The Kilbourn Public Library Book Club selection for March is The Girls From Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow. The Girls From Ames is the story of a group of ordinary women who built an extraordinary friendship.

Meet the Ames Girls: eleven childhood friends who formed a special bond growing up in Ames, Iowa. As young women, they moved to eight different states, yet managed to maintain an enduring friendship that would carry them through college and careers, marriage and motherhood, dating and divorce, a child's illness and the mysterious death of one member of their group.

Capturing their remarkable story, The Girls From Ames is a testament to the deep bonds of women as they experience life's joys and challenges--and the power of friendship to triumph over heartbreak and unexpected tragedy.

Did the story of a particular Ames girl resonate more with you than the others? If so, which one and why?

"Bottom line: Women talk. Men do things together" (p. 102). How does this statement bear out in your own experience? Do you have any close friends of the opposite sex? In what ways, if any, are those friendships different than those with people of the same sex?

If you are a woman, is The Girls From Ames a book you would recomment to a man? If you are a man, what drew you to read this book? In what ways is this book a story that transcends gender?

Let us know what you think!

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Club has picked Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews for their February book. This was Andrews' first dark suspense novel in a bestselling series about a family haunted by a remorseless, demonic history. From the first sunny images of the family to the final curse, this tale of passion and peril is sure to hold you spellbound.

Why do you suppose the author chose to begin her story with the birth of the twins? What does this exciting time in the Dollanganger family say about them?

Let us know what you think of Flowers in the Attic: the compelling story of a family's betrayal and heartbreak, love and revenge.