Book Discussions: July 2025

Decorah Public Library staff are hosting five book discussions in July. The groups are open to the public and newcomers are encouraged to attend. Anyone interested should call the library at 382-3717 to learn more or to reserve a book. Email ktorresdal@decorahlibrary.org to be added to any of the groups’ email distribution lists. Funds for multiple copy sets are generously provided by Friends of Decorah Public Library.

 

the mighty red book cover image

The Mighty Red

The Happy Hour Book Group will meet at Pulpit Rock Brewing Co. on Wednesday, July 9 at 5:15 p.m. to discuss The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich, a powerful story about love, longing, and the unpredictable forces that shape our lives. Set in North Dakota’s Red River Valley, the novel centers on a complicated wedding involving Gary, a nervous young heir; Kismet, a sharp and restless bride-to-be; and Hugo, her loyal friend who’s secretly in love with her. As their lives intersect, Kismet’s mother Crystal listens to late-night radio on her trucking runs and begins to sense trouble ahead.

 

 

 

 

John Lewis: A Life

The History Book Group will meet on the second floor of the library on Thursday, July 17 at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the second half of John Lewis: A Life by David Greenberg. The biography continues to chronicle the extraordinary life and enduring legacy of one of America’s most revered civil rights leaders, detailing Lewis’s decades in Congress and his ongoing fight for justice and equality.

 

 

 

 

 

Isola

The Friday Book Group will meet on the second floor of the library on Friday, July 18 at 2:00 p.m. (note date change) to discuss Isola by Allegra Goodman. Heir to a fortune, Marguerite is destined for a life of prosperity and gentility. Then she is orphaned, and her guardian—an enigmatic and volatile man—spends her inheritance and insists she accompany him on an expedition to New France. That journey takes a unexpected turn when Marguerite, accused of betrayal, is brutally punished and abandoned on a small island. Inspired by the real life of a sixteenth-century heroine, Isola is the timeless story of a woman fighting for survival.

 

 

 

 

 

Terrace Story

The Speculative Short Fiction Group will meet via Zoom on Wednesday, July 23 at 6:00 p.m. to discuss Terrace Story by Hilary Leichter. This surreal and moving tale of a mysterious extra room that appears and disappears transforms one family’s reality and questions the boundaries of space, time, and possibility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The City in Glass

The Speculative Fiction Book Group will follow at approximately 6:30 p.m. via the same Zoom link to discuss The City in Glass by Nghi Vo. In this elegant and imaginative fantasy, Vo brings readers into a luminous, fractured world where magic and memory intertwine, and truth must be pieced together shard by shard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Posted: June 23, 2025