hold the key to eradicating child hunger altogether. This humble, heartwarming yet powerful story has never been more relevant in our society of
plenty and privilege. It will open your eyes to the extraordinary impact that
one person can make.
Wednesday, Dec. 16, 4-5 p.m.
Elkhorn Valley Campus
Room 305
204th Street and West Dodge Road
Between the World and Me
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Code Talker
The First and Only Memoir By One of the
Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII
By Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila
He is the only original World War II Navajo code talker still alive—and this
is his story …
His name wasn’t Chester Nez. That was the English name he was assigned
in kindergarten. And in boarding school at Fort Defiance, he was punished
for speaking his native language, as the teachers sought to rid him of
his culture and traditions. But discrimination didn’t stop Chester from
answering the call to defend his country after Pearl Harbor, for the Navajo
have always been warriors, and his upbringing on a New Mexico reservation
gave him the strength—both physical and mental—to excel as a Marine.
During World War II, the Japanese had managed to crack every code the
United States used. But when the Marines turned to its Navajo recruits
to develop and implement a secret military language, they created the
only unbroken code in modern warfare—and helped assure victory for the
United States over Japan in the South Pacific.
Tuesday, Oct. 27, 1-2 p.m.
Fort Omaha Campus
Building 10, Room 237
30th & Fort streets
Go Set a Watchman: A Novel
By Harper Lee
Originally written in the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman was the novel
Harper Lee first submitted to her publishers before To Kill a Mockingbird.
Assumed to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in late 2014.
Go Set a Watchman features many of the characters from To Kill a
Mockingbird some twenty years later. Returning home to Maycomb to visit
her father, Jean Louise Finch—Scout—struggles with issues both personal a
nd political, involving Atticus, society and the small Alabama town that
shaped her.
Exploring how the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird are adjusting
to the turbulent events transforming mid-1950s America, Go Set a
Watchman casts a fascinating new light on Harper Lee’s enduring
classic. Moving, funny and compelling, it stands as a magnificent novel in
its own right.
Tuesday, Apr. 19, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American
history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son,
Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding
our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on
the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily
on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery
and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up and murdered out of
all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live
within it? And how can we in all honestly reckon with this fraught history
and free ourselves from its burden?
Sarpy Center
Room 129
9110 Giles Road in La Vista
Tuesday, Jan. 12, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
With her career, live-in boyfriend and loving family, Piper Kerman barely
resembles the rebellious young woman who got mixed up with drug
runners and delivered a suitcase of drug money to Europe over a decade
ago. But when she least expects it, her reckless past catches up with
her; convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at an infamous women’s
prison in Connecticut, Piper becomes inmate #11187-424. From her first
strip search to her final release, she learns to navigate this strange world
with its arbitrary rules and codes and its unpredictable, even dangerous,
relationships. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her
with tokens of generosity, hard truths and simple acts of acceptance. Now
an original comedy-drama series on Netflix, Piper’s story is a fascinating,
heartbreaking and often hilarious insight into life on the inside.
South Omaha Campus
ITC Conference Center, Room 120
2707 Edward Babe Gomez Avenue
Orange is the New Black:
My Time in a Women’s Prison
By Piper Kerman
Tuesday, Apr. 28, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
South Omaha Campus
ITC Conference Center
Room 120
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orientation, retaliation or for affirmative action and diversity issues, contact: Associate Vice President for Equity and Diversity: 402-457-2649, cgooch@mccneb.
edu. The address for all of the above individuals is as follows: Metropolitan Community College, 30th and Fort Streets, P.O. Box 3777, Omaha, NE 68103-0777.