Harpur Edge Book Club

Harpur Edge Book Club

Each year a text written by a Harpur College alumna/us or faculty member is selected and read and discussed by a group of students.

Almanac by Christine Gelineau

Almanac, Christine Gelineau
Almanac, Christine Gelineau

Decades into life on a Morgan horse farm in upstate New York, Almanac author Christine Gelineau focused on the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and one another, about the planet we all share, and on how these narratives shape our own identities, our communities and sense of national identity, and our attitudes and actions toward the environment. 

Framed by the seasons, Gelineau speaks to these vital conversations about what it can mean to be human in ways that are lyrical, practical, spiritual, and life-affirming. Almanac combines observations of iced-in alligators and newborn foals with prose poems evoking the natural world, gardening techniques learned from the Haudenosaunee, personal resilience in the face of long COVID and brain surgery, and urban versus rural perspectives on water rights and wind-turbine siting. It charts one person's journey into the inner and external worlds that will resonate with all readers dealing with these life-changing times.

How to participate:

All Harpur College students are eligible to participate in the Harpur Edge Book Club:

  • Participants must be able to attend an introductory meeting and the Q & A with the author. 

Book Club participants will receive a FREE copy of the selected text, lunch/snacks at meetings, and the opportunity to engage with the author. 

    • Meeting #1: Tuesday, March 3 | 6 - 7pm
      • Receive your copy of the text, engage in preparation discussion
      • Mocktails and cheese (and other snacks) provided
    • Meeting #2: Tuesday, April 14 | 5:30 - 7pm
      • Meet the author and discussion 
      • Lunch and Snacks provided

How to join:

Sign-up on B-Engaged. Space is limited

Register Today

For more information:

  • Previous Harpur Edge Book Club selections:
    • Unlucky Mel by Aggeliki Pelekidis
    • Made in China: A Memoir of Love and Labor by Anna Qu ('06)
    • The Sonic Color Line: Race and the Cultural Politics of Listening by Jennifer Lynn Stoever
    • The Weeping Time: Memory and the Largest Slave Auction in American History by Anne C. Bailey
    • Morning Altars: A 7 Step Practice to Nourish Your Spirit Through Nature, Art and Ritual. by Day Schildkret ‘00
    • The Feminist Revolution: The Struggle for Women's Liberation by Bonnie Morris ‘MA ’85, PhD ’88 and D-M Wither
    • Find Your Whistle by Chris Ullman ’86
    • Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of American College Campuses by Distinguished Service Professor Libby Tucker
    • The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant MA'75
    • The Laws of Gravity by Liz Rosenberg