Events
A master of surrealism presents his first full-length collection. Omaha native McKernan’s poetry has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Field, Antaeus, New England Quarterly, Virginia Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. Since his retirement from teaching at Marshall University, he edits ABZ Press, which publishes a poetry magazine and books of poetry.
The As the Worm Turns Book Discussion Group will discuss Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Random House, $14). At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn't always recognize the changes in those around her. As the townspeople grapple with their problems, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition--its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires. Andy Ketterson will facilitate the discussion. Space is limited, so please call to reserve your place.
The Coast Guard prepares for a Category 5 hurricane that has entered the Gulf of Mexico. When the air crew patrols the waterways, they spot a huge fishing cooler about a mile offshore. When the crew opens the cooler, they find body parts tightly wrapped in plastic. Though she is putting herself in the projected path of the hurricane, Special Agent Maggie O'Dell is sent to investigate. Eventually, she's able to trace the torso in the cooler back to a man who mysteriously disappeared weeks earlier after a hurricane hit Port St. Lucie, Florida. Only Port St. Lucie is on the Atlantic side. How did his body end up six hundred miles away in the Gulf of Mexico?
The World War II History Book Discussion Group will discuss Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy by Max Hastings (Vintage, $16.95). On June 6, 1944, American and British troops staged the greatest amphibious landing in history to begin Operation Overlord, the battle to liberate Europe from the scourge of the Third Reich. Moving beyond just the storming of Omaha beach and D-Day, he explores the Allies' push inward. Far from a gauzy romanticized remembrance, Hastings details a grueling ten week battle to overpower the superbly trained, geographically entrenched German Wehrmacht.
Ten Walks/Two Talks updates the meandering and meditative form of Basho's travel diaries. Mapping 21st-century New York, Cotner and Fitch tap their predecessor's collaborative tendencies in order to construct a descriptive/dialogic fugue. The book combines a series of sixty-minute, sixty-sentence walks around Manhattan and a pair of dialogues about walking--one of which takes place during a late-night philosophical ramble through Central Park.
Enidina Current and Mary Morrow live on neighboring farms in the flat, hard country of the upper Midwest during the early 1900s. This hardscrabble life comes easily to some, like Eddie, who has never wanted more than the land she works and the animals she raises on it with her husband, Frank. But for the deeply religious Mary, farming is an awkward living and at odds with her more cosmopolitan inclinations. But as the Great Depression threatens, the delicate balance of their reliance on one another tips, pitting neighbor against neighbor, exposing the dark secrets they hide from one another, and triggering a series of disquieting events that threaten to unravel not only their friendship but their families as well.
Homicide Detective Kelli Jordan is called to investigate a grisly murder at a local gentleman's club, where the woman's death is only the beginning. Detective Jordan discovers a truth so revealing, it leads her to seek out someone who is familiar with how the killer operates. Will her newfound friend be able to help her end the madman's reign of terror, or does Lucifer, once again, slip away into the night?
Puppet workshop with Anna and friends. Learn to make puppets and put on a show. Ages 7 and up. Sign up in the store.
Join us to chat about favorite reads, books that changed our lives, or the book we just couldn’t put down. No need to make reservations--just come and enjoy a little conversation about books. Carol Lynch will facilitate the discussion
Shapeshifters from across the country are convening in the Windy City, and as a gesture of peace, Master Vampire Ethan Sullivan has offered their leader a very special bodyguard: Merit, Chicago's newest vampire. Merit is supposed to protect the Alpha, Gabriel Keene-and to spy for the vamps while she's at it. Oh, and luckily Ethan's offering some steamy, one-on-one combat training sessions to help her prepare for the mission. Unfortunately, someone is gunning for Gabriel, and Merit soon finds herself in the line of fire. She'll need all the help she can get to track down the would-be assassin, but everywhere she turns, there are rising tensions between supernaturals-not least between her and a certain green-eyed, centuries-old master vampire.
The new book discussion group Books and Bagels will discuss The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Penguin, $24.95). In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another. Please sign up at the sales desk or by phone, 402-392-2877.
Puppet workshop with Anna and friends. Learn to make puppets and put on a show. Ages 7 and up. Sign up in the store.
