Now @ MPL...

Did you know that Central Library has a book discussion group?

Librarians moderate lively book discussions each month in the comfortable surroundings of the Richard E. & Lucile Krug Rare Books Room. The books will be a starting point for exchanging ideas on themes, events and characters; reading the book in advance is NOT required.

On Tuesday, October 9, at 7:00 p.m. we will be discussing Rumspringa; to be or not to be Amish by Tom Shachtman. Beginning at age 16, Amish youth are encouraged to participate in activities normally forbidden by their tradition before committing to Amish life. Shachtman describes the impact of this time of life on both teens and the Amish community.

Come join us!

Did you know that Milwaukee Public Library has book club kits available for check out? Each kit has multiple paperback copies of the chosen title, a discussion guide, suggestions for starting a book club and information about the author. All in one convenient kit! Originating at the East Library, kits are also available at the Washington Park Library, Mill Road Library, Zablocki Library and Tippecanoe Library.

There are over 40 kits in circulation. To see what titles are available, check the online County catalog using the title Adult Book Club Kit.

The subtitles will be the titles of the books that are available.

You provide the book group, location and refreshments and the library's book kit will provide the rest.

Do you like reading? Do you like chatting? Do you like chatting about books? If you said yes to these questions, then MPL has just the thing for you.

Every month, many Book Clubs meet at six different libraries and each book club is reading and discussing a different book. So take a look at what is coming up, and join a book club today!

Run: A Novel by Ann Patchett

What makes a family? Think your family has secrets? In this novel, which spans 24 hours see how choices made in seconds can affect others for a lifetime. Former mayor of Boston, Bernard Doyle has 3 sons; Sullivan, 33, and African American Tip, 21, and Teddy, 20, brothers adopted 20 years earlier. On a snowy night Tip is pushed out of the way of an oncoming SUV by a woman who is hit and severely injured. She is the boys' birth mother and, along with her 11-year-old daughter Kenya has been watching the boys for years. Become part of their lives as the story progresses and issues of race, religion and duty are explored.

The first Central Library book discussion of 2008 takes place Tuesday, January 8 at 7:00 p.m. in the Richard E. & Lucile Krug Rare Books Room. A librarian will moderate a discussion of Ian McEwan's Saturday, the tale of a single day in a London surgeon's life when a minor car accident forebodes major consequences. Saturday will be a starting point for exchanging ideas on themes, events and characters; reading the book in advance is not required. We hope to see you there!

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines is an engrossing and vividly written tale of segregation and prejudice, hope and enlightenment in the fictional town of Bayonne, Louisiana in the late 1940's. The novel explores relationships between family, community, race and differing educational and social backgrounds. Jefferson, a poor plantation worker, is convicted of a murder he did not commit, and the ripples from this conviction have a profound effect on many people throughout the entire community. This truly human story packs a powerful emotional wallop and is highly recommended.

The Central Library is hosting a book discussion about A Lesson Before Dying on Tuesday, February 12 at 7:00 p.m. For a list of all book discussions offered by the Milwaukee Public Library, check out MPL's Website.

- Submitted by Dan @ MPL Central

The Senator's Wife: A Novel by Sue Miller

Two unconventional women, neighbors in adjacent New England townhouses--Meri Fowler, pregnant, newly married, and discovering the gap between reality and expectation, and Delia Naughton, wife of a notoriously unfaithful liberal senator--confront the costs and challenges of love.

Please join us at the MPL Central Library on Tuesday, May 13th at 7 pm for a discussion of Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried : a work of fiction. However, prior reading of this book is not necessary to join in the discussion. Tell the group about your experiences in the military or discuss the impact of military service on your family. Any and all contributions are welcome!
The Vietnam War experiences of the author are told in this outstanding work of fiction. This novel was a finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award and the acclaim is well deserved. The book is not a novel in the traditional sense, or a collection of short stories and not quite a memoir.