Events
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.
Amiable Adult Readers Discussing Books Almost Always Read by Kids (Aardbaark) will discuss 100 Cupboards by N .D. Wilson (Yearling, $6.99). Twelve-year-old Henry York wakes up one night to find bits of plaster in his hair. Two knobs have broken through the wall above his bed and one of them is slowly turning . Henry scrapes the plaster off the wall and discovers cupboards of all different sizes and shapes. Through one he can hear the sound of falling rain. Through another he sees a glowing room-with a man pacing back and forth! Henry soon understands that these are not just cupboards, but portals to other worlds.
The Sherlock Holmes Book Club will discuss "The Blue Carbuncle", a short story from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. All Sherlockians, old or new to the canon, are welcomed. And if you don't know the difference between the canon and a pastiche, don't worry, just an enjoyment of the game is all that's needed.
A new book discussion group International Intrigue will discuss The Corpse in the Koryo by James Church. Church weaves a story with beautifully spare prose and layered descriptions of North Korea and a people he knows well after decades as an intelligence officer. This chilling portrayal leaves readers wondering if what at first seems unknowable may simply be too familiar for comfort. Date and time for future meetings and books to read will be discussed. Please sign up at the sales desk or by phone, 402-392-2877.
All Nate and Sara want is a new life in a new town, away from the crime and poverty of their past. So, after being approached at a roadside diner by a man offering $500 for a ride to Omaha, they wonder if their luck might be changing. At first it seems like easy money, but within a few hours the man is dead. Now, forced off the road by a blizzard and trapped in a run-down motel on the side of a deserted highway, Nate and Sara begin to uncover the man's secrets. Who he was, how he died, and most importantly, why he was carrying two million dollars in his suitcase. Before they know it, Nate and Sara are fighting for their lives, and in the end, each has to decide just how far they are willing to go to survive.
The As the Worm Turns Book Discussion Group will discuss Scent of the Missing: Love and Partnership with a Search-And-Rescue Dog by Susannah Charleson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $26). Scent of the Missing is the story of Charleson and her Golden Retriever Puzzle's adventures together and of the close relationship they forge as they search for the lost. From the earliest air-scent lessons to her final mastery of whole-body dialog, Puzzle emerges as a fully collaborative partner in a noble enterprise. Along the way Susannah and Puzzle learn to read the clues in the field, and in each other, to accomplish together the critical work neither could do alone and to unravel the mystery of the human/canine bond. Patricia Newman will facilitate the discussion. Space is limited, so please call to reserve your place
The World Is a Safe Place (Twiasp Press, $25) is a personal journey of self-discovery and triumph of the human spirit, filled with beautiful images and earth-shaking examples of great healing and personal and professional transformation. "Being alive is about being aware of yourself and demonstrating each moment what you choose to be!"
The World War II History Book Discussion Group will discuss OSS: The Secret History of America's First Central Intelligence Agency by Richard Smith (Lyons, $16.95). The Office of Strategic Services, headed by William "Wild Bill" Donovan, fought the good fight against the Axis powers of Germany and Japan, carrying out some of the most fantastic and fascinating operations the U.S. government has ever conducted. Smith, an ex-CIA hand, documents the controversial agency from its conception to reconfiguration as the CIA.
Bagels and Books…….Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins goes on sale. Stop by at 7 a.m. for a bagel and some juice on the way to school and get your copy. Mockingjay is the final book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. You can call any time to reserve your copy of the book.
