Contemporary Books
This year-round group meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m.
at the Library. Titles for discussion are chosen and moderated by the group
members. Each month the current title is available at the circulation desk
in the Library. For further information, please call Sue Patterson at the Library,
(734) 453-0750 or by email: spatterson@plymouthlibrary.org
View past reading selections at: A
Decade of Reading and Contemporary Books, 2000
and Beyond
September 17, 2008 ~
Case Histories
by Kate Atkinson
Three cold cases, three family tragedies: the disappearance
of a young girl, a man who sees his daughter murdered, and a
wife who takes an axe to her husband. More than a decade later,
private investigator, Jackson Brodie, gets involved investigating
some aspect of all three cases. As he delves further into each one, he discovers
startling connections, as long-buried family secrets are revealed, and he is inextricably
entangled in his clients’ lives and problems, all the while confronting family troubles of
his own. The narrative combines the elements of a traditional detective novel with the
keen psychological insight of a character study, while featuring an engagingly offbeat
detective and an intriguing cast of complex and lovably eccentric characters.
October 15, 2008
Fun Home : A Family Tragicomic
by Alison Bechdel
A fresh and brilliantly told memoir from a cult-favorite
comic artist, this graphic novel with gothic twists, documents the author’s childhood experiences and her coming of age as a woman. At the center of her tale lies her heartbreaking relationship with her cold and distant father, who is a high school English teacher, a
historic preservation expert, an obsessive restorer of the family’s Victorian house, the
director of the town funeral home, and a closet homosexual. “A masterpiece about two
people who live in the same house but different worlds” told with humor, power,
literary allusion, and artistic detail. (Time Magazine)
November 19, 2008 ~
Into the Wild
by Jon Krakauer
In April 1992,Christopher McCandless, a young man from a
well-to-do family, hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the
wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. He had given his savings to
charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all
the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four
months later, his decomposed body was found by a moose hunter. What would make
a gifted young man, recently graduated from college, turn his back on his life and
family, and undertake such a dangerous return to nature? Krakauer probes the mystery
of McCandless’ death and documents the seductive appeal that risky activities hold
for young men as they come of age in our industrialized age.
Brown
Bag Books
This daytime group meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month at
noon in the library. Group members bring their own lunches and beverages
are provided by the Library. Multiple copies of the works to be read
are available at the library circulation desk. For
more information, contact Aimee Haley, Adult Services Librarian,
734-453-0750, ext. 206 or email her at: ahaley@plymouthlibrary.org.
See a reading list of past selections: Books
discussed at Brown Bag Books, 1999 - 2007 
September 24 - noon
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Based in small-town western North Carolina, the Waverley sisters belatedly strengthen bonds using their unusual talents and embracing their eccentric family heritage. Their famed garden also has a peculiar reputation, producing edible flowers endowed with magic powers and an apple tree bearing prophetic fruit. Claire Waverley uses these special plants in her catering business – including pansies that make children more thoughtful and nasturtiums that help keep secrets. Meanwhile, sister Sydney followed in her mother’s footsteps by abandoning the family for New York City. After a string of broken relationships, she has returned home with her daughter Bay. While Sydney reconnects with old friends, she rediscovers the family magic. Meanwhile, Claire begins to reconnect with her sister and awaken to new possibilities.
October 22 - noon
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie’s novel “Murder on the Orient Express” is a murder mystery classic. The morning after a snowstorm stopped the Orient Express in its tracks, one passenger was found stabbed to death in his compartment, the door locked on the inside. The victim is American businessman Ratchett. Belgian detective Hercule Poirot suspects several international travelers, many who are not all that they seem; including a Hungarian diplomat, an English governess, and a Swedish missionary. Despite planted evidence Poirot is relentless in unraveling the crime, and puts forward not one solution, but two.
November 26 - Noon
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
Nancy Horan’s debut is a fictionalization of the life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, who was made famous for her scandalous relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright. Free spirited Mamah is at odds with early 20th century women’s roles. She meets Wright when he designs a house for Edwin, her husband. Cheney is enthralled Frank Lloyd Wright. The two set off for Europe after leaving both of their respective families. Mamah broadens her perspective when she meets feminist and activist Ellen Key, who rejected traditional values of marriage and divorce. Yet Mamah’s drive to achieve is tinged with guilt over abandoning her children. Although the lovers return from Europe and make an attempt to settle in Wisconsin out of the limelight, they could not escape the repercussions of a doggedly pursuant press. Hopes for reconciliation are ended abruptly in a shocking but true conclusion.
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