Ryerson Reads celebrates 10 years

New season starts September 10For 10 years, book lovers with an interest in ecology have enjoyed lively discourse at a unique book club held at Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods. The 11th season starts this fall.
Longtime participant Dick Ettlinger of Highland Park said the leader Ben Goluboff guides the group in a thought-provoking way that stimulates fascinating discussions. Goluboff is a professor of English at Lake Forest College.
“He asks questions and invites responses,” Ettlinger said. “He gets the discussion going. He doesn’t want to make a lecture out of it.”
Goluboff said that’s his intent: To invite comments and encourage readers to delve into issues and themselves.
“I really try to make it a dialogue, like a good literature class,” he said.
One of Goluboff’s selections this season is Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition by Robert Pogue Harrison.
[caption id="attachment_995" align="alignright" width="225"] Ben Goluboff, a professor of English at Lake Forest College, leads the Ryerson Reads book discussions.[/caption]“This is a powerful book, a delightful, challenging wonderful book, “Goluboff said. Participants will likely discuss whether the author is truly talking about gardens or something else, he said.
Over the years, Goluboff has been fascinated and excited about what participants say and observe about themselves and the environment.
"One book, The Creation by E.O. Wilson, elicited a wide-ranging discussion," he said. "One participant talked about how Wilson’s writing caused her to re-examine her faith," he said.
“I thought that was extraordinary. It makes people around the table recognize the power of the writer. It’s been one of the many experiences in my life that reminds me how literature can make a big difference in peoples’ lives.”
Brushwood Center Executive Director Sophie Twichell said, “We are thrilled Ryerson Reads has thrived for 10 years. This is a truly wonderful way to discuss literature in a beautiful setting with a thoughtful, knowledgeable and well-read leader.”
Copies of the books chosen for the 2014/15 season of Ryerson Reads will be set aside and available at the Deerfield Public Library, 920 Waukegan Road as well as the Vernon Area Public Library, 300 Olde Half Day Road, Lincolnshire. Books are also available for purchase at the Lake Forest Book Store. Limited copies are on hand at Brushwood Center. The fee is $15 per session, $10 for Brushwood Center members. The entire series is $45 or $30 for members. Discussions are held from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. on the dates below.
Sept. 10, 2014:            When the Killing’s Done by T.C. Boyle
Nov. 12, 2014:             The Paradise of Bombs by Scott Russell Sanders
Jan. 14, 2015:              The Last Animal by Abby Geni
Mar. 11, 2015:             Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition by Robert Pogue Harrison

Ryerson Reads is partially sponsored by a grant from Rosborough Partners.