Events and Programs

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Book Discussion of Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock
Monroe St Book Club discusses the love trilogy, Griffin and Sabine, by Nick Bantock.
Tuesday, February 9, 6 p.m. at the Monroe Street Branch

Alicia Ashman Book Group reads Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Join us for discussions of a wide range of titles, both fiction and non-fiction. This month we will be reading Angle of repose by Wallace Stegner. Copies of the next title are available at each discussion; additional copies are available at the reference desk while supplies last.
Tuesday, February 9, 7 p.m. at the Alicia Ashman Branch

Mystery Book Group Discussion of Dissolution by C.J. Sansom
The year is 1537, and the country is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is brutally murdered in a monastery on the south coast of England, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's feared vicar general, summons fellow reformer Matthew Shardlake to lead the inquiry. Shardlake and his young protégé uncover evidence of sexual misconduct, embezzlement, and treason.
Thursday, February 11, 2:00 p.m. at the Central Library

Book Discussion of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Under a blossoming pear tree in West Florida, sixteen-year-old Janie Mae Crawford dreams of a world that will answer all her questions and waits “for the world to be made.” But her grandmother, who has raised her from birth, arranges Janie’s marriage to an older local farmer. The novel follows Janie from her Nanny’s plantation shack, to Logan Killick’s farm, to all-black Eatonville, to the Everglades, and back to Eatonville. Janie has “done been tuh de horizon and back.” She has learned what love is; she has experienced life’s joys and sorrows; and she has come home to herself in peace. This 1937 novel garnered attention and controversy at the time of its publication, and has come to be regarded as a seminal work in both African-American literature and women’s literature.
Wednesday, February 17, 6 p.m. at the Hawthorne Branch

Book Discussion of Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
A country girl marries, has children, and lives a full life in rural Kentucky. From national treasure Berry comes a small story of contentment and pleasure, even in the face of progress, in one’s connection to the land and community. Join us for discussion and dessert.
Wednesday, February 17, 7 p.m. at the Central Library

Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Discussion: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Join us in discussing The Name of the wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Our next title will be available following the discussion with extra copies available at the reference desk while supplies last.
Wednesday, February 17, 7 p.m. at the Alicia Ashman Branch

Book Discussion of One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus
"An Indian request in 1854 for 1,000 white brides to ensure peace is secretly approved by the U.S. government in this alternate-history novel. Their journey west is described by May Dodd, a high-society woman released from an asylum where she was incarcerated by her family for an affair." - Novelist.
Saturday, February 20, 1:30 p.m. at the South Madison Branch

Book Discussion of The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
This is the story of Jan Zabinsky, the director of the Warsaw zoo, and his wife Antonina who sheltered 300 Jews and Polish resisters in the zoo's cages and sheds during WWII.
Tuesday, February 23, 7 p.m. at the Pinney Branch

Book Discussion of Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
A rich vision of the pain, loveliness, mystery, and promise of New York City in the 1970s.McCann examines the trajectories of the lives of several people whose lives twist and converge around one man's transgressive act of courage--a tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
Thursday, February 25, 1 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

Book Discussion of Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
Join the Meadowridge Book Group for an informal discussion of Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult.
Wednesday, March 3, 6:30 p.m. at the Meadowridge Branch - Register online or call 288-6160

Sequoya Sleuths: Mystery Book Discussion of The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
One of the classic detective novels that established the genre, The Big Sleep follows Phillip Marlowe into an underworld of booze, violence, pornography and sex, as he searches for the blackmailer of a millionaire's daughter.
Wednesday, March 3, 7:00 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

Book Discussion of The Invisible Wall by Harry Bernstein
Join us at the Alicia Ashman Branch Library for discussions of recently published fiction and nonfiction books. Also, share with the group information about other books read in the past month. This month's title is The Invisible wall by Harry Bernstein. Our next title will be available following the discussion, with extra copies available at the reference desk while supplies last.
Thursday, March 4, 3 p.m. at the Alicia Ashman Branch

Book Discussion of The Sand Pebbles by Richard McKenna
Join us for discussions of a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction. This month we will be discussing The Sand pebbles by Richard McKenna. Our next title will be available following the discussion with extra copies available at the reference desk while supplies last.
Tuesday, March 9, 7 p.m. at the Alicia Ashman Branch

Book Discussion of The Soloist by Mark Salzman
Pick up the current selection, The Soloist by Mark Salzman, at the library and let's get together for a good time.
Thursday, March 11, 12 p.m. at the Lakeview Branch

Mystery Book Group Discussion of Crossfire by P.M. Carlson
Deputy Marty Hopkins is back on day shift, investigating the death of Zill Corson in an apparent arson-attack at his hunting cabin. It soon emerges that Zill shared his cabin with Don Foley, a former sheriff in the department with a grudge against Marty. Marty has her own demons to confront in investigating the fire, and as she does so, it becomes clear that this is a much more complex and dangerous case than first appeared.
Thursday, March 11, 2 p.m. at the Central Library

Book Discussion of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
This is the story of Azar Nafisi's dream and of the nightmare that made it come true. Every Thursday morning, for two years before she left Iran in 1997, Nafisi gathered seven young women at her house to read and discuss forbidden works of Western literature. All former students whom she had taught at the university, these women were unaccustomed to being asked to speak their minds, but soon they began to open up and to speak more freely, not only about the novels they were reading but also about themselves, their dreams and disappointments. Nafisi's account flashes back to the early days of the revolution, when she first started teaching at the University of Tehran, amid the swirl of protests and demonstrations. Azar Nafisi's tale offers a fascinating portrait of the Iran-Iraq war viewed from Tehran and offers a rare inside glimpse of women's lives in revolutionary Iran.
Wednesday, March 17, 6 p.m. at the Hawthorne Branch

Book Discussion of A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
A gothic tale set in 1907 Wisconsin told from two viewpoints: Ralph Truitt, a wealthy businessman who advertises for a wife for practical reasons, and Catherine Land, a beauty hungry for riches, posing as a dowdy daughter of a missionary.
Wednesday, March 17, 7 p.m. at the Central Library

Book Discussion of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
"Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant lured by appealing advertisements, comes to Chicago to make money in the stockyards, but the reality is different from what he expects." - Novelist
Saturday, March 20, 1:30 p.m. at the South Madison Branch

Book Discussion of Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
Jayber Crow, town barber from 1937 until 1969, is born in the environs of Port William, KY, but after the deaths of his parents and later, his guardians, he is sent to an out-of-town orphanage at the age of 10. Returning 13 years later, in the flood year of 1937, the solitary young man goes on to learn the comradely ways of the town.
Tuesday, March 23, 7 p.m. at the Pinney Branch

Book Discussion of Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Haunting and suspenseful, life-affirming and beautiful, "Sarah's Key" offers a compelling portrait of occupied Paris and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this little-known episode in French history.
Thursday, March 25, 1 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

Sequoya Sleuths: Mystery Book Discussion of Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
Private detective Maisie Dobbs must investigate the reappearance of a dead man who turns up at a cooperative farm called the Retreat that caters to men who are recovering their health after World War I.
Wednesday, April 7, 7:00 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

Sequoya Sleuths: Mystery Book Discussion of Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Private detective Jackson Brodie finds his own need for resolution sparked by three investigations, including that of two sisters who discover a shocking clue to the disappearance of their third sister thirty years earlier.
Wednesday, May 5, 7:00 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

Sequoya Sleuths: Mystery Book Discussion of In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson
When a drought drains the local Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering a long-drowned small village and the skeleton of a murder victim from the 1940s, Detective Alan Banks and Detective Sergeant Annie Cabot must investigate the decades-old crime and unmask an evil secret from the past.
Wednesday, June 2, 7:00 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

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