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鈥檒l discuss books from multiple genres, including historical fiction, romance, speculative fiction, and more!
October 5, 2025: Suzanne Lehman 鈥93, MSN鈥11, DNP鈥18
Join Lehman, dean of the School of Nursing, for a lively discussion on literature that primarily focuses on BIPOC authors and speculative fiction.
鈥淚 believe a conversation, a real conversation, about something we've read, using critical thinking, is an exemplary demonstration of what unites all of us as Katies. It's women-centered, using skills from liberal arts and Catholic Social Teaching.鈥
The books I have chosen reflect the power of women鈥檚 lives and voices.
See the full
today!
June 7, 2025: Lydia Butler Fasteland 鈥12, MLIS鈥17 and Taylor Harwood 鈥15
鈥淲hat I find really interesting is what 鈥榟appily ever after鈥 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." Leading a discussion of the romance genre through an intersectional lens, Harwood and Fasteland explored tropes, themes, and romance novels as an act of feminism.
January 26, 2025: Ruth Haag Brombach 鈥60 and Judie Martens Flahavan 鈥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 茄子污污视频 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.