Please join the Adult Contemporary Book Discussion Group on Monday, August 19 at 7:00 PM in the Purple Room to discuss:

The Buddha in the attic by Julie Otsuka tells the story of a group of young women brought from Japan to San Francisco as “picture brides” nearly a century ago. The book traces their extraordinary lives from the arduous journey across the Pacific Ocean to a country where they don't speak the language or understand the culture and to husbands they never met.

South of Broad: a novel by Pat Conroy meets July 25

Case histories: a novel by Kate Atkinson meets August 22

River of doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's darkest journey by Candice Millard meets September 26

Say nice things about Detroit by Scott Lasser meets October 24

The Paris wife: a novel by Paula McLain meets November 21

Michigan Week (May 18-25) is a good time to remember the state's celebrated natives from all walks of life. Communities across Michigan can lay claim to renowned authors, artists, musicians, actors, athletes, politicians, inventors and more. Film makers Francis Ford Coppola, Sam Raimi, Michael Moore, and Paul Schrader were all born in Michigan. Just some of the world famous musicians born here include Stevie Wonder, Kenny Burrell, Betty Carter, Earl Klugh, Bog Seger, Glen Frey, Madonna, and Iggy Pop. Actors born in the state include Bruce Campbell, Tom Selleck, Lily Tomlin, Ellen Burstyn, Kristen Bell, Julie Harris, George Peppard, George C. Scott, Danny Thomas, and Marlo Thomas — the list goes on. Noteworthy authors such as Edna Ferber, Terry McMillan, Judith Guest and Marguerite De Angeli are also Michigan natives. Famous Michigan born athletes include baseball players Charlie Gehringer, Jim Abbott and Hal Newhouser. Find out more about our state's notable heritage by checking out some of the following items from the Library's collection.

Alden B. Dow: midwestern modern by Diane Maddex — Architect

The Dodge brothers: the men, the motor cars, and the legacy by Charles K. Hyde — Automobile engineers

I'd like to apologize to every teacher I ever had: my year as a rookie teacher at Northeast High by Tony Danza

The shared wisdom of mothers and daughters: the timelessness of simple truths by Alexandra Stoddard

The legacy: Honor Flight Michigan by Timothy W. Downey ; with Melissa Downey, Catherine Kavanaugh, Gabe Downey

30 lessons for living: tried and true advice from the wisest Americans by Karl Pillemer

Celebrations: rituals of peace and prayer by Maya Angelou

Live by night by Dennis Lehane

The expats: a novel by Chris Pavone

Midnight in Peking: how the murder of a young Englishwoman haunted the last days of old China by Paul French

Lost in Shangri-La: a true story of survival, adventure, and the most incredible rescue mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff

Every man in this village is a liar [Large print]: an education in war by Megan K. Stack

The American Revolution [Large print]: a history by Gordon S. Wood

Victory at Yorktown [Large print]: the campaign that won the Revolution by Richard M. Ketchum

The zookeeper's wife [Large print]: a war story by Diane Ackerman

On Thursday, June 13 at noon, we will be discussing:

11/22/63: a novel by Stephen King — Jake Epping's friend Al, who owns the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to the past, a particular day in 1958. Al enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession: to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake's new life as George Amberson, in a different world of Ike and JFK and Elvis, of big American cars and sock hops and cigarette smoke everywhere. From the dank little city of Derry, Maine, to the warmhearted small town of Jodie, Texas, where Jake falls dangerously in love, every turn is leading eventually, of course, to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and to Dallas, where the past becomes heart-stoppingly suspenseful, and where history might not be history anymore. Time-travel has never been so believable. Or so terrifying.