Book Talk’s choice for its October 10 meeting is “The Final Solution” by Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Michael Chabon. The group meets at 7:00 pm, at Donald W. Reynolds Library in Durant.
Dr. Alexa Smith-Osborne, a therapist in private practice, will lead the discussion.
The October book selection features a puzzle concerning a nineyear- old mute boy who has escaped from Nazi Germany with his African gray parrot that speaks mysterious strings of German numbers. A top-secret SS code, perhaps? The numbers of Swiss bank accounts? Or something else?
Looking into the mystery is an 89-year-old man, rumored to be a once-famous detective, who has retired to the English countryside, where he focuses on his beekeeping hobby.
The real solution may be beyond even the remarkable investigative abilities of the old sleuth.
Book Talk’s next meeting is November 14, when retired educator Phyllis Rustin will lead a discussion of “Mean Spirit” by Linda Hogan.
The discussion group meets the second Thursday of each month except December and the summer months. The public is welcome at its discussions. Copies of Book Talk selections can be purchased at the library’s service desk.
Before opening her private psychotherapy offices in north Texas and southeast Oklahoma, Dr. Smith-Osborne retired from the University of Texas at Arlington, where she was a full Professor and held the endowed Chair of Mental Health. She has also been a clinical social worker at a hearing and speech agency and at mental health clinics in the state of Maryland.
She is especially interested in interventions to help vulnerable populations, such as traumatized children and military veterans, and has presented papers in these areas at numerous academic conferences.
Dr. Smith-Osborne holds the MSW and Ph.D. degrees in social work from the University of Maryland, as well as the B.A. degree in English/Psychology/Sociology from the University of Virginia (UVA). She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society and was an Echols Scholar at UVA.
