The West Liberty Public Library hosts two book clubs in the library. In order to join our email list, email Ali at aoepping@wlpl.org to get the information needed before each club meets.
Our book clubs are very easygoing and great for anyone who wants to read diversely, talk about books, or just get together with a fun group of people.
Each book club day will have two sessions; one at 12pm and one at 6pm.
Notes:
- If you want to read the current months books but don't want to attend the meetings, that is perfectly fine!
- Reading the entire book is not necessary; if you don't finish but still want to attend the meeting, feel free to come! (Just be open to the fact that we will have a full discussion which may include spoilers)
- Join at any time! Whether you only want to attend one meeting to see what it's like, join only one of the clubs, or attend at random, you're more than welcome!
~March~
The Page Turners
This club typically meets on the second Thursday of the month. There are two sessions you can attend; 12pm or 6pm.
The meeting is on March 9 at 12 p.m. or 6 p.m. in the library.
Every month The Page Turners meet to discuss the latest and greatest works of fiction and non-fiction. Books are available for checkout from the library.
This month we will be reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. According to goodreads.com, her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells--taken without her knowledge in 1951--became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta's cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can't afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.
Short Stories For Busy People
This club typically meets on the fourth Monday of the month. There are two sessions you can attend; 12pm or 6pm.
The meeting is on March 27 at 12 p.m. or 6 p.m. in the library.
Every month Short Stories For Busy People meets to discuss a section of a book of essays or short stories. Books are available for checkout from the library.
This month we will be reading A Wild Swan by Michael Cunningham. Please read the first chapter for book club discussion. According to goodreads.com, in A Wild Swan and Other Tales, the people and the talismans of lands far, far away, the mythic figures of our childhoods and the source of so much of our wonder are transformed by Michael Cunningham into stories of sublime revelation. Here are the moments that our fairy tales forgot or deliberately concealed: the years after a spell is broken, the rapturous instant of a miracle unexpectedly realized, or the fate of a prince only half cured of a curse. The Beast stands ahead of you in line at the convenience store, buying smokes and a Slim Jim, his devouring smile aimed at the cashier. A malformed little man with a knack for minor acts of wizardry goes to disastrous lengths to procure a child. A loutish and lazy Jack prefers living in his mother's basement to getting a job, until the day he trades a cow for a handful of magic beans.
Re-imagined by one of the most gifted storytellers of his generation, and exquisitely illustrated by Yuko Shimizu, rarely have our bedtime stories been this dark, this perverse, or this true.
2023 Book Clubs
March
(Mar. 9) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
(Mar. 27) A Wild Swan by Michael Cunningham / Reading section: first chapter
April
(Apr. 13) A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
(Apr. 17) Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón / Reading section: first chapter
May
(May 11) Know My Name by Chanel Miller
(May 22) Sword Stone Table edited by Swapna Krishna / Reading section: first chapter
June
(June 8) Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
(June 26) How Y'All Doing? by Leslie Jordan / Reading section: first chapter
July
(July 13) Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz
(July 24) Grand Union by Zadie Smith / Reading section: first chapter
August
(Aug. 10) The Measure by Nikki Erlick
(Aug. 21) Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald / Reading section: first chapter
September
(Sep. 14) Crying in the Bathroom by Erika L. Sanchez
(Sep. 25) Horizontal Vertigo by Juan Villoro / Reading section: first chapter
October
(Oct. 12) The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
(Oct. 23) Anthony Bourdain's Hungry Ghosts by Anthony Bourdain / Reading section: first chapter
November
(Nov. 9) There There by Tommy Orange
(Nov. 27) White Magic by Elissa Washuta / Reading section: first chapter
December
(Dec. 14) The Soul of a Woman by Isabel Allende
(Dec. 18) Decoding Despacito by Leila Cobo / Reading section: first chapter