Lauren Pronger
HPPR Radio Readers Book Club ContributorLauren Pronger is the founder and owner of Chapterhouse Books, an independent bookstore in Amarillo that has quickly become a gathering place for readers, writers, and community members. What began as a pop-up bookstore grew into a brick-and-mortar shop on historic Route 66, reflecting Pronger’s commitment to books as a way to bring people together across interests and backgrounds.
As a bookseller, Pronger curates a wide range of titles—from contemporary fiction and memoir to history and graphic storytelling—encouraging thoughtful conversation and curiosity about the world. Her work with Chapterhouse Books emphasizes the role of reading in building community, making her a fitting discussion leader for a book that examines who gets to travel the Mother Road and how stories shape our understanding of belonging.
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This was my first time reading Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath and I can instantly see why it’s a classic: the themes of migration and class struggle are just as relevant today, and it reveals a cyclical history. The Joads come from Sallisaw, OK, what would have been Indian Territory just 30 years prior, where the Cherokee Nation (along with four others) were forcefully displaced from the Southeastern US to make way for rapid settler and agricultural expansion, including for cotton.
