(608) 423-3900

Book Discussion Groups

Monday Evening Book Group

Meets the 2nd Monday of each month 6:30 P.M.
Cambridge Community Library

Call the library with questions at (608) 423-3900.

New members are welcome to the group at any time! There is no pressure to attend every session–come when you can!

Wednesday Evening Book Group

Meets the third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 P.M.
This group, also known as the Ladies’ Rhythm and Movement Society, has limited its members to 12, but has a waiting list at the circulation desk.

The group meets in the homes of its members.

 

Monday Book Club Titles:
April

“Calypso” by David Sedaris

“Sedaris’s powers of observation have never been sharper, and his ability to shock readers into laughter unparalleled. But much of the comedy here is born out of that vertiginous moment when your own body betrays you and you realize that the story of your life is made up of more past than future.”

March

“Pineapple Street” by Jenny Jackson

“Shot through with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one-percenters, Pineapple Street is an addictive, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, lovable—if fallible—characters, it’s about the peculiar unknow-ability of someone else’s family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love—all wrapped in a deliciously funny, sharply observed debut of family, love, and class.”

February

“The Christie Affair” by Nina de Gramont

London, 1925: In a world of town homes and tennis matches, socialites and shooting parties, Miss Nan O’Dea became Archie Christie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted and well-known wife, Agatha Christie.

The question is, why? Why destroy another woman’s marriage, why hatch a plot years in the making, and why murder? How was Nan O’Dea so intricately tied to those eleven mysterious days that Agatha Christie went missing?

January

“Hidden Valley Road” by Robert Kolker

The heartrending story of a mid-century American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science’s great hope in the quest to understand the disease.

December

“The Christmas Train” by David Baldacci

Disillusioned journalist Tom Langdon must get from Washington D.C. to L.A in time for Christmas. Forced to travel by train, he begins a journey of rude awakenings, thrilling adventures and holiday magic.

November

“The Stranger in the Woods” by Michael Finkel

Many people dream of escaping modern life, but most will never act on it. This is the remarkable true story of a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years, making this dream a reality–not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own.

October

“The Missed Book” by I Messed UP

I’m not really sure what we read but I’ll get this properly updated

September

“The IT Girl” by Ruth Ware

A story of two roommates at Oxford, their backgrounds couldn’t be more different: April is rich, entitled and beautiful. Hannah is a serious student and comes from a middle class background. Things are going well, that is until one night when Hannah comes home to find April STRANGLED IN THEIR SUITE OF ROOMS!! A suspect was tried and convicted but 10 years later, it appears he may have been innocent.

August

“Apples Never Fall” by Liane Moriarty

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Liane Moriarty comes a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.

July

“The Vacationers” by Emma Straub

“For the Posts, a two-week trip to the Balearic island of Mallorca with their extended family and friends is a celebration: Franny and Jim are observing their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and their daughter, Sylvia, has graduated from high school. The sunlit island, its mountains and beaches, its tapas and tennis courts, also promise an escape from the tensions simmering at home in Manhattan.  …  But all does not go according to plan: over the course of the vacation, secrets come to light, old and new humiliations are experienced, childhood rivalries resurface, and ancient wounds are exacerbated.”

June

“Shoulder Season” by Christina Clancy

“The small town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is an unlikely location for a Playboy Resort, and nineteen-year old Sherri Taylor is an unlikely bunny. Growing up in neighboring East Troy, Sherri plays the organ at the local church and has never felt comfortable in her own skin. … Shoulder Season follows Sherri from her fledgling days as a bunny, when she tries to reinvent herself before she even knows who she is, to the woman she becomes years later. From the Midwestern prairie to the California desert, from Wisconsin lakes to the Pacific Ocean, this is a story of what happens when small town life is sprinkled with stardust, and what we lose—and gain—when we leave home.”

May

“Driving Miss Norma” by Tim Bauerschmidt

When Miss Norma was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she was advised to undergo surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. But instead of confining herself to a hospital bed the 90 year old decides to hit the road with her retired son Tim, his wife Ramie, and their dog Ringo

Infused with this irrepressible nonagenarian’s wisdom, courage, and generous spirit, Driving Miss Norma is the charming, infectiously joyous chronicle of their experiences on the road. It portrays a transformative journey of living life on your own terms that shows us it is never too late to begin an adventure, inspire hope, or become a trailblazer.