All are welcome to join lively discussions of books selected annually by regular participants. Readers are welcome to sit in on a session to meet the group. We meet the third Tuesday of every month in the Collins Room, Ipswich Library, from 6:30-7:45 PM. Registration is not required. We read mainly current fiction but are open to any suggestions from readers. Each month, Ipswich Library staff order the books from the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium and make copies available in multiple media. Discussions are animated and book selections can be eclectic. Topics can include the book’s merits, its relation to other books, and lessons conveyed. The author’s life and body of works are often included.

For more information contact: Pam Whitmore at pam_whitmore@yahoo.com or 814-572-6594

This month's book is: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummings

About the book:

"Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. Even though she knows they'll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy-two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia's husband's tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same. Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia-trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier's reach doesn't extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to? American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed when they finish reading it. A page-turner filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page, it is a literary achievement."