Events and Programs

Join Us for Book Discussions

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Book Discussion of Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
A fictionalized portrayal of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, her love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright, and the scandal it created.
Tuesday, August 24, 7 p.m. at the Pinney Branch

Book Discussion of Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow
Doctorow reimagines the lives of the eccentric Collyers, wealthy brothers who became recluses in their Manhattan townhouse, and the way they would have interacted with social changes in America.
Thursday, August 26, 1:00 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

Book Discussion of Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Join us for an informal discussion of the book, Olive Kitteridge.
Wednesday, September 1, 6:30 p.m. at the Meadowridge Branch

Book Discussion of Corpse in the Koryo by James Church
Inspector O, a North Korean state police officer, is given an unusual assignment: go at dawn and photograph a vehicle, not knowing how this small task will escalate into a case that will risk his job and change his life. The author, a veteran intelligence officer, has intimate knowledge of Asian life and politics which gives this novel an air of authenticity as he describes the nature of daily life under a totalitarian government.
Wednesday, September 1, 7 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

Book Discussion of The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
Join us for discussions of recently published fiction and nonfiction books. Also, share with the group information about other books read in the past month. Our next title will be available following the discussion, with extra copies available at the reference desk while supplies last.
Thursday, September 2, 3 p.m. at the Alicia Ashman Branch

Book Discussion of Two O’clock Easter Wartime by John Dunning
Join us for discussions of recently published fiction and nonfiction books. Also, share with the group information about other books read in the past month. Our next title will be available following the discussion, with extra copies available at the reference desk while supplies last.
Tuesday, September 7, 7 p.m. at the Alicia Ashman Branch

Daytime Book Discussion Group
Pick up the current selection at the library and let's get together for a good time.
Thursday, September 9, 12 p.m. at the Lakeview Branch

Troy Gardens Potluck and Book Discussion of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Here is the little known story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American cancer patient, wife and mother and her cells, now known as HeLa cells. While HeLa cells have directly aided many major advances in modern medicine and are still used daily in labs around the nation and the world, Lacks’ family was unaware of their use until more than 20 years after her death. Chosen as UW’s 2010 Go Big Read selection, join us as we discuss the issues it raises, including bioethics, racism, poverty, the role of journalism and more. This event is sponsored by Community GroundWorks and Lakeview Branch Library. Katie Scharf, neighborhood librarian, and Troy Gardens staff will be on hand to facilitate the discussion, so join us at beautiful Troy Gardens with a dish to pass, a place setting and your opinions of the book. In case of rain, we will meet at the Lakeview Library.
Thursday, September 9, 6:30 p.m. at Troy Gardens (rain location: Lakeview Branch)

Book Discussion of The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
A middle-aged female concierge in Paris has more to her than meets the eye... and no one knows it unitl a 12 year-old wise beyond her years and an elegant Japanese businessman form unusual friendships with her. Join us for discussion and dessert!
Tuesday, September 14, 7:00 p.m. at the Central Library

Book Discussion of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Here is the little known story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American cancer patient, wife and mother and her cells, now known as HeLa cells. While HeLa cells have directly aided many major advances in modern medicine and are still used daily in labs around the nation and the world, Lacks’ family was unaware of their use until more than 20 years after her death. Chosen as UW’s 2010 Go Big Read selection, join us as we discuss the issues it raises, including bioethics, racism, poverty, the role of journalism and more.
Wednesday, September 15, 6 p.m. at the Hawthorne Branch

Book Discussion of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Here is the little known story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American cancer patient, wife and mother and her cells, now known as HeLa cells. While HeLa cells have directly aided many major advances in modern medicine and are still used daily in labs around the nation and the world, Lacks’ family was unaware of their use until more than 20 years after her death. Chosen as UW’s 2010 Go Big Read selection, join us as we discuss the issues it raises, including bioethics, racism, poverty, the role of journalism and more.
Saturday, September 18, 1:30 p.m. at the South Madison Branch

Book Talk for Adults
Please join us at the Meadowridge Branch Library for a discussion of anything and everything you have been reading. This is a great opportunity to share titles and authors with your neighbors.
Monday, September 20, 7:00 p.m. at the Meadowridge Branch

Book Discussion of Little Bee by Chris Cleave
An ambitious and fearless gallop from the jungles of Africa via a shocking encounter on a Nigerian beach to the media offices of London and domesticity in leafy suburbia. Cleave immerses the reader in the worlds of his characters with an unshakable confidence.
Thursday, September 23, 1:00 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

Porchlight's Madison Cares Campaign: Book Discussion and Film Screening: The Soloist by Steve Lopez
When L.A. Times journalist Lopez encounters Nathaniel Ayers playing Beethoven on a battered violin beside a shopping cart of belongings, he knows it’s a newspaper column, at least. When he learns Ayers is a classically trained musician who left Juilliard in 1972 due to his schizophrenia, Lopez wants to know more-- and perhaps to help. Part of MPL's collaboration with Porchlight, the Madison organization that provides housing and support services to the homeless and mentally ill in our community. See more information about the partnership.
Thursday, September 23, 6:30 p.m. at the Lakeview Branch

An Adventure for Your Palate: An Author Talk with Judith Sulik
Judith Sulik, author of An adventure for your palate: an eclectic restaurant tour in and around Madison, Wisconsin with chefs' recipes, chose 53 restaurants for historic significance; a lake view; or a distinctive cuisine for this, her fifth book and third in the An Adventure For Your Palate series. Historical trivia pepper the pages so even those who do not like to cook will still find something they did not know.
Thursday, September 23, 7:00 p.m. at the Pinney Branch

Book Discussion of Postville by Stephen Bloom
The author, a secular Jew and journalism professor, explores his own identity as a Jew and the culture clash that erupts in a nearby Iowa town when a Lubavitch group from Brooklyn establishes a Kosher slaughterhouse there.
Tuesday, September 28, 7:00 p.m. at the Pinney Branch

Mystery Book Discussion of Haunted Ground by Erin Hart
A grisly discovery is made in a Irish peat bog, a severed head of a red-haired young woman. Has she been buried for decades? Who is she and why was she killed? American pathologist Nora Gavin and archaeologist Cormac Maguire are called in to investigate only to find the girl's death may have shocking ties to the present.
Wednesday, October 6, 7:00 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

1st Thursday Book Group reads The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The little known story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American cancer patient, wife and mother and her cells, now known as HeLa cells. While HeLa cells have directly aided many major advances in modern medicine and are still used daily in labs around the nation and the world, Lacks’ family was unaware of their use until more than 20 years after her death. Chosen as UW’s 2010 Go Big Read selection, join us as we discuss the issues it raises, including bioethics, racism, poverty, the role of journalism and more. Also, share with the group information about other books read in the past month. Our next title will be available following the discussion, with extra copies available at the reference desk while supplies last.
Thursday, October 7, 3:00 pm at the Alicia Ashman Branch

Book Discussion of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Here is the little known story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American cancer patient, wife and mother and her cells, now known as HeLa cells. While HeLa cells have directly aided many major advances in modern medicine and are still used daily in labs around the nation and the world, Lacks’ family was unaware of their use until more than 20 years after her death. Chosen as UW’s 2010 Go Big Read selection, join us as we discuss the issues it raises, including bioethics, racism, poverty, the role of journalism and more.
Thursday, October 7, 6:30 p.m. at the Lakeview Branch

Alicia Ashman Book Group Reads The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
Join us for discussions of a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction. This month we will be discussing The Underneath by Kathi Appelt. Our next title will be available following the discussion with extra copies available at the reference desk while supplies last.
Tuesday, October 12, 7:00 p.m. at the Alicia Ashman Branch

Book Discussion of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Here is the little known story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American cancer patient, wife and mother and her cells, now known as HeLa cells. While HeLa cells have directly aided many major advances in modern medicine and are still used daily in labs around the nation and the world, Lacks’ family was unaware of their use until more than 20 years after her death. Chosen as UW’s 2010 Go Big Read selection, join us as we discuss the issues it raises, including bioethics, racism, poverty, the role of journalism and more.
Tuesday, October 12, 7:00 p.m. at the Central Library

Daytime Book Discussion
Pick up the current selection at the library and let's get together for a good time.
Thusday, October 14, 12:00 p.m. at the Lakeview Branch

Book Discussion of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Here is the little known story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American cancer patient, wife and mother and her cells, now known as HeLa cells. While HeLa cells have directly aided many major advances in modern medicine and are still used daily in labs around the nation and the world, Lacks’ family was unaware of their use until more than 20 years after her death. Chosen as UW’s 2010 Go Big Read selection, join us as we discuss the issues it raises, including bioethics, racism, poverty, the role of journalism and more.
Thursday, October 14, 12:00 p.m. at the Lakeview Branch

Book Discussion of Blessings by Anna Quindlen
Join us for a discussion of Blessings by Anna Quindlen. "When a baby is left on their doorstep, the lives of Lydia Blessing, the elderly town matriarch, and Skip, her down-and-out caretaker, are transformed. Skip wants to keep the baby and raise it himself. To his surprise, Lydia wants to help. Together, they decide to keep the baby a secret between them. In the process, we discover that they have secrets of their own." - Novelist
Saturday, October 16, 1:30 p.m. at the South Madison Branch

Book Talk for Adults
Please join us at the Meadowridge Branch Library for a discussion of anything and everything you have been reading. This is a great opportunity to share titles and authors with your neighbors.
Monday, October 18, 7:00 p.m. at the Meadowridge Branch

Book Discussion of A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
Successful iron and oil man Ralph Truitt has advertised for a reliable wife. He’s spent 20 years getting over his first wife, the death of his daughter and the estrangement of his son. Life is lonely and he has a glimmer of hope that a reliable wife will allow him some joy in the autumn of his life. Catherine Land arrives in the railcar that Truitt has sent to collect her. Catherine does not at all resemble the photo she sent nor is she at all what Truitt expected. The bitter cold of the Wisconsin winter means that he can’t leave her standing on the platform so he takes her home with him until he can figure out what to do.
Wednesday, October 20, 6:00 p.m. at the Hawthorne Branch

Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Discussion of The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Our next title will be available following the discussion with extra copies available at the reference desk while supplies last.
Wednesday, October 20, 7:00 p.m. at the Alicia Ashman Branch

Book Discussion of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
The disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden, gnaws at her octogenarian uncle, Henrik Vanger. He is determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder.
Tuesday, October 26, 7:00 p.m. at the Pinney Branch

Book Discussion of Blame by Michelle Huneven
A spellbinding novel of guilt and love, family and shame, sobriety and the lack of it, and the moral ambiguities that ensnare us all.
Thursday, October 28, 1:00 p.m. at the Sequoya Branch

Book Discussion of The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat
Join us for a discussion of The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat. "A scarred Brooklyn resident remembers his past life as a Haitian torturer in the 1960s, a period during which he waged personal and political battles before moving to New York, where his past continued to haunt him." - Novelist.
Saturday, November 20, 1:30 p.m. at the South Madison Branch

Book Discussion of Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
Join us for a discussion of Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris. "The remaining employees at an office affected by a business downturn spend their time enjoying secret romances, elaborate pranks, and frequent coffee breaks, while trying to make sense of their only remaining 'work' a mysterious pro-bono ad campaign." - Novelist.
Saturday, December 18, 1:30 p.m. at the South Madison Branch

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