Members’ Book Club

Sunday, Sep 6th
The Brandylion (200 N Court Ave)
1 pm

Almanac of the Dead is a complex, multi-layered 1991 novel by Leslie Marmon Silko that explores the conflict between Native American and Anglo-American cultures, focusing on themes of resistance, history, and survival in the American Southwest and Central America. The story follows dozens of characters, including revolutionaries, criminals, and psychics, whose lives intertwine around a prophecy from an ancient Native American text, the titular Almanac, which foretells an uprising against oppression. It’s known for its non-linear narrative, blending present-day events with historical flashbacks and mythology, and its critique of modern capitalism, imperialism, and cultural dispossession.

Sunday, Oct 4th
The Brandylion (200 N Court Ave)
1 pm

Inland is a sweeping historical novel that takes place in the drought-stricken Arizona Territory in 1893. It follows two parallel lives: Nora Lark, a frontierswoman waiting for her husband and sons to return, and Lurie, an orphaned outlaw and cameleer who is haunted by ghosts.

Sunday, Nov 8th
The Brandylion (200 N Court Ave)
1 pm

The Hacienda follows Beatriz Hernández as she marries wealthy widower Don Rodolfo Solórzano for security after her father is executed in the Mexican War of Independence. Arriving at his remote estate, Hacienda San Isidro, she discovers it is plagued by a malevolent, supernatural presence. To survive, she teams up with a local priest hiding his own magical abilities.

Sunday, Dec 6th
The Brandylion (200 N Court Ave)
1 pm

Oakley Hall’s 1958 revisionist Western, Warlock, reimagines the myth of Tombstone, Arizona, and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It follows a committee of nervous citizens who hire a famous, morally ambiguous gunslinger, Clay Blaisedell, as marshal to clean up their lawless mining town. The narrative is told through third-person perspectives and the personal journals of a local merchant named Henry Holmes.

Sunday, Jan 3rd
The Brandylion (200 N Court Ave)
1 pm

Bless Me, Ultima follows Antonio Márez, a young boy in 1940s New Mexico, as a wise healer named Ultima comes to live with his family. Torn between his parents’ conflicting dreams for him, Antonio witnesses dark town mysteries, exploring faith, nature, and the loss of childhood innocence before Ultima blesses him.

Sunday, Feb 7th
The Brandylion (200 N Court Ave)
1 pm

Set in early 20th-century Linares, Mexico, Sofía Segovia’s The Murmur of Bees is a magical realism novel following the wealthy Morales family. They adopt Simonopio, an abandoned baby discovered blanketed by a protective swarm of bees. His uncanny connection to nature helps the family survive the Mexican Revolution and the Spanish Flu.

Sunday, Mar 7th
The Brandylion (200 N Court Ave)
1 pm

Caramelo is a multi-generational family epic centering on Celaya “Lala” Reyes. The novel follows her family’s annual summer road trips from Chicago to Mexico City. Through Lala’s coming-of-age journey, the book explores memory, cultural identity, and the untold stories of the women in her family.