Our WV Living Book Club isn’t your run-of-the-mill book club. Each issue, we choose a book to read that meets one of the following criteria:
- A book about West Virginia
- A book by a West Virginian
- A book printed and distributed through WVU Press
You can join us in person at The F.A.R.M in Granville, right outside of Morgantown, or join us virtually. Our goal is to make it fun and interactive. We theme our gatherings by incorporating food that fits with the tone and tenor of the book and facilitate discussion with the author or a subject expert.
To participate in our WV Living Book Club, you’ll have multiple registration options:
- Register to participate IN PERSON for our event. Food and beverages are included.
- Register to participate in the ONLINE discussion event for free.
- Add on the purchase of the book to either of the above.
Our 2026 Selections
West Virginians’ Experiences in Civil Rights: How We Have Been Connected All Along
Produced by The Community Coalition for Social Justice in Morgantown, this home-grown graphic novel moves us through time from the early days of the Civil Rights movement to present-day activism. Eve Faulkes’ illustrations give life to the stories she compiled from 22 storytellers, such as Joan Browning, Crystal Good, and Don Spencer. Experience their roles and those of others in Civil Rights efforts across the nation and learn of the impact they have left on West Virginia, its people, and its culture.
Night Watch
The Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum comes back to life once again in this 2024 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel set just years after the Civil War ended in surrender. Its conclusion left grief, loss, and devastation in its wake for the country and its people to contend with—including 12-year-old ConaLee and her traumatized mother. The TALA becomes their new home, the patients and staff their new neighbors and companions as they struggle to find a path forward in a post-war state barely a decade old.
Strange as This Weather Has Been
In her debut novel, Ann Pancake brings us deep into the too-familiar world of mountaintop removal mining and its effects on a small West Virginia town fighting for a new day. Told through the alternating perspectives of the members of a coal mining family—mother Lace and her kids Bant, Corey, and Dane—the story tells of the family’s struggle to survive as the dangers chasing them move ever closer to home. Pancake weaves a tale rooted in fact and informed by true experiences, tackling topics of poverty, exploitation, and family.
Previous Book Club Selections
CLICK THE COVER IMAGES BELOW TO WATCH THE RECORDED ZOOM DISCUSSION.
Attention bookstores and libraries: Are you interested in partnering with us? Fill out this form and we’ll list you below and send you a poster to display.
Partnering bookstores and libraries
Plot Twist Books, Charleston
Morgantown Public Library System, Monongalia County
Burnsville Public Library, Burnsville
Dora B Woodyard Memorial Library, Elizabeth
WordPlay, Wardensville
Morgan County Public Library, Berkeley Springs
Cicada Books & Coffee, Huntington
Books-a-Million, Beckley
Do you have a book to suggest as a WV Living Book Club read or for a story in WV Living magazine? Click here to give us some information about it. Books must be about West Virginia or written by a West Virginian. We love suggestions—just be aware that we plan our reads a year in advance.
