Book Social

This is a spirited discussion about books of all kinds, including current books and past favorites. We have a book of the month to read for consideration, however you should show up even if you don't get it read; we always have a great talk. In addition we usually confer about other things that happen to cross our minds such as movies and TV shows. The group is always looking for something new that will stretch the mind, so bring it on in!

Physical location will be the Denny's at 3456 West Bethany Home Road in Phoenix at 7:00pm on the third Tuesday of the month for the time being. If it all works out, we'll stay for a while. There will be parallel Zoom meetings run from Randall's tablet at the dinner table. The Zoom session will actually open at about 6:30pm, but we have given an official start time of 7:00pm. Contact Randall via books@CASFS.org with questions or post to the CASFS Book & Media Social Facebook group.

CASFS Book and Media Social - Second Half of 2026 Book List

July 21, 2026 – The Way Home by Peter S. Beagle

From Amazon.com, “The Last Unicorn is one of fantasy’s most revered classics, beloved by generations of readers and with millions of copies in print. Revisiting the world of that novel, Beagle’s long-awaited Hugo and Nebula-Awards-winning “Two Hearts” introduced the irrepressible Sooz on a quest to save her village from a griffin, and explored the bonds she formed with unforgettable characters like the wise and wonderful Molly Grue and Schmendrick the Magician. In the never-before-published “Sooz,” the events of “Two Hearts” are years behind its narrator, but a perilous journey lies ahead of her, in a story that is at once a tender meditation on love and loss, and a lesson in finding your true self.”

Time: Jul 21, 2026 06:30 PM Arizona

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85008702314?pwd=a5Am59PziDtBIObvlaHvrvx2JdakwD.1

Meeting ID: 850 0870 2314 Passcode: 529560

August 18, 2026 – Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster

From Amazon.com, “Jonathan Thomas Meriweather is a typical college student, interested in girls, music, and an occasional taste of reefer. But when a journey through an interdimensional portal lands him in a world of talking animals and ominous sorcery, he finds he is on a very different trip indeed. Here, when he plays a strange instrument called a duar, peculiar things happen: powerful magic that may be the only way to stop a dark force that threatens his new world—and his old one. Reluctantly, he finds himself teaming up with a semi-senile turtle wizard; a thieving, backstabbing otter; and a bewildered Marxist dragon to rally an army for the war about to come. Spellsinger, the first in Alan Dean Foster's eight-book Spellsinger series, introduces a world of magic and mayhem, where animals are people and plunging ahead no matter what the consequences may be the only way to survive.”

Time: Aug 18, 2026 06:30 PM Arizona

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84602425846?pwd=d0aI0Ob58PDb2tthMMU4wZ1bWB3iL5.1

Meeting ID: 846 0242 5846 Passcode: 104934

September 15, 2026 – His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain’s defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons. When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

Time: Sep 15, 2026 06:30 PM Arizona

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84419553619?pwd=CU0Haz3hkrdkLnedG1z8WwZ1dhLI91.1

Meeting ID: 844 1955 3619 Passcode: 631670

October 20, 2026 – An Evening of Edgar Allen Poe starring Vincent Price and directed by Kenneth Johnson

In this one-hour featurette from 1970, Vincent price performs four of Edgar Allen Poe’s best known short stories: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Sphynx, The Cask of Amontillado and The Pit and the Pendulum. There are multiple copies up on YouTube. We can talk about Vincent Price’s long relationship with Poe stories and all the strange liberties taken by Roger Corman. The horror comedy The Raven is a fine companion piece.

Time: Oct 20, 2026 06:30 PM Arizona

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87843295089?pwd=14GU1xkjNRQSa1pzUfsZn4CEcp2HFJ.1

Meeting ID: 878 4329 5089 Passcode: 648435

November 17, 2026 – Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

From Amazon.com, “A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible. In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground. The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe. Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style. You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big. You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game - with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy. They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.”

Time: Nov 17, 2026 06:30 PM Arizona

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86908460732?pwd=CZp8XrqP2kX5PHbvsjkd9Vwx3tueh4.1

Meeting ID: 869 0846 0732 Passcode: 371394

December 15, 2026 – Ringworld by Larry Niven

From Amazon.com, “Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel, RINGWORLD remains a favorite among science fiction readers." Louis Wu, accompanied by a young woman with genes for luck, and a captured kzin – a warlike species resembling 8-foot-tall cats -- are taken on a space ship run by a brilliant 2-headed alien called Nessus. Their destination is the Ringworld, an artificially constructed ring with high walls that hold 3 million times the area of Earth. Its origins are shrouded in mystery.

Time: Dec 15, 2026 06:30 PM Arizona

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87360931351?pwd=vjargUn4bBU1OuTtwdbDtKwlSTlREj.1

Meeting ID: 873 6093 1351 Passcode: 015110

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