BIAGB Book Club
Bring your lunch and your love of reading to this midday book club. Each month, we discuss a different book in a welcoming and relaxed environment. From bestselling fiction to compelling non-fiction, there’s always something new to explore. For a complete list of the books we've read, click here.
For more information, please contact: reference@chathamlib.org
When: Third Wednesday of each month at 12:00 PM
Where: Library Conference Room
December 17
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Human foibles and early nineteenth-century manners are satirized in this romantic tale of English country family life as Elizabeth Bennet and her four sisters are encouraged to marry well in order to keep the Bennet estate in their family.
January 21
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Back in American after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes -- and to a writer with a comic genius, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings. But A Walk in the Woods is more than just a laugh-out-loud hike. Bryson's acute eye is a wise witness to this beautiful but fragile trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America's last great wilderness.
February 18
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
In the early 1960s, chemist and single mother Elizabeth Zott, the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show due to her revolutionary skills in the kitchen, uses this opportunity to dare women to change the status quo.
Hooked On Books
Whether you’re into contemporary fiction, historical drama, or page-turning mysteries, Hooked on Books is perfect for readers who enjoy a wide variety of genres. Join us for lively evening discussions that dive deep into each month’s featured title. For a complete list of the books we've read, click here.
For more information, please contact: reference@chathamlib.org
When: Second Wednesday of each month at 6:00 PM
Where: Library Conference Room
December 10
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Once a promising novelist, Jacob Bonner now teaches at a third-rate MFA program. When his student Evan announces that his book-in-process is a sure thing, Jacob dismisses it...until he hears the plot. Bracing himself for the humiliation of this supernova publication, Jacob is surprised to discover that Evan is dead and the book unpublished. Passing it off as his own, Jacob is soon wealthy and read all over the world. But then an anonymous email arrives..."You are a thief."
January 14
The One Man by Andrew Gross
1944. Physics professor Alfred Mendl watches as his life's work is tossed on a roaring fire. The Nazis have no idea they have just destroyed knowledge that could start a war, or end it. Nathan Blum works a desk at an war office in Washington, DC, but he has a particular skill set the US suddenly needs. Fluent in German and Polish, Nathan escaped from the Polish ghetto at a young age. Now the government wants his to take on the most dangerous assignment of his life: sneak into Auschwitz to find and escape with one man.
February 11
The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
Washington, DC, 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, an all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship. Grace’s attic-room parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm for all, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears apart the house, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: Who is the true enemy in their midst?
Outer Edge
Explore new worlds and daring adventures with Outer Edge, our book club dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, and horror lovers. From epic space operas to magical realms, we celebrate the imagination in every form. For a complete list of the books we've read, click here.
For more information, please contact: kclardy@chathamlib.org.
When: Third Thursday of each month at 6:00 PM
Where: Library Galleries B&C
December 18
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
In the predawn hours, in a distressed American city, hundreds of unemployed men and women line up for the opening of a job fair. They are tired and cold and desperate. Emerging from the fog, invisible until it is too late, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent. Eight people are killed, fifteen are wounded, and the killer escapes. Months later, an ex-cop is still haunted by the unresolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from "the perk", claiming credit for the murders, he wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, fearing another even more diabolical attack and hell-bent on preventing it.
January 15
Wool: The Graphic Novel by Hugh Howey
This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.
February 19
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission to save Earth. Except right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery - and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he's got to do it all alone. Or does he?