Join Charity Nebbe and your fellow book lovers on Talk of Iowa for a live, on-air book club. Discuss the themes, characters and big-picture questions raised by the titles on our reading list. Then, continue the conversation between shows by joining the Talk of Iowa Book Club Facebook group.
2026 Reading List
This year's list (get it here!) includes some classics, as well as some overlooked stories from American history. Get a copy of these books, find a comfortable chair and read — or re-read — right along with us!
Martyr!
By Kaveh Akbar
The first novel from critically-acclaimed and award-winning poet Kaveh Akbar follows follows a young man born in Persia who was brought to the United States by his father when he was a baby. The young man, Cyrus, battles depression, insomnia, addiction, racism and struggles with the death of his mother and later, his father.
Read this gripping story and be ready to dig in during the February 10th meeting of the book club.
Safe
By Mark Daley
Daley's memoir of fatherhood and foster care takes you on an unlikely journey through parenthood in America's broken foster care system. He takes you on the roller-coaster ride as he and his husband face the honest, heartbreaking, and sometimes hilarious challenges of becoming parents at the intersection of intergenerational trauma, inadequate social support and systemic issues of prejudice.
Read Mark's book and be ready to chat on the April 14 episode of Talk of Iowa.
Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation
By Cokie Roberts
There are many stories of the founding fathers. This one looks at the many roles women played in the war: soldier, spy, nurse, and cook. Legendary NPR journalist Cokie Roberts brings us a comprehensive view of the women who fought the Revolution as valiantly as the men, often defending their very doorsteps.
Join the conversation around these stories on June 9.
The Book Thief
By Markus Zuzak
This bestseller tells the tale of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. She scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing. Then she encounters something she can't resist — books. With the help of her foster father, Liesel learns to read and begins sharing her stolen books with neighbors and the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
Tune in for the discussion on August 11.
Frankenstein
By Mary Shelley
It's the most famous horror story in literature. Mary Shelley's tale of a mad scientist and his monster is still influential more than two centuries after it was first published. You know the story but have you read the original novel that inspired countless adaptations?
Check out this classic and join the conversation on October 13.
Black No More
By George S. Schuyler
Black No More is a hilarious exploration of race and all its self-serving definitions. It tells the story of Max Disher, a dapper black rogue of an insurance man who, through a scientific transformation process, becomes a white man. He dreams up a scam that allows him to become the leader of a white supremacist group and marry the white woman who rejected him when he was black.
Join the book club discussion on December 8.
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For the Talk of Iowa book club, author Carol Roh Spalding and expert readers discuss the short story collection 'Waiting for Mr. Kim.' The connected stories in 'Waiting for Mr. Kim' are quintessentially American — an immigrant family builds a life in San Francisco drawn by the promise of opportunity. Over the decades, the family grows and struggles with the tension between two different cultures. (This show was originally produced Oct. 14, 2025.) -
A conversation with expert readers about 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' for the 'Talk of Iowa' Book Club. Author Zora Neale Hurston drew on her experience as a folklorist, anthologist and a Black woman who came of age in the Jim Crow South when she wrote her beloved novel. (This show was originally produced August 12, 2025.)
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'Warrior Girl Unearthed' is a young adult thriller that gives readers insight into Ojibwe culture, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, missing and murdered Indigenous persons and teenage shenanigans. On this episode of 'Talk of Iowa,' host Charity Nebbe talks with author Angeline Boulley about her inspiration for the novel, then turns to three expert readers. (This episode was originally produced June 10, 2025.)
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In this episode of the 'Talk of Iowa' book club, author Sarah McCammon and expert readers discuss 'The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church.' The book is a blend of memoir and reporting, focusing on McCammon's life growing up in an evangelical church in Missouri and attending an evangelical college before parting ways with the church as a young adult. McCammon also writes about the experiences of other so-called "exvangelicals." (This episode was originally produced April 15, 2025.)
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'James' is a retelling of Mark Twain's 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,' but this time the story is told by Huck’s companion, Jim or James. James is an enslaved man who flees when he learns that he is at risk of being sold. Expert readers Rachelle Chase, Faye Dant and Jocelyn Chadwick discuss their reading experiences for this episode of the 'Talk of Iowa' book club. Please be advised: a portion of this show references racist language used in the book. (This episode was originally produced on Feb. 11, 2025.)
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In 1946 Joseph Geha moved with his family from Lebanon to Toledo, Ohio. He grew up on his family’s stories and delicious Lebanese food, and brings them together in the book 'Kitchen Arabic.' On the Talk of Iowa book club, Geha discusses the book with host Charity Nebbe and expert readers. (This episode was originally produced on Dec. 17, 2024.)
