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Regional Reads Book Club

Regional Reads Book Club Events

Join us for Regional Reads in our Cozy Museum Home
We invite you to join us at the Heritage Center for books and conversation in a relaxed and cozy setting. Each month, we’ll gather to explore and discuss a book with a regional focus. These thoughtfully curated selections of non-fiction and fiction will provide the opportunity to delve into the rich tapestry of our local culture and history.
As an added treat, every month we will feature a new artisanal tea to sample as we explore engaging books together.
Whether you are an avid reader or just looking for a pleasant way to spend an evening, our book club welcomes everyone.  Meetings will be on the first Wednesday of each month at 6:00 PM. We look forward to evenings of great books, fine teas, and engaging discussion!
Visit our website at PWLHC.org, follow us on social media, or join our email list to keep up to date on monthly book picks! 

Please let us know if you’ll be joining us as space is limited. 

These events are Free.

The Book Club meets in the Museum at 13912 W. Camelback Rd., Litchfield Park

Wednesday, November 4, 2026
The Harvey Girls

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

13912 W. Camelback Road

THE HARVEY GIRLS  by Juliette Fay

The Harvey Girls follows two vastly different women who discover companionship and independence while working as waitresses in America’s first hospitality chain along the Santa Fe Railroad during the 1920s. Charlotte Crowninshield, a Boston socialite, fleeing an abusive marriage, and Billie MacTavish, a teenager from a large impoverished immigrant family in Nebraska, share three things when they begin their training in Topeka, Kansas, a room, a heartfelt dislike of each other, and secrets that could get them fired. But when they are both stationed at El Tovar in the Grand Canyon, they must learn to trust each other and form a bond. While guarding their personal secrets, they face historical challenges of the era, including run-ins with the KKK and uncovering dark aspects of the national park’s history. The novel examines the subculture of the “Harvey” world as it explores the theme of found friendship in the setting of the wondrous natural world of the Grand Canyon.

Wednesday, December 2, 2026
Arizona's Murdered Madams - Death in the Red-Light District

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

13912 W. Camelback Road

ARIZONA’S MURDERED MADAMS–DEATH IN THE RED-LIGHT DISTRICT by Merry Gordon

Come meet the author of this non-fiction work at our December meeting.  Merry Gordon, a local writer, editor, and high school educator will join us to take questions and guide discussion of her recently published book.

Arizona’s Murdered Madams–Death in the Red-Light District explores the lives and violent deaths of three prominent Arizona territorial madams.  Minnie Powers rose to prominence in Phoenix’s red-light district before dying in a murder-suicide in 1898; “Belgian Jennie” Bauters  operated out of Jerome before being gunned down in the mining town of Goldroad in 1905, and “Dutch May” Prescott ran  scandalous sex shows and a brothel in Flagstaff before her 1916 murder.   As she describes the lives of these madams, Gordon also explores the broader realities of sex workers in the Old West and chronicles the harsh societal constraints that pushed women into prostitution.  Limited employment opportunities for unmarried women on the frontier, the reality of life after divorce, and widespread drug and alcohol dependency channeled many women into the dangerous life as sex workers for their economic survival.

Come meet Merry Gordon and share her well researched insights into the complexity of prostitution in frontier Arizona. Please RSVP

Wednesday, January 6, 2027
Murder Runs in the Family

6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

13912 W. Camelback Road

 

JANUARY–MYSTERY
MURDER RUNS IN THE FAMILY by Tamara Berry, published 2025;  256 pages.
Murder Runs in the Family is a light, humorous, and cozy mystery.  Down on her luck, Amber Winslow, a former private-investigator-in-training, is running from her previous life as well as her ex-boyfriend. She escapes into an upscale Arizona retirement community to live with her eccentric grandmother, whom she meets for the first time.   Soon after her arrival Amber finds herself entangled in the murder of a resident, the theft of his valuable heirloom ring, and the care of his beloved prize pet tortoise.  When her grandmother is arrested for the murder and the theft,  Amber jumps into investigation mode to find out what really happened and clear her grandmother’s name.  This book isn’t just a mystery but also a “found family story” that is great for an entertaining read.