Dear Great Book Guru,   With the upcoming Presidents’ Week holiday, I am looking forward to plenty of time for some really good reading.  Someone told me about a joint book club sponsored by  the PBS NewsHour and the New York Times. I would love to have some directed reading, but I don’t know the book that has been chosen.  Are you familiar with this program?

Presidential Week Reader

Dear Presidential Reader,  I just finished the PBS/NYTimes selection for February: KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann and it is an exceptionally compelling book. In the 1920’s, members of the Osage Indian nation were the richest people in the entire world. The land they lived on in Oklahoma was a fantastically vast source of oil and their lives were incredibly enriched  by this until…. suddenly leaders of the tribe began dying unexpectedly- there were murders, poisonings, shootings.  What was going on in this last refuge of the Wild West?  The newly formed FBI took the case on under the direction of its  young  director J. Edgar Hoover.  The story of this scandal and the early days of the FBI  makes for a fascinating read and a horrifying look into our national original sin. The treatment of  Native Americans and the role the FBI attempted to play in remedying these outrageous injustices makes for a sobering read.  Highly recommended!