Book Groups
We love talking about books almost as much as we enjoy reading them. Our book groups cover a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction. Copies of the book in discussion are often available throughout the partnership.
Racial Equity Book Club
- 4th Wednesday, 6–7:45 pm
- Cooper Room on Level Four
MPL is excited to sponsor The Montana Racial Equity Project’s Book Club at our new downtown building! This discussion group is facilitated by Chris Young-Greer, Education Initiative Lead for the Montana Racial Equity Project. The book club meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month in the Cooper Room at the new library from 6-7:45PM. Reading selections include mainly nonfiction titles about social justice, equity, and issues affecting historically marginalized, disenfranchised, and oppressed individuals or communities. For more information on this lively and inspiring Book Club visit the Montana Racial Equity Project’s website or contact them at info@themtrep.org
MPL has a few copies available for check out but patrons may need to purchase their own books for this group. Local bookstores Fact & Fiction in Missoula and Chapter One Bookstore in Hamilton sell Book Club selections at a discount to participants.
Upcoming Discussion Titles:
- August 25 – On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
- September 22 – The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
- October 27 – Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo
- November 17 (one week early because of Thanksgiving) – The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
- December 22 – My Vanishing Country: A Memoir by Bakari Sellers
2nd Wednesday Book Group
- 2nd Wednesday, 6:30 pm
- Virtual Event
Copies of titles are available (unless otherwise noted) for purchase at cost in the Friends Store located on the library’s first level. Titles also available for checkout from MPL or its Partner Libraries. Discussions facilitated by members on Zoom.
Upcoming Discussion Titles:
2021
- May 12 — Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
- June 9 — American Spy: A Novel by Lauren Wilkinson
July 14 – Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
August 11 – Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
September 8 – The Known World by Edward P. Jones
October 13 – *Manhattan Beach: A Novel by Jennifer Egan
November 10 – Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O’Farrell
December 8 – The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw
2022
January 12 – The Pull of the Stars: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
February 9 – All the Lives We Never Lived: A Novel by Anuradha Roy
March 9 – Shuggie Bain: A Novel, by Douglas Stuart
April 13 – The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
May 11 – *The Library Book by Susan Orlean
* unavailable for purchase
3rd Wednesday Book Group
- 3rd Wednesday, 6:30 pm
- Virtual Event
We read a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction titles, primarily from the Book Chat Bag collections of MPL and its Partner Libraries. This lively book discussion group is facilitated by a librarian. New members are always welcome! See calendar for upcoming titles.
Upcoming Discussion Titles:
February 17 – A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
March 17 – The Book of Joy: lasting happiness in a changing world by Dalai Lama XIV
April 21 – Leave the World Behind: a novel by Rumaan Alam
May 19 – The Muralist by Barbara A. Shapiro
June 16 – The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
July 21 – Sabrina and Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
August 18 – The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean
September 15 – Wandering in Strange Lands: a daughter of the great migration reclaims her roots by Morgan Jerkins
October 20 – Mrs. Sherlock Holmes : the true story of New York City’s greatest female detective and the 1917 missing girl case that captivated a nation by Brad Ricca
November 17 – The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
December 15 – Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout
-
January 19, 2022 – Issac’s Storm: A man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history by Erik Larson
Book Group Resources:
Novelist Plus: your one-stop shop for book club resources. Choose Quick Links/Book Club Resources.
Book Kits: make organizing your next book discussion easy.