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Adult Book Group History

Our Adult Book Club meeting at America's Oldest Children's Bookstore

Previous book club picks:

Bowse by year: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017

2023 Books

December: TBA
November: The Tobacco Wives by Adele Myers
October: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune - *Staff Favorite
September: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
August: Circe by Madeline Miller
July: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab - *Staff Favorite
June: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
May: The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede
April: Miss Eliza's English Kitchen by Annabel Abbs
March: The Second Life of Mirielle West by Amanda Skenandore
February: The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
January: The Call of the Wrens by Jenni L. Walsh - *Staff Favorite

2022 Books

December: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
November: Carnegie's Maid by Marie Bennedict
October: The Prague Sonata by Bradford Morrow
September: The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan
August: The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner - *Staff Favorite
July: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
June: The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner - *Staff Favorite
May: Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne Johnson
April: Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson
March: The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
February: The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline
January: The Last Blue by Isla Morley - *Staff Favorite

2021 Books

December: Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson - *Staff Favorite
November: The Cold Millions by Jess Walter
October: Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy - *Staff Favorite
September: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
August: Ellie and the Harpmaker by Hazel Prior
July: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett - *Staff Favorite
June: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
May: Becoming by Michelle Obama - *Staff Favorite
April: The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg
March: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
February: The Women of the Copper Country by Mary Doria Russell - *Staff Favorite
January: There There by Tommy Orange

2020 Books

December: This Tender Land by William Kent Kruger - *Staff Favorite
November: Whiskey When We're Dry by John Larison - *Staff Favorite
October: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Michele Richardson
September: Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano
August: The Weight of a Piano by Chris Candor
July: A Wolf Called Romeo by Nick Jans
June: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
May: Howards End by E. M. Forster
April: A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C. A. Fletcher - *Staff Favorite
March: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
February: Beloved by Toni Morrison
January: By the Book by Julia Sonneborn

2019 Books

December: Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
November: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - *Staff Favorite
October: The Overstory by Richard Powers
September: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
August: English Creek by Ivan Doig
July: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
June: The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart - *Staff Favorite
May: Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - *Staff Favorite
April: The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone
March: Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor
February: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann - *Staff Favorite
January: The History of Bees by Maja Lunde - *Staff Favorite

2018 Books

December: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
November: The River Wife by Jonis Agee
October: Watch for Me on the Mountain by Forrest Carter
September: Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance - *Staff Favorite
August: The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundahti Roy
July: The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan
June: The End of the World Running Club by Adrian J. Walker - *Staff Favorite
May: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
April: We Are Called to Rise by Laura McBride
March: Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini
February: Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
January: The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon

2017 Books

December: News of the World by Paulette Jiles
November: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - *Staff Favorite
October: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - *Staff Favorite
September: A Narrow Bridge by J. J. Gesher - *Staff Favorite
August: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
July: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
June: Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt
May: Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig - *Staff Favorite
April: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
March: Arthur & George by Julian Barnes
February: The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
January: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

2016 Books

December: Searching through archives
November:
October:
September:
August:
July:
June:
May:
April:
March:
February:
January:

Staff Picks

Staff Pick Badge

The Song of Achilles: A Novel By Madeline Miller Cover Image

The Song of Achilles: A Novel (Paperback)

By Madeline Miller

$17.99

This book remains one of my all-time favorite books ever. This story is told in such a strikingly intimate way, you are pulled right into the time of the Trojan war, into a time of heroes and legends, and most of all, you're privy to a love story so epic and deep that it will hold your heart forever. What's more, Madeline Miller's writing is just the most pleasurable thing to read; she writes in such a way that feels as if she wrote it just for your eyes to read. You feel the wind in your hair on warm beaches, your heels kicking up sand; you feel the sticky sap of figs as you bit into their sweetness; you feel the cool spring light filtered through tall forest trees; and most of all, you see the world through the eyes and heart of young Patroclus, as he discovers the mighty hero Achilles and begins their stunning journey together, and their love story for the ages.

(Adult Fiction) - reviewed by Iz