Posted by Alex Dunn on
Are you part of a book club or looking to start one? The Beauty of Us by Farzana Doctor makes a great book club pick! A campus YA novel with a diverse cast of characters. Evoking elements of My Dark Vanessa (Kate Elizabeth Russell) and The Red Word (Sarah Henstra), this novel unravels the complexities of consent, racism, power dynamics, social anxiety, and the struggles with sexuality that so many teens face in an accessible and story-forward way. Book Club Questions How do the alternating perspectives in the novel affect how you feel about the story? What did you like or dislike...
Posted by Caroline Suzuki on
Are you part of a book club or looking to start one? Far Creek Road by Lesley Krueger makes a great book club pick! Tink Parker is an adventurous, nosy, and very funny nine-year-old living a happy suburban life. But it’s 1962. The Cold War is slowly building toward the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world is in danger of ending, and Tink’s innocence comes under threat as she stumbles on neighborhood secrets and affairs. Book Club Questions Far Creek Road begins as Tink Parker makes friends with eight-year-old Norman, who has just moved into her suburban neighborhood. What do you think of Tink...
Posted by Caroline Suzuki on
Are you part of a book club or looking to start one? Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue by Christine Higdon makes a great book club pick! Four working-class Vancouver sisters, still reeling from the impact of World War I and the pandemic that stole their only brother, are scraping by but attempting to make the most of the exciting 1920s. Gin, Turpentine, Pennyroyal, Rue is a love story — but like all love stories, it’s complicated … Book Club Questions Why did the author choose the words gin, turpentine, pennyroyal, and rue for the title of this book? What does the book say about “family”? How...
Posted by Alex Dunn on
Are you part of a book club or looking to start one? As Little As Nothing by Pamela Mulloy makes a great book club pick! In the tumultuous year before WWII breaks out, a plane crashes on an English country lane and four people are brought together in the aftermath. The novel uses its interplay of voices to explore early feminism and resilience, the strength of new bonds, and the various ways we reinvent ourselves. Book Club Questions Instead of focusing on the war itself as so many historical novels do, Mulloy has chosen to set As Little as Nothing in...
Posted by Alex Dunn on
Are you part of a book club or looking to start one? Same Ground by Russell Wangersky makes a great book club pick! A personal tale of parallel journeys separated by almost two centuries — by car, in Wangersky’s case, and on mule and foot in the case of his great-great-grandfather William Castle Dodge. Book Club Questions Same Ground is many things — a modern-day odyssey looking for roots and belonging, a portrait of contemporary heartland America, a quintessential North American road trip. Did one aspect resonate with you most? If so, which one and why? Have you ever taken a crazy...