Our Reading Selection for July 2015 is "The Russians: The Crown & The Crucible" by Michael Phillips & Judith Pella

A magnificent saga of love and war, of political conflict and imminent change, of two women-

Against the vast and formidable backdrop of pre-revolutionary Russia, the lives of two families become inextricably entwined.

Anna Yevnovna Burenin, a peasant girl from the tine village of Katyk, must leave the home she loved to work in a prince's palace in St. Petersburg, bringing her family's heritage of faith with her.

Anna's future is altered forever when she is thrust into the presence of the high-minded, spoiled Princess Katrina. But even as Anna's own life is changed, her faith exerts a transforming influence over the willful young princess.

But the life of protected royalty in St. Petersburg cannot be isolated forever from the forces that buffet the mighty Russian Empire. While grand dukes and their duchesses celebrate New Year's at the Tsar's legendary Winter Palace, revolution brews and war in the Balkans seems inevitable. Both peasant and princess face the prospect of their beloved Russia being torn apart by conflict within and without.

Caught in the crosscurrents of history, who will survive?

Our Reading Selection for June 2015 is "The Boys in the Boat..." by Daniel James Brown

For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin what true grit really meant.

It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself in the world. Drawing on the boys’ own journals and vivid memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man’s personal quest.