Next Book: October 2026: Tuesday, October 27, 2026 5pm Western/7pm Central/ 8pm Eastern on Zoom: “The Imprisoned Guest: Samuel Howe and Laura Bridgman, the original deaf-blind girl” By Elisabeth Gitter. (BARD: DB 51840). Synopsis: “The life of Laura Bridgman, deaf and blind from age two, who became one of the most famous women of the mid-nineteenth century. Explores her education with Samuel Howe at Boston’s Perkins Institution for the Blind; views her achievements in the context of American social, cultural, and intellectual history. 2001.” Zoom Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Rkc5vJ5nTRmBlo7qW3rs5g
Summary of “Between Georgia” By Joshilyn Jackson
- Plot Summary (from author’s website): “In Between, Georgia, population 90, the feud that began before Nonny was born is escalating. A random act of violence will set a torch to a thirty-year-old stash of highly flammable secrets—and Nonny’s right in the middle of it. “One of this decade’s most commendable novels…overflows with gut-wrenching sadness and laugh-out-loud humor” – BookPage
- Author Website
- Author’s Biography (from author’s website): “New York Times and USA Todaybestselling novelist Joshilyn Jackson’s books have been translated into a dozen languages, won SIBA’s Novel of the Year award, three times been the #1 Book Sense Pick, twice been the #1 Indie Next Pick, twice won Georgia Author of the Year, been a top ten finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards, been the Target Book Club Pick, three times been a Books-A-Million Book Club Pick, four times been shortlisted for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, been a finalist for the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction, and won the Patricia Winn Award for Southern Fiction. A former actor, Jackson reads the audio versions of both her own novels and other writers’ books.”
- Author reads audiobooks (hers and others): Audible narration listing
- Author’s other Books: Domestic Suspense Books and Southern Fiction Books
- Author Interviews:
- Los Angeles Public Library interview with Jackson
- A Medium interview with Jackson
- A Southern Literary Review of “Between Georgia”
- A PBS video interview (with captions)- you need PBS Passport to watch this.
- Historical Significance:
- Of Place: Between, Georgia (Wikipedia); (Town Website)
- Family Feuds: Famous US family feuds
- Of Disability: (in the South)- New Disabled South; Census article on high rate of disability in the South
- Critical Reception of Book:
- Reader Reviews (average rating is 3.88)
- Professional Reviewer Reviews (This book not listed but other Jackson books listed on this site called Book Marks that aggregates reviews)
- Themes Discussed:
- Deafness/Hearing loss: The character of Stacia has Usher Syndrome and communicates with her sister using sign language
- Remembering Characters in Fiction Books: This Book Companion website offers a comprehensive listing of characters.
- Tone: Book club participants discussed the raunchy language and the author talks about how she identifies as a Christian author, etc.
- Additional Topics Discussed:
- Book Recommendation from Leisla: The books about Roosevelt’s Appalachian “book women” are historical novels inspired by the real-life Pack Horse Librarians of the Great Depression. Book: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson: Follows Cussy Mary, a blue-skinned young woman delivering books via horseback through the WPA program in Kentucky.
Thank you for your continued interest in our book club.