The Kilbourn Public Library Book Club is reading The Girls of Murder City by Douglas Perry for its February selection. The Girls of Murder City is the untold true story of the murders that inspired the iconic musical Chicago.

With a thrilling, fast-paced narrative, award-winning journalist Douglas Perry vividly captures the sensationalized circus atmosphere that gave rise to the concept of the celebrity criminal and gave Chicago its most famous story.

The Girls of Murder City recounts two scandalous, sex-fueled murder cases and how an intrepid "girl reporter" named Maureen Watkins turned the beautiful, media-savvy suspects "Stylish Belva' and "Beautiful Beulah" into the talk of the town. It is a crackling tale that presents the freewheeling spirit of the Jazz Age and its sober repercussions.

Howard Blum, author of the New York times bestseller American Lightning says "Crime doesn't pay for the girls of Murder City, but it sure pays off for Douglas Perry's readers. This is a consistently page-turning, highly entertaining, and very intriguing story."

Let us know what you think.

The Kilbourn Public Library is starting out the year with The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski.

This stunning debut novel immerses readers in a living , breathing world that is both fantastic and utterly believable. David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes create a riveting family saga, a brilliant exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern classic.

Copies of the book are available at the library. Pick up a copy and join the discussion.

Claude is a mysterious presence in this story. What does he want and when did he start wanting it?

How does Almondine's way of seeing the world differ from the human characters in this story?

Haunting is a prominent motif in The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. How many ghosts, both literal and figurative, are in this story? In what ways are the ghosts alike? Who is haunted, and by whom?

Do Edgar's own dog-training techniques and methods change over the course of the story? If so, how?

Let us know what you think of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.

This month the Kilbourn Public Library Book Club is doing something special. Each member will be choosing from a selection of holiday books that are available at the library. We will read the book that we choose and tell others about it at the December meeting.

You can join in the fun! Read any holiday book you would like and let us know what you think about it. You can come to the library and pick up a holiday book here or read one you already have.

Share your thoughts about the book you read!

Happy Holidays!

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Club is reading The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian for its November selection. The Double Bind is a story of a young woman working at a homeless shelter who becomes fascinated with photographs taken by one of her clients, photos that suggest he might be tied to her own past in mysterious ways.

Chris Bohjalian's novel is plotted like a mystery but written like the best literary fiction. The Double Bind is a page-turner that is sensitive and beautifully written.

Is it clear to you what parts of the story were Laurel's fabrications? Does it matter which parts were?

Had you ever read The Great Gatsby? Why do you think it figured so prominently in Laurel's mind? In Chris Bohjalian's mind?


Let us know what you think of The Double Bind.

For October, the Library Book Club has chosen an American classic that fits perfectly into the season. The Haunting of Hill House is a 1959 novel by Shirley Jackson. Finalist for the National Book Award and considered one of the best literary ghost stories published during the twentieth century, it has been made into two feature films and a play.

Jackson's novel relies on terror rather than horror to elicit the reader's emotions, utilizing complex relationships between the mysterious events in the house and the characters' psyches.

Read The Haunting of Hill House and decide WHO was in control--Eleanor or Hill House? Long after you have finished the book, Eleanor and Hill House will haunt your mind and soul.

Let us know what you think!

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Club is exploring the books of John Grisham for the August meeting. Since first publishing A Time to Kill in 1988, Grisham has written one novel a year (his other books are The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, The Broker, Playing for Pizza, The Appeal, The Associate, and The Confession) and all of them have become international bestsellers.

Nine of his novels have been turned into films (The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas).

The Innocent Man (October 2006) marked his first foray into non-fiction , and Ford County (November 2009) was his first short story collection.

Choose a John Grisham book and let us know what you think!

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Club is reading Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler for its August selection. Noah's Compass is Anne Tyler's 18th novel. Set as usual in her native Baltimore, the novel concerns a fifth-grade, private-school teacher named Liam Pennywell.

Liam has been "downsized" from his employment at the age of 60 and subsequently suffers a traumatic injury that causes him to lose a bit of his memory. His life had seemed pretty empty before he left the job he disliked and now it seems even emptier.

Through some combinaion of initiative, fate and chance, Liam discovers in his search for his missing memory just how much he has repressed, and he finds himself open---to love and to hurt---at an age when he thought he'd left such emotions behind. "It's as if I've never been entirely present in my own life," he says.

When Anne Tyler was just starting to write Noah's Compass, a journalist asked her what it was about. She replied, "I'd like to write about a man who feels he has nothing more to expect from his life; but it's anybody's guess what the real subject will turn out to be in the end." Did that turn out to be the real subject of the book?

What does religion represent in the novel?

Do you think Liam is happy at the end of the book?

Let us know what you think!