by Carolyn Bircher

The UMW reading program is being administered a little differently this year.  Instead of creating an all-new 2022 book list, the 2021 list is being expanded.  The new expansion has just come out.  From my perspective, it seems like a normal yearly list with lots of great books, except we get it in May instead of September! 

The newly added books are included at the end of the online Reading Program catalog, or you can find a list of titles for both 2020 and 2021 at UnitedMethodistWomen.org/readingprogram.  Look in the lower right-hand corner, under “Get lists by year,” click “2021 – Updated for 2021-2022.”  The new titles are highlighted. 

Also, we’ve added a list of the new books, including local public library availability, on our District UMW Reading Program page, https://elcaminorealumw.org/educate/reading-program/. 

Some other Reading Program changes for this year are:

• Books going back as far as 2015 can be counted for 2021 & 2022.
• Listening to two FaithTalk podcasts can be counted as one Spiritual Growth book.
• Three FaithTalk podcasts count as a Bonus Book in the Spiritual Growth category.
• Watching these movies/documentaries will count:  (I’m not sure yet which category.)
  • Just Mercy
  • The Hate U Give  
  • Pushout

Note: Some of these changes may not yet be reflected on the UMW Reading Program page. Please contact me if you have any questions.