After Annie: a novel by Michael Tucker

Games traitors play by Jon Stock

Ministers of fire: a novel by Mark Harril Saunders

The scent of cherry blossoms: a romance from the heart of Amish country by Cindy Woodsmall

Has your book group considered reading a book and watching the movie?

The good earth [videodisc] by A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture

The good earth [kit] by Pearl S. Buck; introduced and edited by Peter Conn

To kill a mockingbird [kit] by Harper Lee

The Michigan Humanities Council will present the 2010 Michigan Author Homecoming, "Writing War: Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam," with noted writers Benjamin Busch, Philip Caputo, and Doug Stanton

• May 18 in East Lansing
• May 20 in Marquette

The events will celebrate the conclusion of the Council’s Great Michigan Read. Each event will be a moderated, panel-style discussion focusing on the impact of war on culture, particularly in relation to recent United States conflicts (Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam). There will be a book signing. Tickets are available online or by phone at (517) 372-7770.

Today at 11:00 a.m., the Busy Moms Book Club will meet in the Children's Library Purple Room for a book discussion on Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez. After the Taliban regime fell in Afghanistan after 9/11, the author traveled with a humanitarian group to help Afghans begin rebuilding their lives. Through American donations, she and other hair stylists established the Kabul Beauty School, where Afghan women learned skills in order to start their own businesses.

Three Cups of Tea has been on the New York Times paperback nonfiction bestseller list for 108 weeks running (currently in the #1 slot) for good reason: Greg Mortenson, who is carrying out his mission to build schools — and peace — in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, is living proof of how one person can truly make a difference in the world. Now, Mortenson’s story is accessible to young children through the newly published picture book Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea. A Young Readers’ version of Three Cups of Tea has also just been published. My 8-yr-old son and I saw Mortenson in late January when he spoke to a packed auditorium (800+ people) at Ann Arbor’s Huron High School.

"The Kite Runner" is the story of two boys growing up in Afghanistan, their unique friendship,  how it is tried by sibling rivalry, torn apart by the Soviet Afghan War, and later by the Taliban. It is also about the redemptive courage and power to make things right once they have gone horribly wrong in a terrible world. Come join us as we view and discuss it in our meeting room at 2 o'clock on January 21st.