Join Angie for a discussion of “The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman”, November 15th at 2:30pm. The wife of a popular and powerful megachurch pastor upends her charmed “rags-to-Rolex” life when her secret past comes roaring into the spotlight—in this "funny and juicy and sexy and delicious peek behind the pulpit" (Samantha Irby) from the acclaimed and beloved author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.

Read “The Goldfinch” and discuss November 28th at 3pm with Juniper.

Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by a longing for his mother, he clings to the one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into a wealthy and insular art community.

October 16 at 12:30pm join the Romantasy group for a discussion of “Tempest” from Victoria Aveyard, #1 New York Timesbestselling author of Red Queen, comes a romantic fantasy epic like no other in which a fallen noblewoman faces off against her former love—the last great pirate captain—amid a brutal war for the high seas.

Next up in Classics, Spenser invites you to join a discussion of “The Turn of the Screw,” October 24th at 2pm.

In what Henry James called a 'trap for the unwary', The Turn of the Screw tells of a nameless young governess sent to a country house to take charge of two orphans, Miles and Flora. Unsettled by a dark foreboding of menace within the house, she soon comes to believe that something malevolent is stalking the children in her care. But is the threat to her young charges really a malign and ghostly presence or something else entirely? The Turn of the Screw is James's great masterpiece of haunting atmosphere and unbearable tension and has influenced subsequent ghost stories and films such as The Innocents, starring Deborah Kerr, and The Others, starring Nicole Kidman.

Read “The Land and Its People” and discuss David Sedaris’ newest personal short story collection with us November 1 at 2pm.

Catch a little thrill with “She Who Remains” October we 31st at 2pm.

She Who Remains, Rene Karabash's landmark Bulgarian queer novel, secrets readers into a rural Albanian village where, to this day, the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini--a collection of archaic laws--looms over the lives of villagers with the same haunting presence of the surrounding mountains. Bekija, painfully aware of why she cannot have what she most wants, chooses to become a "sworn virgin," setting off a bloody and heartbreaking chain of events that shatters a family and destroys a cherished relationship, but also reveals how trauma can lead to vital, if uncomfortable, truths. Karabash's poetic stream of consciousness traces gender evolution with innovative grace.

Get the creepy on with “Tender is the Flesh” on October 25th at 2pm.

Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Join Spencer on October 3rd at 2pm for a discussion of “The Princess of 72nd Street.”

“Ellen has two lives. A single artist living alone on New York’s Upper West Side in the 1970s, she periodically descends into episodes of what she calls “radiances.” While under the influence of the radiance, she becomes Princess Esmeralda, and West 72nd Street becomes the kingdom over which she rules. Life as Esmeralda is a colorful, glorious, and liberating experience for Ellen, who, despite the chaos and stigma these episodes can bring, relishes the respite from the confines of the everyday. And yet those around her, particularly the men in her life, are threatened by her incarnation as Esmeralda, and by the freedom that it gives her.

Join Hannah for a book chat centered on “Forbidden Alchemy” on September 19th at 2:30pm.

“This stunning slow-burn romantasy follows a fated pair who uncover a world-changing secret and are thrust into a violent class war, navigating love, loss, and devastating betrayals.

Sooooo many book clubs coming up!!! Make sure you’re following along and signing up for these great groups. All are listed on our website with RSVP links as well as below.

Join Angie for a chat about “Spoiled Milk”, Sunday, October 18th at 2pm.

“In 1928, Emily Locke's final year at the isolated Briarley School for Girls is derailed when Violet, the school's brightest star (and a cunning beauty for whom Emily would do anything), falls to her death on her eighteenth birthday. Emily and her buttoned-up rival Evelyn are, for once, in agreement: Violet’s death was no accident. There's an obvious culprit, the French schoolmistress with whom Violet was getting a little too close—they only need to prove it.

Join our friend Cait on October 17th at 2pm. Cait is a customer who reached out with a need to TALK about this book, help her out with a discussion book club.

Join our Shakespeare book club on September 19th at 1pm for a discussion of “King Lear”. “Full of cruelty and betrayal, King Lear is the timeless and tragic story of a kingdom held in the thrall of an aging ruler’s descent into madness. Desperate for praise, he banishes those who would guide him with honesty and surrounds himself with sycophants—an action that leads to his ultimate downfall....”

October 10th at 2pm discuss “The Story of Your Life” with Spenser. “An eye-opening look at how social media shapes the stories we tell and the lives we lead. Over the past two decades, platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok have revolutionized how we document and share our lives. We once archived our experiences in photo albums, and now we capture our most significant moments in reels and photo dumps. Whether we prefer to admit it or not, social media is where our history lives now. In The Story of Your Life, journalist and New York magazine columnist Kathryn Jezer-Morton examines how these algorithm-driven platforms not only change the way we share information but also shape the content itself. What stories do we choose to tell, and how do these choices reflect and shape our evolving identities?

October 5 at 1pm join Penny and ger foodie friends for a discussion of “The School of Essential Ingredients”.

Join Spenser September 26th at 2pm for a thriller. Discuss “Bright Young Women” by Jessica Knoll.

Join Joseph for his “best sellers” popular fiction book club. He will be discussing “Land” by Maggie O’Farrell on September 6th at 2pm.

Join us on September 27th at 10:30am with Harmony and Spenser for a Climate Week book club discussion. We will be reading and discussing “How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnamable Disaster” by Muriel Leung. Sign up to save a seat and join us. You can purchase books here at the Katonah Reading Room, or support us by buying your ebook at Bookshop.org or audiobook at Libro.fm.

Join Hannah for a discussion of “These Immortal Truths” on August 29th at 12:30pm.

Both epic and intimate, These Immortal Truthsis an enchanting and romantic historical fantasy that explores not only what it means to live forever, but what it means to truly live at all.

Join Spenser for his Classics book club, “Covert Joy” short stories. August 29th at 2pm.

“This radiant selection of Clarice Lispector's best and best-loved stories includes such familiar favorites as "The Smallest Woman in the World,""Love," "Family Ties," and "The Egg and the Chicken." Lispector's luminous regard for life's small revelatory incidents is legendary, and here her genius is concentrated in a fizzing, portable volume. Covert Joy offers the particular bliss a book can bring that she expresses in the title story: Joy would always be covert for me... Sometimes I'd sit in the hammock, swinging with the book open on my lap, not touching it, in the purest