DISCUSSION GUIDES

Summary: Jessamyn Stanley’s YOKE: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance takes readers on an autobiographical journey to self-acceptance in a series of deeply honest essays. Stanley explores everything from her path to body liberation and her struggle with imposter syndrome to the limitations she has come to see in yoga culture—consumerism, cultural appropriation, racism. Tying it all together is Jessamyn’s singular voice—funny, frank, and warm—producing a work that is a unique and compelling blend of memoir, philosophy, and self-help.

Summary:

"The Bestselling Hardcover Novel of the Year."--Publishers Weekly

From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.

"My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family."

Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman's only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.

By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa's tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.

In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa--like so many of her neighbors--must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.

The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it--the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

Summary: Years after disappearing from Brooklyn, disgraced businessman Ricardo Desire is found dead in his home. A glimpse of Ricardo’s past reveals a salacious love triangle and double life. In the aftermath of his death, the lives of those he knew begin to unravel. Olena Jackson is the detective assigned to the high-profile case, and the more she digs, the more lies and bodies she uncovers. Although Ricardo is gone, for the people left behind, the collision course is just getting started.

Summary: It’s the last year of highschool, and everything has changed . . .

Summary: In this investigative expose, author Amelia Pang pulls back the curtain on the human cost behind the cheap consumer goods we purchase.

Summary: A political thriller about sexual misconduct in the #MeToo era, one victim's battle to survive and overcome trauma, and the cable news machine that feeds off titillating scandal coverage and inflammatory confrontation, Final Table draws upon Dan Schorr's firsthand experience as a New York sex crimes prosecutor and sexual misconduct investigator to tackle the worlds of political and media dysfunction.

Summary:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From the indie rock sensation known as Japanese Breakfast, an unforgettable memoir about family, food, grief, love, and growing up Korean American—“in losing her mother and cooking to bring her back to life, Zauner became herself” (NPR).

Summary: From Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall, a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.