Book Discussion Group
The Book Discussion Group members select, read, and discuss 9-10 books per year. All are welcome whether you’ve read the book or not and the program is FREE. Refreshments are provided and the books are available through the Newport Beach Public Library.
September 10, 2025
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
On January 28, 1742, a tattered vessel arrived in Brazil carrying thirty emaciated men—survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, which had wrecked while pursuing a Spanish galleon. After months on a desolate island, the crew built a makeshift craft and sailed over 3,000 miles, initially hailed as heroes. However, six months later, three castaways in a decrepit boat reached Chile, revealing that the men in Brazil were mutineers. Conflicts among the crew had led to anarchy and accusations of murder. The Admiralty convened a court martial to uncover the truth, with life-and-death stakes for the accused. The Wager by Grann explores extreme human behavior, weaving a gripping narrative filled with twists reminiscent of survival classics and thrillers.
October 8, 2025
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
Jung Chang’s grandmother’s feet were bound as a child, and she was given to a warlord general as a concubine. As the general lay dying, she fled with her infant daughter. That daughter grew up to become active in the Communist movement during the civil war against the Kuomintang. Following the Communist victory in 1949 she and her husband became senior officials. Jung Chang, their daughter, was raised in the privileged circles of China’s Communist elite but was to take the unimaginable step of questioning Mao himself. Her parents were denounced and tortured, and she herself was exiled to the edge of the Himalayas. Breathtaking in its scope, unforgettable in its description of China’s long nightmare, it is both an important work of history and a remarkable human document.
November 12, 2025
The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane
Fiona McFarlane’s novel, The Sun Walks Down, explores the story of six-year-old Denny Wallace, who goes missing in colonial Australia during a dust storm in September 1883. The small town of Fairly unites in a search for him, revealing the complex relationships among its residents—newlyweds, farmers, Indigenous trackers, and others—while also reflecting on their connection to the landscape. The narrative is infused with diverse voices, capturing the emotional depth of the community amid their fears and hopes. The novel is rich with themes of love, art, and the divine, presenting a vivid and meaningful vision of the time.
December 10, 2025
Precipice by Robert Harris
Summer 1914. A world on the brink of a catastrophe. In London, twenty-six-year-old Venetia Stanley—aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless—is part of a fast group of upper-crust bohemians and socialites known as “The Coterie.” She’s also engaged in a clandestine love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than twice her age. He writes to her obsessively, sharing the most sensitive matters of state. As Asquith reluctantly leads the country into war with Germany, a young intelligence officer with Scotland Yard is assigned to investigate a leak of top-secret documents. Suddenly, what was a sexual intrigue becomes a matter of national security that could topple the British government—and will alter the course of political history.
January 14, 2026
My Name is Emilia Del Valle: A Novel by Isabel Allende
In 1866 San Francisco, Emilia del Valle is born to a troubled mother. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia becomes an independent thinker and writer, publishing pulp fiction under a male pen name. She later transitions to journalism at The Daily Examiner, where she partners with reporter Eric Whelan. When an opportunity arises to cover a civil war in Chile, she confronts her estranged father and faces danger, all while exploring her identity and love with Eric. My Name Is Emilia del Valle is a captivating story of self-discovery and love.SEE LESS
February 11, 2026
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind. Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with patient charm. But just as Eilis begins to fall in love, devastating news from Ireland threatens the promise of her future.
March 11, 2026
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris, and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the Resistance.
April 8, 2026
The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives. Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.
May 13, 2026
1984 by George Orwell
London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania where Big Brother is always watching you and the Thought Police can practically read your mind. Winston Smith is a man in grave danger for the simple reason that his memory still functions. Drawn into a forbidden love affair, Winston finds the courage to join a secret revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood, dedicated to the destruction of the Party. Together with his beloved Julia, he hazards his life in a deadly match against the powers that be.
About Book Discussion Group
The Newport Beach Public Library Foundation (NBPLF) created the Book Discussion Group in 1996 and it was under the stellar leadership of volunteer, educator, and poet, Charlotte “Charlie” Alexander that it blossomed. Intellectually curious, insightful, and entertaining, Charlie inspired people to open their minds and hearts through reading. Rich Alexander, Charlie’s husband for 44 years, said she believed in the power of books to change people’s lives.
Reading History
Click here for a PDF of the complete history of the Book Discussions Group’s titles
Program details:
- Second Wednesday of the month
- 9:30am – 11:00am
- Friends Room at the Central Library (IN-PERSON EVENT)
- Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave, Newport Beach CA 92660
- Free admission (suggested $10 donation) and refreshments
The upcoming construction of Witte Hall will temporarily disrupt parking in the main lot of the Central Library with limited spaces available. There are additional parking located in the Civic Center parking structure.
Questions?
Contact Director of Programs Kunga Wangmo at 949-717-3818 or programs@nbplf.foundation
The Book Discussion Group program is made possible by the members of the NBPL Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Please join the Foundation today to support this and all of the Foundation’s programming. If you have questions about membership contact the NBPLF at info@nbplf.foundation or call 949-717-3892.