Welcome to Los Alamos Branch
AAUW New Mexico
"Empowering Women
to take charge of their lives"

Contact us at: aauw@aauw-nm.org

The only requirement for a book to be chosen is the enthusiastic recommendation of one or more members.  Individual members volunteer to provide background research and lead the discussion.  The evening and daytime meetings read the same book.
Rozelle Wright is the contact.

Date	Book/Author	Hostess	Reviewer
Aug 23, 2009 3:00pm	book selection meeting	Carol Neal, 3451 Urban St.
Sept 14, 7:30pm	The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer	Chris Sierk 4640 Ridgeway	Mary Ann Lindahl
Sept 15, 2pm	The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer	Veronica Encinas-Saumon 416 Cheryl	Mary Ann Lindahl
Oct 5, 7:30pm	The Hearts of Horses Molly Gloss	Nina Thayer at Aspen Ridge	Rozelle Wright
Oct 6, 2pm	The Hearts of Horses Molly Gloss	Marilyn Minshall 536 Brighton	Rozelle Wright
Nov 2, 7:30pm	The Madonnas of Leningrad Debra Dean	Carroll Thomas 115 La Senda	Karin Roberts
Nov 3, 2pm	The Madonnas of Leningrad Debra Dean	Nina Thayer 1707 Solana	Sue Watts
Dec 7, 7:30pm	Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte	Doris Lodwig 79 Mesa Verde	Pat Mendius
Dec 8, 2pm	Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte	Linda McLellan 422 Connie	Pat Mendius
Feb 1, 7:30pm 2010	The Story of Edgar Sawtelle David Wroblewski	Pat Mendius 124 Rover	Mary Jane Giesler
Feb 2, 2pm	The Story of Edgar Sawtelle David Wroblewski	Jenny Bishop 114 Alhambra	Mary Jane Giesler
Feb 23, 2pm	Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte (snow day make-up session)	Nina Thayer 1707 Solana	Pat Mendius
Mar 1, 7:30pm	Sor Juana's Second Dream Alicia Gaspar de Alba	Karin Roberts 415 Cheryl
Mar 2, 2pm	Sor Juana's Second Dream Alicia Gaspar de Alba	Alahna Weller 2 Cherokee Lane	Marilyn Thayer
Apr 5, 7:30pm	The House at Riverton Kate Morton	Mary Ann Lindahl 201 San Juan	Veronica Encinas
Apr 6, 2pm	The House at Riverton Kate Morton	Library at Aspen Ridge	Veronica Encinas
May 3, 7:30pm	Out Stealing Horses Per Petterson	Nina Thayer 1707 Solana	Denise George
May 4, 2pm	Out Stealing Horses Per Petterson	Helena Whyte 100 El Morro	Rozelle Wright

This group meets every other month on a Monday at 7:30pm. 

Date	Book	Hostess	Discussion Leader
Aug 17	The Soloist by Steve Lopez	Denise George 411 Cheryl	Denise George
Oct 19	Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver	Peggy Lazarus 2539 35th	Rozelle Wright
Jan 18 2010	The Reluctant Mr Darwin by David Quammen	Angela Coop 332 Aragon	Angela Coop
Mar 15	The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell	Rosmarie Frederickson 1372 47th St.	Lynn Jones
May 17	Playing the Enemy by John Carlin reissued at the same time as the movie under the title Invictus	Denise George 411 Cheryl	Denise George
July 19	From Berkeley to Beijing by Karen Kendall

From Publishers Weekly
The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
SignatureReviewed by Leslie ChangIn Outliers, Gladwell (The Tipping Point) once again proves masterful in a genre he essentially pioneered—the book that illuminates secret patterns behind everyday phenomena. His gift for spotting an intriguing mystery, luring the reader in, then gradually revealing his lessons in lucid prose, is on vivid display. Outliers begins with a provocative look at why certain five-year-old boys enjoy an advantage in ice hockey, and how these advantages accumulate over time. We learn what Bill Gates, the Beatles and Mozart had in common: along with talent and ambition, each enjoyed an unusual opportunity to intensively cultivate a skill that allowed them to rise above their peers. A detailed investigation of the unique culture and skills of Eastern European Jewish immigrants persuasively explains their rise in 20th-century New York, first in the garment trade and then in the legal profession. Through case studies ranging from Canadian junior hockey champions to the robber barons of the Gilded Age, from Asian math whizzes to software entrepreneurs to the rise of his own family in Jamaica, Gladwell tears down the myth of individual merit to explore how culture, circumstance, timing, birth and luck account for success—and how historical legacies can hold others back despite ample individual gifts. Even as we know how many of these stories end, Gladwell restores the suspense and serendipity to these narratives that make them fresh and surprising.One hazard of this genre is glibness. In seeking to understand why Asian children score higher on math tests, Gladwell explores the persistence and painstaking labor required to cultivate rice as it has been done in East Asia for thousands of years; though fascinating in its details, the study does not prove that a rice-growing heritage explains math prowess, as Gladwell asserts. Another pitfall is the urge to state the obvious: No one, Gladwell concludes in a chapter comparing a high-IQ failure named Chris Langan with the brilliantly successful J. Robert Oppenheimer, not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires and not even geniuses—ever makes it alone. But who in this day and age believes that a high intelligence quotient in itself promises success? In structuring his book against that assumption, Gladwell has set up a decidedly flimsy straw man. In the end it is the seemingly airtight nature of Gladwell's arguments that works against him. His conclusions are built almost exclusively on the findings of others—sociologists, psychologists, economists, historians—yet he rarely delves into the methodology behind those studies. And he is free to cherry-pick those cases that best illustrate his points; one is always left wondering about the data he evaluated and rejected because it did not support his argument, or perhaps contradicted it altogether. Real life is seldom as neat as it appears in a Malcolm Gladwell book. (Nov.)Leslie T. Chang is the author of Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China (Spiegel & Grau).
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Playing the Enemy by John Carlin
In June 1995, Nelson Mandela conquered the hearts of white South Africa and united his country, black and white, behind their rugby team. This book tells the extraordinary story of the journey to that moment. As the day of the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup dawned, and the Springboks faced New Zealand's all-conquering All Blacks, more was at stake than a sporting trophy. When Nelson Mandela appeared wearing a Springboks jersey and led the all-white Afrikaner-dominated team in singing South Africa's new national anthem, he conquered the hearts of white South Africa. "Playing the Enemy" tells the extraordinary human story of how that moment became possible. It shows how a sport, once the preserve of South Africa's Afrikaans-speaking minority, came to unify the new rainbow nation, and tells of how - just occasionally - something as simple as a game really can help people to rise above themselves and see beyond their differences.

The Foreign Policy Association is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization.  Since 1981 it has endeavored to help Americans gain an understanding of important issues in our foreign policy and to stimulate constructive citizen participation in world affairs.  Each year it publishes a book with eight topics for study and discussion.  Opinion ballots included in the book are returned to the Association for tabulation and, ultimately, a national report is sent to the President, Congress, the departments of State and Defense, and the national media.  The group meets eight times between January and May in the morning.  Carroll Thomas is the contact for the daytime group.  Helena Whyte is the contact for the evening group.

2010 Evening Great Decisions:  All meetings are from 7:30 - 9:00.

Date	Topic	Hostess/Leader
Feb 8	#5 Global financial crisis	Helena Whyte
Feb 11
Feb 25	#8 Enhancing Security through Peacebuilding	Marilyn Minshall
Mar 11
Mar 25
Apr  8
Apr  22
May 13

Natalie would like to lead #2 Kenya.
Rosmarie would like to lead #4 China or #6 Persia  -- dates not set yet


2010 Daytime Great Decisions:  All meetings (except for last) are the Mesa Public Library, 10-noon, second and fourth Mondays.

Date	Topic and Leader	Leader
January 11	Organizational Meeting
January 25	#5 global financial crisis	Carroll Thomas
Feb 8	#3 Transnational Crime	Denise George
Feb 22	#7 U.S. and the Persian Gulf	?
Mar 8	#1 Special Envoy in American Foreign Policy	Marilyn Petschek and Peggy Lazarus
Mar 22	# 4 China	Angela Coop and Karin Roberts
Apr 12	#6 Europe's 'far east'	Nancy Bearss and Marilyn Doolen
Apr 26	#2 Kenya	Evelyn Petschek and Brigitte Graser
May 10 (potluck at Denise George's, 411 Cheryl)	#8 Enhancing Security through Peacebuilding	Thelma Hahn

Also known as the Gourmet Group, this group lives to eat.  Members study other cultures and explore the associated cuisine.  Each topic is crowned by a sumptuous feast prepared by the members. this is the one study group where spouses and others regularly participate. Marilyn Minshall is the contact.  All dinners are at 6:00pm.
  

Date and theme	Hostess	Committee
Nov 14, French Alps	Marilyn Minshall 536 Brighton	Lindahl, Whyte
Jan 23, 2010, Alaskan		Wecksung, Cooper
March 6, Chinese	Mona Wecksung 161 El Corto	Giesler, Lisowski
April 24, Light and Modern		Shaner, Weller

Players in this yearly tournament contribute $20 to join.  When the scores are totaled a the end of the year, the top scorer is awarded a prize.  All money is contributed to the Branch EF fund. 
The tournament quietly but steadily makes about $200 a year for EF. If you are interested in playing this year or being a substitute this year, please contact Jane Sherwood.