Our Next Book Is...

For the month of February, we'll be getting romantic and reading The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.  It's probably a good thing that this book is too long, since our meeting will be next Saturday, February 9th from 1 - 3pm (going back to our normal meeting dates of the 2nd Saturday of the month).  I will also be posting the online review and discussion questions on the 9th.  Hopefully this will be a quick read for everyone, but don't worry if you don't finish it.  We'll still have plenty of good food and great discussion.  Hope to see you there and happy reading!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower Review and Discussion Questions

It's a small review this month.  Please enjoy and feel free to add your own feelings on the book or answer any of the discussion questions in the comments section below.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about the freshman year of a boy named Charlie.  Over the course of that year, he makes new friends, experiments with drugs, experiences literature and film, gains and loses a girlfriend, and most importantly, learns about himself.  It's a deeply touching book.  Since everyone has been a teenager, you can relate in some way to Charlie's story.

I'm also adding this article from A.V. Club about how Perks holds up with adult readers.  I think it's well written, although with a little salty language, and does a much better job with the review than I could.

Our Meeting is Saturday!

Sorry for the late notice, but in case you've forgotten- our meeting for The Perks of Being a Wallflower is THIS SATURDAY from 1-3pm at the Ladysmith Branch Meeting Room.  I hope to see you all there!

Our Next Book is...

Hope that everyone enjoyed the holiday season!  The Library was on a weird schedule for two weeks, but now we're back to normal and I can update the blog!

For this month, we're going to be reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.  I recommend checking out its GoodReads page here.  I suppose it goes with our trend of picking books that are movies too.  We'll be meeting on January 26th, from 1-3pm, to talk about the book and eat some delicious foods.  That is the same date that I'll be posting the review and discussion questions here on the blog.  Happy reading!

The Hobbit Review and Discussion Questions

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is a magical tale, in all the best senses of that phrase.  It tells the story of a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, an every-man despite the fact that he isn't a man.  He deals with his unexpected adventure the way most of us would.  He's scared, cranky, and more often than not, wishing that he had stayed at home in his nice comfy hobbit hole.  But the fact that Bilbo didn't really want to be on this trip doesn't take away from the adventure, it adds to it because it is through Bilbo that the reader feels connected to the story.  It may be hard to relate to a wizard or a dwarf, but Bilbo is familiar to us, because in some way, he is us.  Bilbo is thrown into the midst of a party of dwarves looking to reclaim their homeland from the dragon, Smaug.  Along the way, they encounter giant spiders, men who turn into bears or vis versa, elves, goblins, and a magical ring.  Bilbo grows from a frightened hobbit to the leader of these brave souls.  He grows and is never the same again.