New in 2025!
Since 1965, alumni have gathered each year for a lively panel discussion on the best new fiction and non-fiction at Conversation With Books. This year, Conversation With Books is growing! Join us in 2025 for hybrid events in January, June, and October. We’ll discuss books from multiple genres, including historical fiction, romance, speculative fiction, and more!
October 5, 2025: Suzanne Lehman ’93, MSN’11, DNP’18
Join Suzanne Lehman for a lively discussion on literature that primarily focuses on BIPOC authors and speculative fiction. More details and booklist coming soon.
June 7, 2025: Lydia Butler Fasteland ’12, MLIS’17 and Taylor Harwood ’15
“What I find really interesting is what ‘happily ever after’ looks like, what how that looks like can tell us about our society and culture, and what we the readers might want out of our lives." Harwood and Fasteland led a discussion of the romance genre through an intersectional lens, exploring tropes, themes, and romance novels as an act of feminism.
January 26, 2025: Ruth Haag Brombach ‘60 and Judie Martens Flahavan ‘60
We kicked off the year by discussing a mix of new fiction and nonfiction books, including titles by local Minnesota authors. This discussion was hosted by longtime Conversation with Books presenters Brombach and Flahavan, joined by Associate Professor of History Rachel Neiwert, PhD, and special guest President Marcheta P. Evans, PhD. This year they selected a list of titles, mostly current, that offer good literature from a variety of authors. Because most of the books chosen were recently published, the subjects are current or revisited through today's lens.