Book Clubs

Read with the Grand Avenue Book Club

Meetings at 7pm, the first Thursday of the month. Questions? Ask Minh.

January 5
The Best of Me
David SedarisThe Best of Me, by David Sedaris		 February 2
Peace Like a River
Leif Enger
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
March 2
Behold the Dreamers
Imbolo MbueBehold the Dreamers by Mbolo Mbue
 April 6
Midnight in Chernobyl
Adam HigginbothamMidnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham
May 4
The Violin Conspiracy
Brendan SlocumbThe Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
 June 1
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Michael Chabon
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

Or run your own book club!

Borrow a book club kit for multiple copies of the book, discussion questions, and more.  Six-week loan periods give you plenty of time to read and gather. There are more than 30 titles to choose from - check the catalog to see which ones are available now!

More Book Club Resources

American Cheese by Joe Berkowitz
Author Bio and Discussion Questions (pdf)

Read
J.B. talks to The Cheese Professor.
On Working Undercover.
Jaya Saxena (Eater) and Berkowitz talk  Artisanal Cheese and the Pandemic.

Watch
Hot Cheese author Polina Chesnakova  and Berkowitz chat.

Listen to the author on...
Cutting the Curd with hosts Diane and Cara.
Stay for Dinner with host DC Pierson: books, cheese boards, cheese parties, cheese-cutting competitions, and more.
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

Read
UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies Panel Discussion
Bill Gates reviews The Best We Could Do
Q&A from My Visual Story students (University of Oregon)

Watch
Bui at San Francisco Public Library
University of Oregon Today

Listen
Inkstuds Radio
2019 Seattle Reads (Seattle Public Library)

Educated by Tara Westover
Author Bio and Discussion Questions (pdf)

Read
Westover's Northeastern Commencement Address 2019.
On What It Means to be Educated, an interview with Robin Young (WBUR).
Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic) and Westover talk about Places the Recession Never Ended.

Watch
Westover's Northeastern Commencement Address 2019.
Westover talks survival, success, and lessons learned (2019 Aspen Ideas Festival).
In conversation with David Runciman, Professor of Politics at Cambridge.

Listen to the author on...
NPR's Fresh Air with host Dave Davies.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Author Bio and Discussion Questions (pdf)


Read
Atwood on the historical events that inspired her.
Why The Handmaid's Tale relevant today, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (BBC).

Watch
A Conversation with Atwood at WPSU Penn State.
Young Ambassadors Emily Webb and Grace Murray ask Atwood about the challenging topics in her novels and her top writing tips (National Centre for Writing).
Atwood and showrunner Bruce Miller discuss The Handmaid's Tale and its TV adaptation (BookCon 2017).

Listen to the author on...
Radio 4 Bookclub (BBC): celebrating 20 years of Bookclub with The Handmaid's Tale
How I Found My Voice with host Samira Ahmed
The Library Book by Susan Orlean

Author Bio and Discussion Questions (pdf)

Read
Susan Orlean's New Yorker articles
Shelf respect: an interview with BookPage writer Alice Cary
How to Muscle Through a Bad Review

Watch
2019 Carole Phillips Memorial Lecture,  a Free Library of Philadelphia Author Event
The Art of Telling Amazing Stories

Listen
The Turnaround with Jesse Thorn
The Archive Project, by Literary Arts, Inc.

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves

Read
"I've never been very good at plotting" (The Dispatch)
The Bookish Libra Review
The Poisoned Pen Bookstore interviews Ann Cleeves

Watch
In Conversation with Iona Whishaw
Edinburgh International Book Festival

Listen
Dark and Stormy Book Club
Gossipy Proust (Fortunately... with Fi and Jane)

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

Read
On Travel, Culture, and What Inspires Her (BBC)
"Everyone called me crazy for divorcing in my 70s." (The Guardian)

Watch
In Conversation with David Epstein (ProPublica)
Inside the Book (Penguin Random House)

Listen
The Sunday Salon with Alice-Azania Jarvis
The Adam Buxton Podcast

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

Read
On Aging Gently, Messily (LA Review of Books)
NPR Interview with Elizabeth Strout

Watch
The Waterstones Interview
Strout at Strand Book Store

Listen
The Guardian Books podcast 
Book Public

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan

Author Bio and Discussion Questions (pdf)

Read
Q&A with Erin Khar (Ravishly).
An Introvert Guides an Extrovert Through Lockdown, Stephen Carlick (Penguin Random House).
How to Travel Alone as an Introvert, Jessica Pan (Penguin Random House).
"I Don’t Want to Confuse Self-Care and Self-Coddling", Alyssa Oursler (BLARB: Blog // Los Angeles Review of Books).

Listen to the author on...
Matt Lewis and the News: Talking to Strangers.
Live Happy Now: Living Life as an Extrovert.

There There by Tommy Orange
Author Bio and Discussion Questions (pdf)

Read
Powell Book Blog chooses There There as their pick for Indiespensable Vol. 74
Cowboys & Indians Magazine

Watch
Orange: On writing out of a loneliness and becoming an author
Orange speaks with Carolina de Robertis, creative writing professor at San Francisco State University

Listen to the author on...
The Archive Project, by Literary Arts
Read it Forward, by Penguin Random House
Radio Wolinsky with host Richard Wolinsky (KPFA)


Helpful Resources for Facilitating a Book Club