Adult Book Discussion Group

Meetings are the second Thursday of the month from 7:00pm – 8:30pm in library and on Zoom
Jacqueline Takiff, moderator

Fall 2023

• December 14 – Daisy Miller by Henry James

Spring 2024

• January 11 – Death In Venice by Thomas Mann
• February 8 – The Mountains Sing by Nguyen Phan Que Mai
• March 14 – The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
• April 11 – Slow Horses by Mick Herron
• May 9 – The Razor’s Edge by William Somerset Maugham
• June 13 – Waiting For Snow In Havana by Carlos Eire

Alternate: Excellent Woman by Barbara Pym if necessary.

Mystery Book Discussion Group

Meetings are the 2nd Monday of the month from Noon-2:00pm
Carole Shmurak, book discussion leader

Fall 2023: Murder on the Emerald Isle

William Drennan, political activist, physician, poet and later member of the Irish Parliament, was the first to use the term “Emerald Isle” to describe Ireland in his poem “When Erin First Rose” (1795).
“Arm of Erin, be strong! but be gentle as brave;
And uplifted to strike, be still ready to save;
Let no feeling of vengeance presume to defile
The cause of, or men of, the Emerald Isle.”
Drennan wrote in response to the ongoing political unrest, disapproving of the violence that turned green meadows blood-red. Over two centuries later, murder can still turn parts of Ireland red.

• December 11 : Tana French, In the Woods (2007)

Spring 2024: Mystery without Murder
Detective novels are almost always about murder. The loss of life focuses the reader’s attention as no other crime can. Yet some of the most popular writers of the genre of the 20th and 21st centuries – including grande dames Josephine Tey and Dorothy L. Sayers – have written mysteries without murders. Here are five from some contemporary authors.

• January 8 : Sue Grafton, L is for Lawless (1995)
• February 12: Donna Leon, Suffer the Little Children (2007)
• March 11: Spencer Quinn, Dog on It (2009)
• April 8: Susan Wittig Albert, The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose (2012)
• May13: B.A. Shapiro, The Art Forger (2012)

Fall 2024: We’re with the Band
The Boys in the Band is a play by Mart Crowley that premiered Off-Broadway in 1968
and was made into a film in 1970. . (It was revived on Broadway for its 50th anniversary
in 2018 and, with the Broadway cast, became a 2020 Netflix film.) The play revolves
around a group of gay men who gather for a birthday party in New York City and was
groundbreaking for its portrayal of gay life. Crowley explained the title: "It's that line in
A Star Is Born when James Mason tells a distraught Judy Garland 'You're singing for
yourself and the boys in the band.” More recently, many books about LGBTQ+
characters have been the targets of book banning efforts. But gay and lesbian detectives
have been well accepted in the mystery world, and it’s time for us to meet a few.

• September 9: Laurie King, The Art of Detection (2006)
• October 14: Joe R. Lansdale, Honky Tonk Samurai (2016)
• November 4: Ellen Hart, The Mirror and the Mask (2009)
• December 9: Val McDermid, Booked for Murder (1996)

Spring 2025: Capital Crimes
Crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital crimes, capital offences,
or capital felonies, and vary depending on the jurisdiction, but commonly include serious
crimes against the person, along with crimes against the state such as treason, espionage,
and piracy. In this series, though we may be reading about murders, the “capitals” here
are state capitals – remember that list you memorized back in elementary school?

• January 13: Bruce DeSilva, Rogue Island  (2010) (Providence RI)
• February 10: Tess Gerritsen, The Silent Girl (2011) (Boston MA)
• March 10: Margaret Coel, The Perfect Suspect (2011)  (Denver CO)
• April 14: Michael McGarrity, Everyone Dies (2003)  (Santa Fe NM)
• May 12: J.T. Ellison, Field of Graves (2016) (Nashville TN)