ACCORDION CRIMES by E. Annie Proulx Date: August 02, 2007
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
A button accordion brought to New Orleans in 1890 by a Sicilian immigrant finds its way into the lives, dreams, fantasies, sorrows, and intimacies of men and women of other immigrant groups in South Dakota, Texas, Montana, Maine and elsewhere.
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ELLA MINNOW PEA: A NOVEL IN LETTERS by Mark Dunn Date: September 06, 2007
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
A linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers playfully recounts what happens when the citizens of an island must rely on all their ingenuity to communicate in an increasingly limited language when the government progressively bans letters from the alphabet.
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THE OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER by Eudora Welty Date: October 04, 2007
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
Laurel Hand is forced to face her Southern past when she returns to Mississippi for her father's funeral.
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THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST by David Halberstam Date: December 06, 2007
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
An account of American power and politics in the 1950s and 1960s highlights the political and military figures who shaped domestic and foreign policy and who orchestrated America's involvement in Vietnam. "Most impressive, superb -- perceptive, literary, multidimensional." -- The New York Times Book Review
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Socialize and choose books for the coming year Date: January 03, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
Bring books you would like to propose for the coming year. Everyone will vote on what books to read and discuss.
ATONEMENT by Ian McEwan Date: February 07, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
On a summer day in 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis witnesses a moment’s flirtation between her older sister, Cecilia, and Robbie Turner, the son of a servant. But Briony’s incomplete grasp of adult motives and her precocious imagination bring about a crime that will change all their lives, a crime whose repercussions Atonement follows through the chaos and carnage of World War II and into the close of the twentieth century.
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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee and
MOCKINGBIRD: a portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J.Shields Date: March 06, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
The explosion of racial hate and violence in a small Alabama town is viewed by a little girl whose father defends a Black man accused of rape. One of the best-loved classics of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird is the Library's BIG READ in March & April. Charles Shields' book furnishes an in-depth, meticulously researched portrait of the enigmatic Harper Lee, describing her struggle to create her famed novel, and her contributions to her lifelong friend Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood." more info
THE LAST CHINESE CHEF by Nicole Mones Date: April 03, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
Struggling to get back on her feet in the wake of her husband's premature death and stunned by a paternity suit against her husband's estate, food writer Maggie McElroy plans a trip to China to investigate the claim and to profile rising chef Sam Liang, who introduces her to the Chinese concept of food, while drawing her into his extended family and helping her come to terms with her life.
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THE WORLD IS FLAT by Thomas L. Friedman Date: May 01, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
An account of the great changes taking place in the modern world as a result of swift advances in technology and communications, including an explosion of wealth in India and China.
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THE LAST REPORT ON THE MIRACLES AT LITTLE NO HORSE by Louise Erdich Date: June 05, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
As a priest nears the end of his life, he is asked to prove or disprove the sainthood of a woman he knows well and struggles to guard his own secret identity in the process.
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UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN by Jon Krakauer Date: July 03, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Traces the 1984 murder of a woman and her child by fundamentalist Mormons, exploring the belief systems and traditions that mark the faith's most extreme factions and what their practices reflect about the nature of religion in America.
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A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS by Dave Eggers Date: August 07, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
A respected magazine editor/founder and onetime spokesman for Generation X offers a satiric, eloquent, and thoroughly tradition-shattering memoir that discusses the deaths of his parents from cancer, his raising of his younger brother, and more.
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A FINE BALANCE by Rohinton Mistry Date: September 04, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
In India during the mid-1970s, after a "state of internal emergency" is declared, four very different people - a widowed seamstress, a student, and a man and his nephew who have fled their village's caste violence - find their lives becoming inextricably intertwined. Check the catalog ![]()
A MORE PERFECT CONSTITUTION: 23 proposals to revitalize our Constitution and make America a fairer country by Larry J. Sabato Date: October 02, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Calls for revisions to the Constitution to restore equity for ordinary citizens and offers proposals to reinvigorate the document to incorporate changes to the structure of Congress, the Electoral College, the Supreme Court, and a mandatory national service. Check the catalog ![]()
EAT, PRAY, LOVE: ONE WOMAN'S SEARCH FOR EVERYTHING ACROSS ITALY, INDIA AND INDONESIA by Elizabeth Gilbert Date: November 06, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Traces the author's decision to quit her job and travel the world for a year after suffering a midlife crisis and divorce, a journey that took her to three places in her quest to explore her own nature and learn the art of spiritual balance. Check the catalog ![]()
A JUDGEMENT IN STONE by Ruth Rendell Date: December 04, 2008
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
When a housekeeper carries out a modern "Valentine's Day Massacre" on the family that employs her, Detective Chief Superintendent William Vetch investigates to uncover evidence of a personal tragedy that precipitated the crime.
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THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak Date: January 08, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel--a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.
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Date: February 05, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Everyone can come for this fun meeting. Please bring no more than two book suggestions per person.
THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD by Zora Neale Hurston
(THE BIG READ) Date: March 05, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Discussion led by Hilary Holladay, a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, and the author of three books on African American literature. Check the Catalog ![]()
WASHINGTON SQUARE by Henry James Date: April 02, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
Story of a stubborn father, a plain heiress and the poor, handsome suitor who may or may not love her only for her wealth.
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OLIVE KITTERIDGE by Elizabeth Strout Date: May 07, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
The world of Olive Kitteridge, a retired school teacher in a small coastal town in Maine, is revealed in stories that explore her diverse roles in many lives, including a lounge singer haunted by a past love, her stoic husband, and her own resentful son.
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THE PLACES IN BETWEEN by Rory Stewart Date: June 04, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
Traces the author's 2002 journey by foot across Afghanistan, during which he survived the harsh elements through the kindness of tribal elders, teen Soldiers, Taliban commanders, and foreign-aid workers whose stories he collected along his way. Check the Catalog ![]()
WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS by Kazuo Ishiguro Date: July 02, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Sent to live in England after the disappearance of his parents, Christopher Banks returns to Shanghai, the city of his birth, more than twenty years later to uncover the truth about the tragedy that transformed his childhood. Check the Catalog ![]()
THE GATHERING by Anne Enright Date: August 06, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
As nine members of the Hegarty clan gather for the wake of their drowned brother Liam, his sister Veronica remembers the secret he shared with her about what happened in their grandmother's house thirty years ago, a betrayal that spans three generations. Check the Catalog ![]()
Date: October 01, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:45 pm
Come prepared to suggest one or two book possibilities for the group to consider. Ideally the person proposing a title will have firsthand experience of it by already having read it. Fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, even the occasional young adult novel may be proposed. Members will vote on individual suggestions to determine the next 6 months reading list. Come on out, this is a fun night to hear about many new books, and have a say in what the group reads.
REBECCA by Daphne Du Maurier Date: November 05, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
At the great Cornwall estate of Manderley, Maxim de Winter and his frightened new wife try to live with the haunting legacy of Maxim's first wife, the beautiful and cold Rebecca, who died in a sailing accident. Check the Catalog ![]()
SKY BURIAL: AN EPIC LOVE STORY OF TIBET by Xinran Date: December 03, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
In 1958, notified that her husband, a doctor in the Chinese army has been killed in action in Tibet, Shu Wen joins the army, determined to go to Tibet to uncover the truth, only to find herself alone in Tibet, embarking on a thirty-year nomadic odyssey in a novel based on a true story. Check the Catalog ![]()
MIDDLEMARCH by George Eliot Date: January 07, 2010
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Displays George Eliot's imaginative understanding and intelligent perception of Victorian provincial life through her subtle portrayal of middle class characters. Check the Catalog ![]()
REMEMBERING THE BONES by Frances Itani Date: February 04, 2010
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Georgie Witley accidently drives her car off the road on her way to the Ottawa airport, and as she lies stranded and injured, she reflects on the people and events in her life while she struggles to survive. Check the Catalog ![]()
Future Readings:
THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE by David Wroblewski Date: September 03, 2009
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
A Hamlet-style tale that also celebrates the ancient alliance between humans and dogs follow the coming-of-age of speech-disabled Wisconsin youth Edgar, who bonds with three yearling canines and struggles to prove that his sinister uncle is responsible for his father's death. Check the Catalog ![]()