How to Read a Book

"The perfect pick to really light a fire under my book club, and yours....A reminder that goodness, and books, can still win in this world." —New York Times Book Review

"A beautiful, big-hearted treasure of a novel." —Lily King

The bestselling heartfelt, witty, and uplifting novel about redemption, starting over, and the life-changing power of reading.

I am a reader. I am intelligent. I have something worthy to contribute.

Inside a Maine women's prison, twelve inmates gather each week for book club. Even as they mercilessly criticize each book, their conversations, led by retired teacher Harriet, quickly become something to live for.

Violet, twenty-two and the youngest of the women, is the most gifted reader. She’s been serving time for a drunk-driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher and is about to be released. Soon, she is alone in Portland, faced with rebuilding her life. One morning, when she ventures into in a bookstore to buy the novel the prison book club was reading before her release, she runs into Harriet, and handyman Frank Daigle, the husband of the woman who died in Violet’s accident.

The three collide at pivotal moments in their lives: Harriet is grappling with her work at the prison and the prospect of an empty nest, Frank is coming to terms with the loss of his wife and possibly finding love again, and Violet is deciding what kind of life she wants (which might include a parrot or two) and what type of person she wants to be.

How to Read a Book is a moving and funny story about forgiveness, seizing second chances, and the power of books to change our lives. With the heart, humor, and depth of understanding that has characterized her work, Monica Wood illuminates the decisions that define a life and the kindnesses that make life worth living.