A thinking person’s novel built for book clubs 

The Salt and Light Express is made for book clubs and studies that enjoy character-driven novels that make readers think. There’s a term for it: upmarket, but that’s really an industry term that doesn’t mean much to the everyday reader. 

The author has facilitated more than 20 book studies with church groups. These are churches that welcome questions and different takes on what it means to be a Christian in the United States in the 21st Century.

Because much of the book celebrates libraries as a community institution and a main character (and hero) is a Latina librarian, The Salt and Light Express would also be very much at home in a library book club. LGBTQ-focused book clubs are another candidate for the novel. 

She has included a PDF of discussion questions. The Goodreads list at right includes books that have raised – and answered – questions for her along the way. If you would like to recommend one, please email her. 

In the book’s acknowledgements, she writes: 

“The musings on faith, prayer, God, and the nature of Christianity in this country reflect my own theology. I came to it in fits and starts over decades. There are several spiritual writers quoted in the novel who helped steer me away from a judgy, overbearing, and know-it-all version of Christianity.”

Lee Ann plays keyboards at Epworth United Methodist church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware every Sunday.