Decorah Public Library staff will host five book discussions in March. The groups are open to the public and newcomers are encouraged to attend. Anyone interested should call the library at 382-3717 to learn more or to reserve a book.
Email ktorresdal@decorahlibrary.org to be added to any of the groups’ email distribution lists. Funds for multiple copy sets are provided by Friends of Decorah Public Library.
The Happy Hour Book Group will meet at Pulpit Rock Brewing Co. Wednesday, March 12, at 5:15 p.m. to discuss Anna Quindlen’s “After Annie” (postponed due to inclement weather in February). When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her children, and her closest friend are left to find a way forward without the woman who has been the lynchpin of all their lives. Over the course of the next year what saves them all is Annie, ever-present in their minds, loving but not sentimental, caring but nobody’s fool, a voice in their heads that is funny and sharp and remarkably clear. The power she has given to those who loved her is the power to go on without her. “After Annie” is about hope, and about the unexpected power of adversity to change us in profound and indelible ways.
The History Book Group will meet on the 2nd floor of the library Thursday, March 20, at 3 p.m. to discuss Jon Lauck’s “The Good Country: A History of the American Midwest, 1800-1900.” At the center of American history is a hole—a gap where some scholars’ indifference or disdain has too long stood in for the true story of the American Midwest. A first-ever chronicle of the Midwest’s formative century, “The Good Country” restores this American heartland to its central place in the nation’s history. Jon K. Lauck, the premier historian of the region, puts Midwesterners center stage—an unorthodox approach that leads to surprising conclusions.
The Friday Book Group will meet on the 2nd floor of the library Friday, March 21, at 2 p.m. to discuss Sadie Dingfelder’s “Do I Know You?: A Faceblind Reporter’s Journey into the Science of Sight, Memory, and Imagination.” Science writer Dingfelder has always known that she’s a little quirky. But while she’s made some strange mistakes over the years, it’s not until she accosts a stranger in a grocery store (whom she thinks is her husband) that she realizes something is amiss. With a mixture of curiosity and dread, Dingfelder starts contacting neuroscientists and lands herself in scores of studies. A lively blend of personal narrative and popular science, this book is the story of one unusual mind’s attempt to understand itself—and a fascinating exploration of the remarkable breadth of human experience.
The Speculative Fiction Book Group will meet via Zoom Wednesday, March 26, at 6 p.m. to discuss Premee Mohammed’s “The Butcher of the Forest.” At the northern edge of a land ruled by a merciless foreign tyrant lies a wild, forbidden forest ruled by powerful magic. Veris Thorn―the only one to ever enter the forest and survive―is forced to go back inside to retrieve the tyrant’s missing children. Inside await traps and trickery, ancient monsters, and hauntings of the past. One day is all Veris is afforded. One misstep will cost everything. Zoom link for discussion available on library website.
The group will then discuss Jeff Vandermeer’s “Borne” beginning at approximately 6:30 p.m. In “Borne,” a young woman named Rachel survives as a scavenger in a ruined city half destroyed by drought and conflict. The city is dangerous, littered with discarded experiments from the Company―a biotech firm now derelict―and punished by the unpredictable predations of a giant bear. One day, Rachel finds Borne during a scavenging mission and takes him home. Borne as salvage is little more than a green lump―plant or animal?―but exudes a strange charisma. But as Borne grows, he begins to threaten the balance of power in the city and to put the security of her sanctuary at risk. For the Company, it seems, may not be truly dead, and new enemies are creeping in. The Zoom link is the same for both meetings and is available on the library website. Author Jeff Vandermeer will be visiting Decorah and speaking at Luther College in April!
For more information, contact Tricia Crary (Friday Book Group) or Kristin Torresdal (Happy Hour, History, and Speculative Fiction Book Groups) at 563-382-3717.
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