​On Saturday, February 18, the Riverton Area Book Club will be discussing The Book Woman's Daughter, by Kim Michele Richardson, a sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek.  This new book, published in 2022, covers Honey Marie-Angeline Lovett--and mule Junie--as they navigate dangers in the hollers of Kentucky where racism and violence is rampant. She takes on the role of her mother, Cussy Mary, the blue-skinned packhorse librarian. Blue skin, or methemoglobinemia, is a rare genetic mutation in the body's hemoglobin. Honey must be smart and resourceful as she tries to avoid being committed to the Kentucky House of Reform for being orphaned while her parents are jailed for miscegenation. This novel is also a stand-alone story if you have not read the first book.
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Meetings are held from 10-11 am at the Riverton Village Municipal Building on Riverton Road. For further information please call the library at 217-629-6353. Books have been selected for future months: in March--Lady Clementine, by Marie Benedict, about Churchill's wife; in April, One Italian Summer, by Rebecca Serle, about a young woman's trip she must take alone after her mother's death.

​On Saturday, January 21, the Riverton Area Book Club's book selection highlights the horrific practice of committing women to an insane asylum when they prove too "troublesome."  Kate Moore, author of "The Radium Girls," tells the story of Elizabeth Packard in the book "The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear."  This story hits close to home.  Moore's investigation into this issue centers on the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane in Jacksonville under the direction of Dr. Andrew McFarland in 1860 and it is a blend of personal, historical, and scientific details. For those who want to learn more on this topic, Moore's book, published in 2021, provides an extensive list of references in the selected bibliography. 
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The book club will meet from 10-11 am in the community room of the Riverton Municipal Building. For questions or further information, please contact the Riverton Village Library at 217-629-6353. The library arranges for copies of the book through interlibrary loan.