Book Clubs For Adults

Meet the Inner Critic

**A research-backed evening on the voice that says "you should have this figured out by now" and whether it's actually true.** You've recently retired, or you're getting close. Somewhere between "I finally have time for me" and "is this really it," a voice keeps showing up. It says you should already have this figured out. That wanting more is ungrateful. That you're too old to start over. Here's a question worth sitting with: is any of that true, or is it just a sentence you've been carrying so long it feels like fact? That's what we're digging into at this month's What's Next Circle session, built around *Take Back Your Brain* by Kara Loewentheil. No spiritual talk, no manifestation, just a clear look at the difference between what actually happened in your life and the story you've quietly attached to it. This isn't a book club. You don't need to have read anything. Whether you were with us for *The Unwritten Chapter* or this is your very first time in the room, you're exactly on time. What to expect: * 90 minutes, small group, real conversation * No prep, no homework, no pressure to share more than you're comfortable with * One idea to test out in your own life this week

Bad Girls Book Club September 2026

**Our September novel is: *American Spy* by Lauren Wilkinson** **This month’s novel is a historical mystery by a Black author. It includes spies, politics, and suspense, with ties to Russia. The story focuses on African American characters and blends elements of espionage and literary fiction. The book is 320 pages in print and 10 hours and 50 minutes on audiobook.** It’s 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She’s brilliant, but she’s also a young black woman working in an old boys’ club. Her career has stalled out, she’s overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she’s given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic revolutionary president of Burkina Faso whose Communist ideology has made him a target for American intervention, she says yes. Yes, even though she secretly admires the work Sankara is doing for his country. Yes, even though she is still grieving the mysterious death of her sister, whose example led Marie to this career path in the first place. Yes, even though a furious part of her suspects she’s being offered the job because of her appearance and not her talent. In the year that follows, Marie will observe Sankara, seduce him, and ultimately have a hand in the coup that will bring him down. But doing so will change everything she believes about what it means to be a spy, a lover, a sister, and a good American. Inspired by true events—Thomas Sankara is known as “Africa’s Che Guevara”—American Spy knits together a gripping spy thriller, a heartbreaking family drama, and a passionate romance. This is a face of the Cold War you’ve never seen before, and it introduces a powerful new literary voice. NOMINATED FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD • Shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize

September Book Club Meetup

Welcome, readers! Our September read is ***Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America*** by Eliza Griswold. A Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction book detailing the 318-page true story of Stacey Haney, a single mother and nurse in rural Washington County, Pennsylvania, whose family suffered severe illnesses after leasing their land for fracking. **Please note our location change:** We will meet at **The Pub Out Back** in their Room Out Back space. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Parking is available in the public lot off of W New England Ave or on-street in the Old Worthington area. Happy reading!

Happy hour book club

Monthly Meet Up (The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle)

This month we’ll be reading The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. Feel free to come even if you don’t finish the book!

Happy Hour & Book Signing with Sara Elliott

Join us for happy hour at Cento before we head to The Book Loft at 7 pm to support fellow group member and local author Sara Elliott at the signing of her novel, The Shape of Grace. Come meet Sara, hear about her journey as an author, purchase a signed copy of The Shape of Grace, and celebrate this exciting milestone with our community. Whether you’re an avid reader, an aspiring writer, or simply looking to enjoy a fun evening with great company, we’d love to have you join us!

September Book Club📕

The book we will be discussing for September is I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. Bookclub will be at the Dublin library meeting room 3 (Across from the coffee shop downstairs) Light snacks & refreshments will be provided, but you’re welcome to bring snacks or drinks. There is a water bottle fill up station by the bathroom also. Feel free to come whether or not you’ve finished the book! Please let me know if you’d like to volunteer to bring snacks and or drinks for this event ◡̈

Badass Book Club

LGBT Reads: September Book Discussion

Join us for our September book club gathering where we will come together to discuss [Long Live Evil](https://www.sarahreesbrennan.com/book/long-live-evil/) by Sarah Rees Brennan in a safe and welcoming environment. Make new friends who share your passion for books and connect with fellow LGBTQ book enthusiasts. Library links: [at Columbus Metro Libraries](https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/search?query=long%20live%20evil%20sarah%20rees%20brennan&searchType=smart) [at Worthington Libraries](https://catalog.clcohio.org/polaris/search/searchresults.aspx?ctx=34.1033.0.0.13&type=Default&term=long%20live%20evil%20sarah%20rees%20brennan&by=KW&sort=MP&limit=TOM=*&query=&page=0&searchid=0)

Book Discussion

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Cordova

[Link to the book at the Columbus libraries ](https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3508843) Location: [Knotty Pine Brewing](https://www.knottypinebrewing.net/) [Menu, scroll to the bottom](https://www.knottypinebrewing.net/menus-1) Book Summary: The Montoyas are used to a life without explanations. They know better than to ask why the pantry never seems to run low, or why their matriarch won't ever leave their home in Four Rivers--not for graduations, weddings, or baptisms. But when Orquídea Divina invites them to her funeral and to collect their inheritance, they hope to learn the secrets that she has held onto so tightly their whole lives. Instead, Orquídea is transformed into a ceiba tree, leaving them with more questions than answers. Seven years later, her gifts have manifested in different ways for Marimar, Rey, and Rhiannon, granting them unexpected blessings and powers. But soon, a hidden figure begins to tear through their family tree, picking them off one by one as it seeks to destroy Orquídea's line. Determined to save what's left of their family and uncover the truth behind their inheritance, her descendants travel to Ecuador--to the place where Orquídea buried her secrets and broken promises and never looked back.

After Love

***After Love*** (2020) is a British drama written and directed by Aleem Khan in his feature-length directorial debut. The film stars Joanna Scanlan as Mary Hussain, a white English woman who converted to Islam after marrying her Pakistani husband, Ahmed. After Ahmed dies suddenly, Mary makes a shocking discovery: her husband had been living a secret double life with another family just 21 miles away, across the English Channel in Calais, France. As Mary begins to uncover the life she never knew about, the film explores grief, love, betrayal, identity, faith, and the question of how well we can ever truly know another person. ***After Love*** is available to watch on Amazon Prime.