New Members Reading Adventure: "How To Read A Book" by Monica Wood

Welcome, New Faces!

We’re hosting temporary special book club nights just for NEW MEMBERS. With our usual dinners on pause for a few months, it provides the perfect chance to meet more new members.

Why New Members only? This way, everyone starts on the same page - no insider knowledge, no pressure. It’s also our way of opening the door wider as our regular events are limited to one new member at a time, this gives more of you a chance to join us. And it gives us Hosts the perfect excuse to gather over cocktails and plot next year’s adventures with fresh perspectives.

What to expect: We’ll start with a lighthearted, book-inspired icebreaker (nothing too intense, promise), then let the conversation flow. I Bring your thoughts, questions, or just your curiosity - this is your space to connect. And to keep our events enjoyable for everyone, we keep things friendly and free of politics or self-promotion.

A note from your Hosts: We’re a mix of personalities - some of us loud (me), some of us quiet - but all of us here to make sure you feel at home. No pressure, no pretenses, just good books (🤞) and good company. Interested?

A charming, deeply moving novel about second chances, unlikely friendships, and the life-changing power of sharing stories.

Violet Powell, a twenty-two-year-old from rural Abbott Falls, Maine, is being released from prison after serving twenty-two months for a drunk-driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher.

Harriet Larson, a retired English teacher who runs the prison book club, is facing the unsettling prospect of an empty nest.

Frank Daigle, a retired machinist, hasn’t yet come to grips with the complications of his marriage to the woman Violet killed.

When the three encounter each other one morning in a bookstore in Portland, their lives begin to intersect in transformative ways.

This book illuminates the decisions that define a life and the kindnesses that make life worth living.

288 pgs
Up Lit/Contemporary

• Sara Josepha Hale Award (2024)