Book Club Bash 2023
Thank you to all who attended! A list of the 2023 book selections are below and are available to purchase in-store and online.
About Book Club Bash:
After a long hiatus over the pandemic, we're thrilled to announce that Book Club Bash is back! Book Club Bash is one of our favorite QRB traditions and we can't wait to celebrate with you again! QRB staff members will present fiction and nonfiction books that we think are great choices for your book club to read and discuss (or for you to read on your own!). Bash is always a blast— the evening includes wine, refreshments, prize giveaways and saucy banter. You don't have to be in a book club—everyone is welcome. But if you are in one, bring your whole club for a fun night out at the bookstore!
The 23 very short stories in My Pen is the Wing of a Bird were composed as part of the Write Afghanistan project for Untold, a writing program for women in areas where there has been upheaval. The stories highlight the way oppression and war inflict lasting scars on families, especially women and children. They also illustrate the way, in the face of these circumstances, these women exhibit resilience and determination. -- Mamie
The Say So by Julia Franks tells the story of two women who are pregnant and single, one in the 1950's, the second in the 1980's. This book brings to the surface the emotional and physical suffering that unwed pregnant women faced in the last century (I still have a tough time saying that!). Timely and full of hard truths, The Say So is commentary and a compelling story wrapped in one. -- Mamie
Do not plan anything the day you pick up this book. This is a fast-paced, suspenseful story of a dying woman, two children who aren’t hers, and a dog who are spending the night in a mountain cabin. When a wildfire starts raging up the mountain, she must find a way to save them all. -- Mamie
One Long River of Song by Brian Doyle. Nobody wants to finish this book! That’s because it’s so poignant, so rich, that we don’t want it to end. I first read Doyle’s work in The Sun Magazine and fell in love with his writing. Doyle died of a brain tumor in 2017. I keep this book on my bedside table, where I open it often to re-read an essay or two and remember this fine man. -- Mamie
An enchanting novel about family, love and memories. -- Abbe
A glorious story filled with memorable characters and a twisty plot. -- Abbe
Harrison Scott Key takes us on his painful, hilarious and honest journey navigating his wife’s infidelity. -- Abbe
O’Farrell re-imagines the life of Lucrezia di Cosimo de’Medici, a 16th century noblewoman (child) who was married off at age 15. O’Farrell weaves a compelling and vivid tale of a young, spirited girl who was out of step with her time. -- Abbe
I will never again leave the theater without watching the credits roll until the screen goes dark. This book left me in awe of the people who do the impossible by taking an idea from just that and bringing it to the storied silver screen. With brilliant skill and expertise in motion pictures, the author shines the spotlight on the hundreds of unseen folks who make magic happen. It's about movie making, and so very much more. -- Belinda
Raw, gritty and masterful, Daivd Joy's latest novel refuses to allow the reader to turn away from the devastation of racism and its legacy. When artist Toya Gardner moves in with her grandmother while completing her thesis project, she exposes parts of the town's history that many refuse to see. Tensions rise, violence threatens and the pressure builds palpably, forcing the community into a reckoning with their past and present. An important must read. -- Belinda
An eloquent story of the life-changing power of books and the difference an individual can make. As he has done for years, German bookseller Carl Kollhoff hand delivers books he curates for select, customers who live near the the bookstore. But unwelcome job changes, and the sudden appearance of a nine-year-old girl who insists on accompanying him, threaten the elderly bibliophile's world. -- Belinda
Science writer Ed Yong ushers the reader into a fantastic world teeming with life that most of us never knew, or cared to know, exists literally everywhere around us. With awe and delight and beautifully rendered informative descriptions, Yong takes us by the hand and guides us into the brilliance of nature and its extraordinary inhabitants. You will never again begrudge your dog that extra sniff on a morning walk. -- Belinda
Author Dani Shapiro is the narrator of the podcast, Family Secrets which came about after her book, Inheritance, was so well received. In 2006, through a genealogy website, Dani found out that her father was not her biological father. Inheritance is her quest to unlock the family secrets that were kept for over 50 years. -- Sandra
Grand Duchess Olga Romanov comes of age amid a shifting tide for one of the great dynasties of Europe. She is happy to live a sheltered life in the walls of the palace of Alexander Palace until those walls become stifling. She soon leaves for St. Petersburg and her aunt's court. However, war is approaching, and the Palace is transformed as does the fate of the family. -- Sandra
If you missed this second book about Lucy Barton, you missed a gem as well as a finalist for the Booker Prize. You will learn what holds families together though they've grown apart as Lucy and her ex-husband William stay connected after years apart. Once again, Elizabeth Strout proves her genius as a writer. -- Sandra
It's London, 1944, and librarian Clara Button risks all to bring some joy and normalcy to the people near the Bethnal Green tube station. She sets up the country's first and only wartime library. This fictionalized account of the true story of this amazing library is full of suspense, danger, and happiness. -- Sandra
The novel on my list. An immigrant family in Hawaii faces serious criminal, social, and economic challenges when the son visiting Korea makes an attempt at crossing the DMZ – because he’s been possessed by the spirit of his grandfather. Even ghosts can’t cross the arbitrary border. The author uses the text iteslf to illustrate characters’ interior lives – censoring thoughts in black, building towers and walls on the page – but never at the expense of the flow of the story. -- Ginger
The Chinese writing system uses a distinct character for each concept, rather than for each sound, meaning there are thousands of essential characters. So how do you type in Chinese? Jin Tsu’s book is the story of China’s race to get ahead of the typewriter, telegraph, and computer. An interestingly focused overview of modern Chinese history. -- Ginger
Black Folk looks at the role of work in Black life and communities, beginning with the limitations placed by white society on skilled Black workers during Reconstruction. Dr. Kelley examines different types of labor, starting and closing each chapter with a specific person emblematic of - or sharply defiant of- the labor movement discussed. (Local author!) -- Ginger
Richardson’s history of debutantes begins by pointing out that debuts – and the marriages they lead to – are incredibly important to maintaining the boundaries of the societies that created and continue the tradition. From Elizabeth the first’s use of handmaids to build soft social power to the debutante balls practiced today, there’s a lot more going on than ordering the perfect dress and learning the correct dance steps. -- Ginger
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