September's Book

A House Full of Females 
by Laurel Ulrich

September 21st (3rd Thurs.)
8pm at Emily P.'s


Note from Emily P.
the library only has five copies and there is currently 10 holds so people may want to read early


Summary from Deseret Book
A stunning and sure-to-be controversial book that pieces together, through more than two dozen nineteenth-century diaries, letters, albums, minute-books, and quilts left by first-generation Latter-day Saints, or Mormons, the never-before-told story of the earliest days of the women of Mormon “plural marriage,” whose right to vote in the state of Utah was given to them by a Mormon-dominated legislature as an outgrowth of polygamy in 1870, fifty years ahead of the vote nationally ratified by Congress, and who became political actors in spite of, or because of, their marital arrangements. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, writing of this small group of Mormon women who’ve previously been seen as mere names and dates, has brilliantly reconstructed these textured, complex lives to give us a fulsome portrait of who these women were and of their “sex radicalism”–the idea that a woman should choose when and with whom to bear children.


Click here to find it at the public library
Click here to find it on Amazon
Click here to find it at Barnes and Noble
Click here to find it at Deseret Book

April's Book

Founding Mothers
By Cokie Roberts

April 27th (4th Thurs)
7:30pm at Aimeé's 

Summary from LitLovers:

While the "fathers" were off founding the country, what were the women doing? Running their husband’s businesses, raising their children plus providing political information and advice. At least that’s what Abigail Adams did for John, starting when he went off to the Continental Congress, which eventually declared the independence of the American colonies from the British. While the men were writing the rebellious words, the women were living the revolution, with the Redcoats on their doorsteps. John’s advice to Abigail as the soldiers approached Braintree: if necessary "fly to the woods with our children." That was it, she was on her own, as she was for most of the next ten years while Adams represented the newly independent nation abroad.

Abigail Adams is the best known of the women who influenced the founders, but there are many more, starting with Martha Washington, who once referred to herself as a “prisoner of state” for the constraints placed on her as the first First Lady. She was the one charged with balancing the demands of a Republic of the "common man" on the one hand, while insisting on some modicum of courtliness and protocol so that the former colonies would be taken seriously by Europe. She also took political heat in the press from the president’s political opponents when he was too popular to criticize.

And there are women like Esther Reed, married to the president of Pennsylvania, who, with Benjamin Franklin’s daughter Sarah Bache, organized a drive to raise money for Washington’s troops at Valley Forge. In 1780 the women raised more than three hundred thousand dollars. Reed wrote a famous patriotic broadside titled The Sentiments of an American Woman, calling on women to wear simpler clothing and hairstyles in order to save money to contribute to the cause. It worked! The women who ran the boarding houses of Philadelphia where the men stayed while writing the now sacred documents of America had their quite considerable say about the affairs of state as well.

This will be the story of some of those women, as learned through their seldom seen letters and diaries, and the letters from the men to them. It will be a story of the beginnings of the nation as viewed from the distaff side. (From the publisher.)

Discussion Questions can be found here

To find the book click below:

• public library
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble

History Channel presentation on this book: https://vimeo.com/99668214

October's Book

A Heart Like His:
Making Space For God's Love in Your Life
by Virginia H. Pearce

*Date & Time Change!

Oct. 27th (4th Thurs) 
7:30pm at Janice F.'s


This book is not available through our local library.  However, Mary S. has a couple of copies and is willing to lend them out.  Please contact her if you're interested in borrowing one.


Summary & Reviews from Desert Book:
The ability to feel God's love doesn't just make life nicer or more comfortable - it changes everything.  When filled with God's love, we can do and see and understand things that we cannot do and see and understand on our own. As our own hearts are softened by these blessings, our overriding desire becomes to help others experience this joy also.  but how do we do that in the normal course of our everyday lives?  Presented in the form of an experiment undertaken by eight friends, this step-by-step guide helps us discover the one change we can make within ourselves that will automatically increase our ability to feel the love of God and to extend the love to others.

"Yes, this book is written for women.  Yet, Pearce makes its content graspable for women everywhere.  I love that is has been easy for me to share this book with some of my Christian friends active in other faiths.  We could use more books like this.
I believe A Heart Like His is a book for women in all season of life - a must read that has the potential to transform lives.  It did mine.  Buy it, borrow it - somehow get your hands on it." -Catherine K. Arvesth, Meridian Magazine

Click here to find the book at Deseret Book
Click here to find the book on Amazon
Click here to find the book at Barnes and Noble

January's Book

I am Malala
by Malala Yousafzai


January 21st (3rd Thurs)
8pm at Amanda C.'s 


Summary:

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I Am Malala is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I Am Malala will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world. (From the publisher.)

Be sure to listen to Screen Thoughts with Hollister & O'Toole as they review the book and 2015 movie: He Named Me Malala. 

Summary from litlovers.com

Click here to visit the library website

Click here to find the book on amazon 

Click here to find the book at Barnes and Noble

Click here for discussion questions from litlovers.com

September's Book

Daughters in My Kingdom:
The History and Work of Relief Society
by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Sept. 18th (3rd Thurs.)
8pm at Aimeè K.'s

Our challenge:
Pick a chapter or section to really study in depth and come prepared to share what you've learned.  

from the LDS website:

"The influence of the history book is meant to extend beyond Relief Society meetings.  Consider the following:  ...Relief Society sisters may share the book and principles they learn from it with their friends..." 

Click here to go to the Daughter in My Kingdom website

Click here to read Daughters in My Kingdom on-line

Click here to view Daughters in My Kingdom episodes on the Mormon Channel

April's Book

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
by Alexander McCall Smith

April 17th (3rd Thurs.)
8pm at Janei's

Summary:

The No.1 Ladies´ Detective Agency, located in Gaborone, Botswana, consists of one woman, the engaging Precious Ramotswe. A cross between Kinsey Millhone and Miss Marple, this unlikely heroine specializes in missing husbands, wayward daughters, con men and imposters.

When Precious Ramotswe sets out on the trail of a missing child she is tumbled headlong into some strange situations and not a little danger. Deftly interweaving tragedy and humor to create a memorable tale of human desires and foibles, the book is also an evocative portrait of a distant world. (From the publisher.)

In 2008 the series was adapted as an HBO film series, starring Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe.

summary from www.litlovers.com 

Click here to visit the library website and reserve your copy.

Click here to view discussion questions from www.litlovers.com

June's Book

The Diary of Mattie Spenser
by Sandra Dallas

June 19th (3rd Thurs.)
8pm at Janeen's home

Summary:
No one is more surprised than Mattie Spenser herself when Luke Spenser, considered the great catch of their small Iowa town, asks her to marry him. Less than a month later, they are off in a covered wagon to build a home on the Colorado frontier. Mattie's only company is a slightly mysterious husband and her private journal, where she records the joys and frustrations not just of frontier life, but also of a new marriage to a handsome but distant stranger. As she and Luke make life together on the harsh and beautiful plains, Mattie learns some bitter truths about her husband and the girl he left behind and finds love where she least expects it. Dramatic and suspenseful, this is an unforgettable story of hardship, friendship and survival.

summary from www.goodreads.com

Click here or on the picture 

to go to the library web site

June's Book

Sarah
By Orson Scott Wells

June 15th (3rd Wed.)
8pm at Janei's

Summary:
A novel about the life of Sarah, daughter of a king, wife of a prophet, faithful follower of the God of Abraham, recipient of a miracle, and a mother of nations.

summary from www.librarycatalog.pima.gov

Click on the picture to go to the library web site

March's Book

The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan

March 16, 2011 (3rd Wed)
8pm at Kristi's

Please note the library only has 4 copies.

Summary:
The Joy Luck Club, published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1989, presents the stories of four Chinese-immigrant women and their American-born daughters. Each of the four Chinese women has her own view of the world based on her experiences in China and wants to share that vision with her daughter. The daughters try to understand and appreciate their mothers' pasts, adapt to the American way of life, and win their mothers' acceptance. The book's name comes from the club formed in China by one of the mothers, Suyuan Woo, in order to lift her friends' spirits and distract them from their problems during the Japanese invasion. Suyuan continued the club when she came to the United States—hoping to bring luck to her family and friends and finding joy in that hope.
summary found at http://www.enotes.com/joy-luck-club

Click on the picture to go to the library web site