The Kilbourn Public Library Book Club has chosen Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer for its November book selection.  Boston Globe calls this book--"Energetic, inventive, and ambitious...an uplifting myth born of the sorrows of 9/11."

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York.  His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11.  This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey.

Oskar is an unusually precious child.  Do you find him sympathetic or annoying?  Or both?

Were there any passages or scenes that you remember well or particularly liked?

Do you find the illustrations, scribblings, over-written texts, etc. a meaningful, integral part of the work?  Or do you find them distracting and gimmicky?  Why are they there?

Let us know what you think.

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Club will be reading Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James for its October selection.  This book is a rare meeting of literary genius:  P.D. James, long among the most admired mystery writers of our time, draws the characters of Jane Austen's beloved novel Pride and Prejudice into a tale of murder and emotional mayhem.

It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy's magnificent estate.  Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable.  Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles.  Elizabeth's sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby;  her father visits often;  there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy's sister Georgiana.  And preparations are under way for their  much-anticipated annual autumn ball.

Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered.  A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth's disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley.  She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered.  With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery. 

Inspired by a lifelong passion for Austen, P.D. James masterfully re-creates the world of Pride and Prejudice, electrifying it with the excitement and suspense of a brilliantly crafted crime story as only she can write.

Good crime writers like P.D. James embed clues early on in their stories. What seemingly inconsequential clues are dropped that later turn out to be decisive in solving the mystery.  How cleverly does James bury her clues?

Mystery writers also like to throw in red-herrings.  Are there any false clues in Death Comes to Pemberley that fooled you, leading you to expect a different outcome?

Is Death Comes to Pemberley a good mystery?  Is it a good sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice?

Let us know what you think!

During September the library book club members are reading biographies of their choice.  Why read biographies?  Biographies are a good way to:  discover fascinating people;  rediscover people we think we know well;  reassess infamous characters;  get the story behind legendary characters;  learn history through the life of an individual;  experience adventure from the safety of one's armchair; enjoy a good book.

So grab a biography and let us know all about it!

What made you want to read the book you chose?

Did you learn anything new about this person or did anything in the book change your opinion about him/her?

What is the subject's most admirable quality?  Is this someone you would want to know or have known?

What did you find to be the most interesting or surprising events in this book?

If this person impacted history, what may have been different without his or her presence?

What did you learn about the time period in which the book is set that you did not previously know?

Were you glad you read this book?  Would you recommend it to a friend?

August's library book club selection is written by Wisconsin author Sara Rath.  Rath's debut novel, Star Lake Saloon and Housekeeping Cottages tells the story of Hannah Swann, a Wisconsin poetry professor who suddenly inherits a rustic lakeside resort in the north woods run by her Uncle Hal.

Follow Hannah as she reluctantly adjusts to this life-changing experience.  Readers will enjoy how Rath has thrown a bit of everything into this novel--mystery, family drama, love story and comedy--and will certainly like getting to know Hannah as she fights big business, hot flashes and her own resistance to this wild and lovely place.

At the beginning of the novel, Hannah may not be an exemplary figure but she has traits that many of us share.  Are the results of her reinvention truer to her heart than the life and identity she leaves behind in Madison?

One of the themes the author returns to again and again in the book is the inevitability of change--in the environment and in people's lives, and the disparity between Hannah's past and present selves.  On page 107, Hannah tells herself "Predictability can be reassuring."  Do you agree or disagree with this?  Would you be willing to risk a big change in your own life, even if it caused disruption or readjustment for the rest of your family?

Let us know what you think of Star Lake Saloon and Housekeeping Cottages.

The Kilbourn Public Library Book Club is reading Jimmy Buffett books for July.  Although Jimmy Buffett is best known for his music, he is also a best selling author.  He has written both fiction and non-fiction.  Jimmy Buffett  is one of only eight authors in the history of The New York Times Best Seller lists to reach No. 1 on both the fiction and the non-fiction lists.

Stop in the library and pick up a Jimmy Buffett book.   Then let us know what you think.

For June the Kilbourn Public Library Book Club will be reading The Death of the Phoenix, the first volume in Ernest Meeder's Spirit of the Shark trilogy. 

In the East Indies during and after the Japanese occupation of the islands, a five-year-old boy named Kees journeys through the brutal world of the occupation and escapes into a new and civilized world.  When that new world proves to be as broken as the one he had fled, Kees grows discouraged.  With the help of some unexpected people, he learns to see the world from the perspectives of different cultures and religions. 

Join the discussion on this interesting book.  
Let us know what you think of  The Death of the Phoenix.

In May the library book club is reading Cecelia Ahern's There's No Place Like Here, the story of Sandy Shortt, a missing persons investigator who is also a little obsessive compulsive.  This imaginative novel encourages the reader to step outside of traditional plot lines and enter a world made up of missing people and possessions that have come together from all over the globe to start fresh.

One online reviewer says of this book, "There's No Place Like Here is unlike any book I have ever read.  Author Cecilia Ahern is a master storyteller, pulling readers in and not letting them go until they reach the conculsion of this amazing tale of yearning, loss and hope."

Let us know what you think of There's No Place Like Here.

Did you enjoy the book?  Why?  Why not?

What about the plot?  Did it pull you in?

How realistictic was the characterization?  Would you want to meet any of the characters?  Did you like them?  Hate them?

Did the book end the way you expected?