By Collection Management Librarian Kathy
Did you know the library has a curated section of Book Club Kits? These are pre-assembled bags with 10 copies of the same popular title, discussion questions curated by Oak Park librarians, and lists of similar titles for book groups.
Each bag can be placed on hold by an individual Oak Park cardholder and is checked out as a single item. Here is a selection of some of our favorites, but you can find other titles in the library’s catalog.
Titles to discuss
James by Percival Everett
Why your group should try it: This book has been on basically every best of 2024 list (including our Best of 2024). You can pair it with a reading of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for an especially robust discussion.
Description: When the enslaved Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he decides to hide on nearby Jackson Island until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn has faked his death to escape his violent father, who recently returned to town. Thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and too-often-unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.
Same as It Ever Was by Claire Lombardo
Why your group should try it: Claire Lombardo is a native Oak Parker, AND this book takes place in the Chicago suburbs. Is it our hometown? Let your book club decide.
Description: Julia Ames, after a youth marked by upheaval and emotional turbulence, has found herself on the placid plateau of mid-life. But Julia has never navigated the world with the equanimity of her current privileged class. Having nearly derailed herself several times, making desperate bids for the kind of connection that always felt inaccessible to her, she finally feels, at age 57, that she has a firm handle on things. She's unprepared, though, for what comes next: a surprise announcement from her straight-arrow son, an impending separation from her spikey teenage daughter, and a seductive resurgence of the past, all of which threaten to draw her back into the patterns that had previously kept her on a razor's edge.
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Why your group should try it: Historical fiction can be a wonderful vehicle for learning about and discussing history, in this case, the Vietnam War. But Hannah gives us much more than that—lots to chat about!
Description: When 22-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing—being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Why your group should try it: If you missed this when it came out in 2020, consider reading it with your book club. It is an exceptionally good read and makes for great discussion.
Description: The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age 16, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the twins' fates remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation when their daughters' storylines intersect?
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Why your group should try it: Ann Patchett is a perennial Oak Park favorite—even better to read with a group.
Description: At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril's son Danny, as he and his older sister, the acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled by their stepmother from the house where they grew up. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. And Wonna, one floor below, is a newlywed trying to get pregnant with a child that she and her husband have no idea how they can afford to raise and educate in the cutthroat economy. Together, their stories tell a gripping tale that's seemingly unfamiliar, yet unmistakably universal in the way that their tentative friendships may have to be their saving grace.
About Kathy
Kathy is a Collection Management Librarian who loves reading, sharing, and talking about books. Her missions in life are to create communities of readers, convince folks that her official title should be "Book Pusher," and refute that "disco" is a dirty word.