October 28 - Wager

At our September 30 book club meeting, we discussed Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Some readers weren't sure they were going to like it, but everyone enjoyed the book. One participant said that it was her favorite read with book club so far.

The book club will meet again on October 28 at 3pm in the library's large meeting room. We will be discussing the non-fiction book, Wager by David Grann. Copies can be picked up from the front desk and discussion sheets are available.

Summary: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Lost City of Z, a mesmerizing story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty's Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as "the prize of all the oceans," it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing 2500 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes. But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they had a very different story to tell. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes - they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous captain and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death-for whomever the court found guilty could hang. The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers.



Cookbook Club - November 5

At our September 24th Cookbook Club, we featured Ree Drummond's Dinner's Ready! She had a lot of quick and easy-to-source recipes and the participants liked the book. Some favorites were ragu with polenta, pickle chicken bites, and sliders. We discussed the possibility of rescheduling the November 5th meeting but couldn't find a date. 

Our next Cookbook Club will meet on Tuesday, November 5th at 6pm in the library's large meeting room. The cookbook featured is The Complete Autumn & Winter Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen. We'll also discuss whether we'll continue the club in 2025. We are considering transitioning to a Spice Club where members pick up a spice and try recipes. Please attend to share your opinion!



September 30 - Remarkably Bright Creatures


Our next book club meeting is Monday, September 30th at 3pm at the LME Library. We will be discussing Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Copies of the book can be picked up from the library desk or are also available online in ebook or eaudio formats. The discussion sheet is available to download or can be picked up at the library.

Book summary: "For fans of A Man Called Ove, a luminous debut novel about a widow's unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium-and the truths she finally uncovers about her son's disappearance 30 years ago" -- After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Killers of a Certain Age (July) and Tom Lake (August)


For July 2024, our group discussed Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. I was expecting a bit of a mixed reaction but the mystery drew them in and all our readers loved it. The discussion sheet is here.


For our August meeting, we read Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. The group gave it a firm B-rating but many felt it was too literary for their liking. They could appreciate the author's skill, but would not recommend it to anyone they knew. The discussion sheet is available.

June 24, 2024 - Mad Honey

Our discussion on May 20th was on Anderson Cooper's Vanderbilt. We had a mix of ratings on this one. Some liked the author's style and felt it was easy to read. Others thought there were too many individuals included and it was hard to keep track of them. 


Our next meeting will be Monday, June 24th at 3pm in the LME Library's large meeting room. The book we will be discussing is Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult. Copies of the book are available at the library desk and the discussion sheets are available for pickup or online.

Summary: "Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life-living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher-was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father's beekeeping business. Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start. And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can't help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can she trust him completely . . . Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn't acknowledge the flashes of his father's temper in him, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he's hidden more than he's shared with her"--

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