One of the most exciting, yet worrisome aspects of any book group is picking the books to read. As many groups have found, not every good read makes for a lively discussion! If you are looking for a book group to join, consider the monthly book group that meets here at the Library on the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m.

Here are some titles that many book groups have used for spirited discussions in recent years:

Fiction

Cross, Donna Woolfolk
Pope Joan: a Novel
Truth, or a legend that will not die? In the 850s, a poor woman's quest for knowledge leads her from a small village to becoming Pope. Known as Pope John Anglicus, she was really Pope Joan.

Gruen, Sara
Water for Elephants: a Novel
This poignant, tender, meticulously researched book moves between the present, where elderly Jacob Jankowski lives in an assisted living home, and the past, during the Great Depression, when he worked for the circus.

Haddon, Mark
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night
A young, autistic boy, who relates better to animals than people, is determined to solve the mystery of the muder of a neighbor's dog.

Morris, Mary McGarry
Lost Mother
A moving story of desperate family life during the Depression, and choices people feel forced to make.

Olsson, Linda
Astrid & Veronika
Set in a harsh Swedish landscape, this is the story of an unusual friendship between two women of different generations who each share their stories of love and loss.

Robinson, Marilynne
Gilead
As a Midwestern minister is nearing the end of his life, he writes a letter to his young son, explaining his family's legacy. Pulitizer Prize winner.

Roth, Philip
Plot Against America
Pulitzer Prize winning author, Philip rother, creates an alternate history of the United States where Charles Linderbergh defeats FDR for the presidency.

Ruiz, Zafon, Carlos
Shadow of the Wind
A boy mourning the loss of his mother finds comfort in his love for an extraordinary book, which he realizes is dangerous to won, yet impossible to forget.

Memoirs and Biographies

Moehringer, J.R.
Tender Bar: a Memoir
A moving memoir about a boy growing up at the local bar in the company of the neighborhood men, who provided him with fatherhood by committee.

Moore, Judith
Fat Girl: a True Story
An honest memoir of obsession with food and body image; an angst-filled story of growing up with gain and loss.

Scheeres, Julia
Jesus Land: a Memoir
A riveting story of Scheeres' childhood as a white girl with two adopted black brothers, and their stay at a Christian reform school in the Dominican Republic.

Walls, Jeanette
Glass Castle: a Memoir
An unbelievable (yet true) story of the horrors of growing up with the most dysfunctional family imaginable. Yet, Walls triumphs against all odds, and epitomizes the meaning of unconditional love.

General Nonfiction

Gilbert, Elizabeth
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
After a bitter divorce, Gilbert takes off on a year-long adventure of self discovery. She goes to Italy to eat, India to pray, and Bali "for balancing" and manages to describe each place with soul-searching humor.

Hessler, Peter
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze
When the author arrived as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fuling, it was the first time in over 50 years that the city had an American resident. While Hessler taught English and American literature, he learned from his students about the ways of a vastly different society.

Larson, Erik
Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
During the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, two men were hard at work - the architect of the fair itself, and a cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims. Larson has combined meticulous research with spellbinding narrative.

Mortenson, Greg and David Oliver Relin
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace - One School at a Time
When a small Pakistani village cares for Mortenson after he fails to climb K2, the author promises to build its first school - and goes on to build over 50 schools across Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Salzman, Mark
True Notebooks
An inspiring account of the author's first years of teaching writing at Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall. A revealing portrait of the art of teaching and the craft of writing.

Web sites

Here are just a few of the many resources available online:

Reading Group Guides
The online community for reading groups, featuring new book information, reading lists and literary events.

Reading Group Choices
Hundreds of selections, along with "topics for discussion" and top book group favorites.

Book Browse
A guide to exceptional books for discerning readers. More than 20,000 book reviews, critic reviews, reader review and book excerpts.

Book Clubs Resource
A guide to book clubs and reading groups. Includes online book clubs.

Library Resources

One of your best resources is to come to the Reference/Information Desk and ask a librarian! The librarians who staff the desk are eager to help steer you in the right direction. We can show you our Best Book reference area, where we keep such titles as Nonfiction Reader's Advisory, Read On: Historical Fiction, and Blood, Bedlam, Bullets and Bad Guys. We also subscribe to a database called What Do I Read Next? which can be accessed either in the Library or from your home.