Join us for book discussions during the month of November at Newton Public Library! These friendly gatherings are open to the public, no registration needed.
Books are available to borrow about a month before each discussion. You’re welcome to check out any or all of the book club picks and read along with us, whether or not you can attend.
To sign up for an email list with the latest book club announcements and reminders, click here and check “Book Discussions” when you fill out the form.
Prime Suspects Book Club – 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6
The Bat, by Jo Nesbo. Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad is dispatched to Sydney to observe a murder case. As he circles closer to the killer, Harry begins to fear that no one is safe, least of all those investigating. The victim is a 23-year-old Norwegian woman who is a minor celebrity back home. Harry has firm instructions to stay out of trouble, but never one to sit on the sidelines, he befriends one of the lead detectives, and one of the witnesses, as he is drawn deeper into the case.
TALK Book Discussion – 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7
The Milagro Beanfield War, by John Nichols. When feisty Joe Mondragon decides to irrigate his bean crop with “stolen” water, he drags the neighbors in his New Mexico village into a hilarious battle to save their community. Led by special guest Anne Hawkins. For more info on the Humanities Kansas TALK series, click here.
Nonfiction Book Club – 12 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8
Before and After, by Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate. The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours resulted in new awareness of a child trafficking scheme that operated from the 1920s to the 1950s in Memphis, Tennessee. In this book, Wingate and Christie document stories of 15 adoptees, many of them determined survivors who set out to trace their roots and reunite with their birth families in the final decades of their lives.
Strange New Worlds Book Club – 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne. Published in 1870, this classic science fiction novel tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine the Nautilus, as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax. The professor, his servant Conseil, and Canadian whaler Ned Lash wash up on the Nautilus, then embark on a journey which takes them all around the world.
Boundless Bookworms – 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21
Père Goriot, by Honoré de Balzac. Not everyone who lives in Madame Vauquer’s Parisian boarding house is quite what they seem. The penniless student Rastignac is poised to buy a fine waistcoat; old Goriot, lodged in the cheapest room, is visited by two wealthy women; while the jovial merchant Vautrin makes clandestine midnight excursions. As the fates of these three intertwine, Rastignac faces terrible choices that will define the man he is to become.
Sugar & Spice Book Club – 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 27
November 9, by Colleen Hoover. Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction lead sthem to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amid the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same day every year. Until one day, Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth.