Reading Groups

This book group will read fiction by a range of award-winning authors based at the edges of the European Union, who draw from experience to imagine border-crossing, and the encounter with an alien world, from a range of perspectives. Tackling themes of mobility, curiosity and identity, these authors invite us to empathize with characters determined to make meaning out of fractured and divided lives. Across East Europe, a majority of citizens live less than a two-hour drive from the edge of their country. The challenge, excitement and risk of crossing into a different culture, history, language and worldview have captured the attention of writers, including those in countries that have joined the European Union, and those where international travel requires enormous sacrifices.

To find out more about this book club, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-borders-book-club-tickets-471242728687.

To attend a club meeting, please register through the Tempe Public Library website at: https://tempepubliclibrary.libnet.info/events.

The club meets the 2nd Monday of the month (unless otherwise noted).

The Beyond Borders Book Club flyer provides links and information for all five sessions (JAN-MAY 2023). 

Crossing by Pajtim Statovci - JAN 9, 2023

The City & The City by China Miéville - FEB 13, 2023

I’m Not Going Anywhere by Rumena Bužarovska, featuring the author - MAR 13, 2023

Flights by Olga Tokarczuk - APR 10, 2023

Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov - MAY 8, 2023

The host of the book club, Keith Brown, is the Director of the Melikian Center and Professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University. The Melikian Center was recently recognized by the US Department of Education as a National Resource Center for Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies. Keith is an anthropologist who writes about the Western Balkans, and would always rather be reading. He was born in Northern Ireland, grew up in England, did his PhD in Chicago, and lived and worked on the East Coast for 15 years moving to Arizona in 2017. In 2021-22, he spent 12 months in Finland as a fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies in Finland.

In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova

The File on H. by Ismail Kadare

Fox by Dubravka Ugrešić

The Day Lasts More than a Hundred Years by Chingiz Aitmatov

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

My Husband by Rumena Bužarovska