Our literary salons for grownups offer members the intellectual stimulation and satisfaction of university courses without the stress of homework or assignments. Connecting with our books, with each other, and with the world at large, we develop our literary knowledge while exploring a wide variety of genres each season.

THE LIST for this 2025/2026 Season is posted below, and you can view our Past Literary Salons for titles from previous seasons!

Before our meeting you will receive “Points to Ponder,” which may help you view that month’s selection in a new way. At the meeting you’ll enjoy a short presentation that will enhance your appreciation of the book, and then you will partake in a riveting discussion. Your trained facilitator will ensure that you ‘dig deep’ into both craft and story elements of that month’s literary treasure.

Literary Masters Salons: THE LIST 2025-2026 Season

As always, we reserve the right to change any title during the season. We always have your best reading in mind!

Book 1: Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

We kick off the season with a book that makes us think, feel, and rip through the story! When narrator Mia’s dad Adam goes missing, the only witness to what has happened is her brother Eugene, who is unable to speak due to his rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome. Worse still, Eugene may become the prime suspect in his dad’s disappearance, and now Mia and her mom are faced with two nightmares: how to find Adam and how to exonerate Eugene. Little is what it seems, and as family secrets leak out, questions pile up and long-trusted beliefs fall away. Riveting!

Book 2: Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams

Our nonfiction title for the season is a tell-all memoir by Meta’s former Director of Global Public Policy, and it is a barn burner! In 2011, when Sarah Wynn-Williams joined Facebook, she was over the moon; she had landed her dream job and felt she truly would be doing good for the world. However, the next seven years were ones of sharp disenchantment for her, culminating in her departure from the company, the writing of this expose, and legal action immediately being taken by Meta to stop her from promoting her book. Nothing like a court injunction to help a book zoom to the top of the best-sellers lists! And even more importantly, to land on THE LIST here! A must-read!

Book 3: The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald

Our classic for the season is celebrating the centennial of its publication, and Literary Masters is not one to miss out on a book birthday party! Funnily enough, Careless People (see above) takes its title from The Great Gatsby, referencing two people from the book, Tom and Daisy Buchanan: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy–they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” And of course it’s Daisy that Jay Gatsby is trying to win over in this story narrated by the ever intriguing Nick Carraway. Wealth, class, belonging, love, the American Dream, disillusionment, moral decay…LOTS to dig into and discuss!

Book 4: My Documents by Kevin Nguyen

Meet the Nguyen family, Vietnamese American cousins who are each working toward their version of the American Dream. When random terror attacks spread across America, the government institutes a policy of Vietnamese internment, resulting in two of the four cousins being imprisoned while two remain free. How they find ways to connect with each other and bring information both into the camp and back out to the world will impact their lives in unexpected ways. Exploring issues of race, privilege, duty, family loyalty, guilt, shame, art, power, and more, this novel will make you think…and think again.

Book 5: Mothers and Sons by Adam Haslett

This beautiful novel explores the relationship between son Peter and his mother Ann and what happens when truths are ignored and/or erased. Ann seems content with the life she has forged for herself, but Peter is striving to understand past events that lay buried–but may just explain why he feels stunted and emotionally withdrawn. As Peter’s need to know grows ever stronger, a stranger enters his life who will be a catalyst for change–helping to unearth secrets and expose the truth. With deep psychological insight, this story will stay with you for a long time.

Book 6: Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

It seems like anywhere people turn these days, they run into artificial intelligence. In this case, it’s the AI that runs into people–quite literally–when the Cassidy-Shaw’s autonomous car crashes into another vehicle. Yes, this story will delve into AI’s as well as other forms of technology’s impact on our lives, but it’s also a riveting family drama, full of questions regarding responsibility, values, morals, duty, and more.

Book 7: Twist by Colum McCann

Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist, is writing about the repair of undersea internet cables, something which the average person may never think about but uses on a daily basis. As the cables are the backbone of the global internet, they are the primary infrastructure for global connectivity and must constantly be monitored and maintained. Fennell journeys to Africa, where he meets the mysterious fellow Irishman Conway, the engineer in charge of the repairs. As Fennell learns more about repair–both of cables and of men–he comes to realize how much more there is left to learn…and the question is raised: Can anything or anyone truly heal or be repaired? A timely read as shown by recent news about terror attacks on undersea cables.

Book 8: The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue

There are those who say that every story is a love story. True or not, this heart-warming novel is brimming with love of all sorts. It’s also bursting with secrets! It’s Ireland in 2009, and our story revolves around Rachel and her love for her closeted roommate James and her married professor Dr. Fred Byrne. As the characters adventure through County Cork under the shadow of a coming financial crash, will any of their love be requited? You’ll love reading this book to find out!