Need a good AUDIO book? Check out the library table at each general meeting. Your support and $5 donation benefits our local scholarships given each year. To discuss books, join our Reading and the Rainbow group.

With so many ways to listen to a great variety of books and thus double your "reading" time, take advantage of AAUW's audio book groups. The Book Cassette groups have been going for more than 10 years. Some 30 members rotate chosen books on a specific schedule every six weeks. At the conclusion, members meet to discuss the books and to choose their new cycle. Each member purchases a book-on-tape or CD and receives the book back at the end of the cycle. The member then keeps the book, or loans it to the AAUW book-on-tape rental table (with those funds going for scholarships), or donates the book to Smiley Library (for a possible tax write-off).

Nationally, AAUW has many programs and resources with an international focus. One is the “Women in the World” International Affairs Committee Reading List. This list of suggested books is an introduction to the stories and experiences of women around the globe. Another resource is One Shared World, a partner which connects American women to the many public and private efforts that help people in developing countries overcome poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease. For links to these items and a complete list of international resources from AAUW, go to www.aauw.org/international_corner.

The bridge groups are underway - daytime Mon. and Wed., evening Mon. and Sat. There is still space available in some of the groups, and there has been interest in starting another daytime group. Bridge is a game----have fun!---but practice is the key to improvement. Our branch has many types of groups in place for those interested in playing bridge. We meet daytimes and evenings, weekdays and Saturdays.

If you already have the basics (you can count your hand and know the rank of the suits, know the bidding "ladder", feel comfortable with opening bids and keyed responses, and know about scoring and game bids) but want assistance with bidding to game or slam, counting winners and losers, improving responses, opening leads, common conventions, and play strategies, Part 2 is for you. Each session will start with a short explanation of a particular strategy/convention, followed by practice with fixed hands where you can practice the technique, and finishing with general play. It will flow like a guided evening of party bridge where questions can be asked---and hopefully answered.

AAUW has many ways for women to learn more about what is going on in the world and to get involved, both on the local and national level. Locally, our branch has two interest groups which focus on becoming more informed citizens of the world: International Relations and Great Decisions. A great year of stimulating discussions. Great Decisions is the local chapter of the Foreign Policy Association and is a fascinating discussion group of AAUW. Every year the Foreign Policy Association publishes a study book of eight articles and also videos containing interviews. These are available at the end of January.

Our discussion sessions meet for 8 weeks starting the first week in February, with both evening and daytime groups. The past year's topics were:
1. Rebuilding Haiti, 2. U. S. National Security: 10 Years After 9/11., 3. Horn of Africa, 4. Responding to the Financial Crisis, Ascendant Germany, 6. Sanctions and Nonproliferation, 7. Crisis in the Caucasus, 8. Global Governance.

Our group sets up a series of topics presented by members and we have a grand time discussing all aspects of the subject. Lunch time weekday meetings generally 4th Wednesdays every month. We meet at Trinity Episcopal Church, corner of Fourth and Fern streets, in the classroom off the back parking lot. Some members come at noon with brown bag or salad purchased from a local eatery, and at 12:30 our chatting stops and we turn our attention to the day’s facilitator to lead us in a presentation and discussion.

Our meetings this year: Oct. 26, Nov. 17, Jan. 25, Feb. 22, Mar. 28, April 25, May 23, June 27 (Annual Planning luncheon at Marie Callender's Restaurant)

11:30 - 2:00 p.m. University Club, Univ. of Redlands. $14.

Our meetings 2011/12: Oct. 18, Nov. 8, Jan. 10, Feb. 14, Mar. 13, Apr. 10, May 8