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The Everything Book Club

"The Color of Water" by James McBride

A live, lively librarian-led book club discussion about a wide range of titles and genres. Registration required.

ABOUT THE BOOK CLUB

If you like everything bagels, you'll probably like The Everything Book Club. We read the best of fiction and non-fiction, literary novels, mysteries, historical fiction, memoirs and more.

We generally meet on the third week of the month at 1 p.m. in the Tower Room on the 2nd floor. Registration is required.

GET THE BOOK

Click on the links to order the book in print, or as e-book or e-audiobook on Libby/OverDrive. Or just ask for a copy at the circulation desk in the Main Branch. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

"The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride. By the bestselling author of "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store," "Deacon King Kong" and the National Book Award-winning "The Good Lord Bird," the incredible modern classic that launched James McBride’s literary career. It spent two years on The New York Times bestseller list, sold more than 2 million copies worldwide, and been translated into more than 16 languages.

"The Color of Water" tells the story of James McBride and his white, Jewish mother Ruth. Ruth was born in Poland and raised in Suffolk, Va, the daughter of an itinerant rabbi and a loving, disabled mother who spoke no English. At 17, Ruth fled the South, landed in Harlem, married a black man in 1941, founded a church, was twice widowed and raised 12 children in New York City. Despite hardship, poverty, and suffering, Ruth sent all 12 of her children to college..  

Interspersed throughout his mother's compelling narrative, McBride shares candid recollections of his own experiences as a mixed-race child of poverty, his flirtations with drugs and violence, and his eventual self- realization and professional success. "The Color of Water" touches readers of all colors as a vivid portrait of growing up, a haunting meditation on race and identity, and a lyrical valentine to a mother from her son. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A critically acclaimed, bestselling author and saxophonist, James McBride is a former reporter for The Washington Post and People magazine, McBride holds a Masters degree in journalism from Columbia University. He lives in Lambertville, New Jersey, and New York City. 

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