This month, our book club members are discussing Margaret Verble's When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky which follows a Cherokee horse-diver in 1920s Nashville who encounters strange events.

You can also read our follow-up Q&A with Lloyd Russell's Recycle Book Club in Campbell, California. We first spoke to Lloyd in 2017, and just checked back in to see how the group has evolved during the pandemic and what authors they've been meeting lately.

BookBrowse was recently featured in AARP's Senior Planet — check out the article for tips on finding a book club from us and others. Also, be sure to take a look at our list of best books for book clubs in 2022 if you haven't already.

Very best,

Davina

If you have not, we suggest you go to "about the book."

Louise Erdrich meets Karen Russell in this deliciously strange and daringly original novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Margaret Verble: set in 1926 Nashville, it follows a death-defying young Cherokee horse-diver who, with her companions from the Glendale Park Zoo, must get to the bottom of a mystery that spans centuries.

"I really loved this book! The importance of friendship and the acceptance of others really hit a stellar note with me. The setting was so fully developed it became a character in the story. The historical aspects made it even more enjoyable. Two Feathers is an enchanting character and the others were no less memorable." - gerrieb

"I absolutely loved When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky. The well-developed characters, setting and storyline appealed to me, and the book far exceeded my expectations. I will definitely be reading Margaret Verble’s other books." - BuffaloGirl

"I enjoyed When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky. Ms. Verble is an excellent writer who knows how to entertain while putting forth issues that Tribal members and governments struggle with today: racism, the lack of cultural and historically accurate histories of America's Indigenous peoples, voter rights, blood quantum issues and more. It's put in the context of one woman telling a story that is both universal for women and specific to the Tribal nations. At the same time, this is an entertaining story with allusions to local history in Tennessee and the history of Wild West Shows." - skagitgrits

About the Book / Discuss

2021 has proven to be another uncertain and unpredictable year. We hope that you have weathered it well. As you begin to gear up for next year, here is a list of books as a starting point for whatever need your book club is looking to fill, whether learning more about the world, diversion or simply a unique and memorable experience. All are already available in hardcover, ebook (and most likely audio) and are recently, or soon to release, in paperback.

Lloyd Russell has been the leader of the Recycle Book Club in Campbell, California since 2014. They not only read and discuss books, but also always have the authors of those books come to their meetings. BookBrowse first talked with Lloyd in 2017, and then followed up in 2021 to find out what the group has been up to and how they responded to the pandemic.

We've been growing in numbers over the years, we were at 125 in 2017 and we're now at 165, but the most dramatic shift has been transitioning from having all the authors coming to our book club in person to now having the authors Zooming in. And what the pandemic is doing is allowing us to have a whole host of very high profile authors including Kristin Harmel, Susan Meissner, Robert Dugoni, Barry Eisler, John Hart, Susan Wiggs, and Renee Rosen. Some of these are among my favorite authors, but they are all good.

Discussions are open to all, so please join us! If you would like to receive a message when a particular discussion opens, you can sign up for a one-time notification. You can also find inspiration for your book club among our almost 200 past discussions.

Usually published once a month, Book Club News is one of BookBrowse's four free newsletters. We also publish BookBrowse Highlights every Thursday, Publishing This Week every Sunday; and Librarian News monthly.