Insatiable Readers Book Group

 
Bring Your Own Book and Share Your Favorites
 
December 13, 2025
  The following titles were shared by Insatiable Readers Book Club members.  Thank you so much to all of those who joined us in person and online.  It was wonderful to see you and learn about your favorite books of 2025! 
 
 
The Uncool: A Memoir by Cameron Crowe
The Uncool: A Memoir
by Cameron Crowe

The long-awaited memoir by Cameron Crowe--one of America's most iconic journalists and filmmakers--revealing his formative years in rock and roll and bringing to life stories that shaped a generation, in the bestselling tradition of Patti Smith's Just Kids with a dash of Moss Hart's Act One. The Uncool is a ... dispatch from a lost world, the real-life events that became Almost Famous, and a coming-of-age journey filled with characters you won't soon forget--
History Matters by David McCullough
History Matters
by David McCullough

History Matters brings together selected essays by beloved historian David McCullough, some published here for the first time, written at different points over the course of his long career but all focused on the subject of his lifelong passion--the importance of history in understanding our present and future. McCullough highlights the importance of character in political leaders, with Harry Truman and George Washington serving as exemplars of American values like optimism and determination. He shares his early influences, from the books he cherished in his youth to the people who mentored him. He also pays homage to those who inspired him, such as writer Paul Horgan and painter Thomas Eakins, illustrating the diverse influences on his writing as well as the influence of art--
The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo: A Child, an Elder, and the Light from an Ancient Sky by Kent Nerburn
The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo: A Child, an Elder, and the Light from an Ancient Sky
by Kent Nerburn

A haunting dream that will not relent pulls author Kent Nerburn back into the hidden world of Native America, where dreams have meaning, animals are teachers, and the old ones still have powers beyond our understanding. In this moving narrative, we travel through the lands of the Lakota and the Ojibwe, where we encounter a strange little girl with an unnerving connection to the past, a forgotten asylum that history has tried to hide, and the complex, unforgettable characters we have come to know from Neither Wolf nor Dog and The Wolf at Twilight. Part history, part mystery, part spiritual journey and teaching story, The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo is filled with the profound insight into humanity and Native American culture we have come to expect from Nerburn's journeys. As the American Indian College Fund has stated, once you have encountered Nerburn's stirring evocations of America's high plains and incisive insights into the human heart, you can never look at the world, or at people, the same way again.
Alabama creates : 200 years of art and artists by Elliot A. Knight
Alabama creates : 200 years of art and artists
by Elliot A. Knight

Published to coincide with the state's bicentennial, Alabama Creates features ninety-four of Alabama's most accomplished, noteworthy, and influential practitioners of the fine arts from 1819 to the present.
Amazing Alabama: a Potpourri of Fascinating Facts, Tall Tales and Storied Stories by Jr. Lewis, Joseph W.
Amazing Alabama: a Potpourri of Fascinating Facts, Tall Tales and Storied Stories
by Jr. Lewis, Joseph W.

Amazing Alabama: A Potpourri of Fascinating Facts, Tall Tales and Storied Stories chronicles a brief history of the state, famous personages associated with Alabama, a discussion of state firsts, unique occurrences, antiquated laws and other fascinating topics.
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
by Caroline Criado Perez

Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development, to healthcare, to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this bias, in time, money, and often with their lives. Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates the shocking root cause of gender inequality and research in Invisible Women, diving into women's lives at home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor's office, and more. Built on hundreds of studies in the US, the UK, and around the world, and written with energy, wit, and sparkling intelligence, this is a groundbreaking, unforgettable exposâe that will change the way you look at the world.--provided by publisher.
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
At Home: A Short History of Private Life
by Bill Bryson

Houses are not refuges from history. They are where history ends up. Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to write a history of the world without leaving home. The bathroom provides the occasion for a history of hygiene; the bedroom, sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nutrition and the spice trade; and so on, as Bryson shows how each has figured in the evolution of private life. Whatever happens in the world, he demonstrates, ends up in our house, in the paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture. Bill Bryson has one of the liveliest, most inquisitive minds on the planet, and he is a master at turning the seemingly isolated or mundane fact into an occasion for the most diverting exposition imaginable. 
The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon
The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald
by John U. Bacon

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A work of spectral beauty destined to be a classic. Readers of Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm, Erik Larsen's Dead Wake, and Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea will love this deeply reported tale. --Hampton Sides, New York Times best-selling author of The Wide Wide Sea and In the Kingdom of Ice The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald' has been told and retold by authors and bards. But never has it been told better than by Mr. Bacon in this colorful and compelling book.... Dead men tell no tales, but their loved ones do. Mr. Bacon tracked them down and listened. --John J. Miller, Wall Street Journal On the fiftieth anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald's sinking, the bestselling author of The Great Halifax Explosion tells the definitive story of the Mighty Fitz.
The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang
The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
by Iris Chang

In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking. Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered--a death toll exceeding that of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Historian Iris Chang tells the story from three perspectives: that of the Japanese soldiers, that of the Chinese, and that of a group of Westerners who refused to abandon the city and created a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. More than just narrating the details of an orgy of violence, in The Rape of Nanking Chang analyzes the militaristic culture that fostered in the Japanese soldiers a total disregard for human life. It also tells of the concerted effort during the Cold War on the part of the West and even China to stifle open discussion of this atrocity. Drawing on extensive interviews with survivors and documents brought to light for the first time, Iris Chang's classic is the definitive history of this horrifying episode.
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
by Virginia Roberts Giuffre

The world knows Virginia Roberts Giuffre as Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's most outspoken victim: the woman whose decision to speak out helped send both serial abusers to prison, whose photograph with Prince Andrew catalyzed his fall from grace. But her story has never been told in full, in her own words--until now. In April 2025, Giuffre took her own life. She left behind a memoir written in the years preceding her death and stated unequivocally that she wanted it published. Nobody's Girl is the riveting and powerful story of an ordinary girl who would grow up to confront extraordinary adversity. Here, Giuffre offers an unsparing and definitive account of her time with Epstein and Maxwell, who trafficked her and others to numerous prominent men. She also details the molestation she suffered as a child, as well as her daring escape from Epstein and Maxwell's grasp at nineteen. Giuffre remade her life from scratch and summoned the courage to not only hold her abusers to account but also advocate for other victims--
Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue by Sonia Purnell
Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman's Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue
by Sonia Purnell

When Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were predictably scathing--and many were downright sexist. Written off as a mere courtesan and social climber, her true legacy was overshadowed by a glamorous social life and her infamous erotic adventures. Much of what she did behind the scenes--on both sides of the Atlantic--remained invisible and secret. That is, until now: with a wealth of fresh research, interviews, and newly discovered sources, Sonia Purnell unveils for the first time the full, spectacular story of how she left an indelible mark on the world today. ... There are few at any time who have operated as close to the center of power over five decades and two continents, and there is practically no one in 20th century politics, culture, and fashion whose lives she did not touch, including the Kennedys, Truman Capote, Aly Khan, Kay Graham, Gloria Steinem, Ed Murrow, and Frank Sinatra--
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
Theo of Golden
by Allen Levi

Questions linger about Theo, a pleasant but mysterious stranger, after his arrival in the southern city of Golden.Who is he, and why is he here?He arrives early one spring and by chance - or is it? - he visits a coffee shop where 92 framed pencil portraits are on display. Inspired, Theo sets out on a mission of purchasing all the portraits one at a time and quietly bestowing them on their 'rightful owners.'Stories are told; friendships are born; and lives are changed. Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted story about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the far-reaching possibilities of anonymous kindness.
The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick by Ariel Lawhon
The Frozen River: A GMA Book Club Pick
by Ariel Lawhon

A gripping historical mystery based on the real-life diary entries of Martha Ballard, an 18th-century midwife who found herself at the center of a murder trial--
My Side of the River: A Memoir by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez
My Side of the River: A Memoir
by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez

Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez reveals her experience as the U.S. born daughter of immigrants and what happened when, at fifteen, her parents were forced back to Mexico in this captivating and tender memoir. Born to Mexican immigrants south of the Rillito River in Tucson, Arizona, Elizabeth had the world at her fingertips. She was preparing to enter her freshman year of high school as the number one student when suddenly, her own country took away the most important right a child has: the right to have a family. When her parents' visas expired and they were forced to return to Mexico, Elizabeth was left responsible for her younger brother, as well as her education. Determined to break the cycle of being a statistic, she knew that even though her parents couldn't stay, there was no way she could let go of the opportunities the U.S. could provide. Armed with only her passport and sheer teenage determination, Elizabeth became what her school would eventually describe as an unaccompanied homeless youth, one of thousands of underage victims affected by family separation due to broken immigration laws.
Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson by Claire Hoffman
Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson
by Claire Hoffman

The dramatic rise, disappearance, and near-fall of Aimee Semple McPherson, America's most famous woman evangelist--
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
The Correspondent
by Virginia Evans

Sybil is seventy-three years old, in the winter of her life. Sybil has always made sense of the world through writing letters and through this epistolary novel we see how she comes to terms with her past and present and learns forgiveness--
Other Resources:
Modern Mrs. Darcy Favorite Books of 2025:  https://modernmrsdarcy.com/my-favorite-books-of-2025/
 
NPR's Books We Love 2025:  https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2025 
 
Publisher's Weekly Best Books 2025:  https://best-books.publishersweekly.com/pw/best-books/2025
 
Parnassus Books:  https://parnassusmusing.net/
 
 
 
Upcoming Feasts:

Plan to join us for the next Insatiable Readers!   Our topic on Saturday, January 10 is "More Than a Game."  We will meet in person at the library's Shakespeare Meeting Room (located downstairs on the Theatre Level) at 10:30 am.   For those unable to join us in person, there will be a virtual Insatiable Readers  at 3:00 pm. via Zoom.  Please send an email to pam.bainter@hooverlibrary.org if you would like an invitation to join the session.  
 
 
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