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Book Groups

Book Group in a Bag: Book groups can now check out a bag of books for their reading group. Bags have 10 copies and check out for 6 weeks. Browse what's availability and request one online.
Headquarters Book Group
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
01/10/2012 - 11:31am
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Meets the second Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the 3rd floor conference room

Current Selection:

February 13:  Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
The idyllic lives of civic-minded environmentalists Patty and Walter Berglund come into question when their son moves in with aggressive Republican neighbors, green lawyer Walter takes a job in the coal industry, and go-getter Patty becomes increasingly unstable and enraged.
 

Future Selections:

March 12:  The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
April 9:  Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
May 14:  A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
June 11:  Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
July 9:  The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
August 13:  A Short History of a Small Place by T.R. Pearson
September 10:  A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
October 8:  To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal
November 12:  The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
December 10:  American Pastoral by Philip Roth

 

A Classical Idea! Book Group (Headquarters Library)
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
01/17/2012 - 11:54am
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Rediscover the timeless, treasured delights of the classics. Read, savor, and engage in lively discourse with our newest Book Group. Meets the 3rd Monday of every month, 7-8 p.m. For more information, please call the Adult Reference Desk at 372-1144 ext. 232.

Current Selection:

February 27:  To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The conscience of a town steeped in prejudice, violence, and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina and quiet heroism of one man's struggle for justice, in this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic that has been translated into more than 40 languages.
 

Future Selections:

March 19:  Medea by Euripides
April 16:  Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
May 21: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
June 18: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
July 16:  Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
August 20:  David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
September 17:  The Old Gringo by Carlos Fuentes
October 15:  The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
November 19:  The Quiet American by Graham Greene

England Run Book Group
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
01/26/2012 - 12:07pm
Have A Little Faith by Mitch Albom

Meets the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7pm

Current Selection:

February 28:  Have A Little Faith by Mitch Albom
When an eighty-two-year-old rabbi from Albom's old hometown asks him to deliver his eulogy, Albom goes back to his nonfiction roots and becomes involved with a Detroit pastor--a reformed drug dealer and convict--who preaches to the poor and homeless in a decaying church with a hole in its roof. A timely, moving, and inspiring look at faith: not just who believes, but why.

Future Selections:

March 27:  The Help by Kathryn Stockett
April 24:   Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

Porter Book Group
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
02/03/2012 - 6:58am
The Mind’s Eye by Oliver Sacks

Meets the first Thursday of the month at 7:30 pm.

Current Selection:

March 1:  The Mind’s Eye by Oliver Sacks
Includes stories of people who are able to navigate the world and communicate with others despite losing what many of us consider indispensable senses and faculties: the power of speech, the capacity to recognize faces, the sense of three-dimensional space, the ability to read, and the sense of sight. This book is a testament to the complexity of vision and the brain and to the power of creativity and adaptation, and it provides a whole new perspective on the power of language and communication, as we try to imagine what it is to perceive through another person's eyes, or another person's mind.


Future Selections:

April 5:  Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne
May 3:  The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
June 7:  Heart Mender by Andy Andrews (AKA Island of Saints)
July 5:  Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
August 2:  Cutting for Stone by A. Verghese
September 6:  Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
October 4:  Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
November 1:  The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty
December 6:  Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Book It! Salem Church Book Group
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
02/01/2012 - 1:00pm
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Join other readers to talk about books. The group meets the fourth Tuesday of the month from 7-9 pm.

Current Selection: 

February 28:  Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired) leads a quiet life in the village of St. Mary, England, until his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But will their relationship survive in a society that considers Ali a foreigner?

Future Selection
March 27:  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a year of food life by Barbara Kingsolver
The 2012 selection for the libraries "Big Read" in conjunction with the community wide program, Cultivating Community, designed to share information in the Fredericksburg region about farm to table and sustainable food communities.
"Believing that most of us have better options available, Kingsolver and her family set out to prove for themselves that a local diet is not just better for the economy and environment but also better on the table...they explore farmers' markets and diversified organic farms at home and across the country, discovering a booming movement. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, and complete with original recipes"  from the publisher

Snow Book Group
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
01/19/2012 - 10:38am

Join a lively and fun discussion of the month's selected title. Refreshments served. Meets the third Tuesday of every month at 10:30 a.m.

Current Selection:

February 21:  Parrot & Olivier in America by Peter Carey
Olivier is the traumatized child of aristocratic survivors of the French Revolution. Parrot is the motherless son of an itinerant English printer. They are born on different sides of history, but their lives will be connected in the United States by an enigmatic one-armed marquis.
 

Future Selections:

March 20:  Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
April 17:  Sunset Park by Paul Auster
May 15:  The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
June 19:  In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

Snow's Book of the Month
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
02/03/2012 - 7:01am
Juliet by Anne Fortier

Recommendations for enticing monthly reading.

Current Selection:

February:  Juliet by Anne Fortier
When Julie Jacobs leaves for Italy per the instructions of her late aunt's will, she never imagines that she'll be thrust into a centuries-old feud, not to mention one of the most legendary romances of all time.
 

Future Selections:

March:  Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson
April:  The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwanba
May:  Georgia Bottoms by Mark Childress
June:  I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman
July:  The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard
August:  Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
September:  Long Gone by Alafair Burke
October:  Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton
November:  The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
December:  The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman

Readers of the Round Table (Montross)
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
01/19/2012 - 2:41pm
Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Meets from 11:00 - noon on the second Friday of each month. 

Current Selection:

February 10: Still Alice by Lisa Genova
"Still Alice" is a compelling debut novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease, written by a first-time author who holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience. Reminiscent of "A Beautiful Mind" and "Ordinary People," this work packs an emotional punch.

Written in Virginia Book Group (Montross)
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
02/03/2012 - 7:13am
Miss Liz's Passion

Meets the third Thursday of every month at 7:00.
 

Current Selection:

February 23: Any book by Sherryl Woods

Future Selections:

March 22: The Litigators by John Grisham

 

The Reading Guild (Cooper)
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
05/19/2010 - 1:43pm

The Reading Guild meets the third Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. The group's members pick a theme like Shakespeare or travel every other month; the other months are open discussions of your favorite book or current reading. Everyone brings a dish to share! Call the branch or check our program listing for this month's topic.

Let's Talk About Books (Newton)
Book Groups, Book Groups Monthly Selection, Reading Room Blog
05/19/2010 - 1:43pm

Join Bobbie Borman, staff, and other readers to talk about books. There is no required reading; different types of books are explored like science fiction or just your favorite book. The group meets the third Monday of each month from 2-4 PM.