A book discussion series for veterans led by Vietnam veteran Wayne Karlin. Registration required; space is limited. For more information contact Kimberlé Fields at 301-863-8188 or kfields@stmalib.org.
This book discussion series is tailored for veterans and their families. Service members of all eras, their spouses, and adult children are welcome. We will read and discuss four books written in a very different style but connected by themes of war, courage, honor, and trauma. Meetings will be held the first Saturday of the month 2-4 p.m. at Lexington Park library and online via ZOOM. Participants should plan to attend all sessions. Materials provided. Book descriptions are from Amazon unless otherwise noted.
The Veterans Book Group is coordinated statewide by Maryland Humanities and is presented locally in partnership with St. Mary’s County Library. It is supported in part by Lockheed Martin, David Bruce Smith, and the Wawa Foundation.
If you need special accommodations for any Library event or program, please submit our Accommodations Request form as soon as possible.
February 04: The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan by Elliott Ackerman Wayne’s Note: Ackerman, a former Marine, spent five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. The reading group has previously discussed Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning by Ackerman.
March 04: Her Privates We by Frederic Manning
April 01: Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
May 06: Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai Wayne’s Note: The author’s new novel (the group read The Mountains Sing by her last year) centers on what the Vietnamese call the “dust of life,” the children (now adults) of American servicemen and Vietnamese women, a group shunned and persecuted in Vietnam. The book’s release date is March 14th, 2023. I will be hosting the author, live and on zoom at the College of Southern Maryland on March 29, and she will be at St. Mary’s College on March 30th. The Veterans’ Book Group is invited to both appearances.
June 03: Memorial Days: Vietnam Stories, 1973-2022 by Wayne Karlin (in Longfellow room)