Adult Book Club - Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller Into the Wild. On assignment for Outside Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world. Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people -- including himself -- to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. (Pub.Rev.)

Copies available on loan at the library.

Discussion to be held Monday, February 1, 2010 at 6:30 PM.

Short and Sweets - "A Good Man is Hard to Find"

Join us for dessert and a lively discussion of "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor.

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 10:00 AM.

Adult Book Club - A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson

For the past three years, Mr. Malik has been secretly in love with Rose Mbikwa, a woman who leads the weekly bird walks sponsored by the East African Ornithological Society. Just as Malik is getting up the nerve to invite Rose to the Nairobi Hunt Club Ball (the premier social occasion of the Kenyan calendar), Harry Khan, a nemesis from his school days, arrives in town. Khan has also become enraptured with Rose and announces his intent to invite her to the Ball. Rather than force Rose to choose between the two men, a clever solution is proposed. Whoever can identify the most species of birds in one week's time gets the privilege of asking Ms. Mbikwa to the ball. (Pub. Review) A humorous and suspenseful novel you'll enjoy from beginning to end.

Copies available on loan at the library.

Discussion on Monday, January 4, 2010, 6:30 PM.

Short and Sweets - Captain Eli's Best Ear

Join us for dessert and a lively discussion of "Captain Eli's Best Ear" by Frank Stockton.

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 10:00 AM.

Adult Book Club - If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small Town Alaska by Heather Lende

Tiny Haines, Alaska, ninety miles north of Juneau, is accessible mainly by water or air - and only when the weather is good. There's no traffic light and no mail delivery; people can vanish without a trace; and funerals are community affairs. As both obituary writer and social columnist for the local newspaper, Heather Lende knows better than anyone the goings-on in this breathtakingly beautiful place. Her offbeat chronicle brings us inside her busy life: we meet her husband, Chip, who owns the local hardware store; their five children; and a colorful assortment of friends and offbeat neighbors, including aging hippies, salty fishermen, native Tlingit Indians, Mormon spelunkers...as well as the moose, eagles, sea lions, and bears with whom they share this wild and perilous land. (Pub. Summary) A heartwarming book for a cold Mid-West winter?

Copies available on loan at the library.

Discussion on Monday, December 7, at 6:30 PM.

Short and Sweets - The Happy Prince

Join us for dessert and a lively discussion of "The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde.

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion Wednesday, November 18, 10:00 AM.

Adult Book Club - The Sweetness At the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

An 11-year-old solving a dastardly murder in the English countryside in 1950 wouldn't seem to be everyone's cup of tea. But Flavia Sabina de Luce is no ordinary child: she's already an accomplished chemist, smart enough to escape being imprisoned by her older sisters and to exact revenge, forthright and fearless to the point of being foolhardy, and relentless in defending those she loves. When she spies on her father arguing heatedly with a strange man late at night and the next morning finds that man buried in the cucumber patch, she sets out, riding her bicycle named Gladys, to make sense of it all. (Lib. Journal Rev.)

A mystery not to be missed!

Copies available on loan at the library.

Discussion on Monday, November 2, at 6:30 PM.

Short and Sweets - The Eyes

Join us for dessert and a lively discussion of "The Eyes" by Edith Wharton.

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion Wednesday, October 21, 10:00 AM.

A Lion Called Christian by Anthony Burke & John Rendall

In 1969, Anthony "Ace" Bourke and John Rendall bought a pet from Harrods that was neither a beagle nor a parrot. Instead, "Christian" was a cuddly lion cub who soon became the most regal and noticeable resident of their flat on King's Road. Of course, lion cubs grow at a prodigious rate, and it was not long before his devoted owners realized that he belonged back in the jungle. Wisely, they dispatched him to Kenya, where he was put under expert transitional care. Christian returned to the wild, but when Bourke and Rendall visited him a year later, they discovered that their former pet had not only remembered them -- he greeted them with fervor and affection. This book tells the extraordinary TRUE story of a truly moving interspecies friendship. (B&N Rev.)

You’ll no doubt want to read this month’s selection with a tissue box in hand!

Copies available on loan at the library.

Discussion on Tuesday, October 5, at 6:30 PM.

Short and Sweets - The Mark On the Wall

Join us for dessert and an artful discussion of "The Mark On the Wall" by Virginia Woolf.

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion Wednesday, September 16, 10:00 AM.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

When Bruno’s father is transferred from Berlin to a new post in Poland called "Out-With," Bruno and his family try to adjust. From his new bedroom window Bruno can see a fenced-in camp where all the inhabitants wear striped pajamas. He learns more about this intriguing place when he befriends a boy inside the camp named Shmuel (who happens to share Bruno's birthday). Their friendship progresses dangerously and brings Boyne's tale to a shocking end that is sure to be a discussion starter. (Pub. Wkly.)

Copies available on loan at the library.

Discussion on Tuesday, September 8 at 6:30 PM.

Short and Sweets - The Birthmark

Join us for dessert and an artful discussion of "The Birthmark" by Nathanial Hawthorne.

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion Wednesday, August 19, 10:00 AM.

The Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine

The Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine, by Benjamin Wallace

In 1985 in London, the Forbes publishing family paid more than $150,000 for a nearly 200-year-old bottle of Bordeaux rumored to have once been owned by Thomas Jefferson. At first only a few doubted the authenticity of the wine, but over time, as more bottles from the same cache were sold, the questions about [the] bottles kept coming. The Billionaire’s Vinegar tells a deliciously entertaining (true) story that blends history, mystery, and, of course, wine!

Copies available on loan at the library.

Discussion On: August 3rd @ 6:30 PM

Short & Sweets - "Everyday Use"

Join us for dessert and an artful discussion of "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker.

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion scheduled for Wednesday, July 15, 10:00 AM.

American Wife

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld

Alice Lindgren has no idea that she will one day end up in the White House, married to the president. However, when the charismatic son of a powerful Republican family sweeps her off her feet, she is surprised to find herself admitted into a world of privilege. And when her husband unexpectedly becomes governor and then president, she discovers that she is married to a man she both loves and fundamentally disagrees with–and that her private beliefs increasingly run against her public persona. As her husband’s presidency enters its second term, Alice must confront contradictions years in the making and face questions nearly impossible to answer. (Pub. Summary)

Copies available at the library.

Discussion on Monday, July 6, 6:30 PM.

Short & Sweets - "Harrison Bergeron"

Join us for dessert and an artful discussion of "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut.

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion scheduled for Wednesday, June 17, 10:00 AM.

Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science

Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science

In vivid accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel’s edge. Complications lays bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is—uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human. (Pub. Synopsis) This month’s pick is an insightful read for medical professionals, as well as anyone who’s ever been a patient.

Copies available on loan at the library.

Discussion to be held on Monday, June 1, 6:30 PM

The Necklace

“The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion to held on Wednesday, May 20, 10:00 AM

A Pigeon and A Boy

A Pigeon and A Boy by Meir Shalev

During the 1948 War of Independence--a time when pigeons are still used to deliver battlefield messages--a gifted young pigeon handler is mortally wounded. In the moments before his death, he dispatches one last pigeon. The bird is carrying his extraordinary gift to the girl he has loved since adolescence. Intertwined with this story is the contemporary tale of Yair Mendelsohn, who has his own legacy from the 1948 war. Yair is a tour guide specializing in bird-watching trips who, in middle age, falls in love again with a childhood girlfriend. His growing passion for her, along with a gift from his mother on her deathbed, becomes the key to a life he thought no longer possible. (Pub. Review)

Copies available at the library.

Discussion to be held Monday, May 4, 6:30 PM.

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates

This short story was inspired by three Arizona murders that were committed by Charles Schmid and profiled in Life magazine in an article written by Don Moser in March of 1966.

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion to held on Wednesday, April 15, at 10:00 AM.

People of the Book

People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks, revolves around the true story of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a 14th-century Sephardic holy book that somehow survived centuries of hatred and destruction. Into this real-life epic tale of heroism and chance, Brooks weaves historical fiction of uncanny force. In her hands, this improbable story of one document's survival becomes both a timely meditation on faiths in conflict and a tense historical thriller. (Barnes & Noble Review)

Copies are available for loan at the library.

Discussion to be held April 6 at 6:30 PM

A & P

Celebrate the late John Updike this month with one of his most loved short stories! “A & P” is the story of a 19 year old boy coming of age in a more innocent time.

Copies of the reading are available at the library.

Discussion to be held March 18 at 10:00 AM

Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America

Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America by Andrew Ferguson

Abraham Lincoln was our greatest president and perhaps the most influential American who ever lived. But what is his place in our country today? In Land of Lincoln, Andrew Ferguson packs his bags and embarks on a journey to the heart of contemporary Lincoln Nation, where he encounters a world as funny as it is poignant, and a population as devoted as it is colorful. (Pub. Rev.) Copies of the reading available at the library.

On To the Next Field

On To the Next Field, from Mr. Lincoln's Wars, by Adam Braver.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid

At a café in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens into night, he begins his tale of the American dream. Changez is a Princeton grad, successful business man and romantic. But in the wake of 9/11, we see how Changez’s identity shifts, as he quickly loses all that he has gained and questions his allegiances. (Pub. Rev.) Copies of the reading available at the library.