Not your average book club…
Join us for the Alcove Book Club, a bi-monthly book club where curiosity is welcome and conversation is encouraged!
Led by historian Amy Schneidhorst Ph.D, the Alcove Book Club meets every other month for an informal discussion of the selected book. Whether you’ve read every page or just a few, you’re warmly invited to join us in The Haven for thoughtful, community-rooted conversation. Leave with a new idea, a new connection, or maybe a new favorite book!
This April, we're reading Wildfire Days by Kelly Ramsey.
"In the exhilarating spirit of Wild and A Walk in the Park, an adventure-filled memoir of one woman’s struggle to succeed as a wildland firefighter on an elite, male-dominated crew as they battle some of the fiercest wildfires in the West.
When Kelly Ramsey drives over a California mountain pass to join an elite firefighting crew, she’s terrified that she won’t be able to keep up with the intense demands of the job. Not only will she be the only woman on this hotshot crew and their first in ten years, she’ll also be among the oldest. As she trains relentlessly to overcome the crew’s skepticism and gain their respect, megafires erupt across the West, posing an increasing danger both on the job and back home. In vivid prose that evokes the majesty of Northern California’s forests, Kelly takes us on the ground to see how major wildfires are fought and to lay bare the psychological toll, the bone-deep weariness, and the unbreakable camaraderie that emerge in the face of nature’s fury.
Despite the wear and tear of her rookie year in fire, Kelly gears up for a second season, determined to prove that not only can a woman survive this work, she can excel. But when her plans to marry her partner start to crumble and sparks fly with a fellow crew member, Kelly wrestles with whether she’s truly outgrown the self-destructive patterns she’s learned from her father, whose drinking and itinerant ways haunt her. And as the season wears on, she discovers how tenuous “belonging” can be amid ever-changing crew dynamics.
In this vivid, visceral, and intimate memoir, Kelly wrestles with the immense power of fire for both destruction and renewal, confronted with the questions: Which fires do you fight, and which do you let burn you clean?”
Can't make it to this meeting? No worries! You can join us for future book club sessions:
June 6th, 2026 - Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline
August 8th, 2026 - Love Queenie by Marukh Seh
October 10th, 2026 - Mango and Peppercorns by Tung Nguyen
December 12th, 2026 - Joy Goddess by A'lelia Bundles
Questions? Email Khamry at khamry.varfley@alcoveri.org
Meet Your Facilitator!
Amy Schneidhorst, Ph.D (she/her) has taught history, gender and women's studies, and peace and nonviolence theory and methods in universities and colleges throughout the United States.
Her research and writing on women's leadership in 1960’s social movements for peace and social justice has enabled her to engage in stimulating and critical discussions about how identity, interpersonal relationships, and political values inspire women to work for social change in their communities. And, in the process, carve out creative and innovative spaces to repair communities and practice leadership locally and internationally.
“The Alcove book club allows us to draw on the diverse collective wisdom and experience of the group. Memoir challenges us as readers to take the time and space to reflect and reevaluate our own stories and choices: what we would like to retain from our pasts and how we would like to re-envision ourselves moving forward more powerfully and purposefully in our personal lives and our communities.”
The Alcove is grateful to our community of members and supporters whose generosity makes free, public programs like this one possible. Together, we create space to thrive.