Adult Book Clubs @ LPL
Chapters Discussion Group
Chapters book discussions are held twice monthly from September through April or May. The afternoon session generally meets on the second Tuesday of the month at one of the Community libraries at 1:30 p.m. The evening session generally meets on the third Wednesday at 7:00 p. m. in the Trustee Room of the Main Library. Multiple copies of the titles are available for checkout. New members are always welcome. For more details call 789-7145.
Learn more about Chapters' current titles, questions and up coming titles here.
Great Books
2011-2012 Great Books Discussion Group
Text: The Great Books Reading and Discussion Program, Second Series, Vol. 1-3. Chicago: Great Books Foundation, 1985.
September 6: Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, “Notes from the Underground” (complete work)
October 4: The Holy Bible, “Exodus”
November 1: Thomas Hobbes, “Origin of Government”
December 6: Herman Melville, “Billy Budd, Sailor” (complete work)
January 3: Adam Smith, “Wealth of Nations”
February 7: William Shakespeare, “Antony and Cleopatra” (complete work)
March 6: Soren Kierkegaard, “The Knight of Faith”
April 3: Herodotus, “The Persian Wars” (Meet in fireplace area)
May 1: John Locke, “Of Civil Government”
June 5: Jonathan Swift, “Gulliver’s Travels” (Meet at North Community Library)
All Great Books discussions will be held at South Community Library, 16th and Farnam Sts. They begin at 6:15 p.m. and end at 7:45 p.m. Participants are responsible for purchasing their own copy of the texts. Questions may be directed to Edward Staats at (608) 385-6020.
Book Kits
What are Book Kits?One stop shopping for your book club. A Book Kit contains 10 – 15 copies of one title, discussion questions, author information, reviews, read alikes and more.
What titles are available? | |
Alexander, Robert - The Romanov Bride Amirrezvani, Anita – The Blood of Flowers Barry, Brunonia - The Lace Reader Berry, Steve – The Romanov Prophecy Binchy, Maeve – Copper Beech Bradford, Barbara Taylor – A Sudden Change of Heart Brennert, Alan - Honolulu Brooks, Geraldine – Year of Wonders Caldwell, Ian – The Rule of Four Chessman, Harriet Scott – Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Newspaper Chevalier, Tracy – The Girl with a Pearl Earring Christie, Agatha – The Mysterious Affair at Styles Clark, Mary Higgins – We’ll Meet Again Coel, Margaret – The Eagle Catcher Delinsky, Barbara – Lake News Diamant, Anita – The Red Tent Doctorow, E. L. – World’s Fair Doig, Ivan – The Whistling Season Dunant, Sarah – The Birth of Venus Dunn, Jane – Elizabeth and Mary (nonfiction) Edgerton, Clyde – Where Trouble Sleeps Enger, Leif – Peace Like a River Essex, Karen – Leonardo’s Swans Fairstein, Linda – Bone Vault Finney, Jack – Time and Again Gerritsen, Tess – The Mephisto Club Goodwin, Doris Kearns – No Ordinary Time (nonfiction) Gregory, Phillippa – The Constant Princess Harris, Robert - Pompeii Hassler, Jon – Simon’s Night Hillenbrand, Laura – Seabiscuit (nonfiction) Holman, Sheri – The Dress Lodger Horan, Nancy - Loving Frank Hosseini, Khaled – The Kite Runner Jakes, John - Savannah James, P. D. – The Murder Room Junger, Sebastian – The Perfect Storm (nonfiction) Kent, Kathleen - Heretic's Daughter Kinsella, Sophie - Confessions of a Shopaholic Krakauer, Jon – Into the Wild (nonfiction) Krakauer, Jon – Under the Banner of Heaven (nonfiction) | Larson, Erik – The Devil in the White City (nonfiction) Laskin, David - The Children's Blizzard Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird Lescroart, John - Suspect Lippman, Laura – What the Dead Know Lowry, Lois – The Giver McCall Smith, Alexander – The #1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Maguire, Gregory – Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Martini, Steve – The Arraignment Mosse, Kate - Sepulchre Ouofkir, Malika - Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail (nonfiction) Patchett, Ann – Bel Canto Patterson, James - Honeymoon Philbrick, Nathanial – In the Heart of the Sea (nonfiction) Pickard, Nancy – The Virgin of Small Plains Picoult, Jodi – Plain Truth Picoult, Jodi – Second Glance Rosnay, Tatiana de - Sarah's Key Ross, Ann – Miss Julia Throws a Wedding Rubenfeld, Jeb - Interpretation of Murder See, Lisa – Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Steinbeck, John – The Red Pony (copies only) Swanson, James - Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer (nonfiction) Tey, Josephine – The Daughter of Time Twain, Mark – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Vreeland, Susan – Girl in Hyacinth Blue Watson, Larry – Montana 1948 |
Book Discussion Guide
Learn how to start your own book club with our easy to follow guide.
FORMING A DISCUSSION GROUP
These sources will give you information on how to start a discussion group.
Books
Good Books Lately: One Stop Resource for Book Groups and Other Greedy Readers by Ellen Moore. ADULT NONFICTION 374 M7827G
The Go On Girl Book Club Guide for Reading Groups by Monique Greenwood. ADULT NONFICTION 374 G858G
Web sources
Book Clubs and Reading Group Resource
Booklovers
SELECTING TITLES TO DISCUSS
These sources suggest titles that may be good for discussion.
Books
Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Reason by Nancy Pearl. ADULT NONFICTION 011.73 P3163B
Books of the Century: A Hundred Years of Authors, Ideas and Literature From the New York Times ADULT NONFICTION 028.1 B644
For the Love of Books: 115 Celebrated Writers on the Books They Love Most ADULT NONFICTION 028.9 F74
More Book Lust by Nancy Pearl. ADULT NONFICTION 011.73 P3163M
The Readers’ Choice: 200 Book Club Favorites by Victoria McMains. ADULT NONFICTION 028.1 M227R
What to Read: The Essential Guide for Reading Group Members and Other Book Lovers by Mickey Parlman. ADULT NONFICTION 015.73 P316W
A Year of Reading: A Month to Month Guide to Classics and Crowd Pleasers for You and Your Book Group by Elisabeth Ellington. ADULT NONFICTION 001.7 EL564
Web Sites
Award Web
Links to websites for most major fiction awards.
Barnes & Noble Directory of Award Winners
Links to websites for most major fiction and nonfiction awards.
Recommended Books for Discussion
Washington Center for the Book has put together this list of great reads for discussion groups.
Thinking Out Loud
List of titles, discussion questions, reviews and author biographies used by the Thinking Out Loud discussion group of Morton Grove Public Library.
WHERE TO LOCATE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
These web sites provide discussion questions for both fiction and nonfiction books.
General Web Sites
These websites provide discussion questions or information on where to locate discussion questions for fiction and nonfiction books.
Readers Group Guides
Discussion questions may be located by title or author.
Reading Group Choices
Guide will either provide links to discussion questions online or provide you with information on where to obtain discussion questions for hundreds of titles. One of the best sources on where to locate discussion questions.
Bookbrowse
Close to 400 guides are available. You may search by author, title or genre.
Book Muse
Questions, author bios, further reading and much more in this website.
Publisher Web Sites
These web sites provide discussion questions for books published by them. Some sites also provide author information and general information on discussion groups.
Book Group Corner
HarperCollins
Penguin Putnam
Random House Discussion Guides
Reading Group Center (Vintage Books)
Houghton Mifflin
LOCATING BOOK REVIEWS
These web sites will help you locate book reviews.
AllReaders
AllReaders allows you to search for book reviews by any combination of over 2,000 literary criteria, such as plot, character, setting, theme, etc.
New York Times
Includes the NYT “Sunday Book Review,” first chapters, featured authors, expanded best seller lists and much more.
New York Review of Books
New titles as well as classics are reviewed.
LOCATING INFORMATION ON AUTHORS
These books will help you locate biographical information on authors.
Something About the Author REFERENCE AREA 928 SO5
Contemporary Authors REFERENCE AREA 928 C76NR
Many authors have their own web sites. You may try doing a general search on a search engine under their name or try www. the author’s name. com (www.belvaplain.com).
LOCATING MAGAZINE ARTICLES
EbscoHost may help you locate magazine articles. It can be accessed from the library’s homepage at www.lacrosselibrary.org or from computers at each library. They may help you find book reviews and biographical information. Ask for assistance at any service desk.
PRONUNCIATIONS
These sources may help in pronunciation of author, character, or place names.
Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names. REFERENCE AREA 423.1 P44
Online Book Clubs
Join our Online Book Clubs. Every day, Monday through Friday, you will receive in your email a five-minute selection from a chapter of a book. By the end of the week, you’ll have read 2-3 chapters. Every Monday we start a new book. Sign up and start reading.
