The next-best thing to reading a good book is having someone to talk about it with. The Nashville Public Library has done a pretty amazing job of keeping its resources accessible throughout the pandemic (though you’re once again able to visit a growing number of library branches in person), which is a lot of help with that part about finding good books. Courtesy of the Nashville Public Library Foundation’s Next Chapter Society, there’s a way you can find folks to discuss those books with, too. The Next Chapter Society is a group geared toward folks early in their careers that supports the library system and its programs. There is a fee to join the group, but the online monthly meetings of its book club are free and open to anyone — even if you haven’t read the book. The next meeting is coming up on Tuesday, May 25, when author Rob Rufus will join in the club’s discussion of his novel The Vinyl Underground. Set in the U.S. during the Vietnam war, the book follows four high-schoolers who use their record club as a way to process, react to and cope with a world in turmoil. Meetings are on the last Tuesday of most months through October. The club will discuss K.J. Charles’ gay romance Slippery Creatures in June; Maggie O’Farrell’s Shakespearean historical fiction Hamnet in August; Erika Sánchez’s National Book Award finalist I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter in September; and Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Underground Railroad: A Novel in October. Visit the club’s website (nplf.org/events/ncsbookclub) for details and registration information. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 25, via Nashville Public Library STEPHEN TRAGESER
Check Out a Next Chapter Society Book Club Meeting
