What we're about

The Albany Ladies Book Club reads one book a month and meets up for happy hour, brunches, and outdoor gatherings in the Capital District with an emphasis on the Albany/Troy area. Feel free to join, we look forward to meeting you!

If you have book/venue/other suggestions, use the feedback form: https://forms.gle/swFzoMxSJsmSaJC19

General Guidelines for Book Meetings:

  • We will discuss the entire book - if you haven't read/finished it, you are more than welcome to come anyway but there will be spoilers!
  • We typically take the first 15 minutes to settle in, order food/drinks, and then get started discussing the book.
  • When the venue is a bar/restaurant, you are never obligated to order something. Feel free to participate in the book discussion even if you only get a water.
  • If you suspect you cannot attend, please adjust your RSVP early so anyone on the waitlist can have some advance notice.
  • Be kind, be yourself, have fun :)

What We're Reading:
June - What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
July - Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
August - Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
September - I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
October - The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
November - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
December - Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Upcoming events (3)

What Alice Forgot @ Peebles Island Pavilion

Peebles Island State Park

We're reading What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty on Thursday, June 8th at 7:00 PM. We will meet at the pavilion at Peebles Island State Park. If it seems likely to rain, we will post an indoor location the week of the event.

A best-selling author dives into the enigma of memory:
Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over—she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over...

If you're disappointed to miss this one, you can also discuss the book less formally at the social event on 6/25.

Social Event @ TBD

Needs a location

Check back for details!

Take my Hand @ TBD

Needs a location

We're reading Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez on Thursday, July 13th at 7:00 PM. The location is TBD, so check back soon.

Montgomery, Alabama, 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend intends to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she hopes to help women shape their destinies, to make their own choices for their lives and bodies.
But when her first week on the job takes her along a dusty country road to a worn-down one-room cabin, Civil is shocked to learn that her new patients, Erica and India, are children—just eleven and thirteen years old. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black, and for those handling the family’s welfare benefits, that’s reason enough to have the girls on birth control. As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica, and their family into her heart. Until one day she arrives at their door to learn the unthinkable has happened, and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.
Decades later, with her daughter grown and a long career in her wake, Dr. Civil Townsend is ready to retire, to find her peace, and to leave the past behind. But there are people and stories that refuse to be forgotten. That must not be forgotten.
Because history repeats what we don’t remember.
Inspired by true events and brimming with hope, Take My Hand is a stirring exploration of accountability and redemption.

If you're disappointed to miss this one, you can also discuss the book less formally at the social event on 7/23.

Past events (15)

Picnic at Washington Park (no book)

Washington Park