Program Description
Event Details
Join us for the Pacific Beach Library's monthly book discussion! Our group meets in a hybrid format, so you can choose whether you'd prefer to join us in-person in the PB Library's Community Room or virtually (please send an email to cwainwright@sandiego.gov for this year's Teams login info).
Description: A gripping historical mystery based on the real-life diary entries of Martha Ballard, an 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history. Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town's most respected gentlemen--one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.
If you'd like to check out a print copy of the book, they are available 1 month before each discussion at the Pacific Beach Library's Circulation Desk. Please call 858-581-9934 x0 before coming to pick it up so that staff may confirm availability.
Book Discussion Calendar
- January 8, 2026: Select titles to discuss in 2026
- February 12: James by Percival Everett
- March 12: The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
- April 9: The Feather Thief : Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson
- May 14: Feeding Ghosts by Tess Hulls
- June 11: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
- July 9: The Greatest Sentence Ever Written by Walter Isaacson
- August 13: Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
- September 10: Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach
- October 8: What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
- November 12: One Book, One San Diego selection (to be announced)
- December 10: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
- January 14, 2027: Select titles to discuss in 2027
- February 11, 2027: An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin