The Laid-Back Book Club
The Laid-Back Book Club is our virtual book club for Harvard Diggins Library adult patrons. There are no meetings, no deadlines, just good books and prizes! We have 12 book selections, one for every month, for our patrons to read and enjoy in a variety of genres. Log your reading in your Beanstack account as “activities” to earn badges and raffle tickets towards the end-of-the-year grand prize and participate in occasional discussions in our private Facebook group. You can read ahead, read behind, read on-schedule, skip book selections, and read completely at your own pace. A limited number copies of the current reading selection will be available at the library for checkout every month, but you are welcome to request copies on your own PrairieCat account as well.
Here’s how you can participate:
- Read any of our book selections anytime of the year! See below for a list of the book selections.
- Create a Beanstack account or download the app from your device’s app store to track your reading.
- Join our private Facebook group for occasional discussions and announcements about the current book selection.
- NEW! Stop by the Circulation Desk at the Library to pick up a reading guide for the 2024 book selections. The reading guide has space to jot down notes for discussion prompts, quotes, additional reading recommendations, and more. You can choose to pick up a complete booklet, or request individual sheets for the book you are currently reading. Click here to download the complete 2024 reading guide.
Questions? We’re happy to help! Contact Leticia at adultservices@harvard-diggins.org
The 2024 Laid-Back Book Club Selections:
- January – Infinite Country by Patricia Engel
- February – In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
- March – Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey
- April – The Library Book by Susan Orlean
- May – Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
- June – The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
- July – The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
- August – The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
- September – Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- October – The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
- November – Horse by Geraldine Brooks
- December – Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
2024 BONUS BADGES
- Thursday January 11, 7pm – Ken Liu, Martha Wells, & Cory Doctorow discuss the future of AI
- Tuesday February 6, 7pm – Jerry Craft, author and cartoonist of New Kid
- Tuesday February 20, 7pm – Julia Quinn, author of the Bridgerton series
- Wednesday March 20, 7pm – Academy award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter
- Wednesday April 3, 7pm – Dr. Temple Grandin shares on the gifts of neurodiversity
- Tuesday May 7, 7pm – Writer, producer, and former White House staff member Kal Penn
- Wednesday October 9, 7pm – Erica Sánchez
- Tuesday October 22, 7pm – Jason Reynolds
- Wednesday November 20, 7pm – Chef Art Smith
- Tuesday December 10, 7pm – Raina Telgemeier – Registration link in the Event Calendar coming soon
- December 20 – December 22 – Stream The Nutcracker from Broadway HQ – Registration link in the Event Calendar coming soon
Past Laid-Back Book Selections:
2023:
- January – Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
- February – One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
- March – The Farm by Joanne Ramos
- April – Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts
- May – Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Mathew Sullivan
- June – Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
- July – The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
- August – The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- September – Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
- October – Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica
- November – There There by Tommy Orange
- December – Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
2023 BONUS BADGES
- Wednesday January 11, 7pm – Ross Gay, author of Inciting Joy
- Wednesday February 8, 7pm – Kwame Alexander, author of The Crossover
- Wednesday March 1, 7pm – Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- Tuesday April 4, 7pm – Danny Trejo, actor and author of Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood
- Tuesday April 25, 7pm – Will Shortz, crossword editor for the New York Times
- Saturday May 6, 10am – Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author of children’s graphic novels including the Lunch Lady series and the Star Wars Jedi Academy series
- Wednesday May 17, 7pm – Jonathan Van Ness, author, hairstylist, and television personality on “Queer Eye”
- Tuesday June 6, 7pm – Jesmyn Ward, author of Salvage the Bones (rescheduled)
- Wednesday June 21, 7pm – Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass
- Wednesday September 6, 7pm – Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad
- Wednesday October 4, 7pm – Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Only Good Indians
- Tuesday October 17, 7pm – Grace Lin, author of Chinese Menu
- Wednesday November 8, 7pm – Bake Squad star Maya-Camille Broussard
- Wednesday December 6, 6pm – Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb, author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
2022:
- January – Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- February – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- March – An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
- April – Beartown by Fredrik Backman
- May – Circe by Madeline Miller
- June – Recursion by Blake Crouch
- July – How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
- August – Radium Girls by Kate Moore
- September – The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
- October – Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
- November – The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
- December – An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
2022 BONUS BADGES
- Wednesday January 26, 7pm – Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night
- Wednesday February 16, 7pm – Jasmine Guillory, author of The Wedding Date and The Proposal
- Wednesday March 30, 7pm – Jenny Lawson, author of Broken and Furiously Happy
- Wednesday April 27, 7pm – Nick Offerman, author of Where the Deer and the Antelope Play
- Wednesday June 22, 7pm – Chef Kwame Onwuachi, author of Notes From a Young Black Chef
- Wednesday September 14, 7pm – Marlee Matlin, author of I’ll Scream Later
- Wednesday November 16, 7pm – Caitlin Doughty, Author of From Here to Eternity
- Tuesday December 13, 7pm – Shauna Sever, Author of Midwest Made
2021:
- January – The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
- February – Confess by Colleen Hoover
- March – Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
- April – Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
- May – The Dry by Jane Harper
- June – Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik
- July – The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
- August – The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
- September – The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
- October – The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
- November – The Unseen World by Liz Moore
- December – Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio