Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague (Geraldine Brooks)

In 1666, a young woman comes of age during an extraordinary year of love and death. Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a "plague village" in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history.

To Keep the Waters Troubled: The Life of Ida B. Wells (Linda O. McMurry)

In the generation following Frederick Douglass, no African American was more prominent or outspoken than Ida B. Wells. Her fiery personality and uncompromising approach sometimes lost her friendships even as it won great victories.

Everyone's Reading Finding My Voice (Diane Rehm)

For 25 years, Rehm has offered her listeners compelling conversations with the world's most interesting and important people. This year her autobiography, Finding My Voice, is the Metro Detroit’s Everyone’s Reading selection.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Lisa See)

Foot binding; nu shu, a 1000-year-old secret language used by women of Hunan Province, and laotong, the arranged friendship between little girls meant to last a lifetime, provide the framework for this look at a chapter in Chinese history.

The Bean Trees (Barbara Kingsolver)

Taylor Greer grew up poor in Kentucky in the '60s and '70s, managed to avoid pregnancy through high school, and earned enough money to buy a Volkswagen that would take her west.

"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.

Case Histories (Kate Atkinson): Private detective Jackson Brodie finds his own need for resolution sparked by three investigations including those of two sisters who discover a shocking clue to the disappearance of their third sister 30 years earlier, a lawyer whose life is turned upside-down when his daughter joins the firm, and a woman whose past mistakes and demanding family life culminate in a violent escape.

"White Tiger" is a brutal view of India's class struggles is cunningly presented in Adiga's debut about a racist, homicidal chauffer. Balram Halwai is from the "Darkness," born where India's downtrodden and unlucky are destined to rot. Balram manages to escape his village and move to Delhi after being hired as a driver for a rich landlord.

Tragedy strikes even during the holidays.  On Christmas Eve, the Barnes family experiences the startling loss of the beloved family dog.  But Doug and his father pull off a Christmas miracle - of sorts - in this humorous Christmas story. 

The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird
by Bruce Barcott (2008)

The Wonder Spot (Melissa Banks): Struggling with ambivalent feelings toward the passions and identities that are important to other members of her Jewish Pennsylvania family, Sophie Applebaum makes observations about her family life over the course of 20 years. By the author of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing.

Ages: 1st and 2nd graders
Read a book and then get together with other kids to talk about it and to do some fun activities.
After you're registered, visit the Children's Information Desk to check out a copy of the book.
November Book: Poof! Rabbits Everywhere by Peter Lerangis
Date and Time: November 19 @ 5 - 5:45pm
Register beginning: November 6

Ages: 3rd and 4th graders
Get together with other kids, enjoy a snack and talk about a fantastic book.  
After you're registered, visit the Children's Information Desk to check out a copy of the book.
November Book: Poppy by Avi
Date & Time: September 22 @ 5 - 5:45pm
Register beginning: November 6

Tonya Dallas, also known as Touchdown, is back to share her fun, humorous and entertaining stories.
Registration not required.
Ages: Children 5-11 years old, with a caregiver
Date and Time: November 10 @ 7 - 7:45pm
Location: Community Room

Oxygen by Carol Cassella (2008)

The main character in Carol Cassella's very readable first novel, Oxygen, is, like Cassella herself, an anesthesiologist in Seattle. Dr. Marie Heaton finds her life gone badly off track when what should have been a pretty routine surgical procedure goes wrong, and eight-year-old Jolene Jansen dies on the operating table. Jolene's mother files a malpractice suit against Marie as well as the hospital, and guilt, grief, and fears about her future as a physician begin to take their toll on Marie. She turns for support and reassurance to her colleague, Dr.

Best Friends (Martha Moody): From their first meeting at Oberlin College in 1973, the friendship of two very different women - one from a working-class, Protestant family in Ohio and the other from a wealthy, Jewish family in L.A. - spans two decades and endures family and career demands.

The Lake of Dead Languages (Carol Goodman): Jane Hudson fled the Heart Lake School for Girls in the Adirondacks after a terrible tragedy. Now Jane has returned to the school as a Latin teacher, recently separated and hoping to make a fresh start with her young daughter. But ominous messages from the past dredge up forgotten memories. (Note: We meet the third Wednesday of November due to the Thanksgiving holiday.)

Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston): When independent Janie Crawford returns home, her small African-American community begins to buzz with gossip about the outcome of her affair with a younger man, in a novel set in the 1930s South.

Dragon's Keep by Janet Lee Carey (2007)

One of the best reasons to give Janet Lee Carey's Dragon's Keep to young teens (especially girls) is that it's a page-turning fantasy filled with well-drawn, three-dimensional characters (both human and otherwise). Because one exciting episode (and chapter) no sooner ends than another one begins, Carey's book would have made a wonderful serial, if only there were a magazine for teens that did that kind of thing.

Jitterbug Perfume (Tom Robbins): This philosophical epic, with a large cast of characters, addresses the fervent desire of the human race to overcome the tyranny of aging and physical death.