CCR Book Club - February 22, 2026

In February the CCR Book Club is going to discuss "The Personal Librarian" by M. Benedict & V. C. Murray. This historical fiction tells the story of J.P. Morgan’s real personal librarian, a famous and wealthy "career woman" in New York society in the early 20th century who "passed" as white. Known as Belle Da Costa Greene, she walked the tightrope between maintaining the impression her mother wanted to create that they had no African American heritage and her links to her father, an equality advocate and the first black American to graduate from Harvard.

When: Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026

Time: 1 p.m.
Where: Private residence of CCR member. Exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 
Potluck: Please let Lucy know what food you'll be bringing.
Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.

CCR Book Club - January 24, 2026

At this luncheon meeting, the reading group will discuss their first book choice of the new year, "Perfection" by Vincenzo Latronico. This novel was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize and is available in both its original Italian version ("Le Perfezioni") and in the English version translated by Sophie Hughes.

When: Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026

Time: 1 p.m.

Where: Private residence of CCR member (Quartiere Trieste). Exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 

Potluck: Please let Lucy know what food you'll be bringing.

Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.

CCR Book Club - December 14, 2025

NB: Full/wait list open.

The CCR Book Club's Christmas-themed gathering will be a jovial lunchtime potluck around a discussion of the novel "The Berry Pickers" by Amanda Peters. In this story, a four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, in a mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years. Themes include the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.

When: Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025

Time: 1 p.m.

Where: Private residence of CCR member (Villa Pamphili area). Exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 

Potluck: Please let Lucy know what food you'll be bringing.

Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.

CCR Book Club & Author Chat - November 16, 2025

CCR members and friends already know that a special exhibition of Italian and Canadian artist Sveva Caetani's work is currently underway at Rome's MAXXI museum, and for the November book pick the CCR Book Club has chosen "Little Fortress," written by Laisha Rosnau, who is an award-winning Canadian poet and the executive director of the Caetani Centre in Vernon, British Columbia. The novel tells the story of the family's life when leaving their noble origins in Italy, during the years of isolation in their Vernon home after the death of Sveva's father, and Sveva's artistic rebirth later in life.

This month the meeting format will be an afternoon tea/early aperitivo in order to accommodate a videocall with Laisha, who will be in Vancouver, joining the meeting remotely at 4 p.m.

When: Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025

Time: meeting at 3:30 p.m., starting videocall with the author at 4 p.m.

Where: Private residence of CCR member (Monteverde Vecchio). Exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 

Potluck: Please let Lucy know what food you'll be bringing.

Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.

CCR Book Club - October 26, 2025

The October book pick is "Creation Lake" by Rachel Kushner.

When: Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025

Time: 1 p.m.

Where: Private residence of CCR member -- Colli della Serpentara area; exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 

Potluck: Please let Lucy know what food you'll be bringing.

Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.

CCR Book Club - June 19, 2025

At the June meeting, the CCR Book Club is going to discuss "The Safekeep" by Yael van der Woudent over an early evening aperitivo potluck. The Guardian review says "an outsider shatters the quiet domestic life of a lonely young woman in this thrilling debut set in post Nazi-era Netherlands."

When: Thursday, June 19, 2025

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Where: Private residence of CCR member -- Flaminio area; exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 

Potluck: Please let Lucy know what finger food you'll be bringing.

Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.

CCR Book Club - April 28, 2025

The next book club meeting will take place at the aperitivo hour! The group is going to discuss "This Strange Eventful History" by Claire Messud.

When: Monday, Apr. 28, 2025

Time: 6 p.m.

Where: Private residence of CCR member -- Esquilino area; exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 

Potluck: Please let Lucy know what finger food you'll be bringing.

Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.

CCR Book Club - March 23, 2025

"Long Island" by Colm Tóibín is a sequel to his 2009 novel "Brooklyn" about the challenges and opportunities encountered by an woman who immigrates to New York from a small town in Ireland in the 1950s. The 2024 novel, set 20 years after the first, finds the protagonist faced with difficult choices and a visit back to her homeland.

When: Sunday, Mar. 23, 2025

Time: 1 p.m.

Where: Private residence of CCR member -- Piazza Zama area; exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 

Potluck: Please let Lucy know what you'll be bringing.

Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.

CCR Book Club - January 26, 2025

"The Glassmaker" by Tracy Chevalier is the novel chosen for discussion in January. The Guardian review calls it a "time-skipping Venetian tour de force."

When: Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025

Time: 1 p.m.

Where: Private residence of CCR member; exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 

Potluck: Please let Lucy know what you'll be bringing.

Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.