Read With Us: John of John

It's my turn to talk about our Summer 2026 Read With Us book, John of John by Douglas Stuart. We've read Stuart's other two novels, Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo, but I think this one is his best yet. 

There are many reasons to read Stuart's newest novel (stunning portraits of a father and son, an examination of how faith and identity can collide, it balances heartbreak with hope, along with many others) but one of the things that struck me the most was the ways in which color is used, especially in weaving which plays a large part. 

One of the most beautiful aspects of John of John is the way Douglas Stuart describes weaving not as a static craft, but as something almost alive. Rather than treating color as individual threads, he often emphasizes what happens when colors are brought together under tension. The cloth becomes a conversation between colors.

Several patterns emerge in his descriptions:

Color as interaction

Instead of naming a single color, Stuart frequently describes how one shade changes another.

The warp and weft create:

• colors that deepen when crossed

• shades that seem to emerge only from a distance

• patterns that shimmer as the cloth moves

• hues that appear different depending on the light

The emphasis is on the relationship between colors rather than isolated pigments.

Colors borrowed from nature

The weaving is often described using colors familiar from the Scottish landscape:

• heather purple

• peat brown

• lichen green

• sea-grey

• storm blue

• oat and barley gold

• cream wool

• weathered stone

Rather than sounding like a paint chart, the colors feel organic and rooted in place.

Mixing without blending

A hallmark of woven cloth is that colors remain distinct threads while creating a new visual effect together. Stuart captures this beautifully. Instead of saying colors are mixed, he suggests they:

• flicker

• pulse

• break against one another

• soften each other

• create a color that exists only when viewed as cloth

This reflects the optical blending that happens in tweed and tartan, where blue and yellow threads may read as green from a distance.

Cloth as light

He also pays close attention to how woven wool catches light.

Colors may appear:

• dull in shadow

• luminous in morning light

• silvered by rain

• warmed by afternoon sun

The fabric changes throughout the day, making color something dynamic rather than fixed.

The emotional resonance of color

Because weaving is deeply tied to the characters' work and identity, color choices often carry emotional significance. Certain combinations evoke memory, family, or a particular landscape. A bolt of cloth can feel like an attempt to capture a hillside, a season, or a place that matters.

Precision without technicality

Although Stuart clearly understands weaving, he rarely overwhelms the reader with technical dye or textile vocabulary. Instead, he writes in sensory terms. You don't need to know anything about weaving to appreciate descriptions that make you see and almost feel the cloth.

For example, rather than cataloging colors, he might evoke a fabric that appears:

• "stormy" rather than merely grey,

• "bracken-colored" rather than simply brown,

• "like winter sunlight on water" instead of just silver.

Why it works

Stuart's descriptions mirror the craft itself. Weaving is about many individual threads creating something richer than any one thread alone. Likewise, his color descriptions are cumulative. He layers small observations until the reader perceives a complex whole, much as the eye perceives the blended colors of a finely woven tweed.

It's a fitting metaphor for the novel itself: individual lives, memories, and histories crossing one another to create something stronger and more beautiful than their separate strands.

The hardcover and audiobook versions have a manageable hold queue at my libraries, so I hope that is also the case for you. After reading it with my eyes the first time, my re-read is the audiobook, narrated by Lorne Macfadyen in a wonderful (but still understandable) brogue.

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information, and doing promotional posts throughout July and August. Discussion day for John of John is scheduled for Tuesday, September 15, 2026 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always educational and illuminating Zoom discussion. I think this is my favorite Douglas Stuart novel so far, and one that is also very discussable, so I hope you'll Read With Us!

Bonus: Observer article about Douglas Stuart and Hebridean weavers. 

Read With Us: It's a New Book!

And it's a good one!

We're thrilled to announce the Read With Us summer selection: John of John by Douglas Stuart.

Sometimes our Read With Us books become favorites. Sometimes they challenge me. Sometimes they leave me thinking for days after I've finished the last page. I'm hoping our next selection will do exactly that for you, too.

If Stuart's name sounds familiar, it's because he won the Booker Prize for Shuggie Bain and followed it with Young Mungo, both of which we've read. His novels are known for unforgettable characters, beautiful writing, and enormous compassion for people who are often overlooked.

At its heart, John of John asks questions about family, identity, love, and the complicated ways we inherit both strengths and wounds from the people who came before us. Stuart has a remarkable ability to write characters who feel completely real, flawed, vulnerable, funny, and resilient all at once. Even when difficult things happen, there's a generosity in his writing that keeps me turning the pages. 

At first glance, this may not seem like the kind of book that announces itself with a big, dramatic premise. Instead, it invites us into the lives of some ordinary men and asks us to pay close attention, to memory, family, identity, faith, the stories we inherit about ourselves, and what it means to become your own person.  

Whether this book becomes a new favorite or simply gives you something interesting to think about, I hope you'll bring your thoughts to our Zoom discussion. I'm always curious to hear what everyone thinks, because you almost always see things in different and interesting ways.

The hardcover and audiobook versions have a manageable hold queue at my libraries, so I hope that is also the case for you. I started listening to the audiobook, narrated by Lorne Macfadyen in a wonderful (but still understandable brogue) but decided that I also needed to read it with my eyes, so I bought the Kindle version for $14.99.  

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information, and doing promotional posts throughout July. Discussion day for John of John is scheduled for Tuesday, September 15, 2026 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always educational and illuminating Zoom discussion. I think this is my favorite Douglas Stuart novel so far, and one that is also very discussable, so I hope you'll Read With Us!

Read With Us: Time for a Discussion

 

Today is the discussion day for our Read With Us spring book, Good People by Patmeena Sabit. 

Kym, Carole, and I are each posting a discussion question or two on our blogs today, and you are welcome to respond in the comments. I would also encourage you to reply to others' comments if you choose.  This is a book discussion, after all, so there are no correct answers or right opinions. I'm really looking forward to discussing this book. I raced through this book the first time I read it, and then read it a second time where I discovered many things I had missed or forgotten. I think this discussion will be valuable for me, and I hope for others of you as well. 

Good People seems especially well-suited to discussion because it raises questions about truth, family loyalty, reputation, immigration, community judgment, and the limits of perspective. Here is my question: The novel repeatedly asks readers to reconsider their judgments. What do you think are the most important lessons the book offers about understanding other people?

I'll be glad to share my thoughts about our questions tonight during our Zoom discussion. These questions on our blogs and the Zoom discussion are your chance to express your ideas. So what do you think? I can't wait to hear your thoughts! (And I'm counting on our discussion to give me fresh perspectives in my own thinking about this unique novel.)

The in-person Zoom discussion will be at 7:00 pm Eastern this evening. If you haven't RSVP'd to Kym already you can send me an email (the email address is in the upper right) and I will make sure you get an invitation with the Zoom link. I hope to see you there!

Read With Us: Good People

 

If you’re in the mood for a novel that lingers and is quite discussable, I think our next Read With Us pick is worth your time.

Good People by Patmeena Sabit is the kind of story that invites you to look closer: at relationships, at choices, and at the stories we tell ourselves about being “good.” It opens in an unassuming way, but don’t be fooled; there’s an undercurrent here that builds into something deeply thought-provoking.

What makes this a great book for Read With Us? It’s layered without being inaccessible, emotional without being overdone, and full of those moments that make you pause and think, “What would I do in that situation?” The characters feel real, flawed, complicated, and impossible to fully judge, which means our discussion is bound to be lively.

Expect:

• Moral gray areas that spark debate
• Subtle tension that builds as you read
• Characters you may or may not agree with, but won’t forget

I'll keep this one spoiler-free for now, but come ready to unpack motivations, question assumptions, and maybe even challenge your own definition of what it means to be a “good person.”

Part of why this book is so good is that Patmeena Sabit is an Afghan American writer whose work is shaped by her own cross-cultural experience. Born in Kabul shortly after the Soviet invasion, she and her family fled to Pakistan as refugees before eventually settling in the United States, where she grew up in Virginia; she now lives in Toronto. Good People draws on themes of immigration, identity, and community, reflecting the complex intersections of cultures that have influenced her life and writing. 

The hardcover and audiobook versions have manageable hold queues at my libraries, so I hope that is also the case for you. I started listening to the audiobook, but decided that I also needed to read it with my eyes, so I bought the Kindle version for $13.99.  

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information (but not too much!), and doing promotional posts throughout April and May. Discussion day for Good People is scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always educational and illuminating Zoom discussion.

I do hope you'll Read With Us, and I really hope you'll also Discuss With Us!

Read With Us: It's An (Exciting) New Book!

We're thrilled to announce the Read With Us spring selection: Good People by Patmeena Sabit. 

I think it's better if you read this debut novel without a lot of advance knowledge, but I will share the publisher's blurb as I don't think it gives away too much. 

"The Sharaf family is the picture of success. Successful, rich, happy. They came to this country as refugees with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. And now, after years of hard work, they live in the most exclusive neighborhood, their growing family attending the most prestigious schools. Zorah, the eldest daughter, is the apple of her father’s eye.

When an unthinkable tragedy strikes, everyone is left reeling and the family is thrust into the court of public opinion. There is talk that behind closed doors the Sharafs’ happy household was anything but. Did the Sharaf family achieve the American dream? Or was the image of the model immigrant family just a façade?

Like a literary game of ping-pong, Good People compels the reader to reconsider what might have happened even on the previous page. Told through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, it is a riveting, provocative, and haunting story of family—sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and the communities that claim us as family in difficult times." 

The hardcover and audiobook versions have a manageable hold queue at my libraries, so I hope that is also the case for you. I started listening to the audiobook, but decided that I also needed to read it with my eyes, so I bought the Kindle version for $13.99.  

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information (but not too much!), and doing promotional posts throughout April and May. Discussion day for Good People is scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always educational and illuminating Zoom discussion. I think this one will be quite discussable, so I hope you'll Read With Us!

Read With Us: Time to Wrap It Up

It's my turn to do the Read With Us wrap-up and I've been thinking about how best to capture our discussion of Gilead.

We had a wonderful group of 12 participants, and we were fairly evenly split over whether we liked the book, thought it was just okay, or just plain hated it. 

Carole asked whether Ames ultimately succeeded in offering his son meaningful guidance through the letter, which drifts through memory, theology, regret, and wonder. The general consensus was that it didn't offer much direct guidance; instead, it felt more self-serving, closer to a memoir or a personal reckoning than a roadmap for a child. Jane suggested that Ames’s son might interpret the letter differently at various stages of his life, and many of us agreed with Dee’s observation that the letter primarily served to “unburden his soul.”

Kym raised thoughtful questions about the novel’s literary style, its epistolary format, lack of traditional chapter breaks, and Ames’s distinctly “reverend-y” voice, and whether these elements enhanced or hindered the reading experience. She also prompted discussion about Jack Boughton, particularly Ames’s lingering distrust of him and how honestly that distrust is portrayed. We talked about the tension this creates and how Ames responds to Jack’s news about his family, as well as whether he would truly have welcomed them to Gilead.

Many of us felt the epistolary format was limiting, largely because we only saw events through Ames’s perspective. Several people noted the absence of dialogue, especially between Ames and Lila, and wondered what kind of relationship they might have actually had. There was also a sense that the novel might have been more compelling if told from a woman’s point of view.

When I asked why the novel resonates so deeply with some readers but feels slow or inaccessible to others, the most common answer was its lack of plot and forward momentum. Some readers found the stream-of-consciousness style frustrating, even describing it as “word vomit” or meandering, with little sense of resolution. While many of us acknowledged Robinson’s beautiful prose, but those moments could also get buried within the narrative. Ames’s voice, in particular, struck some readers as overly sermon-like, which made it harder to connect.

So there you have it. We had a fascinating side discussion about how reading experiences can change over time. Kym, who has read the book three times, found that each reading felt different. We also considered whether the “unprecedented times” we’re living through might make readers less patient with quieter, more introspective novels that lack clear plot or character growth.

As always, I came away grateful for this group. Our Read With Us discussions consistently help me see books in new ways, and participants often raise points I wouldn’t have considered on my own. This was certainly one of those conversations. Thank you to everyone who read along, joined the discussion, and shared your thoughts.

If you attended the Zoom and would like to add your own highlights in the comments, please do; I'd love to hear them. We’ll be announcing our spring selection tomorrow, March 31, so be sure to check back. I can promise it’s quite different from Gilead, with no nuns, and no long-winded reverends!

Read With Us: Today Is the Day for the Real Discussion!

After a slight delay due to the flu, we're back today for our postponed discussion of Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. My questions are the same, so this post is much the same as last week. There is no need to answer the questions again if you did last week, unless you have more thoughts you'd like to share. 

Kym, Carole, and I are each posting a discussion question or two on our blogs today, and you are welcome to respond in the comments. I would also encourage you to reply to others' comments if you choose.  This is a book discussion, after all, so there are no correct answers or right opinions. I'm really looking forward to discussing this book. I'll be honest; I found it difficult to read, and after several false starts, I finally finished it. So I think this discussion will be valuable for me, and I hope for others of you as well. 

 

Here are my questions: Why do you think this novel resonates so deeply with some readers, and feels slow or difficult to others? Does this look at a 1950s rural, white church and town offer anything to readers in the 21st century?

I'll be glad to share my thoughts about our questions tonight during our Zoom discussion. These questions on our blogs and the Zoom discussion are your chance to express your ideas. So what do you think? I can't wait to hear your thoughts! (And I'm counting on our discussion to give me fresh perspectives in my own thinking about this novel.)

The in-person Zoom discussion will be at 7:00 pm Eastern this evening. If you haven't RSVP'd to Kym already you can send me an email (the email address is in the upper right) and I will make sure you get an invitation with the Zoom link. I hope to see you there!

Read With Us: Discussion Time

UPDATE: 

We really hate to do this, but we have to postpone or Zoom discussion of Gilead scheduled for tonight. One of our team is quite ill with flu and says "her brain is completely scrambled and she can barely keep her eyes open". That is no way to try and participate in a book discussion, so we will postpone our Zoom discussion until next Tuesday, March 24th at 7:00 pm. We're very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and hope you'll be able to join us next Tuesday. 

Thank you,

The Read With Us team

 

 

Today is the discussion day for our Read With Us winter book, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. 

Kym, Carole, and I are each posting a discussion question or two on our blogs today, and you are welcome to respond in the comments. I would also encourage you to reply to others' comments if you choose.  This is a book discussion, after all, so there are no correct answers or right opinions. I'm really looking forward to discussing this book. I'll be honest; I found it difficult to read, and after several false starts, I finally finished it. So I think this discussion will be valuable for me, and I hope for others of you as well. 

Here are my questions: Why do you think this novel resonates so deeply with some readers, and feels slow or difficult to others? Does this look at a 1950s rural, white church and town offer anything to readers in the 21st century?

 

I'll be glad to share my thoughts about our questions tonight during our Zoom discussion. These questions on our blogs and the Zoom discussion are your chance to express your ideas. So what do you think? I can't wait to hear your thoughts! (And I'm counting on our discussion to give me fresh perspectives in my own thinking about this novel.)

The in-person Zoom discussion will be at 7:00 pm Eastern this evening. If you haven't RSVP'd to Kym already you can send me an email (the email address is in the upper right) and I will make sure you get an invitation with the Zoom link. I hope to see you there!

 

Read With Us: Gilead

If you’re in the mood for a book that rewards slow reading, deep thinking, and a little quiet awe, Gilead by Marilynne Robinson is a perfect choice for Read With Us.

Set in a small Iowa town in the 1950s, Gilead takes the form of a long letter written by Reverend John Ames to his young son. Ames is elderly and ill, and what unfolds is not a plot-driven novel so much as a meditation on life: faith, grace, forgiveness, love, regret, and the strange beauty of ordinary days. If that sounds heavy, it can be, but it’s also gentle, luminous, and surprisingly warm. So what are some good reasons for reading this book?

One of the great pleasures of Gilead is Robinson’s language. Her prose is precise and unshowy, yet often breathtaking. She has a gift for making small moments feel sacred: light falling on water, a child’s laughter, a simple walk through town. This is a book that makes you want to pause mid-paragraph just to sit with a sentence for a moment.

This is also a novel about empathy. Even when characters disappoint or frustrate us, Robinson invites us to see them whole, shaped by their pasts and their fears. That generosity of spirit is one of the reasons Gilead has stayed with readers for years and continues to feel relevant.

For discussion purposes, Gilead offers so much to work with. It asks big questions without insisting on easy answers: What do we owe the people we love? How do we live well, knowing we are flawed and finite? What does forgiveness really cost? The relationships, especially between fathers and sons, and between old friends carrying long histories, are nuanced and quietly powerful, leaving plenty of room for interpretation and our discussion.

If you enjoy books that are reflective rather than fast-paced, rich in ideas, and written with extraordinary care, Gilead is well worth your time. It’s the kind of novel that doesn’t shout for your attention, but once you settle into it, it has a way of lingering, quietly, long after you’ve turned the last page.

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information, and doing promotional posts throughout February. Discussion day for Gilead is scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always educational and illuminating Zoom discussion. 

I hope the promise of breathtaking prose, a book full of empathy, and one that I think will be the basis of a rich discussion will make you want to read Gilead. We hope you'll Read With Us and discover this quietly reflective novel. 

It's A New Book!

We're thrilled to announce the Read With Us winter selection: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. First published in 2004, it has won multiple awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, and many others. 

Some novels don’t just tell a story, they also create a space for reflection. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson is one of those rare books that is quiet on the surface, yet vast in what it asks of us as readers.

Told as a letter from Reverend John Ames to his young son, Gilead unfolds in a small Iowa town in the 1950s. Ames knows he will not live to see his son grow up, and so he writes with tenderness and humility about faith, doubt, forgiveness, race, history, and the everyday beauty of a life lived attentively. What emerges is not a conventional plot-driven novel, but a deeply human meditation on what it means to love the world, despite its brokenness. I could certainly use this and that may be true for many others as well. 

This is a book that rewards slow reading. Robinson’s prose is luminous without being showy, grounded in ordinary moments that open into something larger such as a shared meal or a difficult conversation left unfinished. Readers may find themselves pausing, not because the book is difficult, but because it is quietly profound.

I think Gilead will offer us opportunities for a rich and layered discussion. Gilead is also a novel that invites many kinds of readers in. You do not need to share its religious framework to be moved by its questions or its compassion. At its heart, this is a book about attention, moral responsibility, and the grace found in ordinary lives.

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information, and doing promotional posts throughout February. Discussion day for Gilead is scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, 2026 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always educational and illuminating Zoom discussion.  

Whether you've read it before or this book is new to you, we hope you'll Read With Us and discover this quietly reflective novel.  

 

Read With Us: Discussion Time

Today is the discussion day for our Read With Us fall book, The Antidote by Karen Russell. 

Kym, Carole, and I are each posting a discussion question or two on our blogs today, and you are welcome to respond in the comments. I would also encourage you to reply to others' comments if you choose.  This is a book discussion, after all, so there are no correct answers or right opinions. I've very much been looking forward to discussing this book. I'll be honest; I found it difficult to read, and after several false starts, I finally finished it. So I think this discussion will be valuable for me, and I hope for others of you as well. 

 

Here is my question: Prairie witches served as "vaults" for pioneers' unpleasant memories. How does this relate to what is happening today in America with the current administration, school districts, and museums removing topics like slavery, treatment of indigenous people, climate change, medical information, and more from websites and curricula?

 

I'll be glad to share my thoughts about our questions tonight during our Zoom discussion. These questions on our blogs and the Zoom discussion are your chance to express your ideas. So what do you think? I can't wait to hear your thoughts! (And I'm counting on our discussion to give me fresh perspectives in my own thinking about this novel.)

The in-person Zoom discussion will be at 7:00 pm Eastern this evening. If you haven't RSVP'd to Kym already you can send me an email (the email address is in the upper right) and I will make sure you get an invitation with the Zoom link. I hope to see you there!

 

Read With Us: The Antidote

Hello, Read With Us friends! If you're looking for a rich, surprising novel to spark deep conversation, psychological exploration, and food for the mind and soul, let me tell you a little bit about The Antidote by Karen Russell. Below are five compelling reasons why I think this book is a wonderful choice for our next read. 

Why I think this one deserves your time:

1. A haunting setting that blends history and magic.
The novel opens in the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s in a small Nebraskan town called Uz, already in collapse from drought, economic hardship, and historical erasure, and then a wild dust storm (on “Black Sunday”) lays bare the artificiality of the settlement, the cost of forgetting, and the fragility of memory. Russell layers in magical-realism (a “prairie witch” who stores memories, a time-travelling camera, a sentient scarecrow) to explore real themes of land-abuse, Indigenous erasure, and environmental collapse. For our book club, this means there’s both vivid story and rich metaphor: you’ll be reading a story of characters, while also talking about what the Dust Bowl means, what memory means, what our own era echoes.

2. Multi-layered characters whose stories interweave.
There’s Antonina (the “Prairie Witch” nicknamed the Antidote) who deposits other people’s memories; Harp Oletsky, the Polish-American farmer whose land miraculously thrives amid the drought; his niece Dell, a basketball-loving girl apprenticing under the witch; a Black photographer working for the New Deal whose camera shows more than meets the eye.  Because the novel moves among many viewpoints, we'll have plenty to talk about: whose story moved you most? Which viewpoint you found strongest or most compelling — and why.

Also interesting: the characters live with trauma, inheritance, place, and memory. After we read about someone leaving an abusive marriage in Nesting, you may especially appreciate how Russell handles trauma, memory, the “vaulting” of what we don’t want to remember.

3. Prose with ambition: beauty, strangeness, risk.
Russell is known for her inventive fiction (think Swamplandia!) and here she takes a big swing: the reviews talk about the “spell-binding” quality of her writing and how she uses metaphor and magical realism to make us think differently about American history. We are asking a bit more from you this time. For our book club, I think that’s a gift: you’ll find passages to re-read, lines to linger over, metaphors to unpack. I'm imagining that I might highlight how Russell describes dust, memory, wind, land, even basketball.

4. A narrative that connects to our time.
Though set in the 1930s, the book engages with themes still urgent today: climate collapse, settler amnesia, how we treat land, how we remember (and erase) history. For our Read With Us conversation, this means we won’t just ask “What happened?” but “What does this say about us now?” and “How does memory (personal, cultural, collective) tie into our lives today?”

5. Ideal for book-clubs because it offers both beauty and tension.
There’s tension: environmental disaster, murder, secrets, memory theft, going to the edges of what characters can hold. There’s beauty: language, character, strangeness, wonder. I think that mix can only add to our discussion. 

In an interview with BookPage, Karen Russell said she wanted to write a story where an apocalyptic future for us isn’t a foregone conclusion. “You can’t imagine a viable future, a world that’s kinder and more just than what we’ve got going today, without returning to the past,” Russell says. This sounds like a book for me. I've just started it and I'm finding it's not a book I can rush through, but it is a delicious read.

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information, and doing promotional posts throughout November. Discussion day for The Antidote is scheduled for Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always fun, educational, and entertaining Zoom discussion.

Whether you're new to Karen Russell or already a fan, we hope you'll Read With Us and discover (or revisit since I know some of you have already read it) this amazingly creative novel. I think it's ambitious but readable, magical but grounded, beautiful but thought-provoking. It offers spectacle and depth, characters you’ll care about (and question), metaphors you’ll carry after the last page, in preparation for a discussion you'll be glad you had. I'm already looking forward to it and I hope you'll Read With Us!

 

It's a New Book!

We’re thrilled to announce the Read With Us fall selection: The Antidote by Karen Russell. 

 

 

This truly original book is a Dust Bowl epic from the author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove. Russell’s fiction has balanced the mythic and the human, and this newest novel promises both a sweeping historical story, magical realism, and an unsettling mirror of the present.

 

ETA: And now it's also a National Book Award finalist!  

Set in the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska, The Antidote begins on Black Sunday, when one of the most catastrophic dust storms in American history descends upon the Great Plains. But the real storm, Russell suggests, has been gathering for generations. The town is already sinking under the weight of drought, economic despair, and the darker inheritance of its own violent past.

The book follows five unforgettable characters:

• A Prairie Witch whose body serves as a vault for other people’s memories,

• A Polish wheat farmer whose good fortune sours into something sinister,

• His orphaned niece, a basketball prodigy and apprentice witch who is running from her grief,

• A talkative scarecrow with unsettling wisdom, and

• A New Deal photographer whose mysterious, time-bending camera threatens to expose the town’s secrets.

As their stories intertwine, Russell explores what it means for a nation to forget - its history, its sins, and its connections to the land and what it might take to remember. It’s also a novel that feels fiercely relevant, confronting the legacies of environmental collapse and collective denial. In an interview with BookPage, Karen Russell said she wanted to write a story where an apocalyptic future for us isn’t a foregone conclusion. “You can’t imagine a viable future, a world that’s kinder and more just than what we’ve got going today, without returning to the past,” Russell says. This sounds like a book for me.

The hardcover, Kindle, and audio versions of the book are all available from my library without much of a wait, so hopefully we'll all have plenty of time to place a hold, get the book, and read it. The Kindle and paperback versions are priced reasonably from Amazon and the audio version is narrated beautifully by Elena Ray and six others. I'm sure your local bookseller could order a copy for you if you're lucky enough to have a local bookseller. Personally, this sounds like one that I might need to eye-read.

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information, and doing promotional posts throughout November. Discussion day for The Antidote is scheduled for Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always fun, educational, and entertaining Zoom discussion.

Whether you're new to Karen Russell or already a fan, we hope you'll Read With Us and discover (or revisit since I know some of you have already read it) this amazingly creative novel. 

 

Read With Us: Discussion Time!

Today is the discussion day for our Read With Us summer book, The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. 

Kym, Carole, and I are each posting a discussion question or two on our blogs today, and you are welcome to respond in the comments. I would also encourage you to reply to others' comments if you choose.  This is a book discussion, after all, so there are no correct answers or right opinions. I've been looking forward to discussing this book. I'll make a confession; this was not my favorite book, but I don't know of a better bunch of people for a book discussion than all of you. 

 

Here are my questions: There is little in The Friend when it comes to drama; it's primarily a study of character and an exploration of ideas. Would more action have made a difference to you in terms of how you experienced the book? Nunez also includes a large number of quotations and stories from the works of writers. Are they well integrated into the novel? Did you enjoy them or find them distracting?

 

I'll be glad to share my thoughts about these questions tonight during our Zoom discussion. These questions on our blogs and the Zoom discussion are your chance to express your ideas. So what do you think? I can't wait to hear your thoughts! (And I'm counting on our discussion to give me fresh perspectives in my own thinking about this novel.)

The in-person Zoom discussion will be at 7:00 pm Eastern this evening. If you haven't RSVP'd to Kym already you can send me an email (the email address is in the upper right) and I will make sure you get an invitation with the Zoom link. I hope to see you there!

 

Read With Us: The Friend

Our summer Read With Us book is The Friend by Sigrid Nunez, winner of the 2018 National Book Award for Fiction. A quiet yet powerful meditation on grief, love, writing, and the unbreakable bond between humans and animals, this novel is sure to spark deep conversation and reflection.

What’s It About?

After the sudden death of her closest friend and mentor, an unnamed writer inherits his Great Dane—an enormous, grieving dog she’s not entirely sure she can care for. As she adjusts to this unexpected companionship, the narrator finds herself contemplating not only the nature of friendship and loss, but the meaning of writing, solitude, and emotional survival.

The Friend is spare, elegant, and emotionally resonant. It’s not your typical dog book—though fans of animal stories will appreciate it—but a literary exploration of the way we tether ourselves to others, and what happens when those ties are severed.

Why Read with Us?
This is a perfect book for discussion. It blends narrative with philosophical musings, literary references, and dark humor. Whether you’ve experienced loss, wrestled with loneliness, or simply love a story that digs below the surface, there’s something here for you.

Together, we’ll explore questions like:

• How do we grieve in silence, and how do we make meaning from absence?

• What role do animals play in helping us heal?

• Can a relationship endure even after one person is gone?

The hardcover, Kindle, and audio versions of the book are all available from my library without much of a wait. Hopefully, we'll all have plenty of time to place a hold, get the book, and read it. The Kindle and paperback versions are priced reasonably from Amazon and the audio version is narrated beautifully by Louisa Harland. I'm sure your local bookseller could order a copy for you if you're lucky enough to have a local bookseller.

Kym, Carole, and I will be talking about the book, giving additional information, and doing promotional posts through July. Discussion day for The Friend is scheduled for Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 7:00 pm Eastern time, so mark your calendars. We'll ask questions on our blogs that day and then host the always fun, educational, and entertaining Zoom discussion.

We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this unforgettable novel.

Grab a copy, find a quiet corner, and Read With Us!