Pageturners Book Club
Pageturners Book Club – Wednesday, May 22 (10:15 am)
The Pageturners Book Club is discussing “” by Anne Harrington.
In Mind Fixers, Anne Harrington explores psychiatry’s repeatedly frustrated struggle to understand mental disorder in biomedical terms. She shows how the stalling of early twentieth century efforts in this direction allowed Freudians and social scientists to insist, with some justification, that they had better ways of analyzing and fixing minds. Pageturner discussions are lecture-based and open to any adult reader. Books are available for check out at the the Reference Desk. For more information call or email JD Smithson, 208-769-2315 ext 455., [email protected]
Pageturners Book Club – Wednesday, June 26 (10:15 am)
The Pageturners Book Club is discussing “” by Louise Erdrich.
Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman. Pageturner discussions are lecture-based and open to any adult reader. Books are available for check out at the the Reference Desk. For more information call or email JD Smithson, 208-769-2315 ext 455., [email protected]
PAST 2024 EVENTS
Pageturners Book Club – Wednesday, January 24 (10:15 am)
The Pageturners Book Club is discussing “The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World” by Jamil Zaki.
In this groundbreaking book, Zaki shares cutting-edge research, including experiments from his own lab, showing that empathy is not a fixed trait—something we’re born with or not—but rather a skill that can be strengthened through effort. He also tells the stories of people who embody this new perspective, fighting for kindness in the most difficult of circumstances. Pageturner discussions are lecture-based and open to any adult reader. Book will be available for check out at the the Reference Desk.
Pageturners Book Club – Wednesday, February 28 (10:15 am)
The Pageturners Book Club is discussing “The Water Knife” by Paolo Bacigalupi.
Paolo Bacigalupi’s near-future thriller, “The Water Knife”, tells the story of Angel Velasquez, a “water knife” working for the state of Nevada trying to infiltrate and destroy Arizona’s water supply and investigate rumors of senior legal rights to water from the Colorado River. The novel cycles between three points of view: Angel; Maria Villarosa, a Texas refugee; and Lucy Monroe, an award-winning journalist. Pageturner discussions are lecture-based and open to any adult reader. Books are available for check out at the the Reference Desk. For more information call or email JD Smithson, 208-769-2315 ext 455., [email protected]
Pageturners Bookclub – Wednesday, March 27 (10:15 am)
The Pageturners Book Club is discussing “The Hurting Kind” by Ada Limón.
“The Hurting Kind” is an astonishing collection about interconnectedness—between the human and nonhuman, ancestors and ourselves—from National Book Critics Circle Award winner, National Book Award finalist and U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. Pageturner discussions are lecture-based and open to any adult reader. Books are available for check out at the the Reference Desk. For more information call or email JD Smithson, 208-769-2315 ext 455., [email protected]
Pageturners Book Club – Wednesday, April 24 (10:15 am)
The Pageturners Book Club is discussing “Mama’s Last Hug” by Franz de Waal.
“Mama’s Last Hug” begins with the death of Mama, a chimpanzee matriarch who formed a deep bond with biologist Jan van Hooff. When Mama was dying, van Hooff took the unusual step of visiting her in her night cage for a last hug. Their goodbyes were filmed and went viral. Millions of people were deeply moved by the way Mama embraced the professor, welcoming him with a big smile while reassuring him by patting his neck, in a gesture often considered typically human but that is in fact common to all primates. This story and others like it form the core of de Waal’s argument, showing that humans are not the only species with the capacity for love, hate, fear, shame, guilt, joy, disgust, and empathy. Pageturner discussions are lecture-based and open to any adult reader. Books are available for check out at the the Reference Desk. For more information call or email JD Smithson, 208-769-2315 ext 455., [email protected]