SOTAREADING 2021-2024

Monday, November 25 Facilitator: Dolly Parker Finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction *  New York Times  Bestseller * Starred  Booklist  and  Library Journal  Editors’ Spring Pick * A  Huffington Post  Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year * One of the Best Books of the Month on  Goodreads * Library Journal  Best Sci-Tech Book of the Year * An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year “Sy Montgomery’s  The Soul of an Octopus  does for the creature what Helen Macdonald’s  H Is for Hawk  did for raptors.” — New Statesman , UK “One of the best science books of the year.” — Science Friday , NPR Another  New York Times  bestseller from the author of  The Good Good Pig , this “fascinating…touching…informative…entertaining” ( Daily Beast ) book explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans. In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octo

Monday, Oct. 28 Moderator: Nija Branca The breathtaking story of five brothers who bring each other up in a world run by their own rules. As the Dunbar boys love and fight and learn to reckon with the adult world, they discover the moving secret behind their father’s disappearance. At the center of the Dunbar family is Clay, a boy who will build a bridge—for his family, for his past, for greatness, for his sins, for a miracle. The question is, how far is Clay willing to go? And how much can he overcome? Written in powerfully inventive language and bursting with heart, BRIDGE OF CLAY is signature Zusak. Bridge of Clay,  written by  Markus Zusak , is a novel about a family of five brothers, the Dunbars, and their relationships as they search for the reason behind their father's disappearance. The Dunbar brothers must learn to live in the adult world without guidance from their parents. Their mother, an immigrant who moved to Australia as a young girl, has passed aw

April 29, 2019 "LGBTQ cinema is out in force at Sundance Film Festival," proclaimed  USA Today . "The acerbic coming-of-age movie is adapted from Emily M. Danforth's novel, and stars Chloë Grace Moretz as a lesbian teen who is sent to a gay conversion therapy center after she gets caught having sex with her friend on prom night." The Miseducation of Cameron Post  is a stunning and provocative literary debut that was named to numerous best of the year lists. When Cameron Post’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they’ll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl. But that relief doesn’t last, and Cam is forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone, and Cam becomes an

Beautiful Boy by David Sheff Moderator: Zach Johnson Monday, March 25 What had happened to my beautiful boy? To our family? What did I do wrong? Those are the wrenching questions that haunted David Sheff’s journey through his son Nic’s addiction to drugs and tentative steps toward recovery. Before Nic became addicted to crystal meth, he was a charming boy, joyous and funny, a varsity athlete and honor student adored by his two younger siblings. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who lied, stole, and lived on the streets. David Sheff traces the first warning signs: the denial, the three a.m. phone calls—is it Nic? the police? the hospital? His preoccupation with Nic became an addiction in itself. But as a journalist, he instinctively researched every treatment that might save his son. And he refused to give up on Nic. “Filled with compelling anecdotes and important insights . . . An eye-opening memoir.” —  Washington Post

American War by Omar El Akkad Moderator: Brad Craddock Rescheduled for March meeting due to weather An audacious and powerful debut novel: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle—a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself. Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, and that unmanned drones fill the sky. When her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she begins to grow up shaped by her particular time and place. But not everyone at Camp Patience is who they claim to be. Eventually Sarat is befriended by a mysterious functionary, under whose influence she is turned into a deadly instrument of war. The decisions that she makes will have tremendous consequences not just for Sar

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens Moderator: Janice Kriegel Monday, January 29   Rm. 238  2:45 #1  New York Times  Bestseller A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick "I can't even express how much I love this book! I didn't want this story to end!"--Reese Witherspoon "Painfully beautiful."-- The New York Times Book Review "Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver."-- Bustle For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens hers

NOIR by Christopher Moore Moderator: Susan Woodhams INSTANT  NEW YORK TIMES  BESTSELLER! The absurdly outrageous, sarcastically satiric, and always entertaining  New York Times  bestselling author Christopher Moore returns in finest madcap form with this zany noir set on the mean streets of post-World War II San Francisco, and featuring a diverse cast of characters, including a hapless bartender; his Chinese sidekick; a doll with sharp angles and dangerous curves; a tight-lipped Air Force general; a wisecracking waif; Petey, a black mamba; and many more. San Francisco. Summer, 1947. A dame walks into a saloon . . . It’s not every afternoon that an enigmatic, comely blonde named Stilton (like the cheese) walks into the scruffy gin joint where Sammy "Two Toes" Tiffin tends bar. It’s love at first sight, but before Sammy can make his move, an Air Force general named Remy arrives with some urgent business. ’Cause when you need something done, Sammy is the guy to go