The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is again reading a selection of holiday books for the December get together.  Each person is choosing any holiday book they would like to read and we will have a short discussion on the books.


We will also be watching the movie The Fault in Our Stars.  This movie is based on the book of the same name that we read for our November selection.


Anyone is welcome to join in this holiday book reading and movie night.  Stop by the library or bookmobile and pick a holiday book to read.  Or just come and watch the movie with us.  We will be meeting on Monday, December 15 at 6:00 p.m. and Wednesday, December 17 at 1:30 p.m.   Join us for book discussion, a movie and snacks.


How do you feel about movies with a book tie-in?  Would you rather read the book first or watch the movie?


Do you know of any movies made from a book that you thought were really well done or any that you thought were very poorly done?


What is your favorite holiday themed book?


Let us know what you think!
Happy Holidays!

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group has chosen The Fault in Our Stars by John Green for the November book selection.


The Fault in Our Stars is John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.


Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis.  But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group,  Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.


How would you describe the two main characters, Hazel and Gus?  Do either of them conform, in behavior or thinking, to what we normally associate with young cancer patients? 


How do Hazel and Gus each relate to their cancer?


At one point, Hazel says, "Cancer books suck."  Is this a book about cancer?  Did you have trouble picking up the book to read it?  What were you expecting?  Were those expectations met...or did the book alter your ideas?


What do you think about Peter Van Houten, the fictional author of An Imperial Affliction?   This book's real author, John Green, has said that Van Houten is a "horrible, horrible person but I have an affection for him."  Why might Green have said that?  What do you think of Van Houten?


How did you experience this book?  Is it too sad, too tragic to contemplate?  Or did you find it in some way uplifting?


Let us know what you think of The Fault in Our Stars.

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is reading We Are Water by Wally Lamb for the October selection.   We Are Water is an intricate and layered portrait of marriage, family, and the inexorable need for understanding and connection. 


In middle age, Annie Oh--wife, mother, and outsider artist--has shaken her family to its core.  After twenty-seven years of marriage and three children, Annie has fallen in love with Viveca, the wealthy, cultured, confident Manhattan art dealer who orchestrated her professional success. 


Annie and Viveca plan to wed in the Oh family's hometown of Three Rivers, Connecticut, where gay marriage has recently been legalized.  But the impending wedding provokes some very mixed reactions and opens a Pandora's box of toxic secrets--dark and painful truths that have festered below the surface of the Ohs' lives.


With humor and breathtaking compassion, Wally Lamb brilliantly captures the essence of human experience in vivid and unforgettable characters struggling to find hope and redemption in the aftermath of trauma and loss.  (From the publisher.)


Family, tragedy, art, violence, secrets, love, and transformation are the themes at the heart of We Are Water.  By keeping things to ourselves and by sharing them inappropriately, are we doomed to keep repeating the mistakes of the past?  How are Anna's secrets both destructive and productive? 


What is the attraction between Anna and Viveca?  What does Viveca offer Anna that Orion cannot?  What are your impressions of Viveca?


What is the significance of the title, We Are Water?  How many meanings does it have?  How does it connect to the final scene in the book?


Let us know what you think of We Are Water.

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is reading Labor Day by Joyce Maynard for the August book selection. 


With the end of summer closing in and a steamy Labor Day weekend looming in the town of Holton Mills, New Hampshire, thirteen-year-old Henry--lonely, friendless, not too good at sports--spends most of his time watching television, reading, and daydreaming about the soft skin and budding bodies of his female classmates.  For company Henry has his long-divorced mother, Adele--a onetime dancer whose summer project was to teach him how to foxtrot; his hamster, Joe; and awkward Saturday-night outings to Friendly's with his estranged father and new stepfamily.  As much as he tries, Henry knows that even with his jokes and his "Husband for a Day" coupon, he still can't make his emotionally fragile mother happy.  Adele has a secret that makes it hard for her to leave their house, and seems to possess an irreparably broken heart. 


But all that changes on the Thursday before Labor Day, when a mysterious bleeding man named Frank approaches Henry and asks for a hand.  Over the next five days, Henry will learn some of life's most valuable lessons:  how to throw a baseball, the secret to perfect piecrust, the breathless pain of jealousy, the power of betrayal, and the importance of putting others--especially those we love--above ourselves.  And the knowledge that real love is worth waiting for. 


As reported by Henry, his mother Adele displays a number of behaviors that could be interpreted as crazy.  How do you explain her son's steadiness and competence?  Do you consider Adele to be a bad mother?


Were you surprised that Adele was willing to bring Frank to her home?  Why do you think she did?


Henry often refers to a "normal family," a "regular family," a "family."  What does the concept of family mean to Henry?  What does the term "normal family" mean to you?


How do you think the events of that Labor Day weekend changed Henry?  How might his life have gone if Frank had not shown up?


Let us know what you think!

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is reading The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson for the July selection.


In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history:  the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the south for northern and western cities, in search of a better life.  From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America.


With stunning historical detail, Wilkerson tells this story through the lives of three unique individuals:  Ida Mae Gladney, George Swanson Starling, and Robert Pershing Foster.  The Warmth of Other Suns is a superb account of an "unrecognized immigration" within our own land. 


What are the most surprising revelations in the book?


What were the major economic, social, and historical forces that sparked the Great Migration?  Why did blacks leave in such  great numbers from 1915 to 1970?


How did the Great Migration change not only the North but also the South?  How did the South respond to the mass exodus of cheap black labor?


Let us know what you think of The Warmth of Other Suns.

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is reading Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury for the June selection.  Twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding arises on an early June morning in a small bedroom in his grandparents' house.  As Douglas looks out the window, the small town of Green Town, Illinois awakens, and Doug is filled with the joy of being alive.  And so begins the summer of 1928 as reimagined by Ray Bradbury.  Dandelion Wine is a rich, evocative tale of a summer long past and its memories, joys, and frustrations.




Throughout the novel, Douglas and his younger brother, Tom, keep a written record of what they learn and discover during the summer.   Does this accounting reflect what they actually learn?  Why or why not?




What is the significance of the ravine to the story?  In what way does the ravine reflect the untamed or uncivilized side of life?




Douglas falls ill with a fever late in the novel and the doctor is mystified as to his illness.  What causes Doug's illness and how does Jonas, the traveling junk dealer, cure him?




At the end of the novel, Bradbury states that Douglas puts an end to the summer of 1928 when he goes to sleep. However, immediately prior to this statement Douglas reflects that he can go stare at the bottles of Dandelion Wine that are dated for each day of the summer until he recalls the day.  Does the summer of 1928 truly end?  What do you think of Bradbury's evocation of the summer?




Pick up a copy of Dandelion Wine at the library and let us know what you think!




We also have copies of Farewell Summer, the long awaited sequel to Dandelion Wine.

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is reading Longbourn by Jo Baker for May.  In this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice, the servants take center stage.  Sarah, the orphaned housemaid, spends her days scrubbing the laundry, polishing the floors, and emptying the chamber pots for the Bennet household.  But there is just as much romance, heartbreak, and intrigue downstairs at Longbourn as there is upstairs.  When a mysterious new footman arrives, the orderly realm of the servants' hall threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended. 

Publishers Weekly says of Longbourn "a must-read for fans of Austen, this literary tribute also stands on its own as a captivating love story."

How would you compare and contrast the love stories between Sarah and James, and Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy?

What did you make of each chapter's introductory quote?  Were there any that you were particularly drawn to?  Why?

Lizzie Bennet is a much-loved heroine.  Has Longbourn changed you view of her at all?  Do you think she acts selfishly in relation to Sarah?

Did you enjoy reading the book?   Why or Why not? 

Let us know what you think!

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is reading Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt for the April selection. 

Two women running away from their marriages collide on a foggy highway, killing one of them.  The survivor, Isabelle, is left to pick up the pieces, not only of her own life, but of the lives of the devastated husband and fragile son that the other woman, April, has left behind. Together, they try to solve the mystery of where April was running to, and why.  As these three lives intersect, the book asks, How well do we really know those we love--and how do we forgive the unforgivable?

The Boston Globe describes  Pictures of You  "as part literary mystery, part domestic drama, and part psychological examination."  This is a novel of loss, redemption, forgiveness, and self-discovery. 

What is the significance of the title?  Would you have given the book a different title?  If yes, what is your title?

What scene was the most pivotal for the book? 

What surprised you the most about the book?

Were there any moments where you disagreed with the choices of any of the characters?  What would you have done differently? 

Did  you think the ending was appropriate?  How would you have liked to have the book end?

Would you recommend this book to a friend?

Let us know what you think of Pictures of You.

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is reading True Crime books for March.  Choose any True Crime book to read.  We have several titles available near the front desk in the library, but there are many other possibilities.  Some authors, like Ann Rule, specialize in writing about true crime.  Others, like James Patterson, are better known for their fiction but also have written about true crimes.  One of the most famous books in this genre is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. 

Let us know what you think about True Crime books.  Do you read them often?  What is your favorite True Crime book?  Why is it your favorite? 

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Discussion Group is reading Roses by Leila Meacham for the February selection.  Spanning the 20th century, the story of Roses takes place in a small East Texas town against the backdrop of the powerful  timber and cotton industries.  With expert, unabashed, big-canvas storytelling, Roses covers a hundred years, three generations of Texans and the explosive combination of passion for work and longing for love. 

Cotton tycoon Mary Toliver and timber magnate Percy Warwick should have married but unwisely did not, and now must deal with the deceit, secrets, and tragedies of their choice and the loss of what might have been--not just for themselves but for their children, and children's children. 

Percy admits to Mary,  "I want to marry you because I love you.  I've loved you all your life, ever since you smiled at me through your cradle bars.  I've never considered marrying anyone else.  He's taken the concept of love at first sight to a new level--is it really possible to love someone the way he has, for you entire life?

Compounding the horror of Darla's suicide are the pink ribbons she left behind, the memory of which "writhed between (Mary and Percy) like a poisonous snake."  Roses and the colors pink, red, and white all have major significance in the story.  What kind of symbolism do we ascribe to objects and their colors today?  Why do you think that those objects that represent emotions are so important and powerful?

Had Mary and Percy married after all, do you think that their relationship would have worked out in the end?

Should Mary have revealed the necessary fraud she had to undertake to the nephew that she inadvertently insulted?  Should she have warned Rachel of the power of Somerset before cultivating her grand-niece's passion for farming?  What knowledge does the older generation owe its heirs, and when should that knowledge be passed down?

Let us know what you think of Roses!