A New Chapter

2025 Selections

Thursday, January 16 @ 7 PM & Friday, February 21 @ 2 PM

We are the luckiest: the surprising magic of a sober life by Laura McKowen

A memoir of alcohol addiction and recovery, written by a successful career woman who describes the joys and challenges of staying sober in a culture permeated by drinking. 2020; 248 pages. Available as eBook and eAudiobook on Hoopla.

Thursday, March 20 @ 7 PM & Friday, April 18 @ 2 PM

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Welcome to Charon's Crossing. The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through. When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead. And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead. But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days. Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home. 2021; 384 pages. Available as eAudiobook on Hoopla.

Thursday, May 15 @ 7 PM & Friday, June 20 @ 2 PM

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van der Kolk

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming life. 2015; 464 pages.

Thursday, July 17 @ 7 PM & Friday, August 15 @ 2 PM

Another Word for Love by Carvell Wallace

In Another Word for Love, Carvell Wallace excavates layers of his own history, situated in the struggles and beauty of growing up Black and queer in America. With courage, vulnerability, and a remarkable expansiveness of spirit—not to mention a thrilling, and unrivaled, storytelling verve—Another Word for Love makes an irresistible case for life, healing, the fullness of our humanity, and, of course, love. It could be called a theory of life itself—a theory of being that will leave you open to the wonder of the world. 2024; 272 pages.

What Happened to You? Thursday, September 18 @ 7 PM & Friday, October 17 @ 2 PM

What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing by Bruce D. Perry, Oprah Winfrey

Have you ever wondered 'Why did I do that?' or 'Why can't I just control my behavior?' Others may judge our reactions and think, 'What's wrong with that person?' When questioning our emotions, it's easy to place the blame on ourselves, holding ourselves and those around us to an impossible standard. It's time we started asking a different question. Through deeply personal conversations, Oprah Winfrey and ... brain and trauma expert Dr. Bruce Perry offer a groundbreaking and profound shift from asking 'What's wrong with you?' to 'What happened to you?' 2021; 301 pages.

Thursday, November 20 @ 7 PM & Friday, December 19 @ 2 PM

Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi

A novel about faith, science, religion, and family that tells the deeply moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants ravaged by depression and addiction and grief, narrated by a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford school of medicine studying the neural circuits of reward seeking behavior in mice. 2020; 261 pages.