CCC Cares Book Club

The book club was revived by the CCC Cares Wellness Sub-committee from the original Book Club and Lunch started by Rose DeNardo. The Wellness sub-committee shares information and initiates activities that help employees live healthier lives by maintaining lower stress levels, healthy eating habits and mental health awareness.

Current Book

March 2024

My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Summary: Ginsburg discusses gender equality, the workings of the Supreme Court, being Jewish, law and lawyers in opera, and the value of looking beyond US shores when interpreting the US Constitution. Throughout her life Justice Ginsburg has been (and continues to be) a prolific writer and public speaker. This book’s sampling is selected by Justice Ginsburg and her authorized biographers Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams, who introduce each chapter and provide biographical context and quotes gleaned from hundreds of interviews they have conducted.

My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Date & Time: Friday, March 29, 2024 – 12 to 1:00pm.
Location & Registration: Via Zoom – Check your CCC email for the registration link.

April 2024

It’s All Relative: Adventures Up & Down the World’s Family Tree by A.J. Jacobs

Summary: A.J. Jacobs has received some strange emails over the years, but this note was perhaps the strangest: “You don’t know me, but I’m your eighth cousin. And we have over 80,000 relatives of yours in our database.” That’s enough family members to fill Madison Square Garden four times over. Who are these people, A.J. wondered, and how do I find them? So began Jacobs’s three-year adventure to help build the biggest family tree in history. In It’s All Relative, he “muses on the nature of family and the interconnectedness of humanity in this entertaining introduction to the world of genealogy” (Publishers Weekly). Jacobs’s journey would take him to all seven continents. He drank beer with a US president, sung with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and unearthed genetic links to Hollywood actresses and real-life scoundrels. After all, we can choose our friends, but not our family.

It’s All Relative: Adventures Up & Down the World’s Family Tree by A.J. Jacobs
Date & Time: Friday, April 26, 2024 – 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Location & Registration: Via Zoom – Check your CCC email for the registration link.

May 2024

The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate

Summary: When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out Iola’s rambling Victorian house. Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola’s walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year, spanning from Iola’s youth to her last days. Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper–the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with journeys of faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could change everything.

The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate
Date & Time: Friday, May 23, 2024 – 12 to 12:30pm.
Location & Registration: Via Zoom – Check your CCC email for the registration link.

All CCC Cares book selections are available through the Camden County Library System.
Or check your local library system for copies.

Common questions and answers about the book club.

What is the purpose of the CCC Cares Book Club?

The book club was revived by the CCC Cares Wellness Sub-committee from the original Book Club and Lunch started by Rose DeNardo. The Wellness sub-committee shares information and initiates activities that help employees live healthier lives by maintaining lower stress levels, healthy eating habits and mental-health awareness.

How often does the book club meet?

The book club meets once a month including summer. Selections are revealed 4 weeks in advance via an email from CCC Cares.

Where are the meetings held?

All meetings are held virtually to allow employees from all campuses to participate.

Do I have to be visible on camera?

No, you are not required to use a webcam during meetings. You can participate with audio only.

How long are the meetings?

Meetings are held during lunch hours. During regular business hours the book club meets for one hour on Fridays. During summer hours the book club meets for 30 minutes on Thursdays.

Do I have to participate every month?

No, it is not necessary to participate every month. Not all books speak to everyone. You participate based on your interest the book title and as your schedule allows.

How are books selected?

The book club facilitator chooses the selections. When possible, titles are selected based on events occurring in a particular month (i.e. banned book week, mental health awareness month, and so on).

Do you accept book suggestions?

Absolutely! Readers can send their book club selection suggestions to Rose DeNardo at rdenardo@camdencc.edu.

Do I have to buy the books?

No, you do not need to purchase the books. Each email notification will tell you how many print copies are available via the Camden County Library System. You may also check out your local library. Copies may also be available in other formats. Feel free to read the book in any format you feel comfortable – print, e-book, or audio.

What books have been read over the past year and a half?

Meeting

Title

Author

August 2022

A Spark of Light

Jodi Picoult

Septemeber 2022

All Boys Aren't Blue

George M. Johnson

October 2022

The Broken Girls

Simone St. James

November 2022

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

December 2022

The Last Christmas in Paris

Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb

January 2023

The Gift of Imperfection

Brene Brown

February 2023

Random Acts of Kindness

Dete Meswerve & Rachel Greco

March 2023

The Chain

Adrian McKinty

April 2023

This Tender Land

William Kent Krueger

May 2023

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Lori Gottlieb

June 2023

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Victoria Schwab

July 2023

The Fifth Letter

Nicola Moriarty

August 2023

Darling Rose Gold

Stephanie Wrobel

September 2023

We Need to Talk about Kevin

Lionel Shriver

October 2023

The Book of Cold Cases

Simone St. James

November 2023

The Recipe Box

Viola Shipman

December 2023

Elsewhere

Dean Koontz

January 2024

The Measure

Nikki Erlick

Febuary 2024

Girls Made of Snow & Glass

Melissa Bashardoust

For more information please contact, Rose DeNardo at rdenardo@camdencc.edu.