February 2018: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

For our first book in 2018, Cass has picked "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie. *Note - We changed the month to February to make enough time for our Book Club Escape Room Excursion.*

ABOUT THE BOOK
Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

With a foreword by Markus Zusak, interviews with Sherman Alexie and Ellen Forney, and four-color interior art throughout, this edition is perfect for fans and collectors alike.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the PEN/Malamud Award for Short Fiction, a PEN/Hemingway Citation for Best First Fiction, and the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, Sherman Alexie is a poet, short story writer, novelist, and performer.

He has published 26 books including his recently released memoir, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, his first picture book, Thunder Boy Jr, and young adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, all from Little, Brown Books; What I've Stolen, What I've Earned, a book of poetry, from Hanging Loose Press; and Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories, from Grove Press.
He has also published the 20th Anniversary edition of his classic book of stories, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.

Smoke Signals, the movie he wrote and co-produced, won the Audience Award and Filmmakers Trophy at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.

A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, Alexie grew up in Wellpinit, Washington, on the Spokane Indian Reservation.

Alexie has been an urban Indian since 1994 and lives in Seattle with his family.

December 2018: 'The Couple Next Door' by Shari Lapena

Becky has picked The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena as our December 2018 read. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

It all started at a dinner party. . .

A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors—a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. . .

Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night, when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately lands on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.

Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years.

What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family—a chilling tale of  deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Shari Lapena’s new thriller, A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE, is available now from Viking Books!

“The twists come as fast [as] you can turn the pages.” —People

“Provocative and shocking.” —Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of Find Her

“I read this novel at one sitting, absolutely riveted by the storyline.  The suspense was beautifully rendered and unrelenting!” —Sue Grafton, New York Times bestselling author of X

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shari Lapena is a Canadian author, born in 1960. She previously worked as a lawyer and an English teacher. Her novels include Things Go Flying (2008), Happiness Economics (2011), and The Couple Next Door (2016).

November 2017: Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the Wrong People

Amy's book choice is "Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the Wrong People" by Nadia Bolz-Weber. There are lots of copies at the library. "Everybody will probably find it offensive at some point or another, so I think we'll have plenty to talk about," she said. :)

ABOUT THE BOOK
What if that person you've been trying to avoid is your best shot at grace today?

...And what if that's the point?
In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling au­thor Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls “a religious but not-so-spiritual life.” Tattooed, angry and profane, this former standup comic turned pastor stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people—a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA.

As she lives and worships alongside these “ac­cidental saints,” Nadia is swept into first-hand en­counters with grace—a gift that feels to her less like being wrapped in a warm blanket and more like being hit with a blunt instrument. But by this grace, people are trans­formed in ways they couldn’t have been on their own.

In a time when many have rightly become dis­illusioned with Christianity, Accidental Saints dem­onstrates what happens when ordinary people share bread and wine, struggle with scripture together, and tell each other the truth about their real lives. This unforgettable account of their faltering steps toward wholeness will ring true for believer and skeptic alike.

Told in Nadia’s trademark confessional style, Accidental Saints is the stunning next work from one of today’s most important religious voices.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nadia Bolz-Weber is the founding pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints in Denver, Colorado.  She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People (Convergent, 2015), available in bookstores now. She’s also the author of Salvation on the Small Screen? 24 Hours of Christian Television (Seabury 2008) and the New York Times bestselling theological memoir, Pastrix: the Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint (Jericho, 2013). Nadia has been featured in BBC World Service, The Washington Post, Bitch Magazine, NPR’s Morning Edition, Fresh Air, More Magazine, The Daily Beast and on CNN.

Nobody really believes she’s an ordained pastor in the ELCA. Maybe it’s the sleeve tattoos or the fact that she swears like a truck driver. Either way… she’s fine with it.

Nadia lives in Denver with her family of 4 where she can be found writing bios in the third person, lifting weights and walking her Great Dane, Zacchaeus.

“[Bolz-Weber] is a tatted-up, foul-mouthed champion to people sick of being belittled as not Christian enough for the right or too Jesus-y for the left.”

—The Washington Post

“The amazing thing about Nadia Bolz-Weber is that she manages to take her Christianity into corners of life where the church can be pretty uncomfortable going.”

— The Daily Beast