The Library Book Club will meet on Monday, June 22nd, at 10:00 a.m. in room F145, located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center, to discuss The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict (writing as Heather Terrell) and Victoria Christopher Murray.

The Personal Librarian is a historical novel about Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan's personal librarian, who was a Black woman passing as white to succeed in the early 20th-century art world. The book explores her secret identity, her rise as a powerful figure in the art and book world, and the constant struggle to protect her family and legacy in a racist society. It's a story of ambition, identity, and the lengths one must go to for success and survival.

The Library Book Club will meet on Monday, July 20th, at 10:00 a.m. in room F145, located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center, to discuss The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel.

The Forest of Vanishing Stars is a WWII historical fiction novel about a young woman, Yona, who was kidnapped as a child and raised in the forests of Eastern Europe, learning to survive off the land. After her kidnapper dies, she encounters Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis and uses her wilderness skills to help them survive, while they teach her about love and community, all while she grapples with her past and identity. The story is inspired by true accounts of Jewish partisans and survival groups during the war.

The Library Book Club will meet on Monday, August 17th, at 10:00 a.m. in room F145, located on the 1st floor of the Sheldon Family Life Center, to discuss The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.

The Kitchen House is a historical fiction novel set on a Virginia plantation before the Civil War, following orphaned Irish girl Lavinia who becomes an indentured servant and is raised by the plantation's enslaved people, particularly Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter. The story explores themes of race, class, family, and loyalty as Lavinia straddles the worlds of the kitchen and the big house, leading to tragic events that expose the harsh realities of slavery and the bonds between the characters.

Rock-bottom has a name for Rebecca Chastain, and it’s Dahlia, South Carolina.

Once a celebrated big-city journalist with a promising future, Rebecca now finds herself shattered—jobless, abandoned by her fiancé, and haunted by her own desperate attempt to escape it all. The small-town newspaper job in her granny’s hometown isn’t just a step down but a humiliating reminder of everything she’s tried to outrun. If not for reconnecting with her childhood friend, Josh, she’d already be gone.

Then there’s Devon—an eleven-year-old boy with eyes too old for his years, caring for his ailing Memaw while hiding stories he’s terrified to share.

When Rebecca’s reporting brings their lives together, something unexpected begins to take root in the barren soil of her heart. But Devon’s dangerous uncle is closing in, and time is running out for Rebecca to open her eyes and see what’s going on before it’s too late. As shadows lengthen over Dahlia, Rebecca must decide if she’ll retreat to safety or stand her ground for a boy who’s fighting his own battles—and perhaps find healing for herself in what she once called the last place on earth she’d ever return to.

Some gardens only bloom after the harshest storms.