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Gig Harbor Literary Society December

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 3rd at 6:00 pm at the Harbor History Museum. The book for our December meeting is Before the Wind by Jim Lynch.

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Joshua Johannssen has spent all of his life surrounded by sailboats. His grandfather designed them, his father built and raced them, his Einstein-obsessed mother knows why and how they work (or not). For Josh and his two siblings, their backyard was the Puget Sound and sailing their DNA. But both his sister and brother fled many years ago: Ruby to Africa and elsewhere to do good works on land, and Bernard to god-knows-where at sea, a fugitive and pirate. Suddenly thirty-one, Josh—who repairs boats of all kinds in a Steinbeckian marina south of Seattle—is pained and confused by whatever the hell went wrong with his volatile family. His parents are barely speaking, his mystified grandfather is drinking harder, and he himself—despite an endless and comic flurry of online dates—hasn’t even come close to finding a girlfriend. 

But when the Johannssens unexpectedly reunite for the most important race in these waters—all of them together on a classic vessel they made decades ago—they will be carried to destinies both individual and collective, and to a heart-shattering revelation. Past and present merge seamlessly and collide surprisingly as Jim Lynch reveals a family unlike any other, with the grace and humor and magic of a master storyteller.

 The book is available from the Gig Harbor branch of Pierce County Public Library. You can get a copy in one of several ways:

1. Call and identify yourself as a Gig Harbor Literary Society member and the staff will put a copy aside for you.

2. Request through the library website.

3. Request an electronic version through the Libby app on your device. (If you don't know how to do this, the library staff may be able to help.)

We look forward to hearing your thoughts. As always, even if you don't have a chance to read or listen to the book, join us. 
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This event is FREE and open to the public. For questions, please contact Cindy Hackett at cynthia.hale.hackett@gmail.com

Earlier Event: November 23
Donkey Creek Chum Walk