Join us at the Alachua Branch for a fun monthly book discussion. Each month we will select one Adult Fiction or Nonfiction title to read and discuss it as a group. Meetings will be held on the third Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m. in the Meeting Room. Copies of the current book will be available upon request at the Circulation Desk. To confirm availability, please call 386-462-2592 or email lcowart@aclib.us.
Currently Reading:
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Tuesday, April 15, 2 p.m., Alachua Branch Meeting Room
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.
Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.
Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong. (Goodreads)
Upcoming Meetings:
May 20 - The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
June 17 - The Water Dancer by Ta-Nahisi Coates
July 15 - TBD
Previously Read:
The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan
Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
Good Company by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
The Summer Place by Jennifer Weiner
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
The Maid by Nita Prose
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict
Interested in other book clubs? Learn about all our groups on our Book Clubs page.