March 30 - The Small and the Mighty

At our February 23, 2026 meeting, we discussed James by Percival Everett. The group liked reading the classic from James' perspective, but it was outside what they regularly read. Group members were interested in what it might be like to read the story from a female perspective. Overall, they rated it highly, but some members probably won't suggest it to others because it is more literary than what they usually read.

Our next book group meeting will be at 3pm on Monday, March 30th at the LME Library. We will be reading The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon. Copies of the book are available for pickup at the front desk and discussion sheets are also available for pickup or online.

Book Summary: "From America's favorite government teacher, a heartfelt, inspiring portrait of twelve ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of our country. In The Small and the Mighty, Sharon McMahon proves that the most remarkable Americans are often ordinary people who didn't make it into the textbooks. Not the presidents, but the telephone operators. Not the aristocrats, but the schoolteachers. Through meticulous research, she discovers history's unsung characters and brings their rich, riveting stories to light for the first time. This is a book about what really made America - and Americans - great. McMahon's cast of improbable champions will become familiar friends, lighting the path we journey in our quest to make the world more just, peaceful, good, and free."

James - February 23, 2026

Our book club met on Monday, January 26th and discussed Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. The discussion sheet is here.

Even though everything was a bit confusing at first, we felt the author deliberately used this as a storytelling device. Most members laughed out loud at times and some shed happy tears at the ending. Overall, it was favorably rated even though it felt foreign at times. (Understandably, since this is a Swedish author whose works are translated.)

Our next meeting is February 23 at 3pm in the LME Library's large meeting room. The book is James by Percival Everett. Books are ready for pickup at the front desk. The discussion sheets are also available online. This group is open to adult library users - we hope you can join us!

Book Summary for James: "From Percival Everett-a recipient of the NBCC Lifetime Achievement Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize, and numerous PEN awards-comes James, a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view. When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his own death to escape his violent father, recently returned to town. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond. While many narrative set pieces of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river's banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin...), Jim's agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light. Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a "cult literary icon" (Oprah Daily), and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature"--

2026 Titles

At our December 8th book club meeting, we discussed our favorite books from 2025, and I shared our 2026 picks. For 2025, our fiction favorites were: The Frozen River, The Berry Pickers, and The Maid. For non-fiction, we enjoyed What the Bears Know and The Art Thief.

All our past and present titles (all 23 years!) can be found on this MASTER LIST.

“Talk About a Good Book” Book Club Discussion Group

Usually meets last Monday of the month at 3 pm

2026 (Our 23^rd year)

January 26	Anxious People	Fredrik Backman
February 23	James (featured author on ILP March 19)	Percival Everett
March 30	The Small and the Mighty	Sharon McMahon
April 27	Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books	Kirsten Miller
May 18	Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting	Clare Pooley
June 29	Lady Tan’s Circle of Women	Lisa See
July 27	Finding the Mother Tree	Suzanne Simard
August 31	Four Winds	Kristin Hannah
September 28	Dear Edward	Ann Napolitano
October 26	Wild Dark Shore	Charlotte McConaghy
November 30	By the Fire We Carry	Rebecca Nagle
December 7^th @ 3pm —Coffee Chat about your 2026 favorites & get our new list for 2027

Our next meeting is January 26th at 3pm in the large meeting room at the LME Library. We will discuss Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. Copies of the books are available at the front desk and discussion sheets are also available for pickup or online. We hope you join us!

Summary for Anxious People: "Taken hostage by a failed bank robber while attending an open house, eight anxiety-prone strangers--including a redemption-seeking bank director, two couples who would fix their marriages, and a plucky octogenarian--discover their unexpected common traits. Viewing an apartment normally doesn't turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that: a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the eight strangers begin opening up to one another. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police, or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people."

Berry Pickers - November 24, 2025

At our October meeting, we discussed The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane. Most of the group found the book less compelling than our usual book club titles, but it was a quick book to read. We also started voting on our book club picks for next year.

Our next meeting is Monday, November 24th at 3pm, and we'll meet in the LME Library's large meeting room. The November read is The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. Books can be picked up at the front desk, and discussion sheets are also available for pick-up or here. We're also picking our titles for 2026--please join us!

Berry Pickers summary: "July 1962. A Mi'kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family's youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister's disappearance for years to come. In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren't telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret. For readers of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time."--