I love reading good books. And almost as much as I love reading them, I love talking about them. I ran into a book loving friend of mine at Mirabelle in Pioneer Square at lunch the other day and our conversation (in between bites of heavenly quiche) quickly turned to—what have you been reading lately? An impromptu book club and delicious French food—my idea of a perfect lunch. Catherine Davenport, our intrepid Outreach Services Librarian, noticed how much many of you enjoy reading the summer and winter KCLL staff reads columns and thought that it might be fun to put together our own book club. In this column, Catherine and I chat about the new book club she organized. We’d love to have you join us for our inaugural book club meeting at noon on March 27th.
Catherine, what makes the KCLL book club unique? What’s the twist?
We have two unique things for our book group. The first is that we have paired fiction and nonfiction books across a common central theme. All of our selected books have an overall social justice thread running through them, but we’ve paired each of the selected works with either a fiction or nonfiction counterpart that helps to broaden one’s understanding of both works. Some of our upcoming works are The Proving Ground, Clybourne Park, The Color of Law, and Weapons of Math Destruction. The second unique thing about our book group is our “While You’re Reading Bingo Cards.” The bingo cards were created to facilitate engagement with the books as you are reading them.
How did you come up with this idea?
I’d been thinking of creating a legal book group at KCLL for a few months and been looking at other law libraries that had them but only found a few. I was intrigued by the Law Library of Saint Louis’ book group but wanted to create broader connections with the world around us. While reading an advanced reader’s copy of The Proving Ground, I was reminded of a book I had read a few years ago about algorithms. This connection to a previous book reminded me of my teaching days, and I wanted to bring that idea to life as a book group for KCLL. Once I had that nebulous idea in my head, I began thinking of other books that I had read and how I could connect them through a common overarching social justice theme, but in different ways. As a former English teacher, I’m always reminded of how nothing is written in a vacuum and how everything is connected. I wanted our book group to focus on this border interconnectedness.
What is the first book, and can you give a brief synopsis of the plot?
Our first book is a relatively new book that was published late last year, The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly. It’s part of his popular Lincoln Lawyer series. Connelly is great at pulling topics from current events, and this one pulls in how the use of AI and corporate accountability is being litigated in our court system. There is this interesting juxtaposition of holding big AI corporations accountable for the products they make and the impact that those creations have on communities. Connelly pulls the premise of his book from a case that was recently settled in Florida.1
What nonfiction book is it being paired with, and can you give a brief synopsis of the book?
Our first nonfiction book is Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil. It won the 2019 Euler Book Prize from the Mathematical Association of America. This book examines how algorithms influence almost every aspect of our lives, from who can get loans to policing and insurance. Big data and AI are larger extensions of these algorithms that influence so much of our world today.
What are the logistics of the book club? Is it in person or online? How often will it meet?
Our first discussion will be held virtually on March 27th from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. We will meet once a month, usually on the last Friday of the month. We’ll be meeting through our virtual Adobe Connect platform, which you can register for on our website to join the conversation.
Will the discussion be moderated or will it be more open ended.
We’re aiming for a loosely guided discussion. As I mentioned earlier, we have “While You’re Reading Bingo Cards” for fiction or nonfiction, depending on the current book. These bingo cards will help to facilitate our book discussions while also providing a unique way of jotting down notes about the books while you’re reading them.
How are the books chosen? Can the participants make suggestions?
When selecting books, I wanted to make sure that I found ones exploring injustices and the legal field. Sometimes it starts with a fiction book, such as our first book, and sometimes it starts with nonfiction, as it did with our upcoming fourth book. I wanted to find books that had a central connection, but not ones that were just a technical rehash of the fiction book. I am always open to suggestions for new books to read. We have our first eight books picked out, which should take us through the end of the year.
Have Questions? Learn More About the Talk Legally to Me Book Club or KCLL Generally
Ready to dig into The Proving Ground by Michael Connelly? Visit https://kcll.org/talk-legally-to-me-reading-group/ to register and download your bingo card.
To learn more about all the resources and services the King County Law Library offers generally, visit us at https://kcll.org/. If you have questions, contact the law library at services@kcll.org.
1 See Google and AI Startup to Settle Lawsuits Alleging Chatbots Led to Teen Suicide, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/08/google-character-ai-settlement-teen-suicide
