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"--

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 7th @ 3pm —Coffee Chat about your 2026 favorites & get our new list for 2027

At our March 26th meeting, we discussed Beartown by Fredrik Backman.  The book club has read two other of Bachman's novels including A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry. For Beartown, most readers felt the book had a slow start but overall was extremely well written.  Many of us thought it would be about hockey, but it's not.  If you like well defined characters, books about topical issues, or community dynamics, this book will not disappoint.  The second book in the series, Us Against You, will be coming out in June 2018.  For refreshments, we had cookies and cupcakes from Frosted Bakery.

Our next book group meeting will be Monday, April 30th at 3pm at the LME Library meeting room.  Copies of the book, Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, are available at the front desk.  Discussion sheets can be picked up or are available online.  This is a non-fiction book based on the true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history. In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the FBI took up the case. It was one of the organization's first major homicide investigations and the bureau badly bungled the case. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.

At our February 26th meeting we had 9 members present and discussed the book Open Season by C.J. Box.  Everyone liked the book and felt it was a very good start of the series.  It was highly rated as a fun read by the group but there were a few criticisms.  The story centered around Joe Pickett, Wyoming game warden and a case that involves the murder, deceit and the endangered species act. Most criticism focused on the stereotypes of characters and the negative portrayal of almost all the women in the book.  I personally felt that actions of Marybeth (Joe's wife) in the key confrontation were completely out of character for anyone who had ever lived in a remote area.  Anyway, it was a lively discussion and we had grapes and nanaimo bars for treats.

Our next book is Beartown by Fredrik Backman. Our bookgroup has read two other books by this author including A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.  Book discussion will take place on March 26th at 3pm in the LME Library's large meeting room. Copies of Beartown can be picked up at the circulation desk and discussion sheets are available with the book or online.

Beartown summary: "From the New York Times bestselling author comes a poignant, charming novel about a forgotten town fractured by scandal, and the amateur hockey team that might just change everything. Winning a junior ice hockey championship might not mean a lot to the average person, but it means everything to the residents of Beartown, a community slowly being eaten alive by unemployment and the surrounding wilderness. A victory like this would draw national attention to the ailing town: it could attract government funding and an influx of talented athletes who would choose Beartown over the big nearby cities. At first, it seems like the team might have a shot at fulfilling the dreams of their entire town. But one night at a drunken celebration following a key win, something happens between Kevin and the general manager's daughter--and the next day everything seems to have changed. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected. With so much riding on the success of the team, the line between loyalty and betrayal becomes difficult to discern. At last, it falls to one young man to find the courage to speak the truth that it seems no one else wants to hear. Fredrik Backman knows that we are forever shaped by the places we call home, and in this emotionally powerful, sweetly insightful story, he explores what can happen when we carry the heavy weight of other people's dreams on our shoulders."

One of our favorite authors will be publishing a new book soon, and I wanted to share this interview with fans.  Fredrik Backman wrote A Man Called Ove and My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry--both of which our book group read and loved!  His newest book is Britt-Marie Was Here and continues the story of one of the primary characters in My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry.

We just wrapped up Fredrik Backman's My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry for our February pick.  We had chocolates and Auntie Carlene's cinnamon coffee loaf since I cannot make a decent cinnamon roll.  For most members, the book started off slowly, but once you got past the learning curve about the Land-of-Almost-Awake, the author really drew you into the story.  Overall, it was very favorably reviewed by the group, and we'd love to continue to read more by this author. (We read A Man Called Ove in 2015.)  Backman's particular sense of humor and pathos is endearing but still touches on things that really matter.  Here's a quote I feel conveys this well:

"It's difficult ending a fairy tale.  All tales have to end sometime, of course.  Some can't finish soon enough.  This one, for example, could feasibly have been rounded off and packed away long ago.  The problem is this whole issue of heroes at the ends of fairy tales, and how they are supposed to 'live happily to the end of their days.'  This gets tricky, from a narrative perspective, because the people who reach the end of their days must leave others who have to live out their days without them."

Our next book group will meet on March 28th at 3pm in the Turner Room. This is the Monday after Easter.  We will be discussing the novel, Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng.  Copies of the book are available at the library desk and the discussion sheets are available for pickup or online here.

We had a great start to 2016 with our discussion of our January 25th book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. The book group loved this book for several reasons--it was interesting, it had lots of information but well organized and relevant, and the author's dedication was key to the success of relating this complex subject.  Our refreshments included the famous Baltimore Berger cookies and grapes.

Our next book group meeting will be on Monday, February 29th (Leap Day!) at 3pm in the Turner Room.  Our book is My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman.  Copies of the book are available for pickup at the library desk. The discussion sheets are available online or in the library.  Please join us!

Also--please note that the May 2016 meeting date has been corrected.  The LME Library will be closed on Monday, May 30 so we will be meeting a week earlier on Monday, May 23rd.  Sorry for any confusion!

At our April 27th meeting, we discussed A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.  This book was one of our favorites--everyone loved Ove! Refreshments consisted of potica and fresh fruit.  

Our next meeting will be a week earlier than usual due to the Memorial Day holiday.  We will meet on Monday, May 18 at 3pm in the Library's Turner Room.  The book is Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown.  Copies are available at LME Library and the discussion sheet is available at the library or online. 

Summary: This book tells the story of the University of Washington's 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans. It traces the story of the team that defeated elite rivals at Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympics, sharing the experiences of their enigmatic coach, a visionary boat builder, and a homeless teen rower.

At our bookgroup meeting on March 30th, we had 10 members present.  Now that the weather is nicer, it was great seeing so many of regular members again.  We also had a couple of new faces, and we'd like to welcome new members to our group anytime!

Our March book was The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd and it was thoroughly enjoyed by most members.  Refreshments were Huguenot Torte (pecans were used optionally as topping) and fresh fruit. 

Our next book group meeting will be Monday, April 27th at 3pm in the LME Library's Turner Room.  The April book is A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. Books are available at the library desk and the discussion sheet can be picked up or is available online. All are welcome--please join us!

Summary: Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations.

A feel-good story in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Fredrik Backman’s novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful and charming exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. (From the publisher.)