Book Sisters
BOOK SISTERS meets Monday nights throughout the year at 6:30pm to 8pm in Room B5. Expect lively conversation as we review contemporary and classic books related to our lives and the world around us. Members volunteer to partner with one another to lead discussions. See upcoming Book Sisters dates and book selections below. Contact Sally Davies for more information or visit the Facebook private group and request to join.
The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe
Madeleine Force is just 17 when she attracts the attention of John Jacob Astor. Despite their 29-year age difference and the scandal of Astor’s recent divorce, Madeleine falls headlong into love and becomes the press’ favorite target. On their return from an extended honeymoon, aboard an opulent new ocean liner, the RMS Titanic hits an iceberg and four months later the young widow gives birth to a son. In the wake of the disaster, Madeleine’s most important decision is whether to accept the role assigned her or carve out her own path. Meeting January 9, 2023
Falling by TJ Newman
You just boarded a flight to New York with 143 other passengers onboard. What you don’t know is that 30 minutes before the flight, your pilot’s family was kidnapped. For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die. The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane. Enjoy the flight. Meeting February 20, 2023
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson
In Sweden, a kind of decluttering called döstädning, or “death cleaning,” is an invigorating process of clearing out unnecessary belongings. It can be undertaken at any age or life stage but should be done sooner than later, before others have to do it for you. Through a lens of humor and wisdom, readers learn to embrace minimalism, get comfortable with the idea of letting go, and explore a radical method for putting things in order that is uplifting rather than overwhelming. Meeting April 3, 2023
Where the Light Fell by Philip Yancey
Raised by an impoverished widow in 1950s Atlanta, Philip Yancey and his brother found ways to venture beyond the confines of their eight-food-wide trailer. But when Yancey was in college, he uncovered a shocking secret about his father’s death—a secret that illuminated the motivation that drove his mother to strident religious convictions. This family narrative is set against a turbulent time in post-World War II America, shaped by the collision of Southern fundamentalism with the civil rights movement and social change. Meeting May 15, 2023
West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
This emotional novel is inspired by the true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America. Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away until he learns giraffes are going extinct and recalls a 12-day road trip to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. The tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates. Meeting June 26, 2023
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
James A. Garfield was one of the most extraordinary men ever elected president. Born in poverty, he became a scholar, Civil War hero, and renowned congressman. Nominated for president against his will, he was elected in 1881, then only four months after his inauguration, was shot in the back by a deranged man. His shooting brought more turmoil to a country still suffering after the Civil War, as he struggled for power over his administration and even his medical care. Meeting August 7, 2023
Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer
Four siblings were raised by a single dad who is now suffering from dementia. The children are all grown now and have great love and respect for their dad and how he raised them. Young children when their mother died – in a car accident, they were told – they struggled with their relationships in their own extended families. While clearing out the family home, they find paintings and letters that cause them to question what really happened to their mother and search for answers from clues left behind that will explain their own struggles. Meeting September 18, 2023
Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler
The story of a heartbreaking, forbidden love in 1930s Kentucky and an unlikely modern-day friendship begins as 89-year-old Isabelle McAllister asks her hairdresser Dorrie to drive her from Texas to a funeral in Cincinnati. Isabelle later confesses that, as a willful teen, she fell in love with the son of her family’s black housekeeper. The tale of their forbidden relationship and its tragic consequences makes it clear that the history of Isabelle’s first and greatest love might help Dorrie find her own way. Meeting October 30, 2023
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner
Young Irish immigrant Sophie Whalen is so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and marries a San Francisco widower. But Martin’s odd behavior leaves her with the feeling that something isn’t right. A stranger sets in motion a chain of events as Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away. The fates of the three women intertwine on the eve of a devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear. Meeting December 11, 2023
Lunch Box Ladies
LUNCH BOX LADIES meets on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 11:30am until about 1:00pm in Room B21. We read and meet to discuss one book per month January-November. We do not meet in December.
Expect a lively discussion of the scheduled book. The facilitator will share information about the author and will prepare some discussion questions to get the ball rolling. Everyone is welcome to share their thoughts and comments about the book. Feel free to bring your own lunch to eat while we meet. Contact Kristina Stacey to join the book club.
The Husband’s Secret by Laine Moriarty
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret. Meeting January 19, 2023
I am a Girl from Africa by Elizabeth Nyamayaro.
A “profound and soul-nourishing memoir” (Oprah Daily) from an African girl whose near-death experience sparked a lifelong dedication to humanitarian work that helps bring change across the world. Meeting February 16, 2023
Island of the Sea Women by Lisa See
Follows the life of Mi-ja and Young-Sook, two girls from very different backgrounds as they begin working in the sea with their villages all female diving collective. Over many decades—through Japanese colonialism of the 1930’s and 1940’s, World War II, the Korean war, and the era of cell phones and wet suits for the women divers, the two women develop the closest of bonds. But after hundreds of dives and years of friendship, forces outside their control will push their relationship to the breaking point. Meeting March 16, 2023
Saving Savannah, by Tonya Bolden
Savannah is the daughter of upper class African-Americans in Washington D.C. Growing tired of the fancy parties, etc, Savannah meets Lloyd, a young West Indian man who shows her how the other half lives. Set against the backdrop of women’s rights movement, the Red Summer, and the anarchist bombings of 1919, it is the story of a girl who must decide how much she is willing to change in a world on the brink of dramatic transformation. Meeting April 20, 2023
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Set in New York City in 1938, Rules of Civility tells the story of a watershed year in the life of an uncompromising twenty-five-year-old named Katey Kontent. Armed with little more than a formidable intellect, a bracing wit, and her own brand of cool nerve, Katey embarks on a journey from a Wall Street secretarial pool through the upper echelons of New York society in search of a brighter future. Meeting May 18, 2023
West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes. Meeting June 22, 2023
The Address by Fiona Davis
“…a compelling novel about the thin lines between love and loss, success and ruin, passion and madness, all hidden behind the walls of The Dakota, New York City’s most famous residence.” Meeting July 20, 2023
The Book Women of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
Inspired by the true blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service of the 1930s, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is a story of raw courage, fierce strength, and one woman’s belief that books can carry us anywhere—even back home. August 17, 2023
Lightning Strike by William Kent Krueger
Aurora is a small town nestled in the ancient forest alongside the shores of Minnesota’s Iron Lake. In the summer of 1963, it is the whole world to twelve-year-old Cork O’Connor, its rhythms as familiar as his own heartbeat. But when Cork stumbles upon the body of a man he revered hanging from a tree in an abandoned logging camp, it is the first in a series of events that will cause him to question everything he took for granted about his hometown, his family, and himself. Meeting September 21, 2023
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni
Sam Hill always saw the world through different eyes. Born with red pupils, he was called “Devil Boy” or Sam “Hell” by his classmates; “God’s will” is what his mother called his ocular albinism. Her words were of little comfort, but Sam persevered, buoyed by his mother’s devout faith, his father’s practical wisdom, and his two other misfit friends.
Forty years later, Sam, a small-town eye doctor, is no longer certain anything was by design—especially not the tragedy that caused him to turn his back on his friends, his hometown, and the life he’d always known. Running from the pain, eyes closed, served little purpose. Now, as he looks back on his life, Sam embarks on a journey that will take him halfway around the world. This time, his eyes are wide open—bringing into clear view what changed him, defined him, and made him so afraid, until he can finally see what truly matters. Meeting October 19, 2023
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths to which she must go—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives. Meeting November 16, 2023
