Let's Talk Books recap

by Stacey

Did you miss the library's first "Let's Talk Books" video chat last night? Don't worry! Here are all the books mentioned by participants for you to explore.

The woman's hour : the great fight to win the vote

Elaine F. Weiss

324.623 /Weiss
History, Political

"The nail-biting climax of one of the greatest political battles in American history. Nashville, August 1920. The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, granting all women the vote, is on the verge of ratification--or defeat. Out of the thirty-six states needed, thirty-five have approved it, and one last state is still in play--Tennessee. After a seven-decade crusade to win the ballot, this is the moment of truth for the suffragists, and Nashville becomes a frenzied battleground as the enormous forces allied for and against women's suffrage make their last stand. Elaine Weiss artfully recasts the saga of women's quest for the vote by focusing on the campaign's last six weeks, when it all came down to one ambivalent state. The dauntless--but divided--suffragists confront the 'Antis'--women who oppose their own enfranchisement, fearing suffrage will bring about the moral collapse of the nation. With the 1920 elections looming, the Suffs are also opposed by wary politicians, corporate lobbyists, and blatant racists who don't want black women voting. In the steaming corridors of Nashville's state house and hotels, they stage a vicious face-off replete with dirty tricks, betrayals and bribes, bourbon, bigotry, and the Bible, and at the last moment, a crucial vote of conscience. [This book] has all the color and drama of a great political novel, but Weiss also shows how the core themes of American history--race, class, money, gender, states' rights, power, and democracy--all came into play in Nashville. Rich with vivid characters--and appearances by Susan B. Anthony, Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding, Frederick Douglass, and Eleanor Roosevelt--The Woman's Hour shows what it took for activists to win their own freedom and how close they came to losing. Unfolding in the lingering shadow of the Civil War, and in the aftermath of the war to 'make the world safe for democracy,' the drama in Nashville also marks the dawning of the great twentieth-century battles for civil rights."

In five years : a novel

Rebecca Serle

eBOOK
Fiction

"A striking, powerful, and moving love story following an ambitious lawyer who experiences an astonishing vision that could change her life forever"--

The song of Achilles

Madeline Miller

FICTION Miller Madeline
Historical Fiction

The beautiful

Renée Ahdieh

YOUNG ADULT FICTION Ahdieh Renee
Historical Fiction, Fantasy

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans is a safe haven after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent in the middle of the carnival season, Celine is quickly enraptured by the vibrant city, from its music to its fancy soirées and even its danger. She becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's enigmatic leader, Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in Sébastien's own lair--the second dead girl to turn up in recent weeks--Celine battles her attraction to Sébastien and suspicions about his guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret. After a third murder, New Orleans becomes gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose--one who has now set Celine in his sights. As the murderer stalks her, Celine finally takes matters into her own hands, only to find herself caught in the midst of an age-old feud between the darkest creatures of the night, where the price of forbidden love is her life.

The salt path

Raynor Winn

eBOOK
Memoir

"Just days after Raynor Winn learns that Moth, her husband of thirty-two years, is terminally ill, their house and farm are taken away, along with their livelihood. With nothing left and little time, they make the brave and impulsive decision to walk the 630 miles of the sea-swept South West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, through Devon and Cornwall. Carrying only the essentials for survival on their backs, they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea, and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable and life-affirming journey. Powerfully written and unflinchingly honest, The Salt Path is ultimately a portrayal of home--how it can be lost, rebuilt, and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways"--

All the little lights

Jamie McGuire

FICTION Mcguire Jamie
Romance

"The first time Elliott Youngblood spots Catherine Calhoun, he's just a boy with a camera, and he's never seen a sadder and more beautiful sight. Both Elliott and Catherine feel like outcasts, yet they find an easy friendship with each other. But when Catherine needs him most, Elliott is forced to leave town. Elliott finally returns, but he and Catherine are now different people. He's a star high school athlete, and she spends all her free time working at her mother's mysterious bed-and-breakfast. Catherine hasn't forgiven Elliott for abandoning her, but he's determined to win back her friendship...and her heart. Just when Catherine is ready to fully trust Elliott, he becomes the prime suspect in a local tragedy. Despite the town's growing suspicions, Catherine clings to her love for Elliott. But a devastating secret that Catherine has buried could destroy whatever chance of happiness they have left." -- Page [4] cover.

The Kingdom of Back

Marie Lu

eAUDIO
Young Adult

"Desperate to be forever remembered for her music, Nannerl Mozart makes a dangerous pact with a mysterious stranger from a magical land, which may cost her everything"--

Daisy Jones & the Six : a novel

Taylor Jenkins Reid

eBOOK
Historical Fiction

"Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it's the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she's twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she's pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a talented writer who takes her work to a new level with Daisy Jones & The Six, brilliantly capturing a place and time in an utterly distinctive voice"--

The art of gathering : how we meet and why it matters

Priya Parker

eBOOK
Nonfiction

"A new approach to how and why we come together that will revolutionize the ways we gather: at work, at school, at home and beyond"--

A Sand County Almanac

Aldo Leopold

eAUDIO
Nonfiction

Less : a novel

Andrew Sean Greer

eBOOK
Literary Fiction

Receiving an invitation to his ex-boyfriend's wedding, Arthur, a failed novelist on the eve of his fiftieth birthday, embarks on an international journey that finds him falling in love, risking his life, reinventing himself, and making connections with the past.

Eligible : a novel

Curtis Sittenfeld

eBOOK
Romance

The mothers : a novel

Brit Bennett

eBOOK
Fiction

"A dazzling debut novel from an exciting new voice, The Mothers is a surprising story about young love, a big secret in a small community--and the things that ultimately haunt us most"--