Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Don Quixote

by Manuel De Cervantes Saavedra

The Library Book Club meeting for this book was held Thursday, June 15, 2017, at 6:30 in the entry foyer.

Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading chivalric romances, that he determines to become a knight-errant himself. In the company of his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, his exploits blossom in all sorts of wonderful ways. While Quixote’s fancy often leads him astray – he tilts at windmills, imagining them to be giants – Sancho acquires cunning and a certain sagacity. Sane madman and wise fool, they roam the world together, and together they have haunted readers’ imaginations for nearly four hundred years.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibiity

by Jane Austen

The Library Book Club meeting for this book was held Thursday, May 18, 2017, at 6:30 in the entry foyer.

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor’s warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Cathy rated it ★★★★

Miranda rated it ★★★★

Patty rated it ★★★

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid's Tale

by Margaret Atwood

The Library Book Club meeting for this book was held Thursday, March 16, 2017, at 6:30 in the entry foyer.

Book club reading copies were available for checkout from the circulation desk about a month prior to the meeting.

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

by C.S. Lewis

A combined Mother Daughter Book Club and Books for Boys meeting for this book was held December 8, 2016 at 6:30 in the Community Room.

Book club reading copies were available for checkout from the circulation desk about a month prior to the meeting.

‘They say Aslan is on the move. Perhaps he has already landed,’ whispered the Beaver. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delightful strain of music had just floated by. And Lucy got that feeling when you realize it’s the beginning of summer. So, deep in the bewitched land of Narnia, the adventure begins.

They opened a door and entered a world–Narnia–the land beyond the wardrobe, the secret country known only to Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Lucy is the first to stumble through the back of the enormous wardrobe in the professor’s mysterious old country house, discovering the magic world beyond. At first, no one believes her. But soon Edmund, Peter and Susan, too, discover the magic and meet Aslan, the Great Lion, for themselves. And in the blink of an eye, they are changed forever.

book 2 in the Chronicles of Narnia series

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★★ and said,”The one that started it all! For the rest of my childhood, I looked for magic doors and closets I could walk through. It made me want to live in Narnia.”

Vivian rated it ★★★.

Lorna rated it ★★★★★.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express

by Agatha Christie

A Library Book Club meeting for this book was held February 16, 2017, as part of On the Same Page, the Madison Library District’s annual community reading program.

Starting mid-January, free copies of the book were available at the library while supplies lasted.

“The murderer is with us–on the train now . . .”

Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. One of his fellow passengers must be the murderer.

Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man’s enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again . . .

book 10 in the Hercule Poirot series

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Cathy rated it ★★★★1/2 and said “Why have I never read Agatha Christie before? I think she eventually turned into one of those authors that I was “supposed to read” that were “good for me” and subconsciously I equated her with a chore read. Honestly, much of the beginning felt a little that way as all the evidence was collected, hashed, and then rehashed, and then . . . Wow! As the locomotive picked up steam so to speak it really went barreling down the line right to the last page where I literally gasped, then laughed, then clapped. I got to get my hands on more Christie.”

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

The Phantom Tollbooth

by Norton Juster

The Books for Boys Book Club meeting for this book was held October 20, 2016, at 6:30 in the Community Room.

Book club reading copies were available for checkout from the circulation desk about a month prior to the meeting.

For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. . . .

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Bekka rated it ★★★★★ and said, “This was one of my favorite books as a child, and I had all but forgotten the plot. It was very nice to remember it again after so much time. The adventures of Milo and Tock are timeless! There are so many wonderful lines – I particularly like the part where they meet the boy who grows down, not up, and talks about some of his family who grow upside down – “They become giants and walk among the stars.” There are so many profound and simple lessons, all in a very funny and enjoyable plot.”

Lorna rated it ★★★★★ and said, “I wish that I had children in my home right now to read this book to. I laughed and enjoyed all the tidbits of wisdom as well as the VERY clever use of language. I now have a new favorite children’s book!”

My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir

My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir

My First Summer in the Sierra

by John Muir

In the summer of 1869, John Muir, a young Scottish immigrant, joined a crew of shepherds in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. The diary he kept while tending sheep formed the heart of this book and eventually lured thousands of Americans to visit Yosemite country.

First published in 1911, My First Summer in the Sierra incorporates the lyrical accounts and sketches he produced during his four-month stay in the Yosemite River Valley and the High Sierra. His record tracks that memorable experience, describing in picturesque terms the majestic vistas, flora and fauna, and other breathtaking natural wonders of the area.

Today Muir is recognized as one of the most important and influential naturalists and nature writers in America. This book, the most popular of the author’s works, will delight environmentalists and nature lovers with its exuberant observations.

The Histories by Herodotus

The Histories by Herodotus

The Histories

by Herodotus

One of the masterpieces of classical literature, the Histories describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic struggle forms the core of his work, Herodotus’ natural curiosity frequently gives rise to colorful digressions—a description of the natural wonders of Egypt; an account of European lake-dwellers; and far-fetched accounts of dog-headed men and gold-digging ants. With its kaleidoscopic blend of fact and legend, the Histories offers a compelling Greek view of the world of the fifth century BC.

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

The Screwtape Letters

by C. S. Lewis
A masterpiece of satire, this classic has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life from the vantage point of Screwtape, a senior tempter in the service of “Our Father Below.” At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C. S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of the worldly-wise old devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging and humorous account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.

Ratings and Reviews from the Librarians

Cathy rated it ★★★★★.

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