Book Discussions

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       Like so many other activities that required interaction between people, book discussion groups went on a forced hiatus during the COVID pandemic. But, in its aftermath, these popular groups are making a strong comeback, including the Friends Discussion Group, which has seen attendance increase to more than 20 participants for each meeting in the last year.

      The group’s facilitator and Cascade librarian Sara Moseley recently announced that participants had voted on a lineup of books for the 2026-2027 discussion season. Here are the titles and the dates to mark on your calendar: 

September 23, 2026  The Correspondent (Virginia Evans)

A bestselling epistolary novel that explores the life of Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired lawyer in her early seventies who is losing her sight. Through letters and emails written over a decade, she navigates grief, aging, estranged family relationships, and unexpected late-life romance.

October 21, 2026  Bog Queen (Anna North)

A dual-timeline story that alternates between a modern forensic anthropologist in England and a young druid leader in Iron Age Europe. It explores themes of land exploitation, climate crisis, and the connection between women and the earth across millennia. It weaves together three distinct narrative perspectives.

November 18, 2026  The God of the Woods (Liz Moore)

A gripping mystery and family drama set in the 1970s Adirondacks. When 13-year-old Barbara Van Laar vanishes from her family-owned summer camp, it triggers a massive manhunt. The disappearance mirrors a haunting local tragedy: Barbara’s older brother, Bear, mysteriously vanished from the exact same region fourteen years prior.  The story unfolds across multiple timelines and perspectives, exposing deep secrets, corruption, and the intense class divide between the wealthy Van Laar family and the impoverished local community that serves them. 

December 16, 2026  Hamnet (Maggie O’Farrell)

A deeply emotional historical fiction story available as an acclaimed 2020 novel by Maggie O'Farrell and a recent 2025 film directed by Chloé Zhao. It imagines the private family life of William Shakespeare, centering on his wife, Agnes, and their tragic loss of 11-year-old twin son, Hamnet, which later inspires the creation of his masterpiece play, Hamlet.

January 20, 2027  The Gales of November (John U. Bacon)

A definitive account of the tragic 1975 sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior, which killed all 29 men aboard. The book chronicles the ship's origins, the perilous nature of Great Lakes shipping, the storm, and the emotional aftermath for the victims' families.

February 17, 2027  The Ending Writes Itself (Evelyn Clarke)

A locked-room mystery by Evelyn Clarke, the pseudonym for V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke, follows six struggling authors summoned to a private Scottish island by a deceased, world-famous writer's estate. They have 72 hours to finish his unfinished novel for a $1 million prize, but the contest turns deadly as the writers begin to die.

March 17, 2027  Title and author to be determined

This is the 2027 KDL-wide “On the Same Page” event.

April 21, 2027  Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir)

Ryland Grace, an amnesiac middle-school teacher, wakes up alone on a spaceship millions of miles from Earth. He gradually pieces together that he is the sole survivor of a desperate mission to stop Astrophage, an alien microbe that is rapidly draining the sun's energy.

May 19, 2027    Buckeye (Patrick Ryan)

A historical fiction that follows two couples from the fictional town of Bonhomie, Ohio from World War II to the end of the 20th century and the secrets which develop between them. It is Ryan's first full length novel for adults and received favorable reviews from critics.

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