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Book Discussions at Somerset County Libraries |
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Popular Fiction Book Discussion
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Tuesday, September 20th at 7:00pm
Location: Bridgewater Library, Room C Everything I never told you by Celeste NgA first novel by a Pushcart Prize-winning writer explores the fallout of a favorite daughter's shattering death on a Chinese-American family in 1970s Ohio. |
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Tuesday, October 18th at 7:00pm
Location: Bridgewater Library, Room C All the Missing Girls by Megan MirandaA story in reverse traces the disappearances of two young women, a decade apart, from the perspective of a former best friend who returns to her rural hometown, where she is plunged into a shocking maelstrom that reawakens her friend's missing-persons case, implicating a group of friends and exes. A first adult novel by the author of Fracture. |
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Mysterious Mornings
Love a good mystery? Always looking for a new book because you've read EVERYTHING by your favorite author? Or do you just really enjoy reading mysteries? come and join our Mysterious Morning discussions!
Every other month we'll discuss a different sub-genre of mysteries. Pick a book from an author you haven't read already and tell the group all about it. There's only one big rule -- don't tell us how it ends!
A list of suggested authors and titles are available at the Bridgewater Library and books will be on display about a month prior to the discussion. (If you're a voracious mystery reader you can read more than one. September's Mystery Type: Humorous Mysteries Wednesday, September 14th 9:30am - 11:30am |
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H.G. Wells 150th Anniversary Celebration |
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Wednesday, September 14th at 7:00pm The war of the worlds by H. G. WellsAs life on Mars becomes impossible, Martians and their terrifying machines invade the earth. |
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Non-Fiction Book Discussions
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Thursday, August 11th at 7:00pm |
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Wednesday, October 19th at 7:00pm The residence : inside the private world of the White House by Kate Andersen BrowerAn intimate account of White House life from the perspectives of the service staffs of the Kennedys through the Obamas details their friendships, marriages, everyday activities and elaborate state dinners. 100,000 first printing. |
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"Suspense with Susie" Discussion Group
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Tuesday, September 27th at 7:00pm The accident : a novel by Linwood BarclayBaffled when his non-drinking wife dies in a drunk-driving accident that she caused, Glen Garber struggles as a single father while trying to understand other disparities, which add up to a conspiracy involving virtually everyone he knows |
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Tuesday, November 15th at 7:00pm The kind worth killing by Peter SwansonEngaging in an intimate sharing of secrets with a mysterious woman on an airplane, an unhappily married businessman is tangled in a psychologically twisted game of cat-and-mouse involving a plot to kill the man's wife. |
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Downton Abbey Book Discussion Group
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Wednesday, September 21st at 3:00pm The other side of midnight by Simone St. JamesIn 1925 London, medium Ellie Winter investigates the murder of her rival, glamorous psychic Gloria Sutter, and is tormented by nightmarish visions that herald the grisly murders of those in Gloria's inner circle, forcing her to confront an evil unlike anything she has ever encountered. |
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Wednesday, November 16th at 3:00pm Death at Bishop's Keep by Robin PaigeKathryn Ardleigh, an outspoken, free-thinking American, accepts employment with a kindly maiden aunt living in Victorian England and finds herself investigating a mysterious death at an archaeological excavation and two other murders much closer to home. |
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Monday, August 8th at 6:00pm Pretty girls : a novel by Karin SlaughterEstranged for years after the disappearance of their sister, trophy wife Claire and struggling single mom Lydia are reunited by the murder of Claire's husband and investigate decades of family secrets to discover the truth. By the best-selling author of the Grant County series. |
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Monday, September 12th at 6:00pm A reliable wife : a novel by Robert GoolrickRalph Truitt, a wealthy businessman with a troubled past who lives in a remote nineteenth-century Wisconsin town, has advertised for a reliable wife; and his ad is answered by Catherine Land, a woman who makes every effort to hide her own dark secrets |
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Monday, October 10th at 6:00pm A fall of marigolds by Susan MeissnerTwo women living one hundred years apart who experience similar tragic losses of love--Clara's in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, and Taryn's in the collapse of the Twin Towers--are connected through time by a scarf |
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Monday, November 14th at 6:00pm The end of your life book club by Will SchwalbeRecounts how the author and his mother read and discussed books during her chemotherapy treatments, describing how the activity involved a wide range of literary genres, furthered their appreciation for literature, and strengthened their bond |
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Tuesday, August 9th at 10:00am Girl waits with gun by Amy StewartLiving in virtual isolation years after the revelation of a painful family secret, Constance is terrorized by a belligerent silk factory owner and fights back in ways outside the confines of early-20th-century women. |
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Tuesday, September 13th at 10:00am The invention of wings by Sue Monk KiddTraces more than three decades in the lives of a wealthy Charleston debutante who longs to break free from the strictures of her household and pursue a meaningful life; and the urban slave, Handful, who is placed in her charge as a child before finding courage and a sense of self. By the best-selling author of The Secret Life of Bees. |
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Tuesday, October 11th at 10:00am Life of Pi : a novel by Yann MartelPossessing encyclopedia-like intelligence, unusual zookeeper's son Pi Patel sets sail for America, but when the ship sinks, he escapes on a life boat and is lost at sea with a dwindling number of animals until only he and a hungry Bengal tiger remain |
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Tuesday, November 15th at 10:00am Britt-Marie was here by Fredrik BackmanWalking away from her loveless marriage and taking a job in a derelict, financially devastated town, sixty-three-year-old Britt-Marie uses her fierce organizational skills to become a local soccer coach to a group of lost children |
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Quarterly Non-Fiction Book Discussion Group
Join us for our quarterly non-fiction book discussion group where we will be focusing on biographies, memoirs, and other works of nonfiction that illuminate the human experience and explore our world and our history.
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Thursday, August 18th at 4:00pm One summer : America, 1927 by Bill BrysonThe award-winning author of A Short History of Nearly Everything recounts the story of a pivotal cultural year in the United States when mainstream pursuits and historical events were marked by contributions by such figures as Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth and Al Capone. |
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A Good Yarn
Bring yarn and needles and join us to discuss a book while knitting!
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Tuesday, August 2nd at 7:00pm A spool of blue thread : a novel by Anne TylerThe changing needs of aging parents impact a family gathering during which Abby Whitshank relates how her husband and she fell in love during the summer of 1959 and shares decades of marriage impacted by children and long-held secrets |
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Tuesday, September 6th at 7:00pm A man called Ove : a novel by Fredrik BackmanA curmudgeon hides beneath a cranky and short-tempered exterior a terrible personal loss while clashing with new neighbors, a boisterous family whose chattiness and habits lead to unexpected friendship. |
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Thursday, August 11th at 1:00pm The miniaturist by Jessie BurtonEngaging the services of a miniaturist to furnish a cabinet-sized replica of her new home, 18-year-old Nella Oortman, the wife of an illustrious merchant trader, soon discovers that the artist's tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways. |
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Thursday, September 8th at 1:00pm & Thursday, September 15th at 7:15pm The book of unknown Americans by Cristina HenríquezMoving from Mexico to the United States when their daughter suffers a near-fatal accident, the Riveras confront cultural barriers, their daughter's difficult recovery, and her developing relationship with a Panamanian boy |
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Thursday, October 13th at 1:00pm & Thursday, October 20th at 7:15pm The theme for spooky October is: Famous Serial Killers! Whether fiction or non fiction, pick a scary read and join us for a hearty conversation. |
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Thursday, November 10th at 1:00pm & Thursday, November 17th at 7:15pm Girl waits with gun by Amy StewartLiving in virtual isolation years after the revelation of a painful family secret, Constance is terrorized by a belligerent silk factory owner and fights back in ways outside the confines of early-20th-century women. |
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Peapack-Gladstone Library
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Wednesday, August 17th at 7:30pm Our souls at night by Kent HarufAddie Moore and Louis Waters, a widow and widower each living alone, forge a loving bond over their shared loneliness, provoking local gossip and the disapproval of their grown children in ways that are further complicated by an extended visit by a sad young grandchild |
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Wednesday, September 21st at 7:30pm Miller's Valley by Anna QuindlenComing of age in a dwindling 1960s farming community in eastern Pennsylvania, Mimi struggles with profound family secrets and the pain of falling in love with the wrong person against a backdrop of dynamic historical periods. |
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Wednesday, October 19th at 7:30pm The winter people by Jennifer McMahonComing of age in an old farmhouse, 19-year-old Ruthie begins a search for her agoraphobic mother and discovers the century-old diary of the farmhouse's long-ago resident, a grieving mother who died under mysterious circumstances. |
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Wednesday, November 16th at 7:30pm The Witches : Salem 1692 by Stacy SchiffThe Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cleopatra analyzes the Salem Witch Trials to offer key insights into the role of women in its events while explaining how its tragedies became possible. |
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Thursday, August 11th at 1:30pm Animal farm : a fairy story by George OrwellFeaturing a new preface, this classic satire on totalitarianism in which farm animals overthrow their human owner and set up their own government is once again brought to life for a new generation of readers. |
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Thursday, September 15th at 1:30pm The language of flowers : a novel by Vanessa DiffenbaughDiscovering the symbolic meanings of flowers while languishing in the foster-care system, eighteen-year-old Victoria is hired by a florist when her talent for helping others is discovered, a situation that leads her to confront a painful secret from her past |
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Wednesday, September 28th at 7:15pm Alice & Oliver : a novel by Charles BockAn intelligent and dynamic woman who attracts attention wherever she goes and enjoys life with her husband and newborn daughter is astounded by her cancer diagnosis, which pits her family against a difficult healthcare system, well-meant intentions and other stressors that threaten her health and marriage. |
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Thursday, October 6th at 1:30pm Wednesday, October 26th at 7:15pm |
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Thursday, November 3rd at 1:30pm A house in the sky : a memoir by Amanda LindhoutDocuments the author's backpacking tours through some of the world's most dangerous and war-ridden regions, describing her work as a fledgling television reporter, her brutal 15-month incarceration in Somalia and her founding of a non-profit organization to promote aid, development and education. 150,000 first printing. |
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Tuesday, November 15th at 1:30pm For this special evening book discussion, we welcome Prof. Alfred Bendixen who joined Princeton University’s faculty in 2014. Much of his scholarship has been devoted to the exploration of neglected genres, including the ghost story, detective fiction, science fiction, and travel writing. Professor Bendixen may be best known as the founder and Executive Director of the American Literature Association, the most important scholarly organization in its field. His teaching interests include the entire range of American literature as well as courses in science fiction. He has lectured extensively on H.G. Wells and in particular, The Time Machine. The time machine by H. G. WellsA Victorian scientist uses his remarkable invention, a time machine, to hurtle himself some eight hundred thousand years into the future and encounters a world populated by two distinct races, the childlike Eloi and the disgusting Morlocks who prey on the Eloi. |
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Monday, August 15th at 11:30am Claire of the sea light by Edwidge DanticatWhen a vibrant 7-year-old disappears from her Haitian community at the same time her father agonizingly decides to give her up so that she can have a better life, an ensuing search reveals the painful stories of neighbors whose lives the child touched. |
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Monday, September 19th at 11:30am The Burgess boys : a novel by Elizabeth StroutStruggling with the long-term fallout of the accident that killed their father when they were boys, two brothers are catalyzed by a nephew's thoughtless prank and discover heartbreaking deceptions and losses that inform both their personal and professional lives. |
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Monday, October 17th at 11:30am Dead wake : the last crossing of the Lusitania by Erik LarsonThe #1 New York Times best-selling author of In the Garden of Beasts presents a 100th-anniversary chronicle of the sinking of the Lusitania that discusses the factors that led to the tragedy and the contributions of such figures as President Wilson, bookseller Charles Lauriat and architect Theodate Pope Riddle. |
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Monday, November 21st at 11:30am The scarlet letter by Nathaniel HawthorneIn early colonial Massachusetts, a young woman endures the consequences of her sin of adultery and spends the rest of her life in atonement |
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Thursday, August 11th at 7:15pm The power and the glory by Graham GreeneA tormented, alcoholic priest is pursued by an idealistic lieutenant during an anti-clerical persecution in Mexico |
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Thursday, September 8th at 7:15pm Rocket boys : a memoir by Homer H. HickamThe author traces the boyhood enthusiasm for rockets that eventually led to a career at NASA, describing how he built model rockets in the family garage in West Virginia, inspired by the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik. |
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Thursday, October 13th at 7:15pm The orphan master's son : a novel by Adam JohnsonThe son of a singer mother whose career forcibly separated her from her family and an influential father who runs an orphan work camp, Pak Jun Do rises to prominence using instinctive talents and eventually becomes a professional kidnapper and romantic rival to Kim Jong Il. |
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Thursday, November 10th at 7:15pm Homer & Langley : a novel by E. L. DoctorowA tale inspired by a true story finds the blind Homer Collyer closeted within a once-grand Fifth Avenue mansion with his damaged brother and remembering a life marked by colorful characters, political events and technological achievements. |
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Social Action Book Club
Books may be borrowed from the library by contacting Anne Mellen by email (amellen@hotmail.com) or going to the library main desk.
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