January 2021 Meeting

Click the cover to view & buy the audiobook from our partner, Libro.fm

This month's book club pick is Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler and we will discuss it at our meeting on Thursday, January 28th at 6:30pm. 

Octavia Butler was an acclaimed African American author who received a Macarthur "Genius" Grant and PEN West Lifetime Achievement Award for her body of work. Born in Pasadena in 1947, she was raised by her mother & grandmother and she died on February 24, 2006. She was the author of several award-winning books, including Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. Her work is known for her lean prose & strong protagonists, while exploring themes of global warming, Black injustice, women's rights, and political disparity. Her work is now taught at over 200 colleges & universities and her impact on literature cannot be understated.  

Keep reading to find the summary, reviews of the book, interviews with the author, and info about how to buy your book from us in various formats. ​

The Summary

When global climate change and economic crises lead to social chaos in the early 2020s, California becomes full of dangers, from pervasive water shortage to masses of vagabonds who will do anything to live to see another day. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others' emotions.

Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith . . . and a startling vision of human destiny.
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via GIPHY

If this sounds like something you would like to read, you can get your copy of the book from the store for 15% off when you order with us: online, over the phone (828.386.1219), or via email. This title is also available from our audiobook partner, Libro.fm, as a DRM-free audiobook--buy it here. 

You can pickup your book using our pickup basket at the front door or the drive thru window. We also offer free media mail shipping & local delivery (within Boone town limits). Getting your book to you as conveniently as possible is important to us! 

Finally, you can RSVP on the Facebook event to get reminders & updates about any changes to the event! Do that here!
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Reviews & Interviews

Octavia Butler’s Prescient Vision of a Zealot Elected to “Make America Great Again” 
​-- The New Yorker
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (Book Review) -- Black & Bookish
Parable of the Sower -- Publisher's Weekly
An Interview with Octavia Butler, 2004 -- by Joshunda Sanders for Africana.com & In Motion Magazine
Octavia Butler: Writing Herself Into The Story -- for Code Switch by NPR