Book Club Reading Lists
The Sandcastle Book Club has published its reading list for 2024-25. It appears below. If your book club has a new list, please send it to me, and I will put it on the blog.
Sandcastle Book Club book list for 2024-2025
September 9, 2024 The Frozen River, Ariel Lawhon—The fictionalized story of real life midwife and general practitioner Martha Ballard, who lived in colonial New England. Martha’s diary noting the birth of each of ‘her’ babies helps solve the mystery of the frozen dead body found in the river.
October 14, 2024 The River We Remember, William Kent Kruger—Another Kruger novel that seems homespun but looks at complicated matters. The sheriff of a rural town in Michigan must solve a murder against a backdrop of prejudices and assumptions and terrible truths about the evil that people can inflict upon other people.
November 11 Trust, Hernan Diaz—The Pulitzer Prize winning book for Fiction in 2023, Trust takes place in the 1920’s of New York City and centers around an enormously wealthy and successful couple. Or are they who they say they are? Competing narratives create a mystery that engages the reader from the first sentence.
December 9 Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise, Colleen Oakley—An unlikely pair, one an 81 year old woman with a checkered past and the other a college drop-out down on her luck, set out on a journey that has many surprising and humorous turns. It is a story that is fast paced and heartfelt.
January 15 Luncheon Details TBA
February 10 The Women, Kristen Hannah—The story of the nurses who served in the Vietnam War. After unthinkable horrors, the nurses return to a country that despises all things Vietnamese and try to resume their lives. The struggle is based on a true story and stresses the values of friendship and perseverance.
March 10 The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, James McBride— The story is set in a town in Pennsylvania in a neighborhood made up of Jews and African Americans who form unique relationships. Captivating writing and character development make this book a surprise hit of the season.
April 14 The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters—The story of a family that goes every summer to pick berries in Maine. Little sister Ruthie goes missing one day and is never found, or is she? Told from the point of view of Ruthie’s brother and a girl named Norma, the book is a mystery with themes of racism and family ties.
May 12 Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt—The story of an octopus named Marcellus and the people who tend to him at his aquarium. While the book shows the high level of intelligence and empathy of Marcellus, it also shows the profound effect animals can have on the people who care for them.