Events and Programs

Join Us for Book Discussions

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Book Discussion of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in northern Wisconsin. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil takes over the once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm and into Edgar's mother's affections. Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove that his sinister uncle was responsible for his father's death, but his plan backfires – spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. An Oprah selection, Wroblewski's debut novel is destined to become a compulsively readable modern classic.
Wednesday, November 18, 6:00 p.m. at Hawthorne Library

Book Discussion of Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting by Michael Perry
Wisconsin’s own returns with his latest. Funny, humble and pensive—Michael’s life is changing as he’s pulled in different directions all at once. Join us for discussion and dessert!
Wednesday, November 18, 7:00 p.m. at Central Library

Book Discussion of When We Get There by Shauna Seliy
In her elegiac debut novel, Seily explores one boy's coming-of-age over the course of a long, eventful, brutally cold winter. In the coal-mining town of Banning, Pennsylvania, the youngest member of a large and boisterous Eastern European family gives himself a tall order; to find his mother, who recently disappeared without explanation.
Thursday, November 19, 1:00 p.m. at Sequoya Library

Book Discussion of Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
"Fact and fiction blend in a historical novel that chronicles the relationship between seminal architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, from their meeting, when they were each married to another, to the clandestine affair that shocked Chicago society." --from Novelist.
Saturday, November 21, 1:30 p.m. at South Madison Library

Book Discussion of Regeneration by Pat Barker
Regeneration, one in Pat Barker's series of novels confronting the psychological effects of World War I, focuses on treatment methods during the war and the story of a decorated English officer sent to a military hospital after publicly declaring he will no longer fight. Yet the novel is much more. Written in sparse prose that is shockingly clear -- the descriptions of electronic treatments are particularly harrowing -- it combines real-life characters and events with fictional ones in a work that examines the insanity of war like no other. Barker also weaves in issues of class and politics in this compactly powerful book. Other books in the series include The Eye in the Door and the Booker Award winner The Ghost Road. -Amazon Review
Tuesday, November 24, 7:00 p.m. at Pinney Library

Senior Book Group Social
Members of the Senior Book Group will meet to exchange information about books in general and to socialize. No specific title will be discussed.
Thursday, December 3, 2 - 5 p.m. at Alicia Ashman Library

Book Discussion of The Shack by William P. Young
Mackenzie Allen Phillips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him.
Wednesday, December 16, 6:00 p.m. at Hawthorne Library

Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Group... and a Movie: Dr. Strangelove
Join us in watching a movie and discussing the science fiction/fantasy book it is based on. This month we will be watching Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, based on the book Red Alert by Peter George (Bryant).
Wednesday, December 16, 6:00 p.m. at Alicia Ashman Library

Book Discussion of Things I've Been Silent About: Memories by Azar Nafisi
The author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, now gives us a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, memories of her life lived in thrall to a powerful and complex mother, against the background of a country's political revolution.
Thursday, December 17, 1:00 p.m. at Sequoya Library