The Adult Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room. Members will discuss Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson on October 14, 2009. Set in Norway, Trond Sander moves to the country to enjoy a peaceful life. A chance encounter with a neighbor brings back painful memories of his youth.

The Mystery Book Club meets on the third Wednesday of the month at 1:30 p.m. in Meeting Room B. On October 21, 2009, members will discuss Lone Creek by Neil McMahon. Set in Montana, Hugh Davoren, a construction worker, lands in jail for a night after stumbling across two dead horses.

It's here....

For all of you Dan Brown fans, his new book, The Lost Symbol, hits the shelves today. It's hard to believe it's been 6 years since The Da Vinci Code blazed a trail up the best seller lists, eventually becoming the bestselling hardcover book of all time!

Robert Langdon is back at it once again, this time traipsing about Washington D.C. in an effort to solve yet another non-stop death-defying mystery...will this one live up to the hype? Reviews so far are positive, but why not decide for yourself? We have numerous copies in different formats - all are checked out, but we will be happy to add you to the holds list!

The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow

This non-fiction selection focuses on 11 women from the town of Ames, Iowa, who have maintained their friendship since at least high school. Now in their late forties, the women have spread all over the country, and their lives have all taken different directions, yet they remain bonded as a group.

Zaslow, who co-wrote The Last Lecture with Randy Pausch and also pens the Moving On column for the Wall Street Journal, selected this group of women and their friendship based on their, well, averageness. Representing the last wave of the baby boomers, growing up in the Midwest, Zaslow felt these women's experiences would connect with a large number of people.

While the book features this group of women, including more intimate portraits of 4 of them, it also includes some data and information on the very nature of friendships, particularly comparing women's friendships with men's friendships, and the tendency for women's relationships to stand the test of time. He also includes some studies on the benefits of maintaining friendships over long periods of time.

I have to say I did not really love this book. I did not really connect with any of the women, (although some of them seem like perfectly lovely people) and I think most of us already know that women stay more connected in their friendships than men. There were some interesting, poignant and humorous anecdotes, observations and dynamics from the group, but the whole work just did not resonate. This could be an interesting choice for book clubs, however. There is a reader's guide and other information at: http://www.girlsfromames.com/

Time to read some fiction!

The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson

Amy Dickinson, best known as an advice columnist and contributor to NPR, has written a lovely little book detailing her life as a member of a female-dominated extended family - the "queens" of her hometown, tiny Freeville, New York.

A unique feature of her family is that the few men in it tend to pack up and leave town, which was the case with both Amy's father and her husband (although her husband did maintain a relationship with their daughter, Emily.) For the most part, women in her family have had to fend for themselves. The bits and pieces that Dickinson shares regarding her female relatives are few and far between, I would have loved to hear more about them.

The book is basically snippets of a life - from her childhood to marriage to motherhood, to welcoming love into her life after a long dry spell. Dickinson does not delve too deeply, yet manages to share some deeply personal moments. I really enjoyed this book - Dickinson's voice is funny and familiar, as well as warm and inviting. Again, I would have really enjoyed hearing more about her amazing mother and other female relatives, perhaps there will be another book in Ms. Dickinson's future! For further information on "Mighty Queens," go to: http://www.themightyqueensoffreeville.com/

The Accidental Bestseller by Wendy Wax

This is a very interesting and ambitious concept for a book of fiction. Kendall Aims is a published author who does reasonably well; however, her agent has just informed her that she is going to be dropped from her publisher, but not before having to complete one last book to fulfill her contract. When she also loses out on a big award that she was counting on to revive her career, her downward spiral really takes off. Upon returning home, she also learns that her husband has left her for a younger, blonder woman. Unable to cope with the reality of her life, she retreats to her cabin in the mountains to hide out.

Fortunately for her, her 3 friends, also writers, will not let her go through this alone. Mallory, a best-selling fiction author whose marriage is also faltering comes to stay with Kendall and get her back on track. She persuades the others, Faye, an inspirational author married to a well-known pastor, and Tanya, a single mother who works two jobs and writes romances on the side, to come out for a weekend. When they witness how much help Kendall really needs, Tanya suggests that they all write the book together but do their part anonymously, in order for Kendall to meet her deadline.

The book is a smash - trouble is, the women based their characters on themselves, including some deep, dark secrets never guessing that they - and their secrets - might someday be revealed. It isn't long before family, agents and others decifer what is going on. Can the friendship survive the success of their book as well as the knowledge that the friends did not know each other so well after all?

This was an enjoyable read of friendship, trust and renewal. Each of the four main characters maintain their own separate voice and identity and the storyline definitely keeps the pages turning. Despite the fact there are really four separate story lines going on, the book does not get confusing at all. I have to say that one of the factors that make this a tad unbelievable is the fact that the four friends so closely resemble the characters they create, it seems fairly obvious that someone would figure out the true identity and put two and two together...but that might be taking this book a little too seriously. Overall, it's an interesting perspective into a writer's life and a good choice for a quiet weekend or getaway read.

Quick Nonfiction Read

You may or may not have heard of "Improv Everywhere," a group whose mission it is to "cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places," but you may have heard of some their better-known pranks. The founder, Charlie Todd, and one of his "agents," Alex Scordelis have compiled some of their favorite "missions" in their book, Causing a Scene.

Each of the thirteen chapters in this book detail one of Improv Everywhere's endeavors since their formation in 2002. Some have grown to be quite large scale, others are smaller, but all require quite a bit of planning and imagination. In fact, the amount of actual calculations that go into many of the pranks is quite impressive. Each description includes whether the mission had the desired effect on the public, as well as up-close and personal advice from one of the "agents" who had participated in that particular mission.

This book is a quick and entertaining read, chopped up into easily digestible chapters. Some of the pranks are downright hilarious, others will just make you smile. The basic tenets of the group are to keep on the right side of the law and not harm anyone in the process of staging their acts for the public. If you enjoy improv comedy, such as the Upright Citizen's Brigade, this book wold probably be of interest to you. To learn more about Improv Everywhere, check out their website at http://improveverywhere.com/

In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Reverend Clare Fergusson, the newly installed Episcopalian minister in upstate Miller's Kill, New York, has a lot to learn about the community, so when she discovers a newborn baby in a cardboard box near the church, she takes the opportunity to align herself with a married couple from her congregation who are interested in adopting the baby. Unfortunately, when the baby's mother, Katie, is discovered murdered, the husband of the couple turns out to be Sheriff Russ Van Alstyne's number one suspect.

Clare and Russ discover they share a background in the military as well as a common interest in solving the crime, and they form sort of a "good cop - bad cop" team, with Clare taking on a more human interest in the involved parties and Russ sticking to the facts. Their friendship grows beyond their common interests, however, as the mystery behind who murdered Katie grows when her father is also found murdered. When Clare finds herself in imminent danger, it is Russ who discovers her whereabouts and attempts to come to her aid before she becomes an additional fatality.

While I wouldn't label this book a cozy mystery, it isn't terribly gruesome or violent, and it does feature some mild swearing. It is an engaging, intelligent plot with memorable characters, and features a charming small town with some not-so-charming crimes. Russ and Clare are both likable and worthy as the hero and heroine, but Russ's marriage throws a little wrench into their blossoming friendship. Best of all, it is the first in a series, so if you like this particular book, it is easy to figure out what to read next!