What we’re about
Yes, book clubs still exist! Yes, you are not the only lit-lover left. Yes, you don't have to live in a major metro area to praise the prose to all who will listen. Bibliophiles, book worms, and casual perusers unite! The Pocono Book Club is the first, the original, the authentic, the largest, and the best literary get-together in the Greater Pocono Mountain region. Since 2015, we've met once a month in a relaxing gastronomic setting to discuss everyone's thoughts on the book-of-the-month.
Our two simple criteria are that you enjoy reading and then talking about what you read over good food & drink. Fiction is our mainstay, and we've delved into non-fiction; medium-lengthed is our distance, but we can handle the longer and shorter books; in-person and virtual meetings have both happened. We mix things up from time to time with additional features, including: theater screenings, grab bags, book festivals, and author participation. Your thoughts matter, join a group that will appreciate them in proper bookish fashion.
Here’s a sample of what we’ve read over these past 9 fantastic years (and counting):
“The Storied Life of AJ Fikry,” by Gabrielle Zevin
“Lincoln in the Bardo,” by George Saunders
“I am Malala,” by Malala Yousafzai
“The Snow Child,” by Eowyn Ivey
"The Island of Sea Women," by Lisa See
"The Bear and the Nightingale," by Katherine Arden
“Killers of the Flower Moon," by David Grann
“The Girls of Murder City,” by Douglas Perry
"The Secret History," by Donna Tartt
"Less," by Andrew Sean Greer
“The Martian,” by Andy Weir
"Wish You Were Here," by Jodi Picoult
“The Library Book,” by Susan Orlean
"Sea of Tranquility," by Emily St. John Mandel
"The Great Alone," by Kristin Hannah
"Hillbilly Elegy," by J.D. Vance
“Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald,” by Therese Anne Fowler
“Empire Falls,” by Richard Russo
"The Couple Next Door," by Shari Lapena
"Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania," by Erik Larson
"The Dutch House," by Ann Patchett
"Hour of the Witch," by Chris Bohjalian
"The Dry," by Jane Harper
Hope to have you join us!
Jason
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- "Demon Copperhead," by Barbara KingsolverNeeds location
*Note: At 560 pages, this is one of the longest books we've read. You might want to give yourself some extra time for this selection. As such, instead of the typical 4 weeks between our meetings, I'm scheduling 6 weeks between our August get-together and this one.*
*A second note: Your organizer highly recommends the audiobook. If you're an audiobook fan, you'll love this one. If you've never tried audiobooks before, this might be a good one to dip your toes into the format. You can borrow a free e-copy HERE. *
It goes without saying that this title has crossed most, if not all, readers' radars over the two years since its publication. It's won many of the biggest literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and Women's Prize. The novel has garnered universal praise from the likes of Jodi Picoult, Ann Patchett, and Stephen King as a quintessential American Novel of all time, let alone the 21st Century. The author is considered one of the most important writers of the 20th and 21st Centuries by Writers Digest and Publishers Weekly.
Set in modern Appalachia, Kingsolver creates characters we can all understand, and she tackles contemporary issues that deeply impact our national fabric, including the opioid crisis and single parenthood.
An incredibly rich novel in character, setting, and plot, let's delve into the twists & turns of this heavier coming-of-age literary fiction tale!
From Goodreads:
"Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose."
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.
