Events Calendar / Book Discussion

Sci-Fi Book Discussion: The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin thumbnail Photo

Sci-Fi Book Discussion: The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin

The Sci-Fi Book Discussion reads and discusses both classic and contemporary science fiction, covering subgenres such as speculative fiction, alternate history, and apocalyptic. This discussion meets the second Wednesday of the month, from 7-8 pm. This group is hybrid, meeting at the Main Library and streaming to Zoom. Register here: https://bit.ly/fpl-scifidiscussion
 

May Sci-Fi Book Discussion: The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin

  • "The Dispossessed is the spellbinding story of anarchist Shevek, the “galactically famous scientist,” who single-handedly attempts to reunite two planets cut off from each other by centuries of distrust."
     
McAuliffe Book Discussion (Morning): The Giver by Lois Lowry thumbnail Photo

McAuliffe Book Discussion (Morning): The Giver by Lois Lowry

The McAuliffe Branch hosts two book discussion groups to discuss various fiction and nonfiction, as well as contemporary and classic literature. You can join us anytime to discuss one particular book or become a regular. Register here: https://bit.ly/mca-bookdiscussions

May McAuliffe Book Discussion (Morning): The Giver by Lois Lowry

  • "Life in the community where Jonas lives is idyllic. Designated birthmothers produce newchildren, who are assigned to appropriate family units. Citizens are assigned their partners and their jobs. No one thinks to ask questions. Everyone obeys. Everyone is the same. Except Jonas.

    Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. Gradually Jonas learns that power lies in feelings. But when his own power is put to the test—when he must try to save someone he loves—he may not be ready. Is it too soon? Or too late?

    Told with deceptive simplicity, this is the provocative story of a boy who experiences something incredible and undertakes something impossible. In the telling it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.

    The Giver has become one of the most influential novels of our time."

Queer Reads: Gender queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe thumbnail Photo

Queer Reads: Gender queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

The Queer Reads Book Discussion celebrates queer authors, books, and themes. This discussion meets in person every third Tuesday of the month and alternates between the McAuliffe Branch Library and the Main Library. Register here: https://bit.ly/fpl-queerbookdiscussion

May Queer Reads Discussion: Gender queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

  • "In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia’s intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.

    Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere."
Main Library Book Discussion: Tom Lake by Ann Patchet thumbnail Photo

Main Library Book Discussion: Tom Lake by Ann Patchet

The Main Library Book Discussion meets on the first Tuesday of each month. Books chosen are generally literary fiction or narrative nonfiction. Participants take turns leading the discussion. This discussion currently meets online via Zoom. Register here.

June Book Discussion: Tom Lake by Ann Patchet

  • "Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today."

 

This book club will be on hiatus in July and August. 
September Book Discussion: September 2- Isola by Allegra Goodman

McAuliffe Book Discussion (Evening): North Woods by Daniel Mason thumbnail Photo

McAuliffe Book Discussion (Evening): North Woods by Daniel Mason

The McAuliffe Branch hosts two book discussion groups to discuss various fiction and nonfiction, as well as contemporary and classic literature. You can join us anytime to discuss one particular book or become a regular. Register here.

June McAuliffe Book Discussion (Evening): North Woods by Daniel Mason

  • "This magisterial and highly inventive novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Daniel Mason brims with love and madness, humor and hope. Following the cycles of history, nature, and even language, North Woods shows the myriad, magical ways in which we’re connected to our environment, to history, and to one another. It is not just an unforgettable novel about secrets and destinies, but a way of looking at the world that asks the timeless question: How do we live on, even after we’re gone?

If you borrow a book group title from us, please check out the book at the Circulation Desk. Some books are loans from other libraries in the network and do not work with our self-checkout. Please do not leave the Library without checking out your materials. Thanks for your cooperation!