Our Book Club is Reading
Join us the last Wednesday of January, March, May, July, September and November to discuss our current book.
Remarkably bright creatures : a novel
Van Pelt, Shelby, author
2022
Ducks : two years in the oil sands
Beaton, Kate, 1983-, author, illustrator
2022
Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta's oil rush-part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in the homeland they love so much. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands, where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet is never discussed. Beaton's natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, northern lights, and boreal forest.
Finding me
Davis, Viola, 1965-, author
2022
This is Viola Davis' story, in her own words, and spans her incredible, inspiring life, from her coming-of-age in Rhode Island to her present day. Hers is a story of overcoming, a true hero's journey.
The forgotten home child
Graham, Genevieve, author
2020
At ninety-seven years old, Winnifred Ellis knows she doesn't have much time left. When her great grandson Jamie asks about his family tree, Winnifred can't lie any longer. England, 1936 Fifteen-year-old Winny has never known a real home. After running away from an abusive stepfather, she falls in with Mary and Jack and their ragtag group of friends roaming the streets of Liverpool. Winny and Mary are caught and placed in Dr. Barnardo's Barkingside Home for Girls. There, Winny learns they're being sent to a faraway place called Canada, where families eagerly await them. But when they arrive, Winny is sent to live with a family who want an indentured servant to work on their farm. Faced with this harsh new reality, Winny clings to the hope that she will someday find her friends again.
Lessons in chemistry
Garmus, Bonnie, author
2022
Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. But it's the 1960s and despite the fact that she is a scientist, her peers are very unscientific when it comes to equality. As events are never as predictable as chemical reactions, three years after meeting Calvin, a legend and Nobel nominee, Elizabeth is an unwed, single mother and the star of America's most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth's singular approach to cooking and independent example are proving revolutionary. Because Elizabeth isn't just teaching women how to cook, she's teaching them how to change the status quo.
The women
Hannah, Kristin, author
2024
"Women can be heroes." When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.