December 12, 2024 - 7:00 pm

Virtual Book Club - The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

 

Virtual discussion of the 2023 novel, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by National Book Award winning author and one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2024, James McBride.  "A murder mystery inside a great American novel" and "a charming, smart, heart-blistering and heart-healing novel", per the NY Times, the book unravels long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill in Pottstown, PA, the dilapidated neighborhood shared by immigrant Jews and African Americans living side by side, uncovering how much the people living on the margins of society support each other to survive. "Bringing his masterly storytelling skills and his deep faith in humanity...McBride shows that even in dark times, it is love and community—heaven and earth—that sustain us." NY Times Bestseller and NY Times Notable Book.  Best Book of the Year by NPR, Washington Post, The New Yorker, and Time Magazine.  Good Reads score 4 out of 5. No charge event.  Register here.

​

​

January 9, 2025 - 7:00 pm

Virtual Movie Club - Farewell Mr. Haffman

 

Virtual discussion of the gripping 2022 French historical suspense drama, Farewell Mr. Haffmann, starring the legendary Daniel Auteuil in one of his most superlative screen performances. From writer/director Fred Cavayé, based on Jean-Philippe Daguerre's celebrated, multi Molière Award-winning play, the film takes place in occupied Paris in 1941 when jeweler Joseph Haffmann (Auteuil) arranges for his family to flee the city while his employee (Gilles Lellouche) takes over the store presumably until the conflict subsides. When Haffman's own escape is thwarted, he finds himself living hidden in his basement while the employee and skeptical wife live in his home above. The agreement turns into a Faustian bargain, one that will forever change the fate of all. Rotten Tomatoes score 98%. View on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, and others. No charge event. Register here.

​

​

January 11, 2025 - 11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Twenty-One Pips - Board Game Brunch

​

Enjoy a Saturday brunch with board games! Join your fellow Phi Beta Kappa members at Twenty-One Pips in Ardmore, PA, with its library of over 500 board games. No board game knowledge necessary. Small, non-refundable sign-up fee to cover access to the board game library. Select your desired brunch options(s) from the brunch menu during the registration process, as their restaurant requires group orders to be placed in advance. Address: 24 Cricket Ave, Ardmore. Adjacent parking at One Ardmore Place Public Parking Garage. Public transport via bus or Paoli/Thorndale regional rail line. Limit of 18 people. Register here.  Note: Registration must close on January 4, 2025 to comply with advance restaurant notice.

​

​

February 13, 2025 - 7:00 pm

Virtual Book Club - James

 

Virtual discussion of the 2024 novel, "James" by Percival Everett, distinguished professor of English at the Univ. of Southern California.  A retelling of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as a first-person narrative from the perspective of Jim, and a 2024 PBK Summer Reading List recommendation: "When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond." Longlisted for both the 2024 Booker Prize and the National Book Award for Fiction. Good Reads score 4.5 out of 5.  No charge event.  Register here.

​

​

March 13, 2025 - 7:00 pm

Virtual Movie Club - American Fiction

 

Virtual discussion of the 2023 American comedy-drama, "American Fiction", starring Jeffrey Wright as the protagonist, an African American literary professor navigating the complexities of race and identity while trying to write serious literature, finally becoming "...a pseudonymous success writing a potboiler he loathes". Directed by Cord Jefferson, it tackles issues of race, cultural appropriation, and the commodification of Black narratives with humor and insight. Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (Wright), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Jefferson), the latter of which it won along with multiple other notable awards for Best Adapted Screenplay. Rotten Tomatoes score 93%. View on Amazon Prime Video, Google Play Movies, Apple TV+. No charge event. Register here.

​

​