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
Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space
by Adam Higgenbotham
Tuesday, May 20
9:30 - 11 a.m.
On January 28, 1996, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart of the Atlantic Ocean, killing all seven people on board. The full story of what happened has never been told. It's a compelling tale of ambition and ingenuity undermined by political cynicism and cost-cutting. A masterful blend of riveting human drama and fascinating science.
Book & Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II
by Elyse Graham
Tuesday, June 17
9:30 - 11 a.m.
At the start of WWII, the US found itself in desperate need of an intelligence agency. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a precursor to today's CIA, was quickly formed--and, in an effort to fill its ranks with experts, the OSS turned to academia for recruits. Suddenly, literature professors, librarians, and historians were training to perform undercover operations.
The Country of the Blind
by Andrew Leland
Tuesday, July 15
9:30 - 11 a.m.
Andrew Leland is midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that slowly ushers those who live with it from sightedness to complete blindness. Part memoir, part historical and cultural investigation, Leland is determined not to merely survive this transition, but to grow from it-to seek out and revel in that which makes blindness enlightening. Thought-provoking and brimming with warmth and humor.
Pages and Pints
join us at Goldfinger Brewing Company to discuss fiction titles.
Ages 21+
Clear
by Carys Davies
Tuesday, May 6 and
Wednesday, May 7
7 - 8:30 p.m.
John, an impoverished Scottish minister, has accepted a job evicting the lone remaining occupant of an island north of Scotland--Ivar, who has been living alone for decades, with only the animals and the sea for company. Though his wife, Mary, has serious misgivings about the errand, he decides to go anyway, setting in motion a chain of events that neither he nor Mary could have predicted.
Ages 21+
The Guncle
by Steven Rowley
Tuesday, June 3 and
Wednesday, June 4
7 - 8:30 p.m.
Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. He loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, When Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick's brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian.
Ages 21+
All the Water in the World
by Eiren Cafall
Tuesday, August 5 and
Wednesday, August 6
7 - 8:30 p.m.
All the Water in the World is told in the voice of a girl gifted with a deep feeling for water. In the years after the glaciers melt, Nonie, her older sister and her parents and their researcher friends have stayed behind in an almost deserted New York City, creating a settlement on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History.
Ages 21+
Stellar Reads
explore new worlds and magic in sci-fi/fantasy reads
Some Desperate Glory
by Emily Tesch
Wednesday, May 14
7 - 8 p.m.
Since she was born, Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the majoda their victory over humanity. They are what's left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. When Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to Nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows must take humanity's revenge into her own hands. Alongside her brother's brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, Kyr escapes from everything she's known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined.
Black Water Sister
by Zen Cho
Wednesday, June 11
7 - 8 p.m.
When Jessamyn Teoh starts hearing a voice in her head, she chalks it up to stress. Closeted, broke and jobless, she's moving back to Malaysia with her parents - a country she last saw when she was a toddler. She soon learns the new voice isn't even hers, it's the ghost of her estranged grandmother. In life, Ah Ma was a spirit medium, avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she's determined to settle a score against a business magnate who has offended the god-and she's decided Jess is going to help her do it, whether Jess wants to or not. Drawn into a world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets, Jess finds that making deals with capricious spirits is a dangerous business, but dealing with her grandmother is just as complicated. Especially when Ah Ma tries to spy on her personal life, threatens to spill her secrets to her family and uses her body to commit felonies. As Jess fights for retribution for Ah Ma, she'll also need to regain control of her body and destiny - or the Black Water Sister may finish her off for good.
Ages 21+
Yumy and the
Nightmare Painter
by Brandon Sanderson
Wednesday, July 9
7 - 8 p.m.
Yumi comes from a land of gardens, meditation, and spirits, while Painter lives in a world of darkness, technology, and nightmares. When their lives suddenly become intertwined in strange ways, can they put aside their differences and work together to uncover the mysteries of their situation and save each other's communities from certain disaster?
Celebrity Reads
find out if they're really just like us with books written by or about celebrities
Finding Me
by Viola Davis
Tuesday, June 10
1 - 2 p.m.
Viola Davis is an award-winning American actress, producer, activist, and philanthropist who works across film, television, and theater. Davis has won an Emmy, Tony, and Academy Award, achieving the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT status. From a life of poverty and hardship during her childhood years in Rhode Island to fame in New York City, Viola Davis is not a quitter.
Unprotected: a Memoir
by Billy Porter
Tuesday, August 12
1 - 2 p.m.
From Billy Porter, the incomparable Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner, Unprotected is a powerful and revealing autobiography about race, sexuality, art, and healing. Billy Porter is a multitalented, multifaceted treasure at the top of his game, and Unprotected is a resonant, inspirational story of trauma and healing, shot through with his singular voice.
Lorne: The Man
Who Invented Saturday Night Live
by Susan Morrison
Tuesday, October 14
1 - 2 p.m.
A definitive biography of Lorne Michaels, the man behind America’s most beloved comedy show. Lorne will introduce you to him, in full, for the first time. With unprecedented access to Michaels and the entire SNL apparatus, Susan Morrison takes readers behind the curtain for the lively, up-and-down, definitive story of how Michaels created and maintained the institution that changed comedy forever. Drawn from hundreds of interviews—with Michaels, his friends, and SNL’s iconic stars and writers, from Will Ferrell to Tina Fey to John Mulaney to Chris Rock to Dan Aykroyd—Lorne is a deeply reported, wildly entertaining account of a man singularly obsessed with the show that would define his life—and have a profound impact on American culture.
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.