When I read, it feels like I’m meeting new people.
Sometimes in college, I would stay inside while friends would go to a party or dinner, just to see what happened to the characters. Once I walked from the Harvard T stop directly into the Sheraton Commander Hotel lobby to sit and finish the last page of East of Eden. I could not wait until I got home.
"With more time at home right now, many of us are turning to books to calm our nerves, learn something new or simply escape the sobering facts and magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic. While we are all socially distant, we are paradoxically deeply connected through this shared experience."
For PEMreads, the museum’s book club, we are connecting online and hosting our first virtual event on Wednesday, May 20 from 4:30–5:30 pm. We will discuss The Buddha in the Attic, an award-winning novel by celebrated author Julie Otsuka. All are welcome to participate in this virtual conversation and we will send more details once you RSVP.
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka. Courtesy photo.
Four times a year, a group of members, patrons, staff and neighbors get together to discuss a book that they democratically select. Susan Robie, a PEM Overseer, is an avid reader and wanted to launch this book club as a way to gather new friends to discuss novels that link to PEM’s mission in some way.
A regular PEMreads attendee and GenPEM member Kim Parker, a Salem public school teacher, shares: “PEM is one of the most important meeting places for me in my community. I am grateful to be a part of PEMreads. Reading and talking about books with the other members enriches my own reading experience because I am able to hear how other members register the book through their own individual experiences and values. Exploring literature with other thoughtful members of the community allows us to not just experience the richness of the authors’ work but to experience the richness of our own community.”
PEMreads is one of my favorite projects. I get to read another book and connect with our PEM community in an authentic way. I hear what others think about the characters and how themes relate to a PEM exhibition, collection area or program. For two PEMreads gatherings, we held exhibition tours prior to our discussion, one with EIMA member and PEM guide Walter Meibaum, and the other with Lydia Gordon, PEM’s Associate Curator for Exhibitions and Research. We’ve hosted Tedi Asher, PEM’s neuroscience researcher, along with curators, executive team members, Native American Fellows, library staff and Mary Kennedy, the wife of PEM Director Brian Kennedy. It’s such a wonderful combination of people from the PEM community that might otherwise not cross paths in this way.
In addition to reading, many of us have turned to online platforms for social connection. On April 23, I co-hosted a Q&A session with producer and director DeMane Davis. This virtual event for our GenPEM community was co-hosted with PEM’s Curator of the Present Trevor Smith. During this conversation, we heard about Davis’ work as a producer and director of Self Made, a miniseries that aired on Netflix March 20. For those of you looking for a new show, I highly recommend it. Afterward, watch the Q&A for insight into Davis’ artistic process.
Join us Wednesday, May 20 to discuss The Buddha in the Attic. We hope you take our reading list and make it your own:
August 2, 2017 Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
October 4, 2017 Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
December 6, 2017 Georgia by Dawn Tripp
March 28, 2017 Sapiens by Yuval Noah Sapiens
June 20, 2018 Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chang
August 8, 2018 The Aesthetic Brain by Anjan Chatterjee
September 26, 2018 The Art of Rivalry by Sebastian Smee
December 12, 2018 Wade in the Water: Poems by Tracy K. Smith
February 13, 2019 Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
May 15, 2019 Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
August 21, 2019 There, There: a Novel by Tommy Orange
November 13, 2019 Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
February 5, 2020 The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
May 20, 2020 The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
The PEM staff wishes everyone health, safety and calm during the COVID-19 shutdown. Museums provide light and inspiration during challenging times. We will be creative in maintaining PEM’s relationship with you in this time of crisis. We look forward to welcoming you back to the museum when the public health crisis has subsided. For more information and updates, please visit pem.org and keep in touch through our
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