Burlingame & San Mateo 20's-30's-40's

"The Nightingale" is being adapted into a movie starring Dakota Fanning and Elle Fanning - let's read and discuss the historical fiction novel by Kristin Hannah before the movie comes out! There are several copies available at the library so it should be easy to get.

The location is TBD but will be in the Burlingame/San Mateo/Foster City area. We'll decide after the October meeting!

Everyone will be waitlisted initially. Priority will be given to previous attendees of book club and regular attendees of the group. For details on attendance & waitlist, please see the "About us" description for the group.

Book Summary - "The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah
Publication Year: 2015
Page Count: 440

Despite their differences, Vianne and Isabelle have always been close. Younger, bolder Isabelle lives in Paris, while Vianne is content with life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their child. But when the Second World War breaks out and Antoine is conscripted to fight, Isabelle is sent to the country by her father to help Vianne.

As war develops, the strength of the sisters' relationship is put to the test. With life changing, and confronted by unbelievable horrors, Vianne and Isabelle find themselves responding in ways they never thought possible, as bravery and resistance take differing forms for each of the two sisters.

Vivid and exquisite in its illumination of a time and place defined by atrocity, but also humanity and courage, Kristin Hannah's novel will provoke thought and discussion long after readers turn the final page.

It's been a while since we read nonfiction! With the documentary "You Can See Everything" being so popular, let's read and discuss "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup" by John Carreyrou. There are several copies available at the library so it should be easy to get.

The location is TBD but will be in the Burlingame/San Mateo/Foster City area. We'll decide after the November meeting!

Everyone will be waitlisted initially. Priority will be given to previous attendees of book club and regular attendees of the group. For details on attendance & waitlist, please see the "About us" description for the group. If you feel you have been waitlisted repeatedly for book club, feel free to send me a DM.

Book Summary - "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup" by John Carreyrou
Publication Year: 2018
Page Count: 339

The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face of pressure and threats from the CEO and her lawyers.

In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion, putting Holmes's worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn't work.

For years, Holmes had been misleading investors, FDA officials, and her own employees. When Carreyrou, working at The Wall Street Journal, got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions, both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits. Undaunted, the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015. By early 2017, the company's value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors.

Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.