Monday Night Book Club's Picks!
Monday Night Book Club was established in September 2017, and has taken place the fourth Monday of the month for the past 6 years. The club started off meeting for one hour which quickly grew to almost two hours by the time we had been meeting for six months. We read a diverse selection of books which leads to many colourful and passionate debates, groans, tears, and belly laughs. The group is held together by a solid core of around 6 regulars, though roughly 20 others filter in and out. We have an annual Christmas dinner and have been known to go to the Wales Theatre if one of our books has been turned into a film. We continued our meetings via Zoom through thick and thin and were overjoyed to finally be back in person once we were able. It's been a lovely journey with the members and we all look forward to continuing for many years to come.
American dirt
Cummins, Jeanine, author
2020
Lydia Quixano Perez runs a bookstore in Acapulco. When Lydia's husband's tell-all profile of Javier, the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city, is published, none of their lives will ever be the same. Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia-trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier's reach doesn't extend.
The brain that changes itself : stories of personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science
Doidge, Norman, author
2007
A new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the old notion that the human brain is immutable. Psychoanalyst Doidge traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they've transformed--people whose mental limitations or brain damage were seen as unalterable. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety disorders successfully treated, and lifelong character traits changed. Using these stories to probe mysteries of the body, emotion, love, sex, culture, and education, Dr. Doidge has written an inspiring book that will permanently alter the way we look at our brains, human nature, and human potential.--From publisher description.
Good omens : the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter, witch
Gaiman, Neil, author
2019
The world will end on Saturday. Next Saturday. Just before dinner, according to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing, and everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Shaffer, Mary Ann, author
2008
As London is emerging from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton discovers her next subject in a book club on Guernsey--a club born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi after its members are discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island.
Killers of the Flower Moon : the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI
Grann, David, author
2017
Presents a true account of the early twentieth-century murders of dozens of wealthy Osage and law-enforcement officials, citing the contributions and missteps of a fledgling FBI that eventually uncovered one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.
The midnight library
Haig, Matt, 1975- author
2020
When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?
The red palace
Hur, June, author
2022
While investigating a series of grisly murders, eighteen-year-old palace nurse Hyeon navigates royal and political intrigue and becomes entangled with a young police inspector.
Salt to the sea
Sepetys, Ruta, author
2016
"Winter 1945. Four refugees. Four secrets. Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies, war. As thousands desperately flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom. But not all promises can be kept." -- Page [4] cover.
