From the Bookshelf of La Crescent Public Library…

[close] Join us for our 2022 Regional Read, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver!

La Crescent Public Library is partnering up with Winona Public Library and La Crosse Public Library for Climate Change and the Coulee Region, a fall series featuring book discussions around Kingsolver's work and programs on climate related topics.

For a list of book discussions and programs, visit: https://www.driftlessregionalread.com/

The La Crescent Public Library Book Club met and discussed the book. Everyone enjoyed the book and the writing very much, but most were upset with the ending. The interesting thing was that they felt it was realistically how the end would go, but as readers they still wished it had been wrapped up more conclusively or positively. Demands for a sequel were made! LOL

Everyone thought the subject of the book was very pertinent to today's time and we spent a lot of our discussion talking about how an issue can seem so clear, and yet the viewpoints surrounding it vary so widely. We dove into how a person's value system, upbringing, education, financial stability, and faith all play roles in how we understand and query the world around us.

Another theme that came up was curiosity. Many readers identified with the parts of the story about the monarch butterflies, even thinking of them as their own character in the book. When looking at climate change and realizing how long we've known about it, but only recently understand the dire effects at play now, the group thought much of it came down to how well a person identifies with nature, sees themself as one small part of nature, and has a curiosity to understand the cycles that ripple out from each ecological element.

The group had lots to say about Dellarobia and Hester. They thought Dellarobia was naive and, in a nod to the title, flighty in the beginning, but that at the end, she seemed on her way to more wisdom. She, specifically, exemplified curiosity, along with Preston, her son, more than other characters who we felt were motivated out of survival and financial need and tradition in how things are done.

It was a wonderful, rich discussion of writing style, character, and climate change as topics. We had a great mix of men and women readers with several who've read the book 2x! Definitely a great book for discussion with timely subject matter told in a relatable fashion.