In “Dinners With Ruth,” Nina Totenberg, the legendary NPR journalist who was close to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writes about the nature of friendship — and it’s easy to see why she might feel she has expertise in the subject. The book, a loosely organized account of her own life, and the role of Ginsburg (among other friends) in it, has a genial, likable tone. Totenberg’s stories are lively but never go on too long; she appears to reflexively turn the reader’s attention to the generosity or small kindnesses of others. September 13, 2022 New York Times

"Crying in H Mart," stood out to me as a representation of grief that I could relate to — one that doesn't reach for silver linings, but illuminates the unending nature of loss: "Every time I remember that my mother is dead, it feels like I'm colliding into a wall that won't give...a reminder of the immutable reality that I will never see her again." That essay became the first chapter of Zauner's new memoir, also titled Crying in H Mart, which powerfully maps a complicated mother-daughter relationship cut much too short. Stories of Korean food serve as the backbone of the book, as Zauner plumbs the connections between food and identity. That search takes on new urgency after her mother's death — in losing her mother, she also lost her strongest tether to Korean culture. April 12, 2021 NPR

How do close friendships and family relationships shape the people we are today? And what’s food got to do with it? Join us to discuss two stylistically different but equally compelling memoirs: Dinners With Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships by NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg and Crying in the H Mart by writer and musician Michelle Zauner. The food at these two author’s tables may be different, but their memoirs dish up universal themes of friendship and kinship that are ripe for discussion.

We will meet for two Wednesdays March 8th and March 15th from 6:30-8:00 pm in the Paly Library instructional space (Room 541 on this map). Our group will have the entire airy library at our disposal for our enjoyable discussion of these engaging memoirs. My goal as the book club's facilitator is to provide structure and guidance. We will teach each about these memoirs' strengths and weaknesses and their ability to connect with our lives and our world. -Rachel Kellerman, Palo Alto Adult School Instructor rkellerman@pausd.org