Book Clubs
This new book club will meet at the library the third Thursday of each month at 1:00pm. Contact info@okotokslibrary.ca for more information or click here for event info.The group will meet in the library the first Thursday of each month at 7:00pm. Contact Annette at 403-995-9939 for more information.*Please note that the Pages Book Club is currently closed to new members due to high enrollment numbers. This afternoon library book club meets the second Monday of each month at 1:00pm.Open to youth ages 13-17. Join us every third Wednesday from 4:00-5:00pm as we read and explore amazing teen fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels! We'll focus on thought-provoking, entertaining, and diverse stories and authors. Each meeting will include an activity based on the book. Please email teens@okotokslibrary.ca with any questions or book suggestions!
GETTING STARTED
Online Book Club Resources:
BOOK CLUB KITS
The Okotoks Public Library has a great resource for local Book Clubs! Our Book Club kits contain 6-8 copies of a title and a Reading Group Discussion Guide. These kits have a six week loan period.
*Updated December 7, 2023TO HAVE NOTHING: GOD BLESS THE CHILD WHO'S GOT HIS OWN by Adel Ben-HarharaTo Have Nothing, the first volume of Adel Ben-Harhara's three-volume memoir, delves into the voyage of a boy who was separated from his mother as a toddler and was essentially orphaned at the age of five when his father died. With his mother's inability to provide support, the boy was homeless, often left on the streets between the ages of eight and eleven. How did he survive?BEING MORTAL by Atul Gawande - 8 copiesIn Being Mortal, bestselling author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending.THE RADIUM GIRLS : the dark story of America's shining women by Kate Moore - 8 copiesThe Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. Their courage and tenacity led to life-changing regulations, research into nuclear bombing, and ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives.THE GIRL WHO SMILED BEADS by Clemantine Wamariya - 8 copiesClemantine Wamariya was six years old when her mother and father began to speak in whispers, when neighbors began to disappear, and when she heard the loud, ugly sounds her brother said were "thunder." In 1994, she and her fifteen-year-old sister, Claire, fled the Rwandan massacre and spent the next six years wandering through seven African countries, searching for safety--perpetually hungry, imprisoned and abused, enduring and escaping refugee camps, finding unexpected kindness, witnessing inhuman cruelty. They did not know whether their parents were dead or alive.EDUCATED: memoir by Tara WestoverEducated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty, and of the grief that comes from severing one’s closest ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one’s life through new eyes, and the will to change it.INHERITANCE : A MEMOIR By Dani ShapiroWhat makes us who we are? What combination of memory, history, biology, experience, and that ineffable thing called the soul defines us? In the spring of 2016, through a genealogy website to which she had whimsically submitted her DNA for analysis, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her father was not her biological father.FROM THE ASHES By Jesse ThistleIn this heart-warming and heart-wrenching memoir, Jesse Thistle writes honestly and fearlessly about his painful past, the abuse he endured, and how he uncovered the truth about his parents. Through sheer perseverance and education - and newfound love - he found his way back into the circle of his Indigenous culture and family.BRAIDING SWEETGRASS by Robin Wall KimmererDrawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings - asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass - offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David GrannPresents 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.*Updated February 26, 2024THE WOMAN AT THE FRONT BY Lecia CornwallWhen Eleanor Atherton graduates from medical school near the top of her class in 1917, she dreams of going overseas to help the wounded, but her ambition is thwarted at every turn. Eleanor's parents insist she must give up medicine, marry a respectable man, and assume her proper place. While women might serve as ambulance drivers or nurses at the front, they cannot be physicians--that work is too dangerous and frightening. Nevertheless, Eleanor is determined to make more of a contribution than sitting at home knitting for the troops. When an unexpected twist of fate sends Eleanor to the battlefields of France as the private doctor of a British peer, she seizes the opportunity for what it is--the chance to finally prove herself. But there's a war on, and a casualty clearing station close to the front lines is an unforgiving place.THE CARTOGRAPHER'S SECRET by Tea CooperA gripping historical mystery for fans of Kate Morton and Natasha Lester's The Paris Seamstress, The Cartographer's Secret follows a young woman's quest to heal a family rift as she becomes entangled in one of Australia's greatest historical puzzles.EMPIRE OF WILD By Cherie DimalineInspired by the Canadian Métis legend of the Rogarou, finds a woman reconnecting with her heritage when her missing husband reappears in the form of a charismatic preacher who does not recognize her.THE HOME FOR UNWANTED GIRLS by Joanna GoodmanPhilomena meets Orphan Train in this suspenseful, proactive novel filled with love, secrets, and deceit - the story of a young unwed mother who is forcibly separated from her daughter at birth and the lengths to which they go to find each other.THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt HaigBetween life and death there is a library. 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 GREAT ALONE By Kristin HannahWhen her volatile, former POW father impulsively moves the family to Alaska to live off the land, young Leni and her mother are forced to confront the dangers of their lack of preparedness in the wake of a dangerous winter season.THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin HannahDespite their differences, sisters Vianne and Isabelle have always been close. Younger, bolder Isabelle lives in Paris while Vianne is content with life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. But when the Second World War strikes, Antoine is sent off to fight and Vianne finds herself isolated so Isabelle is sent by their father to help her. As the war progresses, the sisters' relationship and strength is tested. With life changing in unbelievably horrific ways, Vianne and Isabelle will find themselves facing frightening situations and responding in ways they never thought possible as bravery and resistance take different forms in each of their actions.THE OTHER BLACK GIRL by Zakiya Dalila HarrisTwenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. But she's thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. Then a string of uncomfortable events elevates Hazel to Office Darling, and Nella is left in the dust followed by notes on Nella's desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. As Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realizes that there's a lot more at stake than just her career.THE KEEPER OF LOST THINGS by Ruth HoganA charming, clever, and quietly moving debut novel of endless possibilities and joyful discoveries that explores the promises we make and break, losing and finding ourselves, the objects that hold magic and meaning for our lives, and the surprising connections that bind us.THE LAST STORY OF MINA LEE By Nancy Jooyoun KimTold through the intimate lens of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand each other, The Last Story of Mina Lee is a powerful and exquisitely woven debut novel that explores identity, family, secrets, and what it truly means to belong.THE GLASS HOTEL By Emily St John MandelFrom the author of 'Station Eleven' comes a captivating novel of money, beauty, white-collar crime, ghosts and moral compromise in which a woman disappears from a container ship off the coast of Mauritania and a massive Ponzi scheme implodes in New York, dragging countless fortunes with it.CROW WINTER By Karen McBrideCrow Winter tells the story of Hazel Ellis, reconciling her grief after the death of her father. She returns home to Spirit Bear Point First Nation, and starts to have visions of an old crow, who says he's there to save her.THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER By Kate MortonMore than 150 years after an artist's retreat on the banks of the Upper Thames ends in murder, theft and ruin, a London archivist is drawn by a striking photograph and a sketchbook to discover a manor's secrets.WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING By Delia OwensViewed with suspicion in the aftermath of a tragedy, a beautiful hermit who has survived for years in a marsh becomes targeted by unthinkable forces.THE LOST APOTHECARY by Sarah PennerHidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary's fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries. Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary's in a stunning twist of fate--and not everyone will survive.THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK By Kim Michele RichardsonInspired by the true and historical blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the brave and dedicated Kentucky Pack Horse library service, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek showcases a bold and unique tale of the Packhorse Librarians in literary novels—a story of fierce strength and one woman's belief that books can carry us anywhere—even back home.THE ROSIE PROJECT by Graeme Simsion Don Tillman a professor of genetics, sets up a project designed to find him the perfect wife, starting with a questionnaire that has to be adjusted a little as he goes along. Then he meets Rosie, who is everything he's not looking for in a wife, but she ends up his friend as he helps her try and find her biological father.THE MISEDUCATION OF EVIE EPWORTH by Matson TaylorJuly, 1962. 16-year-old Evie Epworth stands on the cusp of womanhood. But what kind of a woman will she become? The fastest milk bottle-delivery girl in East Yorkshire, Evie is tall as a tree and hot as the desert sand. She dreams of an independent life lived under the bright lights of London (or Leeds). The two posters of Adam Faith on her bedroom wall ('brooding Adam' and 'sophisticated Adam') offer wise counsel about a future beyond rural East Yorkshire. Her role models are Charlotte Bronte, Shirley MacLaine and the Queen. But, before she can decide on a career, she must first deal with the malign presence of her future step-mother, the manipulative and money-grubbing Christine.AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine CumminsLydia 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.LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie GarmusElizabeth 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 SLEEPING CAR PORTER by Suzette MayrIt's 1929, and Baxter is lucky enough, as a Black man, to have a job as a sleeping car porter on a train that crisscrosses the country. On this particular trip out west, the passengers are more unruly than usual, especially when the train is stalled for two extra days and their secrets start to leak out. When he finds a naughty postcard of two gay men, Baxter's memories and longings are reawakened; keeping it puts his job in peril, but he can't part with the postcard or his thoughts of his Porter Instructor.WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME by Gillian McAllisterLate October. After midnight. You're waiting up for your seventeen-year-old son. He's late. As you watch from the window, he emerges, and you realize he isn't alone: he's walking toward a man, and he's armed. You can't believe it when you see him do it: your funny, happy teenage son, he kills a stranger, right there on the street outside your house. You don't know who. You don't know why. You only know your son is now in custody. His future shattered. That night you fall asleep in despair. All is lost. Until you wake...and it is yesterday.THE MAID by Nita ProseSince Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly Gray throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. But Molly's orderly life is turned on its head the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself very dead in his bed. Molly quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black.CARRIE SOTO IS BACK by Taylor Jenkins ReidCarrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named Nicki Chan. At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record.FIVE LITTLE INDIANS by Michelle GoodTaken from their families when they are very small and sent to a remote, church-run residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie are barely out of childhood when they are finally released after years of detention. Alone and without any skills, support or families, the teens find their way to the seedy and foreign world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver, where they cling together, striving to find a place of safety and belonging in a world that doesn't want them. The paths of the five friends cross and crisscross over the decades as they struggle to overcome, or at least forget, the trauma they endured during their years at the Mission. With compassion and insight, Five Little Indians chronicles the desperate quest of these residential school survivors to come to terms with their past and, ultimately, find a way forward.YELLOWFACE by R.F. KuangAuthors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena's a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn't even get a paperback release. So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese labourers to the British and French war efforts during World War I. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.TOM LAKE by Ann PatchettIn the spring of 2020, Lara's three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theatre company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.GO AS A RIVER by Shelley ReadVictoria Nash is just a teenager in the 1940s. Wilson Moon is a young drifter with a mysterious past. When Victoria encounters Wil, their unexpected connection ignites as much passion as danger and as many revelations as secrets. Victoria flees into the beautiful but harsh wilderness when tragedy strikes. Living in a small hut, she struggles to survive in the unforgiving conditions with no clear notion of what her future will be. What happens afterward is her quest to regain all that she has lost, even as the Gunnison River rises to submerge her homeland and the only life she has ever known.BLACK CAKE by Charmain WilkersonIn present-day California, Eleanor Bennett's death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a traditional Caribbean black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child, challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage, and themselves.
