Adult Book Group
Adult book Discussions: fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 in the fire side loft.
~Scroll down to find current month~
These events are free and everyone is welcome to attend.
If you are interested in requesting copies of any of the books or films, or have questions about the series, please contact the library at 218-685-6850 or visit our website at www.elbowlakepubliclibrary.org.
February 28 Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life by Karen Armstrong
March 27 Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
April 24 Choosing Civility by P.M. Forni
May 22 Their Father's God by O. E. Rolvaag
September 25 Say You're one Them by Uwem Akoan
October 23 Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder
What makes you laugh out loud when you read a book? Does the thing that makes me laugh out loud even seem funny to you? After five years reading “serious” literature, we’ve decided to take a little time to explore humor in writing. While some of the titles we’ve picked will not necessarily meet the book group’s policy of increasing adult literacy through choosing more difficult works, they will hopefully stretch readers beyond their normal genres and subject matters, two of our other goals.
The book group is open to the public and participants are welcome to come for any single event or the entire series. It meets on the fourth Tuesday of most months at 7:00 in the loft of the Elbow Lake Public Library. Hope to see you there!
October 25, 2011
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding is an admitted modern day version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Our group read and discussed Austen’s classic last summer so we decided to start the humor series while our mind’s were still fresh enough to do a little comparison. Published in 1996, Bridget Jones’s Diary is credited with spawning a new confessional literary genre in the form of “Chick Lit.” The novel is written in diary form and follows the life of a single 30-something, working woman’s life in London for one year.
November 22, 2011
The Wordy Shipmates, by social commentarian Sarah Vowell, examines the New England Puritans and their journey to and impact on America. "Sarah Vowell does a bang-up job of being a good American without being a terrible bore. A solid thinker with a warm heart and a smart mouth, she loves the U.S. in much the same way that one loves one's family (or perhaps a favorite flea-bitten old dog) -- acutely aware of its many shortcomings, but true-blue to the end." -- Douglas Cruickshank, columnist for Salon.com
December 27, 2011
I Remember Nothing, by Nora Ephron. In describing her book for Amazon.com, Ephron says, “When you’re young, you make jokes about how things slip your mind. You think it’s amusing that you’ve wandered into the kitchen and can’t remember why. Or that you carefully made a shopping list and left it home on the counter. Or that you managed to forget the plot of a movie you saw only last week… Anyway, at some point, I thought it might be fun to write a book about what I remember, and what I’ve forgotten… I thought I’d better write them down while I still had a sense of humor about it all.” This is a short book and a “quick read” so we are also encouraging you to begin reading the following book during December as it is a longer book and is best savored over time!
Decenber 27th and January 24, 2012
Fierce Pajamas: an Anthology of Humor Writing from the New Yorker covers the 20th century through the lenses of many great American humorists. Here’s what Library Journal has to say about it, “… take this book in small doses... Do not read this book if you suffer from an irony deficiency, or if you are currently taking any form of remedial English… Side effects include the urge to do literary research (to track down the targets of spoofs) and the discovery of some very funny writers who may be unknown to you… Ask your librarian if Fierce Pajamas is right for you. Available by prescription at public and academic libraries.” Susan M. Colowick, North Olympic Lib. Syst., Port Angeles, WA
Roughing It is an acknowledged classic by Mark Twain, one of the icons of American humor writing. It tells the “true-ish” escapades of Twain in the American West. Although he clearly "speaks with forked tongue," Roughing It is informative as well as humorous. From stagecoach travel to the etiquette of prospecting, the modern reader gains considerable insight into that much-fictionalized time and place. The adventure tale is a delight from start to finish and is just as engrossing today as it was 125 years ago when it first appeared.
And then… Your library leaders are busily writing a grant that may greatly affect the choice of books for the adult readers for the months of March through November of 2012. Please stay tuned for news about this and requests for your input…
June 28, 2011
Book discussion: Pride and Prejudice a novel by Jane Austen
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” This first sentence of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice must be among the most quoted in literature. Austen has a great eye for marriage--tracing the intricacies (not to mention the economics) of 19th-century British mating rituals with a sure hand and an unblinking eye
July 5, 2011
Film: Sense and Sensibility
Emma Thompson scores a double bull's-eye with this marvelous adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. Not only does Thompson turn in a strong (and gently humorous) performance as one of the Dashwood sisters--the one with "sense"--she also wrote the witty, wise Oscar-winning screenplay. Austen's tale of 19th-century manners and morals provides a large cast with a feast of possibilities, notably Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant. All of this is doled out with eye-filling English countryside and handsome costumes, yet the film always seems to be about the careful interior lives of its characters. The director is Taiwan-born Ang Lee, who brings the same exquisite taste and discreet touch he displayed in his previous Asian films such as Eat Drink Man Woman.
July 26, 2011
Book discussion: Katherine a novel by Anya Seton
Puslished in 1954, his has been called the best historical fiction every written. It documents the true story of the love affair that changed history - that of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the ancestors of most of the British royal family. Set in the vibrant 14th century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets-Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II-who ruled despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king's son, falls passionately in love with the already married Katherine. Their well-documented affair and love persist through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption.
August 2, 2011
Film: Young Victoria
In this lavish historical drama, a young and inexperienced Queen Victoria (Emily Blunt) is resolved to establish her authority over those who rule in her stead. She draws strength from the love of Albert (Rupert Friend), the handsome prince who’s stolen her heart. Based on the courtship and early reign of England’s longest-serving monarch, Young Victoria is a majestic tale of romance, intrigue and power.
August 23, 2011
Book discussion: When Elephants Weep, the Emotional Life of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy. Animals do in fact lead emotional lives, according to Masson. He has managed to find hundreds of anecdotes from the published works and field studies of such noted behaviorists as Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Cynthia Moss that support his theory. It seems that, despite the fact that anthropomorphism is among the worst of scientific taboos, these respected scientists cannot help but notice the similarities between human and animal behavior. Chapters are organized by topic, such as fear, love, grief, and even compassion and beauty.
September 6, 2011
Film: undecided
September 27, 2011
Book discussion: The Art of Racing in the Rain: a Novel by Garth Stein
If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, Stein's novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift as he pursues success on the track and off. Denny meets and marries Eve, has a daughter, Zoë, and risks his savings and his life to make it on the professional racing circuit. Enzo, frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, coins koan-like aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man.
Book: My Antonia
Film: The Remains of the Day
Book: In this House of Brede
Film: Romero
Book: Loving What Is: Four Questions that Can Change Your Life May 3, 2011
Film: Turn It Around,
Book: Five Smooth Stones,
Film: Mississippi Masala
Adult Book & Film Club complete list current and past titles
‘Be Inspired!’
Here at the Elbow Lake Public Library, we are feeling a desire to support our community members, individually and collectively, to feel inspired and to explore what being inspired means. It is our hope that being inspired will help us to overcome senses of hopelessness, depression, and overwhelm that are so easily a response to the complications of life in the early 21st century. Through literature, film and group discussions, we will explore various manifestations of inspiration, how it often leads to action, or to a shift in perspective, to making an outward change in the world, or an inner change that in some way encourages us to be more open, more compassionate, more loving, or to make it through a difficult life experience with less suffering.
While ‘Be Inspired’ is the theme of the adult book and film series for the next fifteen months, we are continuing to select materials that will hopefully stretch readers and viewers beyond their normal genres, subject matters, and perhaps level of difficulty. It is one of our constant goals to support and improve literacy in our community. By now you have probably heard one of us say that film has been called the ‘new literature of the 20th century’. With that in mind we also select films that may be somewhat out of the mainstream and perhaps challenge viewers in new ways.
We hope that you will ‘Be Inspired’ to join us in reading, viewing and discussing the books and films listed below. While some patrons choose to read, watch and discuss everything on the list, please know that you are welcome to join us for any individual book discussions or film showings that you feel inspired to attend! We are very excited about this new series and hope to share the excitement with you.
Film: The Girl in the Cafe
Book: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Book: Three Cups of Tea, One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One
School at a Time By Greg Mortenson & David Oliver
Film: Pay It Forward
Book: A Hope in the Unseen, an American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy
League by Ron Suskind
Film: The Pursuit of Happyness
Book: The Last Week, a Day-by-Day Account of Jesus’ Final Week in Jerusalem
by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan
Film: Jesus Christ Superstar
Book: Banker to the Poor: Microlending and the Battle Against World Poverty
by Muhammad Yunus
Film: Gandhi
Book: Acts of FaithThe Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of Of a Nation by Eboo Patel
Film: Seven Years in Tibet
Book: A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles
by Marianne Williamson
Film: Peaceful Warrior
Book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Film: Simon Birch
Book: The Legacy of Luna: the Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to
Save the Redwoods by Julia Butterfly Hill
Film: The Girl in the Café
Book: The Compassionate Carnivore" by Catherine Friend
Film: The Future of Food
Book: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Film: Crash
Book: Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Film: It’s a Wonderful Life
Book: Not Buying It, My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine
Book: A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
Film: Playing for Change
Book: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by Malcolm Gladwell
Film: Life is Beautiful
Book: Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation
by Parker J. Palmer
Film: Playing for Change, Peace through Music by Mark Johnson
Book : Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence by Matthew Sanford
Film: My Left Foot
Book: The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the The Redwoods by Julia Butterfly Hill
The New Political You
April - December, 2008
Reading & Viewing List
The Elbow Lake Public Library is truly excited to announce its next adult education reading and film series. With an election year upon us, we decided to ride the wave of the highest interest in politics in many years by combining biographies, textbooks and political fiction and nonfiction with feature films and documentaries to get the entire county digging deeper than a sound bite into the issues and candidates of the season. Film has been called “the new literature of the 20th century” and we’ve got some that will make you cheer, depress you horribly, and maybe even get your goat! So, join us for any or all of the dates below to wrangle with your head, heart, and, even, your healthcare!
Book: Primary
Colors: anonymous (by Joe Klein)
Film: Primary Colors
Book: Politics for Dummies by Ann DeLaney
Film: Taking on the Kennedys
Book: Sex Wars by Marge Piercy
Film: Iron Jawed Angels
Book: For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire by James Yee
Film: No End in Sight
Book: Crashing the Party by Ralph Nader
Film: King Corn
Book: book by the Rep. candidate for President
Film 7: Who Killed the Electric Car?
Book: book by the Dem. candidate for President
Film: Sicko
Book: Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle
Film: The Milagro Beanfield War
Previous Titles from Book Group
The House on Beartown Road, also titled The Family on Beartown Road, by Elizabeth Cohen VanPelt (also found under Elizabeth Cohen).
An Ordinary Man: an Autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina By Paul Rusesabagina (the film Hotel Rwanda is based on this man’s life).
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Christmas in Minnesota, a collection by many authors
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride
The Big Sky and The Way West by A. B. Guthrie
Land in Her Own Name: Women As Homesteaders in North Dakota by Elaine Lindgren
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table by Ruth Reichl
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
China Men by Maxine Hong Kingston
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan