Books & Reading: Book Discussion Kits

Check out ten paperback copies of a “discussable” book for six weeks. Perfect for book groups, they contain book, discussion questions, reviews, an author profile, and other related information. Kits are available at the Adult Services Reference Desk.

Book Discussion Kit Titles

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie. +
Set in China during the Cultural Revolution, Sijie's book tells the story of two privileged friends sent from city to country, forced into a life of backbreaking labor. After the boys find a box of contraband Western literature in Chinese translation, they begin discussing the stories with an unschooled seamstress and transform her into a woman of sophisticated taste.

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. +
Soprano Roxanne Coss is the entertainer at a party for a Japanese businessman given by a South American vice president. When a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage, terrorists and hostages slowly forge unexpected bonds as people from different countries and continents become compatriots.

The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty.
For ten-year-old Evelyn Bucknow, life with her single, out-of-work mother seems to teeter on the edge of chaos. This highly acclaimed novel follows Evelyn as she comes of age in 1980’s Kansas, negotiating the trials of poverty, family, and first love.

Crow Lake by Mary Lawson. +
The four Morrison children struggle to stay together and cope with their difficult lives after their parents are killed in an accident. As adults, the Morrisons face challenges that force them to reexamine their painful pasts. The characters and the rural landscape are integral to this compelling story.

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson. *
The Devil in the White City interweaves the fascinating story of Daniel Burnham and the building of Chicago's 1893 World's Fair with the grisly tale of serial killer H. H. Holmes, who preyed upon young women drawn to life in the big city. This work of nonfiction reads like a novel and provides fascinating insights into Chicago history.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Gilbert writes with insight and humor about her healing travels to Italy, India, and Indonesia.

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts.
Roberts recounts the extraordinary stories of colonial women who influenced the direction of fledgling America. With determination and zeal, these wives and mothers ventured into politics, military camps, and business, enabling America’s founding fathers—their own husbands and sons—to build a nation.

The Funnies by J. Robert Lennon. +
The Funnies is a bittersweet comedy that tells the story of the Mix family, forever immortalized in their father Carl's nationally syndicated comic strip. When Carl dies, his son Tim, a struggling artist, is given three months to learn to draw his father's strip. If he succeeds (which means selling out), he will have inherited a gold mine; if he fails, he will get nothing.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Sixty years ago, in the Polish village where he was born, Leo Gursky fell in love and wrote a book. Unbeknownst to Leo, that book survived the destruction of World War II, crossed oceans, and changed lives. The mysteries of Leo’s past and the history of the book unfold when a 14-year-old girl begins a search for the book’s heroine, after whom she is named.

The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman.*
After her Jewish family is politely discouraged from vacationing at The Inn at Lake Devine, young Natalie Marx becomes instantly obsessed with the segregated Vermont resort and the family that owns it. When Natalie reaches adulthood, her life once again intersects with that of the resort owners’ with humorous and romantic consequences.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel.*
En route from India to North America with his zookeeping family, a storm leaves sixteen-year-old Pi and a Bengal tiger alone on a lifeboat. Armed with extensive knowledge of animal behavior and faith in three religions, Pi coexists with the tiger, surviving for seven months at sea in this imaginative story of survival and faith.

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez. +
Set in a tropical port at the turn of the century, this beautifully written novel tells the story of Florentino Ariza's prolonged passion for Fermina Daza. His unrequited love spans over 50 years, until the two come together when they are both over 70 years old.

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards.
When a blizzard forces Dr. David Henry to deliver his own twins, one of his children is born with unanticipated Down’s Syndrome. In a split-second decision, he directs the nurse to place the infant girl in an institution and never to reveal the secret.

Moloka’i by Alan Brennert.
As a child in Honolulu during the 1890’s, Rachel Kalama contracts leprosy and is deported to the island of Moloka’i, where she grows to adulthood in a quarantined settlement. Drawing on historical accounts of the leper colony at Kalaupapa, Brennert tells the uplifting story of a community struggling against illness and injustice.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. +
To understand life beyond affluent America, Barbara Ehrenreich spent several months in 1998 laboring as a cleaning woman, a waitress, and a Wal-Mart sales clerk. Her revelations about these hard, supposedly unskilled jobs and the difficulty of making ends meet in the U. S. give this book a powerful, personal edge.

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.*
Mary, the "other" Boleyn sister, becomes mistress to King Henry VIII only to be forced to step aside for her best friend, rival, and sister, Anne. Based on historical events, Gregory's novel captures the intrigue of a tumultuous time and the fascinating, ruthless members of the Tudor court.

A Parchment of Leaves: A Novel by Silas House.*
Vine, a beautiful Cherokee girl, marries young Saul Sullivan in this novel set in the Kentucky hills during World War I. When Saul's brother Aaron becomes obsessed with her, Vine faces violent anger, painful guilt, and the challenge of forgiveness.

The Photograph by Penelope Lively.
Glyn discovers a photograph of his recently deceased wife holding hands with another man, and begins a quest to discover her clandestine life. With lyrical language, Booker Prize-winner Penelope Lively examines a marriage filled with longing and a strained relationship between sisters.

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult.*
Set in Pennsylvania’s Amish country, this dramatic courtroom suspense novel centers on Katie Fisher, an unmarried Amish teenager who secretly gives birth to a baby then resolutely denies the pregnancy when the infant is found smothered. Investigating the death is Ellie, who re-evaluates her life, relationships, and notions of justice while temporarily living with Katie’s Amish family.

Prep: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld.
At fourteen, Lee Fiora leaves her family in South Bend, Indiana to attend the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts. Lee’s quest to fit in with her privileged classmates is both a recognizable portrait of adolescence and a reflection on race and class in America.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. +
In a tender, enthralling, voice fourteen-year-old Lily tells how she and her African-American nanny, Rosaleen, escape unjust harshness and racism to find new lives among three bee-keeping sisters. Set in the volatile South of 1964, this coming of age story addresses issues of loss, betrayal, justice, and the power of women to create home and family.

Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. *
Two Calcutta cousins raised like sisters—Sudha, sweet and beautiful, and Anju, intellectual and determined—reluctantly discard their girlhood dreams in favor of arranged marriages that will improve their family’s standing. Though Anju eagerly moves to America and Sudha begins a promising life in India, both girls face conditions that challenge and strengthen their sisterly bond.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.
In nineteenth-century China, when women were foot-bound and lived in almost total seclusion, Lily and Snow Flower are forever linked when they become laotongs or “old sames” at the age of seven. Their friendship matures over the years as they correspond in the secret writing of women, nu shu, until a misunderstanding threatens to sever their loving friendship.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations—One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson.
Mortenson’s unlikely and inspiring journey begins with a failed attempt to climb K2, the world’s second highest mountain, and leads to the successful creation of schools in some of the most remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
In this poignant and curious love story, Henry and Clare passionately strive to preserve their relationship as Henry involuntarily travels through time, visiting his past and his future. Set partly in Chicago, with heartfelt characters and music references, The Time Traveler’s Wife is a uniquely charming novel.

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer.
In 1984, brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty brutally murdered an innocent woman and her infant child, claiming that they acted on a direct order from God. Krakauer’s true crime investigation weaves the history and practices of Mormon fundamentalism into this gripping tale of religious extremism.

Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen.
Ninety-year-old Jacob Jankowski is haunted by memories of his days with the Benzini Brothers, a traveling circus he joined during the desperation of the Great Depression.

While I Was Gone by Sue Miller. +
In the summer of 1968, Jo Becker's youthful innocence was shattered when she found her best friend brutally murdered in the communal house they shared in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Now, 30 years later, Jo's perfect life is threatened when Eli Mayhew, a former housemate from her bohemian days, settles in her small town.

Please ask a librarian about these additional kits:
All Over but The Shoutin' by Rick Bragg. +
Blue Angel by Francine Prose +

Le Divorce by Diane Johnson +
The Hours by Michael Cunningham. +
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus. +
Independence Day by Richard Ford. +
Into the Forest by Jean Hegland. +
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. +
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. +
White Noise by Don deLillo. +

* Funding for these kits was provided by the Friends of the Barrington Area Library.

+ Funding for these kits was provided by a grant from the Illinois State Library (ISL), a Division of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), under the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).