The book club selection for July is Canadian author Margaret Atwood's prize-winning novel Alias Grace. Alias Grace is based on real-life character, Grace Marks, who at age fifteen was sentenced to death for her part in the murder of her employer and his mistress. Although her sentence was changed to life imprisonment, many thought that she should have died on the gallows along with her co-conspirator.

Thus, Grace Marks became a "celebrated murderess" and an infamous enigma of the nineteenth century. Offering no simple solutions to this ongoing mystery, Atwood's prose will have readers laughing one minute and weeping the next.

Atwood employs two main points of view and voices in the novel. Do you trust one more than the other? As the story progresses, does Grace's voice (in dialogue) in Simon's part of the story change? If yes, how and why?

Were you of the same mind regarding Grace's innocence or guilt throughout the novel? At what points did you waver one way or the other?

Did any character in the novel freely choose his or her course of action?

Why do you suppose the book is titled Alias Grace?

Let us know what you think!

The book club selection for June is Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman. Hoffman is known for her lyrical writing and stories laced with magic. Skylight Confessions is an epic novel that's steeped in the imagery and magic of fairy tales. The story starts with Arlyn Singer, a young woman who decides to love the next man she sees, and pursues him straight to a marriage. The rest of her life, and the lives of those around her, seems predetermined and magical but also deeply sad and bound up in loss. Skylight Confessions is filled with people falling in love quickly and deeply, children longing to fly, and otherworldly signs and beings.

Did your family have any favorite myths or fairy tales you heard as a child?

Do you think there was something that could have been done to save Sam?

What was it that John Moody learned about Arlyn as he was dying?

Why do you suppose the author chose to end the book before the door opened?

Let us know what you think!

The book club selection for May is Still Alice by Lisa Genova. According to Barnes & Noble Editors this may be one of the most frightening novels you'll ever read. It's certainly one of the most unforgettable. Genova's debut revolves around Alice Howland--Harvard professor, gifted researcher and lecturer, wife, and mother of three grown children. One day, Alice sets out for a run and soon realizes she has no idea how to find her way home. It's a route she has taken for years, but nothing looks familiar. She is utterly lost. Is her forgetfulness the result of menopausal symptoms? A ministroke? A neurological cancer? After a few doctors' appointments and medical tests, Alice has her diagnosis, and it's a shocker--she has early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

What follows is the story of Alice's slow but inevitable loss of memory and connection with reality, told from her perspective. She gradually loses the ability to follow a conversational thread, the story line of a book, or to recall information she heard just moments before. To Genova's credit, readers learn of the progression of Alice's disease through the reactions of others, as Alice does, so they feel what she feels--a slowly building terror.

In Still Alice, Genova, who has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard, uniquely reveals the experience of living with Alzheimer's. Hers is an unusual book--both a moving novel and an important read.

When Alice becomes disoriented in Harvard Square, a place she's visited for twenty-five years, why doesn't she tell John? Is she too afraid to face a possible illness, worried about his reaction, or some other reason?

When Alice's three children, Anna, Tom and Lydia, find out they can be tested for the genetic mutation that causes Alzheimer's, only Lydia decides she doesn't want to know. Why does she decline? Would you want to know if you had the gene?

Alice's doctor rells her, "You may not be the most reliable source of what's been going on" (pg 54). Yet, Lisa Genova chose to tell the story from Alice's point of view. As Alice's disease worsens, her perceptions indeed get less reliable. Why would the author choose to stay in Alice's perspective? What do we gain, and what do we lose?

The book club selection for April is The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. This is Amy Tan's fourth novel and like much of her work it deals with the relationship between an American-born Chinese woman and her immigrant mother.

The Bonesetter's Daughter is divided into two major stories. The first is about Ruth, a Chinese-American woman living in San Francisco. She worries that her elderly mother, LuLing, is gradually becoming more and more demented. LuLing seems increasingly forgetful, and makes bizarre comments about her family and her own past.

The second major story is that of LuLing herself, as written for Ruth. Several years earlier, LuLing had written out her life story in Chinese. Ruth arranges to have the document translated, and learns the truth about her mother's life in China.

Memory plays an important role in The Bonesetter's Daughter. How is Ruth's life affected by her childhood memories? How do LuLing's memories affect her behavior around Ruth?

To frame the novel, Tan uses the device of a story within a story. How is this effective in bringing past and present together?

What is the significance of Ruth's learning the family name at the end of the book? What does Ruth learn about her name that helps change her opinion of her mother?

Let us know what you think of The Bonesetter's Daughter.

During March the Kilbourn Library book club will be exploring the world of Jane Austen. Jane Austen was an English novelist whose realism, biting social commentary and masterful use of irony have earned her a place as one of the most widely read and most beloved writers in English literature. Her fans today number in the millions and since the advent of motion pictures, her novels have been turned into film at an almost regular pace. Although Jane Austen published a mere six novels, those few works have become the basis for the true romance story since their appearance on the literary scene in the early 1800's.

We invite you to read one or more of Jane Austen's books. We have several books available at the library desk for you to choose from including her novels as well as books written about her. Stop by and pick one up today.

Let us know which book you read and what you think of it.

Why do you think that Austen's novels are still so widely read and appreciated today?

The book club selection for February is The Necklace: Thirteen Women and the Experiment That Transformed Their Lives by the Women of Jewelia and Cheryl Jarvis.

A few years ago, thirteen California women agreed to pay $15,000 for a diamond necklace and take turns keeping it and wearing it for a month at a time. They explain why they did it-- and what they got out of it--in their collective memoir, The Necklace, a New York Times bestseller.

The necklace has the subtitle Thirteen Women and the Experiment That Transformed Their Lives. Did the authors of this book convince you that their lives really had been "transformed"? Why or why not?

Some of the women in The Necklace make pointed comments on how Americans see middle-aged women. Roz McGrath ("the feminist") says, "I hate it when people call me young lady." (Page 190) Do you think The Necklace makes a statement about women "of a certain age"? What is it?

At one point, a group of men see the diamonds and debate what they could share: "a boat, an RV, a Porsche?" (page 128) Would a similar experiment have worked with men? Why or why not?

Let us know what you think of The Necklace: Thirteen Women and the Experiment That Transformed Their Lives.

The book club selection for January is The Once and Future King by T.H. White. According to one review, The Once and Future King is children's fantasy as it should be, a delightful read for both kids and adults. T.H. White manages to mingle the humorous and the sad portions of the King Arthur story successfully, and he never talks down to his audience or tries to oversimplify the events. The result is a wonderfully entertaining book that never slows down, one that's both amusing and serious.

White covers the entire story of King Arthur's life. He captures the spirit of the times, making you feel like you're actually in England during the Middle Ages, watching the tournaments and quests and battles yourself. His descriptions are beautiful, his characters come alive and his handling of some of the classic scenes is unforgettable.


Arthur's first important realization is that people in his time think that "might is right." Is this belief confined to the Dark Ages, or do many people still think this way? Can you give any examples?

At one point, Arthur believes that might can be used in the cause of justice. Sir Kay objects that this is no different from "might is right." Do you agree with Sir Kay? Or are there times when people are justified in using might to enforce their ideas?

Merlyn says it is wrong to start a war, but it is all right to fight if the other side starts. He also says it is almost always possible to tell which side is starting a war. Do you agree it is only legitimate to fight if the other side starts the war? And is it always possible to tell which side is starting a war?

The Once and Future King has been called the world's greatest fantasy classic.
Let us know what you think!