Every month Madison Public Library hosts a variety of book discussions and each of them warmly welcomes newcomers. So if you're someone who loves to talk books and want to join in, here are the groups who are meeting and the titles they'll discuss for September.
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NewBridge Book Group - Wednesday, September 3, 10-11 am - Meeting offsite or via Zoom. Check with the Lakeview Library for details.
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel - This classic love story takes place on the De la Garza ranch, as the tyrannical owner, Mama Elena, chops onions at the kitchen table in her final days of pregnancy. While still in her mother's womb, her daughter to be weeps so violently she causes an early labor, and little Tita slips out amid the spices and fixings for noodle soup. This early encounter with food soon becomes a way of life, and Tita grows up to be a master chef, using cooking to express herself and sharing recipes with readers along the way.
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Youth Graphic Novel Book Club - Wednesday, September 3, 5-5:45 pm - Pinney Library
Wings of Fire by Tui Sutherland - Not every dragonet wants a destiny-- Clay has grown up under the mountain, chosen along with four other dragonets to fulfill a mysterious prophecy and end the war between the dragon tribes of Pyrrhia. He's not so sure about the prophecy part, but Clay can't imagine not living with the other dragonets; they're his best friends. So when one of the dragonets is threatened, all five spring into action.
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Mystery Book Group - Wednesday, September 3, 7-8 pm - Sequoya Library
A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari - London, 1923. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh attends a dinner party for the University College of London. While she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon, she doesn't expect Mrs. Henry, one of the professors' wives to drop to the floor, poisoned by an unknown toxin. Dr. Maxwell, Saffron's mentor, is the main suspect. As evidence mounts against Dr. Maxwell and the expedition's departure draws nearer, Saffron realizes if she wants her mentor's name cleared, she'll have to do it herself.
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Thursday Book Club - Thursday, September 4, 2-3 pm - Alicia Ashman Library
Orbital by Samantha Harvey - Witness this eloquent meditation on space and life on our planet through the eyes of six astronauts circling the earth in twenty-four hours. A slender novel of epic power, Orbital deftly snapshots a day in the lives of six women and men hurtling through space--not toward the moon or the vast unknown, but around our planet.
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Lakeview Book Group - Thursday, September 4, 6:30-8 pm - Lakeview Library
The Water Keeper by Charles Martin - Murphy Shepherd lives alone, doing maintenance work for a church that no one attends and trying to heal from scars gained rescuing others who dwell in the margins. His specialty is finding young girls bought and sold in the flesh trade, and leading them from brokenness to freedom, but Shepherd thinks he has given everything he has and it may be time to retire. His hermetic healing process is interrupted when he rescues a woman named Summer in Florida's Intercoastal Waterway and gets drawn into a hunt after a gang of international human traffickers.
Youth Graphic Novel Club - Tuesday, September 9, 4-4:45 pm - Meadowridge Library
September title tba. Call 608-288-6160 or stop in at Meadowridge to discover the September title.
Central Book Group - Wednesday, September 17, 7-8:30 pm - Central Library
Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond - The follow-up to Desmond’s book Evicted is a clearly delineated guide to finally eradicate poverty in America. The Minneapolis Star Tribune said this: “A book that could alter the way you see the world… It reads almost like a passionate speech, urging us to dig deeper, to forget what we think we know as we try to understand the inequities upon which America was built…A surprisingly hopeful work.”
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Third Thursday Book Group - Thursday, September 18, 2-3 pm - Sequoya Library
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer - Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. Meanwhile, the serviceberry's relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, inter-connectedness, and gratitude. As Kimmerer explains, 'Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.
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Mystery Book Group - Thursday, September 18, 5:30-7 pm - Lakeview Library
All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris - Ellice Littlejohn seemingly has it all: an Ivy League law degree, a well-paying job as a corporate attorney in midtown Atlanta, great friends, and a “for fun” relationship with a rich, charming executive, who just happens to be her white boss. But everything changes one cold January morning when Ellice arrives in the executive suite and finds him dead with a gunshot to his head. When she uncovers shady dealings inside the company, Ellice is trapped in an impossible ethical and moral dilemma.
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Goodman South Madison Book Club - Saturday, September 20, 1:30-3 pm
James by Percival Everett - UW-Madison's Go Big Read title - Percival Everett retells Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, an enslaved man who runs away to avoid being sold and separated from his family. As Jim and Huck journey down the Mississippi River, familiar events unfold—but this time, Jim’s strength, intelligence, and compassion take center stage. With sharp humor and powerful insight, Everett gives new life to a classic story, making James a standout work of modern American literature.
Meadowridge Book Club - Monday, September 29, 5-5:45 pm
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - The mysterious Jay Gatsby embodies the American notion that it is possible to redefine oneself and persuade the world to accept that definition. Gatsby's youthful neighbor, Nick Carraway, fascinated with the display of enormous wealth in which Gatsby revels, finds himself swept up in the lavish lifestyle of Long Island society during the Jazz Age.
Most libraries will have copies of the books available onsite for checkout if you'd like to pick up a copy, read it, and join a discussion.