Biography and Non-fiction Book Club

The Biography & Nonfiction book club held its organizational meeting on September 19, 2009 and it is well on its way! The group will meet on the second Sunday of each month at 3:00 pm at the Lakeview Branch of the Peoria Public Library. The members have chosen the first four books to be discussed, as listed below.

Please email or call Roberta Koscielski (309-497-2186 or RobertaKoscielski@ppl.peoria.lib.il.us ) with any questions or if you need assistance in reserving a library copy of any of these titles.

2010

Sunday, January 10: Discussion of Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris.

Review of Pictures at a Revolution from Publishers Weekly magazine: While one might think that the films discussed in this book have been thoroughly plumbed (The Graduate; Bonnie and Clyde; In the Heat of the Night; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?; Dr. Dolittle), Entertainment Weekly writer Harris offers his take in this thorough and engaging narrative. Instead of simply retelling old war stories about the production of these five Best Picture nominees at the 1968 Oscars, Harris tells a much wider story. Hollywood was on the brink of obsolescence throughout the 1960s as it faced artistic competition from European art films and financial implosion due to an outdated production system and rising budgets. Harris doesn't shy away from complexity in favor of easy answers, and the personalities that he profiles—among them Sidney Poitier, Mike Nichols, Warren Beatty and Richard Zanuck—are certainly worthy of the three dimensional approach. Harris also peppers his narrative with moments that capture the rising cultural tide that broke in the late '60s: chipping away at the moralistic Production Code, and Hollywood's inconsistent engagement with the Civil Rights movement are continuous sources of interest throughout this fascinating book.

Sunday, February 14: The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard

After his humiliating election defeat in 1912, Roosevelt set his sights on the most punishing physical challenge he could find, the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon. Together with his son Kermit and Brazil's most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. In the process, he changed the map of the western hemisphere forever.

Sunday, March 14: Sometimes Madness is Wisdom: Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald: A Marriage by Kendall Taylor

In Sometimes Madness Is Wisdom, Kendall Taylor has created the definitive Fitzgerald biography. Written with sympathy, original insight, and dazzling style-and featuring memorable appearances from Edmund Wilson, Gertrude Stein, and Ernest Hemingway, among others-this is a stunning portrait of a marriage, an age, and a fabulous but tragic woman. A compulsively readable book about the literary marriage of a great American writer and his talented yet often overlooked wife. This is being read to tie in with The Big Read: Peoria Reads The Great Gatsby.

Sunday, April 11: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a prosperous Syrian-American and father of four, chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the days after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared. Dave Eggers's riveting nonfiction book, three years in the making, explores Zeitoun's roots in Syria, his marriage to Kathy — an American who converted to Islam — and their children, and the surreal atmosphere (in New Orleans and the United States generally) in which what happened to Abdulrahman Zeitoun was possible.

Sunday, May 16*: Playing with the Enemy: A Baseball Prodigy, World War II, and the Long Journey Home by Gary Moore

Inspired by true events, Playing with the Enemy is the riveting story of a depression-era youth and his brush with destiny. Author Gary Moore, Gene's son, did not learn of his father's remarkable odyssey through World War II and the hardships of minor league baseball until the day before Gene's death. Confronted with evidence of a possible career in baseball, Gene finally broke his decades of silence and spent the next several hours relieving himself of the heavy burden he had been carrying. The stunning news sent the author on his own odyssey as he researched his father's life and interviewed dozens of people.
*Since May 9 is Mother’s Day, we will instead meet on May 16th.

Sunday, June 13: War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign To Create a Master Race by Edwin Black
(1st half of the book)

Award-winning investigative journalist Edwin Black connects the crimes of the Nazis to a pseudoscientific American movement of the early 20th century called eugenics. Based on selective breeding of human beings, eugenics began in laboratories on Long Island but ended in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Cruel and racist laws were enacted in 27 U.S. states, and the supporters of eugenics included progressive thinkers like Woodrow Wilson, Margaret Sanger, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Ultimately, over 60,000 "unfit" Americans were coercively sterilized; a third of them after Nuremberg declared such practices crimes against humanity. This is a timely and shocking chronicle of bad science at its worst — with many important lessons for the impending genetic age.

Sunday, July 11: War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign To Create a Master Race By Edwin Black (2nd half of the book)

Sunday, August 8: Columbine by David Cullen.

This is an astonishing account of two good students with lots of friends, who came to stockpile a basement cache of weapons, to record their raging hatred, and to manipulate every adult who got in their way. They left signs everywhere, described by Cullen with a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, thousands of pages of police files, FBI psychologists, and the boy's tapes and diaries, he gives the first complete account of the Columbine tragedy.

Sunday, September 12: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
(1st half of book) by Kai Bird

J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century; a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress. In this magisterial, acclaimed biography twenty-five years in the making, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin capture Oppenheimer's life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War. This is biography and history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative.

Sunday, October 10: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
(2nd half of book) by Kai Bird J.

Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century; a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress. In this magisterial, acclaimed biography twenty-five years in the making, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin capture Oppenheimer's life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War. This is biography and history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative.

Sunday, November 14: For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago
(1st half of book)by Simon Baatz

It was a crime that shocked the nation, a brutal murder in Chicago in 1924 of a child, by two wealthy college students who killed solely for the thrill of the experience. A masterful storyteller, Simon Baatz has written a gripping account of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case. Using court records and recently discovered transcripts, Baatz shows how the pathological relationship between Leopold and Loeb inexorably led to their crime. This thrilling narrative of murder and mystery in the Jazz Age will keep the reader in a continual state of suspense as the story twists and turns its way to an unexpected conclusion.

Sunday, December 12 For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago
(2nd half of book) by Simon Baatz

Read On Book Club

Read On: The Read On Book Club meets every 4th Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at Lincoln Branch Branch Library 1312 W Lincoln Avenue, 309-497-2600.

Read On Book Club 2010

The Read On Book Club meets every 4th Tuesday of the month at 5:30 P.M. at the Lincoln Branch Library, 1312 W Lincoln Avenue, 309-497-2600.

January 26th: Push – Sapphire

An electrifying first novel that shocks by its language, its circumstances, and its brutal honesty, Push recounts a young black street-girl's horrendous and redemptive journey through a Harlem inferno. For Precious Jones, 16 and pregnant with her father's child, miraculous hope appears and the world begins to open up for her when a courageous, determined teacher bullies, cajoles, and inspires her to learn to read, to define her own feelings and set them down in a diary.

Feb 23rd: Big Girls Do Cry – Carl Weber

Isis and her sister, Egypt—two of the original curvaceous members of the Big Girls Book Club—have hightailed it out of New York and settled in Richmond, Virginia, where they've started a new chapter of the BGBC. The same rules apply here: You must be at least a bodacious size 14 to join.

Living in the plush suburbs, Isis has it all—almost. The thirty-seven-year-old plus-size beauty is happily married to Rashid, and they're living in the lap of luxury. There's just one thing missing. They want to start a family.
Enter Egypt, who's moved into her sister's McMansion with dreams of starting over. There's just one hitch: before her sister married Rashid, he was Egypt's man for ten years. Egypt thought she was over him, but the close quarters are giving both her and her sister doubts. She's ready to pack her bags until Isis and Rashid ask her for a serious favor. Egypt knows she shouldn't get involved, but she can't say no to her sister—even if the price might be way too high for them all.

Egypt isn't the only one with drama. Rumor has it that Loraine—Isis's brilliant boss and one of BGBC's newest members—is in the running to be her sorority's next national president. But Loraine has more than one secret that will ruin her if they ever see the light of day. Thank goodness only one other person knows them—BGBC's first male member, Jerome—and what he knows just might destroy him.
As friendships and familyand past and present collide, these book lovers are about to learn that drama can follow you wherever you go—and that big girls do cry…

March 23rd: Be Careful What You Pray For – Kimberla L Roby

Her first marriage didn’t work out, but that isn’t going to stop Alicia Black, the privileged daughter of the charismatic Reverend Curtis Black, from getting what she wants. One month after her wedding to her second husband, she can’t believe her good fortune. God has heeded her prayers, blessing her with Pastor JT Valentine, a handsome, dynamic man of the cloth with his own large congregation, just like her father.

Unfortunately, Alicia doesn’t understand just how much like Curtis her new husband truly is. She doesn’t know JT has been sneaking around town with other women--or that he only married her to get close to her famous father’s money and fame. But while Alicia is blinded by love, her dad certainly isn’t. He warned his little girl that JT “simply can’t be trusted.” After all, it takes one to know one, and who better to see into the darkness of a sinner’s heart than Curtis?

It will take a miracle to save the day. But God acts in mysterious ways, and soon a host of lies, long-time secrets, and acts of betrayal come to light, and Alicia must face some very crucial and life-changing decisions. This time, though, she’s got to be careful what she prays for. . . .

April 27th: Cougars – Earl Sewell

Jasmine Sallie is beautiful, confident and has a sweet tooth for sex and younger men. At forty-three, Jasmine is a successful chemist, and director of a pharmaceutical research team that has been given the task of creating a female sexual enhancement drug.

When Travis Adams, a brilliant and handsome chemist joins the research team, Jasmine’s penchant for younger men ignites a sizzling affair that is a hair trigger away from dangerous consequences. The two manufacture an addictive and unstable designer drug which gets shelved because of its fatal side effects.

Impatient and ambitious, Travis secretly keeps experimenting until he creates a new and improved formula that hits the black market with a lethal impact. A senator dies, a criminal investigation is launched, and when Travis disappears suddenly, Jasmine’s world is tossed into a chaotic spin. With incriminating evidence pointing towards her, Jasmine finds herself caught in the crosshairs of the ultimate double-cross, unforgivable betrayal and the wicked world of sex and drugs.

May 25th: Married on Mondays – Honey B (Mary B Morrison)

By day, Valerie Cooper, Dierdra Dawson, and Foxy Brown assist their husbands, all partners at the law firm Brown, Cooper, and Dawson. But at night, they run an upscale club. Their clientele include everyone from judges, lawyers, politicians, and police officers, to soccer moms and housewives. Business is booming at the hottest club in town. Until the police chief extends an indecent proposal to Foxy. With the whole town standing behind them, the women must decide whether to stand together and fight, or risk losing their business.

June 22nd: Captured – Beverly Jenkins

She was the most irresistible treasure of all . . .

Dominic LeVeq, the most notorious privateer ever to command the high seas, has just captured a coveted prize: a British frigate. On a dangerous mission against the Crown, Dominic should be thinking only of his ship's safety. But the rebel captain is utterly entranced by Clare Sullivan, the stunning slave on board. Consumed by desire, desperate to have her, Dominic offers Clare her freedom in exchange for a forbidden night in his bed—a night he assures her will be most pleasureable indeed.

Clare believes that Dominic is nothing more than a seductive rogue used to getting what he wants. But she too feels a tantalizing passion between them, and so she submits to just one night of bliss. She'll soon realize that Dominic has captured more than her body. He's captured her heart . . . and she doesn't want him to ever let go.

July 27th: Warmest December – Bernice McFadden

Childhood can be rough, but for Kenzie growing up in the Lowe home means opening the bottom drawer of her father's dresser to choose which of the three belts coiled, waiting like snakes, she wants to get whipped with; trips to Bee Hive Liquor for her father's vodka; and dreaming of the day she can escape apartment A5. Buoyed by the graceful voice that has become McFadden's trademark, The Warmest December is the incredibly moving story of one family and the alcoholism that determined years of their lives. Narrated by a young woman reminiscent of Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John, and moving from the Brooklyn of the 1970's to 90's, Kenzie Lowe discovers as she visits her dying father that choices she once thought beyond her control are very much hers to make.

August 24th: If You Were My Man – Francis Ray

Since the death of her husband four years ago, restaurant owner Natalya Fontaine has closed her heart to finding love again and fears opening up about her dark past to any man. However, once she meets irresistible hostage negotiator Rafael Dunlap, she finds her resolution difficult to keep. Although Rafael loves women, he never wants to marry because he believes his job is too unstable and cannot fathom ever leaving a widow and children behind. Despite their resistance to falling in love, Natalya and Rafael find themselves caught up in an engaging romance. When something unexpected happens, Natalya breaks it off with Rafael before her heart can be broken again. But when Rafael’s life is on the line, Natalya must make the decision to come clean about her past or lose him forever.

September 28th: Weeping Willows Dance – Gloria Mallette

In 1929, by the age of fifteen, Mozelle already knew that she did not want to grow up to be like her mama, a sharecropper's wife. She did not want to get married and, for certain, she did not want twelve children. Mozelle dreamed of getting a good job, of buying herself a car, and of traveling across country a carefree woman--nobody and nothing hanging onto her skirt tail.

That is until tall, dark, handsome Randell Tate, twenty-two years Mozelle's senior, showed up in church that fateful Sunday morning and winked at her, throwing Mozelle's world off-balance. Three months later they wed and Randell carried Mozelle across the threshold into The Great Depression. Her children were born and, against all odds, Mozelle set her sights on buying a piece of land and building a house to put a roof over their heads. To realize that dream, Mozelle was going to have to squirrel away her pennies and in the end, build her house with her own two hands---husband or not.

Abiding by her parents' teachings, Mozelle stays loyal and faithful in her marriage to Randell, although Randell holds no vow sacred. The hard bed that Mozelle's father had warned that she had made for herself by marrying Randell, became less and less comfortable to sleep in, but Mozelle found comfort in turning to the Lord to see her through the storm.

Mozelle is every woman who squares her shoulders and vows to rise above a bad marriage and the excruciating poverty that binds her. Blessed with true grit and a strong backbone, Mozelle stands her ground and sways with the breeze of disappointment and the winds of deprivation. Her determination and her unshakeable faith in God, like the supple branches of the weeping willow tree are strong and unbreakable, thereby proving that Weeping Willows Dance.

October 26th: Diary of a Stalker – Electa Rome Parks

Xavier Preston is tall, dark, and handsome, and the problem is that he knows it. He's a bestselling author who is accustomed to adoring female fans, both young and old, flirting with him, throwing themselves shamelessly at him, and trying to get between more than the covers of his novels. He has always been more than willing to accommodate their needs and desires; however, his womanizing days have finally ended. He's engaged to a beautiful woman, Kendall, and he's decided to walk the straight and narrow. Or has he?
From outside appearances, the very stunning Pilar has it all: a great career, a beautiful home, and a trust fund that keeps her financially secure; however, looks can be deceiving. All that glitters isn't necessarily gold. Pilar is searching for her perfect soulmate, and she thinks she has found him in Xavier. She believes in going after what she wants with a vengeance . . . and she wants Xavier. That is not negotiable. She will have him, even if it kills him.

When Xavier meets his fanatical fan, Pilar, he gets much more than he bargained for. What starts out as an erotic one-night stand quickly spirals out of control into a dangerous game of obsession and pain with both parties playing to win.

November and December- On Vacation

Book 'Em

Book 'Em: Third Sunday of the month at 2 p.m. at Lakeview Branch.

January 17, 2010
Author: Sandra Brown
Book: Smoke Screen
Location: Lakeview Branch Library - 2 p.m.

February 21, 2010
Author: David Rosenfelt
Books: Play Dead
Location: Lakeview Branch Library - 2 p.m.
This month's selection is Play Dead by David Rosenfelt.
Few can rival attorney Andy Carpenter's affection for golden retrievers, especially his own beloved Tara. After he astonishes a New Jersey courtroom by successfully appealing another golden's death sentence, Andy discovers that this gentle dog is a key witness to a murder that took place five years before. Andy pushes the boundaries of the law even further as he struggles to free an innocent man by convincing an incredulous jury to take canine testimony seriously. It will take all the tricks Andy's fertile mind can conceive to get to the bottom of a remarkable chain of impersonations and murder, and save a dog's life--and his own--in the process.

March 21, 2010
Author: Michael Malone
Book: Time's Witness
Location: Lakeview Branch Library - 2 p.m.

The month we will discuss Time's Witness by Michael Malone. Street-smart and straightforward police chief Cuddy Mangum and his refined homicide detective Justin Savile V are determined to keep their town's cultural, political and racial divisions stable...even peaceful. But when a young black activist is murdered while in the process of fighting for his brother's freedom from death row, the lines keeping Hillston, North Carolina, in balance start to crumble.
Thrust into a dirty political campaign and torn between his morals and his love for the wealthy and beautiful wife of an up-and-coming politician, Cuddy must uncover the secrets that lie in his own backyard.

April 18, 2010
Author: C. J. Box
Book: Out of Range

Location: Lakeview Branch Library - 2 p.m.

May 16, 2010
Author: Linwood Barclay
Book: Stone Rain
Location: Lakeview Branch Library - 2 p.m.

June 19, 2010 - SaturdayAuthor: John Grisham
Book: The Associate
Location: Lakeview Branch Library - 2 p.m.

July 17, 2010 - Saturday
Author: Faye Kellerman
Books: The Mercedes Coffin
Location: Lakeview Branch Library - 2 p.m.

August 21, 2010 - Saturday
Author: James Patterson
Book: The Quickie
Location: Lakeview Branch Library 2 p.m.

September 19, 2010
Author: David Ellis
Book: Life Sentence
Location: Lakeview Branch Library 2 p.m.

October 17, 2010
Author: Michele Scott
Book: Murder by the Glass
Location: Lakeview Branch Library 2 p.m.

November 21, 2010
Author: Elizabeth Becka
Book: Unknown Means
Location: Lakeview Branch Library 2 p.m.

December 12, 2010 - 2nd Sunday
Author: Kate Kingsbury
Book: Decked with Folly
Location: Lakeview Branch Library 2 p.m.

A Little Romance

A Little Romance: First Sunday of the month from 2 to 4 p.m. at Lakeview Branch.

2010 Romance Schedule

January 3, 2010
Romantic Adventure
Stolen Fury by Elisabeth Naughton
Dr. Lisa Maxwell, archaeologist, and Rafe Sullivan, thief, have one goal; finding a priceless set of Greek reliefs called The Furies.

February 7, 2010
Time Travel
Sapphire Dream by Pamela Montgomerie
A magical sapphire pendant holds the key that transports Brenna Cameron to Captain Rourke Douglas’ 17th Century pirate ship.

March 7, 2010
Peoria Reads
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The 1920’s tragic love story of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan on Long Island.

April 11, 2010*
Inspirational
Dawn’s Prelude by Tracie Peterson
Lydia Grey, newly widowed, leaves the strife of her home for Alaska to find a new life.

May 2, 2010
Contemporary
Summer of Two Wishes by Julia London
Macy Clark, recently married, finds herself with two husbands, when her first husband, a soldier killed in Afghanistan, is found alive.

Summer Break

September 12, 2010
Trilogy
Mustang Wild, Maverick Wild, Mountain Wild by Stacey Kayne
The Wild series: Love, laughter and adventure in the Old West.

October 3, 2010
Romantic Comedy
Loves Me, Loves Me Knot by Heidi Betts
Jenna Langan tells her weekly knitting group there’s more than one way to get what she wants, and it has her ex-husband, Gage Marshall tied up in knots.

Voting for 2011

November 7, 2010
Women’s Fiction
Outlander by Gil Adamson
A sheltered young widow flees into the Montana wilderness, pursued by her ruthless brothers-in-law.

December 5, 2010
Christmas Anthology - That Holiday Feeling
Debbie Macomber, Sherryl Woods & Robyn Carr
Christmas stories by three bestselling romance authors.

*Date change: meeting will be held on the second Sunday because of Easter the previous week.

Club Read

Club Read:
Fourth Wednesday of the month January – October at the Lakeview Branch at 6:30 p.m.

2010 Club Read

January 27 Scott Fitzgerald, by Andrew Turnbull

February 24 Frankly My Dear…Gone With the Wind Revisited, by Molly Haskell
Author and movie critic Haskell brings us a scholarly look at her loving history of our "American Bible," Gone With the Wind. Profiles of author Margaret Mitchell, starlet Vivien Leigh, and film producer David Selznick re-humanize the work, now known more for its epic grandeur, iconic moments and controversial politics. Haskell draws thoughtful parallels between Mitchell and her protagonist, Scarlett O'Hara, and also highlights the impact of the film on popular culture, but doesn't bring anything new to the discussion of America's fascination. Though perhaps too finely focused for casual readers, this sincere, detailed celebration should interest long-time fans and students.

March 24 Still Alice, by Lisa Genova
Neuroscientist and debut novelist Genova uses her own experience in her field to paint a portrait of early onset Alzheimer's disease. Alice Howland has a career not unlike Genova's—she's an esteemed psychology professor at Harvard, living a comfortable life in Cambridge with her husband, John, arguing about the usual (making quality time together, their daughter's move to L.A.) when the first symptoms of Alzheimer's begin to emerge. First, Alice can't find her Blackberry, then she becomes hopelessly disoriented in her own town. Alice is shocked to be diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's after which her life begins steadily to unravel. She loses track of rooms in her home, resigns from Harvard and eventually cannot recognize her own children.

April 28 Blindness, by Jose Saramago
A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there the criminal element holds everyone captive, stealing food rations and raping women. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers-among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears-through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the twentieth century, Blindness has swept the reading public with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses-and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit. The stunningly powerful novel of man's will to survive against all odds, by the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature

May 26 Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan

Mamah Borthwick Cheney is famously known as the woman behind the destruction of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s first marriage. In her breakout novel, Nancy Horan presents a captivating fictionalization of the real-life intellectual and feminist whose affair with Wright sparked headlines across the country, as Wright and Cheney abandoned their families to be with each other, at great personal cost.

June 23 Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan

After a move from the city, Memphis schoolteacher Laura McAllen is struggling to adjust her family to southern farm life in the mid- 1940’s. Her husband, Henry, enjoys life in the Mississippi Delta, but Laura braces herself against the tirades of her racist live-in father-in-law and the woes of life without indoor plumbing and medical treatment. When Henry’s younger brother Jamie, and Ronsel Jackson, the black son of the McAllen’s sharecroppers return home from war against the Nazis, Jordan sets the stage for an unlikely friendship that will spawn rage and terror wrought by racism in the farmland.

July 28 The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski

Edgar Sawtelle is born into a family of dog breeders as the only son of Gar and Trudy Sawtelle. Although born a mute, he possesses an uncanny ability to communicate with dogs in a way he cannot with people. After his father’s death, Edgar senses foul play and becomes angry when his mother begins developing a close relationship with his uncle. When an accident occurs, Edgar fueled by guilt, escapes into the forest with three of his dogs thrusting him and his companions into a struggle of survival and growth.

August 25 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger, a member of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden, vanished without a trace. Years later, her uncle continues to seek the truth behind her strange disappearance. Crusading journalist Michael Blomkvist, whose career has recently received a blow due to a libel conviction, is hired to take on the case. He teams up with 24-year-old, pierced and tattooed punk genius, Lisbeth Salander, and together they embark on a perilous journey, fraught with evil and corruption.

September 22 Falling Leaves, by Adeline Yen Mah

Yen Mah’s memoir of life growing up as an unwanted daughter to a wealthy Chinese family in the era of Mao and Deng is as heart wrenching as it is powerful. The memoir recounts the pain young Adeline suffered at the hands of her merciless stepmother and indifferent father. She was one of seven children, and her mother died while giving birth to her, which was considered an ill omen. Despite the injustice Adeline endured at the hands of her father and his new wife, this story depicts how Adeline is able to overcome the world’s cruelty through the love of one of her aunts and able to carve a new life for herself.

October 27 Piano Teacher, by Janice Lee

A tale of wartime love and betrayal transpires in Lee’s Piano Teacher, set in the 1940’s. Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian socialite falls in love with Will, an Englishman who has just arrived in Hong Kong. Will is forced into an internment camp after the war strikes, leaving Liang to fend for herself. She finds herself entrenched in dangerous alliances with the head of the Japanese gendarmerie, who will stop at nothing to obtain a priceless collection of Chinese art, leading to a series of acts of betrayal. Ten years later, Claire Pendleton, the wife of a British civil servant, arrives in Hong Kong. While giving piano lessons to the daughter of a wealthy Chinese family, she takes notice to the family’s attractive driver, Will. They soon commence an affair. As the story unfolds the secret motivations and twists behind past events are unveiled.

Sci-Fi /Fantasy Book Club

Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club 2010

Meets on the second Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at locations to be announced due to construction at the Peoria Public Library Main Library. Please call 497-2000 and ask for the sci-fi fantasy book club coordinator.

Monday, January 11: Robert Redick The Red Wolf Conspiracy

For 40 years the Mzithrin and Arquali Empires have been gridlocked in a cold war over a wealth of resources in the Crownless Lands. In Chathrand, a hovering city constructed by sorcerers and shipwrights, a young woman named Thasha is forced into marriage with an enemy prince. None of the Empires’ inhabitants are certain whether this marriage is a candid attempt to unite the rival kingdoms in peace or whether a darker political chess match is being played. Tensions soar as god-kings, warriors, and creatures alike become engaged in a bloody war over a powerful ancient artifact.

Monday, February 8: Robert Charles Wilson Spin

When the sky goes dark, Tyler Dupree and his teenage friends, twins Diane and Jason, find themselves faced with an uncertain future in which the world they know may cease to exist. In this apocalyptic saga, three friends find themselves headed down divergent paths as they struggle to cope with what could potentially be the end of days. Jason, in an attempt to save the people he loves, entrenches himself in scientific research to study the galactic Hypotheticals whose spin determined the fate of earth, while Diane joins a religious doomsday cult.

Monday, March 8: Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Arthur Dent is an unlucky Englishman who does not realize that his best friend is an alien who has been trapped on Earth. Arthur, accompanied by his alien friend and writer of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Ford Prefect, escapes the destruction of Earth by an alien race called Vogons. Arthur and Ford Prefect visit Magrathea, the planet once home to the now-collapsed planet building industry. On Magrathea the characters meet Slartibartfast, the genius behind the construction of the Norwegian fjords. Slartbartfast recalls the story of a race of super intelligent and pan dimensional beings who designed a computer named Deepthought to calculate the answer to the “Ultimate Question of Life the Universe, and Everything.”

Deepthought determines the answer to be “42” and predicts that a new and more powerful computer will be built to reveal the question to the answer. The computer is actually Earth, and because Arthur was part of the Earth’s Matrix moments before the computer’s destruction he is believed to have a part of the ultimate question lodged in his brain and therefore the target of two Vogons who want to dissect his brain to insert a phony question.

Monday, April 12: Frederick Pohl Narabedla LTD

Nolly Stennis is an accountant whose clientele includes singers, dancers and other performers. Nolly himself is a major in the arts and a promising baritone anticipating a bright singing career before a bad case of the mumps destroys his beautiful voice and renders him impotent. When some of his clients vanish shortly after being offered a career with Narabedla Ltd., Nolly embarks on an investigation to uncover the truth behind the mysterious corporation behind the entertainment gigs. What he discovers is out of this world.

Monday, May 10: Patrick Rothfuss The Name of the Wind

The Name of the Wind traces the journey of a talented young magician named Kyvothe who grows up as an orphan in a crime-ridden city and successfully applies to enter a legendary magic school. Kyvothe goes on the run after the murder of a king and soon finds himself transforming into the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen.

Monday, June 14: Thomas A. Day Grey Moon over China

When army engineer Eduardo Torres discovers imprints for a quantum battery that could solve Earth’s energy crisis, his first thought isn’t to share this newfound information. Instead, he decides to establish his own rogue state with a fleet of starships and shoot them through a wormhole into the Holzstein system. Much to his surprise he is attacked, first by humans and next by an alien race intent on destroying the planet.

Monday, July 12: Laura Ann Gilman Flesh and Fire

Jersey is a young vineyard slave of unknown origin who possesses the most prized ability of the Vinearts, the ability to transform potent grapes into spellwines. Strange disappearances, plagues, and terrifying creatures begin plaguing Jersey’s master’s land, and Jersey is the only Vineart who senses the danger. The Master must assist Jersey in developing his magic abilities within if he is to save the Vin Lands from being completely destroyed.

Monday, August 9: Melissa Scott Shadow Man

Five distinct sexes are formed in a future world as the side-effect of a new drug allowing faster than speed of light travel. In the Concord worlds the new sexes have been recognized, but on the isolated planet of Hara the new sexes are regarded as mutations that must learn to live their lives as one of the two traditional sexes. When Concord and Hara come into contact with one another, a “herm” named Warreven sees an opportunity to break out of the mutant label society has forced upon him. Breaking out of his forced identity proves to be a more challenging undertaking than first thought.

September 13: Michael Chabon Yiddish Policemen’s Union

The plot of Chabon’s novel is crafted into a historical “what if?” scenario following the plight of the Jews after World War II. In Yiddish Policemen’s Union Sitka, Alaska is presented as the temporary refuge for two million displaced Jews who now struggle to survive and maintain their cultural identity in a changing world. In actuality, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed such a settlement on the eve of World War II, but the Sitka plan never came to fruition and Israel was formed. In Chabon’s alternate reality however, Israel fails to gain a foothold in the Middle East and because the Sitka solution is fleeting, Alaskan Jews are at risk of losing their new homeland. Meyer Landsman, the hero of the story, is a rogue cop who discovers that one of his neighbors has been murdered. Landsman and his half Native American, half Jewish partner and attractive but tough boss who also just happens to be his ex-wife must investigate a shady underworld of crime-lord rabbis and black-hatted Orthodox gangs.

Monday, October 11: John Wynham The Chyrsalids

After a catastrophic nuclear war devastates modern society, a young man named Daniel lives in a closely guarded community that condemns anything or anyone it perceives to be outside of the norm of creation. Abnormal plants and humans are burned or destroyed, accomplanied by singing of hymns. The only humans to survive are those who can escape to the Fringes, an uncertain wilderness where authorities say the devil does his work. At first Daniel follows in lock-step with the community, until he discovers that he has an abnormal power that will either lead him to freedom or condemn him to death.

Monday, November 8: Mike Carey Devil You Know

Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist who has decided that perhaps taking on otherworldly beings was not the right career choice after all. In order to make some money, Castor accepts what appears to be a seemingly simple ghost hunting case, but the exorcism soon evolves into a competition among all sorts of spirits to see which can kill him off first.

Monday, December 13: Justina Robson Keeping it Real

A quantum bomb at Texas' supercollider blows a hole into the fabric of spacetime, unveiling five other realities previously unknown to Otopia's (formerly Earth's) inhabitants. One of the realities, Alfheim, is a home to elves. Zal, the leader of a rebel elf rock band is targeted by Alfheim extremists for being successful among the humans. After a series of cryptic notes is sent to Zal's manager, Special Agent Lila Black of the Odonians goes undercover as a bodyguard to investigate.

Book Clubs

Biography and Non-fiction Book Club

Read On Book Club

Read On Book Club 2010

Book 'Em

A Little Romance

2010 Romance Schedule

Club Read

Sci-Fi /Fantasy Book Club

Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Club 2010

Lakeview's Leaky Cauldron

2010 Discussion Topics

Book Discussion Groups For Young People