Event List

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP 2024-2025 

The Great Believer by Rebecca Makkai - presented by NBPL Foundation

April 9, 2025

In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for a Chicago art gallery, is about to pull off a coup, bringing an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDs epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico’s funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico’s little sister. Thirty years later, Fiona is in Paris tracking down her estranged daughter who disappeared into a cult. Yale and Fiona’s intertwining stories take us through the heartbreak of 80’s and the chaos of the modern world, as both struggles to find goodness amid disaster.

 Meeting Details:

• Friends Room, Central Library, 1000 Avocado Avenue, Newport Beach, CA
• 2nd Wednesday of the month / September to May
• 9:30am - 11:00am / doors open at 9:15am
• FREE (a suggested donation of $10.00 is always appreciated)
• No Reservations required
• Come whether you’ve read the book or not as The Group is kind, curious, and engaging!  

The Book Discussion Group members select, read, and discuss 9-10 books per year. This active and dynamic Group meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month from 9:30am - 11:00am in the Friends Room at the Central Library. All are welcome whether you’ve read the book or not and the program is FREE. Refreshments are provided and the books are available through the Newport Beach Public Library.

For detailed 2024-2025 Book Discussion Group reading list: https://nbplf.foundation/programs/book-discussion-group/