Reading is usually a solitary activity, done in silence, with minimal disturbance from outside. Good authors stimulate our thoughts, and time spent on reflection allows ideas to resonate within us.
If you’ve ever completed a book and felt the urge to discuss your reactions and musings with an insightful, bright and humorous group of people, the library has a program for you. Enjoy the Manuscripts Book Group which meets at 9:30 a.m. the second Wednesday of each month in the Friends Meeting Room of the Newport Beach Public Library. Sponsored by the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation, free and open to the public, this group is an excellent opportunity for experiencing fun and thought-provoking opinions. Coffee and book-related articles are provided.
Listed below are upcoming titles in the series. Let the Book Club bug bite you.
“Saturday” by Ian McEwan. What happens when an ordinary Saturday turns nightmarish? Follow happily married, urbane, neurosurgeon Henry Perowne as he summons his newfound inner strengths after a minor car accident draws him into a confrontation with small-time thug Baxter. Psychological and suspense fiction combine with world politics in a novel that goes beyond the consequences of road rage in modern England. For Feb. 14.
“Kindred” by Octavia Butler. Time-travel with black Southern Californian Dana Franklin as she finds herself drawn back to the 1800s slavery era to save the life of her white ancestor. Science fiction author Butler’s 1979 break-out novel is a fixture on college reading lists. Find out why this powerful story resonates profoundly with all readers as it explores the abuse of power, limits of traditional gender roles and the repercussions of racial conflict. For March 14.
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison. Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, this is a tale set in Reconstruction-era Ohio that portrays the dehumanizing effects of slavery on a woman called Sethe and her journey to freedom after the Civil War. Inspired by an actual historical incident, Morrison addresses universal and enduring themes: the importance of family, the search for individual and cultural identity, and the nature of humanity as well as the horror of infanticide. Morrison won the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature. For April 11.
“A Tree Grows In Brooklyn” by Betty Smith. Originally released in 1945 as a movie, this is Francie Nolan’s coming-of-age story set in the turn-of-the-century Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Daughter of poor German immigrants, Francie must contend with her beloved but irresponsible father and a mother who tries to hold the family together. This is a portrait of a lost time. For May 9.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. Canadian poet and author Margaret Atwood presents a hypothetical look at a future United States, now called the Republic of Gilead. The government is an extreme, misogynist theocracy; civil rights are curtailed and violated; and American society has been remade into a strictly stratified caste system. This futuristic, chilling tale is narrated by Offred, a “handmaid.” For June 13.
“The Tender Bar” by J. R. Moehringer. An autobiography takes the form of a memoir as the author describes growing up with a single mother in Long Island. Using the neighborhood bar and its cast of patrons as a kind of fatherhood by proxy, Moehringer recounts his valuable life lessons and camaraderie that led him to be a journalist at the New York Times. For July 11.
New Manuscripts Book Group titles will be added for Fall 2007. All interested book worms are invited to attend!
CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public Library. This week’s column is by Mary Ellen Bowman. All titles may be reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at www.newportbeachlibrary.org. For more information on the Central Library or any of the branches, please contact the Newport Beach Public Library at (949) 717-3800, option 2.
