Great Circle, by Maggie Shipstead

Led by Dr. Karen Weekes. Meet with us on these Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. to discuss award-winning books and films.

Find these books in our online catalog (click here or on the title), OverDrive, Kanopy, and hooplah. Also, all books will be loaded onto our borrowable Kindle Paperwhites.

Praise for Great Circle:

A century after daredevil female aviator Marian Graves’s disappearance in Antarctica, actress Hadley Baxter is cast to play her and immerses herself in the role as their fates — and their dreams — become intertwined. - (Baker & Taylor)

“After being rescued as infants from a sinking ocean liner in 1914, Marian and Jamie Graves are raised by their dissolute uncle in Missoula, Montana. There --after encountering a pair of pilots passing through town in a beat-up Cessna--Marian commences her lifelong love affair with flight. At fifteen, she drops out of school and finds an unexpected and dangerous patron in a wealthy rancher who provides a plane and subsidizes her lessons, an arrangement that will haunt her for the rest of her life, even as it allows her to fulfill her destiny: circumnavigating the globe and piloting her plane over the Arctic Circle. A century later, Hadley Baxter is cast to play Marian in a film that centers on Marian’s disappearance over the South Pacific. Vibrant, canny, disgusted with the claustrophobia of Hollywood, Hadley is eager to re-define herself after a romantic film franchise has imprisoned her in the grip of cult celebrity. Her immersion into the character of Marian unfolds, thrillingly, alongside Marian’s own story, as the two women’s fates--and their hunger for self-determination in vastly different geographies and times-- collide. Epic and emotional, meticulously researched and gloriously told, Great Circle is a monumental work of art, and a tremendous leap forward for the prodigiously gifted Maggie Shipstead”-- - (Baker & Taylor)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK • The unforgettable story of a daredevil female aviator determined to chart her own course in life, at any cost: an “epic trip—through Prohibition and World War II, from Montana to London to present-day Hollywood—and you’ll relish every minute” (People).

On Wednesday, November 9, at 7:00 p.m., we will be discussing, Hell of a Book, by Jason Mott. Click on the title to reach the book. Click here to sign up. 

The Abel Discussion Group meets in September, October, November, March, April, and May. We haven’t chosen our spring events yet. Feel free to suggest a book. Usually, we have an award-winning book.