Our next book group meeting is Monday, November 28, 2011 at 6:30pm in the Turner Room. The book selection is Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Høeg. This novel is a cross between a mystery and adventure with a Danish twist. Smilla Qaavigaaq Jaspersen is torn between her Inuit roots and the demands of the modern Copenhagen world. When her 6-year old neighbor falls from an apartment roof to his death, Smilla doubts it was an accident. Her skills as a glaciologist and her gift of observation make it impossible for her to leave the investigation to the authorities. As she follows the path of secrets and intrigue she is lead back to her homeland, a treacherous of land of ice and snow. The book discussion guide is available in the library or online.

At last night's book group, members enjoyed our historical dishes of Floating Island and Apple Pan Dowdy as we discussed our October pick, John Adams.

Please note that the next book group will be Monday, October 24th at 6:30 PM in the Library's Turner Room. We moved the meeting up a week so that we would not conflict with the local Halloween activities on October 31.

For the September 26th book group, I made bacon chocolate chip cookies with maple cinnamon glaze to accompany our book, World and Town. Several people have requested the recipe, so here is the link: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Bacon-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies

Last night at our book club meeting, we discussed Like Water For Chocolate, and we enjoyed Chocolate-Walnut Torte with Rich Chocolate Glaze. Thank you to everyone who participated in the discussion--this was a very different book than any we had previous read, and it was interesting to see the reactions to the story and characters.

Our September book is World and Town by Gish Jen. We are still collecting copies so if you haven't gotten a book, check back at the library next week. However, the World and Town discussion guide is available. Our next meeting is Monday, September 26th at 6:30 in the Turner Room.

Join us for the “Talk About a Good Book” Book Club Discussion Group. We usually meets last Monday of the month at 6:30pm in Turner Room at the Lillie M. Evans Library in Princeville. The calendar for the rest of 2011 includes (for information about the book click on the title):
July 18* Twenties Girl by Sophia Kinsella
Aug 29 Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Sept 26 World and Town by Gish Jen
Oct 24* John Adams by David McCullough
Nov 28 Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg
NO MEETING in December – HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
*Please note the date for our July and October meetings do not follow our normal schedule but are a week earlier.

A printable version of this schedule is available in .pdf

The Goodreads is a website that provides book recommendations, a way to keep track of what you've read and what you'd like to read, and resources to form book club. Now Goodreads offers another option: the Goodreads Book Club challenge.

The challenge allows Goodreads members worldwide to link to an "on-line total book immersion extravaganza". Participants can ask the author questions via live chat, join chapter by chapter discussions, hear from experts, post favorite quotes, share creative writing, take polls, trivia and quizzes --all about one book. There is no minimum or maximum involvement; you can be as active as you wish.

The first book in the challenge is Jennifer Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad.

More information can be found at: http://www.goodreads.com/challenges/about/4-the-goodreads-book-club-challenge

The LME Library Book Club is now listed on GoodReads!  Information can be found at http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/47640.Lillie_M_Evan_Library_Book_Club 

We greatly enjoyed our book club meeting with author, Melanie Benjamin on April 25th. She was very helpful in answering our questions about her book, Alice I Have Been, and it was wonderful to get the author's perspective on certain aspects of the story.

Melanie has written another book which is due out in July 2011 called the Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb.  Watch the new book shelves because it will soon be available at the LME Library!

Book clubs are so much more than just reading the book. As a book club member, you develop a better understanding of the book, and the community participation transforms the written words into a collective experience that is shared among all attending. Thanks so much to Melanie for visiting with us!

Our next book is I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass. Copies are available in the library and the discussion guide is also available online.

Our next book club meeting is Monday, April 25th at 6:30 and we will be reading Alice I Have Been. Melanie Benjamin, the author, is scheduled to skype into our meeting. Join us in the Turner Room for this special meeting. 

More information about the author can be found at http://www.melaniebenjamin.com/book-clubs.php

Just a reminder that our March meeting will be on Monday, March 28th at 6:30 in the Turner Room.  The book is the Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan.  If you haven't pick up a discussion guide, copies will be available. 

For the April meeting (April 25th), we will be reading Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin.  The author has a great website with information about the book and historical information about Alice Liddell.

The discussion guide for Alice I Have Been is available at http://technologytrainingwheels.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/38241325/Alice%20I%20have%20Been%202011.pdf

Next meeting of the Book Club is on February 28th at 6:30 in the Turner Room.  We will be discussing Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.  The discussion sheet is available at: http://technologytrainingwheels.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/35330906/girl%20with%20the%20pearl%20earring.pdf 

Our March meeting will be on March 28th at 6:30 in the Turner Room.  The book is the Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan.  There are copies of available at the circulation and the discussion guide can be found at: http://technologytrainingwheels.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/36711214/Kitchen%20Gods%20Wife%202011.pdf

See you soon!

I just realized that I haven’t posted the books we chose for February-June. At the October and November book groups, I did a series of lightning talks about a variety of books. The members present voted on the books they would like to read. I then created a schedule, so that everyone can see the upcoming titles. Here is the schedule through June 2011:
Feb 28 Girl with the Pearl Earring Chevalier, Tracy (discussion sheet already available!)

Mar 28 Kitchen God's Wife Tan, Amy

Apr 25 Alice I Have Been Benjamin, Melanie

May 23 I See You Everywhere Glass, Julia

Jun 27 Listening is an Act of Love Isay, Dave

Readers can pick up schedules at the library circulation desk or online. Book group meetings are on the last Monday of the month (with no meeting in December) at 6:30pm.

Here's the schedule for bookgroup from October 2010-January 2011

October 25 THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL Philippa Gregory
RSA Cat link (includes reviews)
BOOK SUMMARY: Two sisters are competing for the greatest prize: the love of a king. When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family’s ambitious plots as the king’s interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.

November 29 SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS Guterson, David
RSA Cat link (includes reviews)Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award American Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award.BOOK SUMMARY: San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, is a place so isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies. But in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder. In the course of the ensuing trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than a man's guilt. For on San Pedro, memory grows as thickly as cedar trees and the fields of ripe strawberries--memories of a charmed love affair between a white boy and the Japanese girl who grew up to become Kabuo's wife; memories of land desired, paid for, and lost. Above all, San Piedro is haunted by the memory of what happened to its Japanese residents during World War II, when an entire community was sent into exile while its neighbors watched.

December NO MEETING – HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2011
January 31 THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA: A NATURAL HISTORY OF FOUR MEALS Pollan, Michael
RSA Cat link (includes reviews)
BOOK SUMMARY: Pollan explores the ecology of eating to unveil why we consume what we consume in the twenty-first century. "What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another, this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't-which mushrooms should be avoided, for example, and which berries we can enjoy. The cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet has thrown us back on a bewildering landscape where we once again have to worry about which of those tasty-looking morsels might kill us. A society of voracious and increasingly confused omnivores, we are just beginning to recognize the profound consequences of the simplest everyday food choices, both for ourselves and for the natural world.