2nd-Friday Book Club
The 2nd-Friday Book Club usually meets on the second Friday of the month at 10:30 a.m. We are currently meeting both at the Library and on Zoom in a hybrid format. This is subject to change so please check back for updates. Please see the chart below, or visit the Library’s calendar, for Book Club dates and join us. Upcoming titles for discussion are listed below.
The 2nd-Friday Book Club will be meeting every month with the exception of December. In the Spring, members make suggestions and vote on the titles that will be discussed starting in September. At the monthly meetings, participants may pick up the next month’s book for discussion at the Circulation Desk. New members are welcome to join the Book Club at any time. We hope to see you here!
Facilitated by Carol Ipsen, who spent over 20 years as a journalist for Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Newsday, Reader’s Digest, and other publications. She is an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction, and has been a book club junkie for many years.
The next meeting of the 2nd-Friday Book Club will be on Friday, January 10, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. when we will discuss The Gathering by Anne Enright. If you would like more information about the book club, or if you would like to join us, send an email to: library@pelhamlibrary.org.
Click on the cover to learn more about the book:
Fall 2024 — Spring 2025
| September 13 | The Falcon Thief by Joshua Hammer |
| October 18 | Tom Lake by Ann Patchett |
| November 8 | Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams |
| December | No Meeting |
| January 10 | The Gathering by Anne Enright |
| February 14 | Bagdad Without a Map by Tony Horwitz |
| March 14 | The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro |
| April 12 | James by Percival Everett |
| May 10 | North Woods by Daniel Mason |
| June 14 | Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín |
Previous Titles
We hope that the titles below give you a taste of the types of books our club members enjoy discussing. Looking for a good read? Please see our Book Club Recommendations featuring books we especially enjoyed.
Fall 2023 — Spring 2024
| September 8 | Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe |
| October 13 | This is Happiness by Niall Williams |
| November 10 | In the Distance by Hernan Diaz |
| December 8 | The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler |
| January | No meeting |
| February 9 | The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray |
| March 8 | Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus |
| April 12 | Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh |
| May 10 | Horse by Geraldine Brooks |
| June 14 | Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano |
Fall 2022 — Spring 2023
| September 9 | The Five Wounds by Kirsten Valdez Quade |
| October 14 | The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster |
| November 11 | All the Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan |
| December | No Meeting |
| January 13 | Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour by Lynne Olson |
| February 10 | Song Yet Sung by James McBride |
| March 10 | How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue |
| April 14 | The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination With the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World by Patrik Svensson |
| May 12 | The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis |
| June 2 | Oh William!: A Novel by Elizabeth Strout |
| July 14 | The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King |
| August 11 | Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford |
Fall 2021 — Spring 2022
| September 10 | The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway |
| October 8 | Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger |
| November 12 | The Shipping News by Annie Proulx |
| December | No Meeting |
| January 14 | The Night Watchman by Louise Erdich |
| February 11 | Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride |
| March 11 | Circe by Madeline Miller |
| April 8 | The Beekeeper of Aleppo: A Novel by Christi Lefteri |
| May 13 | Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam |
| June 10 | A Woman is No Man: A Novel by Etaf Rum |
| July 8 | The Tender Bar: A Memoir by J.R. Moehringer |
| August 19 | Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland |
Fall 2020 — Spring 2021
| September 11 | Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout |
| October 9 | Florida by Lauren Groff |
| November 13 | The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson |
| December | No Meeting |
| January 8 | The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson |
| February 12 | Metropolitan Stories by Christine Coulson |
| March 12 | Inland by Tea Obreht |
| April 9 | The Beneficiary by Janny Scott |
| May 14 | Sea Wife by Amity Gaige |
| June 11 | The Alchemist by Paul Coelho |
| July 9 | Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand |
| August 13 | Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen |
Fall 2019 — Spring 2020
| September | Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver |
| October | Hidden Figures: The true story of four black women and the space race by Margot Lee Shetterly |
| November | Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens |
| December | No Meeting |
| January | Last Hope Island: Britain, occupied Europe and the Brotherhood that helped turn the tide of war by Lynne Olsen |
| February | The Friend by Sigrid Nunez |
| March | The Soul of an Octopus: A surprising exploration into the wonder of consciousness by Sy Montgomery |
| April | The Plague by Albert Camus |
| May | My Korean Deli: Risking It All For a Convenience Store by Ben Ryder Howe |
| June | Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter |
| July | Orphan Train by Christina Baker |
| August | Baby, You're Gonna be Mine by Kevin Wilson |
Fall 2018 — Spring 2019
| September | American Pastoral by Philip Roth |
| October | Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng |
| November | Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout |
| December | No Meeting |
| January | Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan |
| February | The Milk Lady of Bangalore : An Unexpected Adventure by Shoba Narayan |
| March | Hag-Seed: The Tempest Retold by Margaret Atwood |
| April | The Liars’ Club by Mary Karr |
| May | Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje |
| June | The Moviegoer by Walker Percy |
Fall 2017 — Spring 2018
| September | Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders |
| October | The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows |
| November | Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri |
| December | No Meeting |
| January | The Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann |
| February | The Innocent by Ian McEwan |
| March | A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles |
| April | The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead |
| May | The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry |
| June | Between Them: Remembering My Parents by Richard Ford |
Fall 2016 – Spring 2017
| September | The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal |
| October | Gilead by Marilynne Robinson |
| November | My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout |
| December | The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro |
| January | No meeting |
| February | Plainsong by Kent Haruf |
| March | The Master (possibly combined with The Turn of the Screw) by Colm Toibin |
| April | Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman |
| May | Lab Girl by Hope Jahren |
| June | The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes |
Fall 2015 – Spring 2016
| October | Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow |
| November | The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks |
| December | Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman |
| February | Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh |
| March | Bel Canto by Ann Patchett |
| April | An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine |
| May | The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown |
| June | Some Luck by Jane Smiley |
