book
DISCUSSIONS
The library has four book discussion series: Real Reads, Pages & Pints, Stellar Reads, and the Next Chapter Book Club. Patrons will enjoy lively discussion and connecting to community members at each session.
Books are available at the Adult and Teen Services Desk one month before the discussion, or any time through our catalog or eLibrary. Didn't finish the book? No problem, everyone is welcome to join in!
Real Reads
coffee, doughnuts, and true stories you can't put down
The Woman They
Could Not Silence
by Kate Moore
Tuesday, September 17
9:30 - 11 a.m.
1860: As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boil, Elizabeth Packard, housewife and mother of six, is facing her own battle. The enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room. Threatened by Elizabeth's intellect, independence, and outspokenness, her husband of twenty-one years is plotting against her and makes a plan to put her back in her place. One summer morning, he has her committed to an insane asylum.
Rough Sleepers
by Tracy Kidder
Tuesday, October 15
9:30 - 11 a.m.
When he graduated from Harvard Medical School, Jim O'Connell was asked by the medical school Dean to spend one year setting up a program to care for the homeless population in Boston. It became Jim O'Connell's life calling, to help people known as "rough sleepers." For the past three decades, Dr. O'Connell has run the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program, which he helped to create.
Grief is for People
by Sloane Crosley
Tuesday, November 19
9:30 - 11 a.m.
In this aching meditation on loss and friendship, essayist and novelist Crosley (Cult Classic) eulogizes her late literary mentor and best friend against the backdrop of the high-pressure publishing industry.
Pages and Pints
join us at Goldfinger Brewing Company to discuss fiction titles.
Ages 21+
Absolution
by Alice McDermott
Tuesday, September 3 and
Wednesday, September 4
7 - 8:30 p.m.
A riveting account of women's lives on the margins of the Vietnam War, from the renowned winner of the National Book Award. You have no idea what it was like. For us. The women, I mean. The wives. American women--American wives--have been mostly minor characters in the literature of the Vietnam War, but in Absolution they take center stage.
Ages 21+
James
by Percival Everett
Tuesday, October 1 and
Wednesday, October 2
7 - 8:30 p.m.
From Percival Everett-a recipient of the NBCC Lifetime Achievement Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Booker Prize, and numerous PEN awards-comes James, a retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and ferociously funny, told from the enslaved Jim's point of view.
Ages 21+
Hard by a Great Forest
by Leo Vardiashvili
Tuesday, November 5 and
Wednesday, November 6
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Saba is just a child when he flees the fighting in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia with his older brother, Sandro, and father, Irakli, for asylum in England. Two decades later, Irakli decides to return to Georgia, pulled back by memories of a lost wife. But within weeks of his arrival, Irakli disappears, and the final message they receive from him causes a mystery to unfold before them: “I left a trail I can’t erase. Do not follow it.”
Ages 21+
Stellar Reads
explore new worlds and magic in sci-fi/fantasy reads
Everfair
by Nisi Shawl
Wednesday, September 11
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Set in the aftermath of European colonization, Everfair weaves its way through the lives of citizens living within the eponymous nation: a corner of the Belgian Congo, purchased from Leopold II and established as a pan-African utopia.
Neom
by Lavie Tidhar
Wednesday, October 9
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Today, Neom is a utopian dream—a megacity of the future yet to be built in the Saudi desert. In this novel from the award-winning universe of Central Station, far-future Neom is already old. Sentient machines roam the desert searching for purpose, works of art can be more deadly than weapons, and the spark of a long-overdue revolution is in the wind. Only the rekindling of an impossible love affair may slow the inevitable sands of time
Witch King
by Martha Wells
Wednesday, November 13
7 - 8:30 p.m.
After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai's magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well. But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?
TBR: Thursday Book Readers
work on your To Be Read list with titles that are trending
The Fury
by Alex Michaelides
Thursday, September 26
10-11 a.m.
A masterfully paced thriller about a reclusive ex-movie star and her famous friends whose spontaneous trip to a private Greek island is upended by a murder -- from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient. This is a tale of murder. Or maybe that's not quite true. At its heart, it's a love story, isn't it?
Song of a Captive Bird
by Jasmin Darznik
Thursday, October 24
10-11 a.m.
All through her childhood in Tehran, Forugh Farrokhzad is told that Persian daughters should be quiet and modest. She is taught only to obey, but she always finds ways to rebel, gossiping with her sister among the fragrant roses of her mother's walled garden, venturing to the forbidden rooftop, and writing poems to impress her strict, disapproving father. During the summer of 1950, Forugh's passion for poetry takes flight, and tradition seeks to clip her wings.
Klara and the Sun
by Kazuo Ishiguro
Thursday, December 12
10-11 a.m.
From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.
Next Chapter Book Club
literacy program for adults (ages 18+) with intellectual and developmental disabilities
About the Next Chapter Book Club
- Get together to enjoy books, make friends, and have fun
- Books will be read together during the meeting
- All are welcome, regardless of the ability to read
- Books will be provided to all participants
- Meet twice a month online, via Zoom
Meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 6:30 p.m.
Questions?
Call 630-960-1200 ext. 4274 or visit the Adult and Teen Services desk.