We're back!

Copies of Sister of My Heart by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni are available for our September book discussion.  Stop by and pick one up.  The group will meet on Wednesday September 15 at 1pm by the fireplace in the library.

Sister of My Heart is about how the lives of two women are changed by marriage, as one woman comes to California, and the other stays behind in India. Anju is the daughter of an upper-caste Calcutta family of distinction. Sudha is the daughter of the black sheep of that same family. Sudha is startlingly beautiful; Anju is not. Despite these differences, since the day the two girls were born—the same day their fathers died, mysteriously and violently—Sudha and Anju have been sisters of the heart. Bonded in ways even their mothers cannot comprehend, the two girls grow into womanhood as if their fates, as well as their hearts, are merged.   ....from the author's website.

Book Group vacation

The Afternoon Book Group will meet again in September.  Have a great summer!

June Book Discussion

An American Childhood by Annie Dillard.  Join us Wednesday June 16th at 1pm.

Mother-Daughter Reading Club

Attention moms and daughters (aged 9-12)!  Pick up a copy of  The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman and Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Schlitz to read for our May 20th meeting.  The group will meet at 6:30 pm in the Community Room.  Join us!

May Book Discussion

May's book selection is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. 

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope - a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it!

The book group will meet by the fireplace on Wednesday May 19th at 1pm - join us!  Copies of the book and audio CD are available to check out at the library.  Also available as a downloadable audiobook on OverDrive.

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague

When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders." Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing "an inspiring heroine" (The Wall Street Journal), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.

Penguin.com

Wednesday April 21 at 1pm. Copies of the book are available to check out at the library.

The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family. The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered. The Glass Castle is truly astonishing -- a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar, but loyal, family. Jeannette Walls has a story to tell, and tells it brilliantly, without an ounce of self-pity. readinggroupguides.com

Copies of the book and the audiobook are available at the library. Join us on Wednesday March 17th at 1:00pm by the fireplace for a lively chat!

Mother-Daughter Reading Group

NEW! For our first Mother-Daughter Reading Group we'll be reading Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George. We have plenty of copies so girls (ages 9-12) and their moms can read the book at the same time. Discussion will take place on Thursday March 4th from 6:15-7:30. Julie of the Wolves is an award-winning book about survival in the wilderness. A young Eskimo girl, named both Julie Edward ( her American name) and Miyax Kapugen (her Eskimo name), runs away from a traditional planned marriage that she finds intolerable. She becomes lost, far away from even the most remote settlement. Read the book to find out what happens!

The Good Earth

In conjunction with our Chinese New Year display and celebration, the afternoon book group will be reading The Good Earth, the classic novel of pre-revolutionary China by the Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck. This moving, classic story of the farmer Wang Lung and his selfless wife O-lan is must reading for those who would fully appreciate the sweeping changes that have occurred in the lives of the Chinese people during this century (from the book cover).

Come to the library to check out a copy of the book and while you're here, browse our display of books and movies about China. You'll also see our glass-front display case filled with items that will dazzle the eye and educate the mind - all about Chinese New Year!

In addition to our book group meeting, the library will have a Chinese New Year Celebration on Sunday February 14 from 2-4pm with crafts, music, and Chinese food in the Community Room. All are welcome at this free program!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The afternoon group is reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows this month. This much talked about book has been a top pick for many reading groups in the last year, not surprisingly since the plot involves the formation of a very special book club. Written as a lively epistolary exchange, the book is "...a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name" (from the book cover).

Cozy up to the Library's fireplace on Wednesday January 20th at 1pm!

Also available in large print, audio CD and through OverDrive downloadable audiobooks.

Auggie Wren's Christmas Story

You are invited to read this short work by Paul Auster, author of The New York Trilogy, Moon Palace, The Brooklyn Follies and his current bestseller Invisible. We'll have copies of the book here at the library. You can also read the entire story online or listen to the author read the story on NPR.org.

The afternoon book discussion will take place on Wednesday, December 16th at 1:00 pm.

The Samurai's Garden

The afternoon book discussion group is reading The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama.

On the eve of the Second World War, a young Chinese man is sent to his family's summer home in Japan to recover from tuberculosis. He will rest, swim in the salubrious sea, and paint in the brilliant shoreside light. It will be quiet and solitary.
But he meets four local residents-a beautiful Japanese girl and three older people. What then ensues is a tale that readers will find at once classical yet utterly unique. Young Stephen has his own adventure, but it is the unfolding story of Matsu, Sachi, and Kenzo that seizes your attention and will stay with you forever.
Tsukiyama, with lines as clean, simple, telling, and dazzling as the best of Oriental art, has created a small, moving masterpiece. from the book jacket

The group will meet on Wednesday November 18th at 1:00pm by the fireplace in the library. Join us!

Listen to The Omnivore's Dilemma

There's always time to listen to the Hopkinton READS! book -- in the car, at the gym, on the couch, on the team bus.... Audio versions of Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, are available from these sources:

• You can borrow the CD version from us. [Call#: CD 394.12 POL]
• You can download it from Audible.com (for 1 credit, if you have a membership, or as your free book if you join.) [Mac or PC]
• You can download it from iTunes [$20.95, Mac or PC]
• You can buy the CD version from your local bookseller, or from Amazon [$39.95 retail]
• You can borrow it from the NLS via the NH State Library Talking Book Service, in either cassette or digital book format, depending on the player you are using. [Call #s: RC 62557 or DB 62557]

If you've never listened to audiobooks on your MP3 player, this would be a great time to try it out.

The Omnivore's Dilemma (10/22 or 10/23)

Please join us at 7:00PM on October 22nd, or at 2:00PM on October 23rd, as the afternoon and evening reading groups tackle Michael Pollan's thought-provoking work, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Expect some lively conversation, moderated by Kevin Flynn and Mike Timm.

The best-selling author of The Botany of Desire explores the ecology of eating to unveil why we consume what we consume in the 21st century.

"What should we have for dinner?" To one degree or another, this simple question assails any creature faced with a wide choice of things to eat. Anthropologists call it the omnivore's dilemma. Choosing from among the countless potential foods nature offers, humans have had to learn what is safe, and what isn't, which mushrooms should be avoided, for example, and which berries we can enjoy. Today, as America confronts what can only be described as a national eating disorder, the omnivore's dilemma has returned with an atavistic vengeance.

The cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet has thrown us back on a bewildering landscape where we once again have to worry about which of those tasty-looking morsels might kill us. At the same time we're realizing that our food choices also have profound implications for the health of our environment. The Omnivore's Dilemma is best-selling author Michael Pollan's brilliant and eye-opening exploration of these little-known but vitally important dimensions of eating in America.

We are indeed what we eat, and what we eat remakes the world. A society of voracious and increasingly confused omnivores, we are just beginning to recognize the profound consequences of the simplest everyday food choices, both for ourselves and for the natural world. The Omnivore's Dilemma is a long-overdue book and one that will become known for bringing a completely fresh perspective to a question as ordinary and yet momentous as "What shall we have for dinner?" -- from the publisher's summary

Hopkinton READS!, our annual community-wide reading celebration, will soon be in full swing. Be sure to check out the HTL home page for additional activities and program information.

Listen to The Book Thief

No time to read? Listen instead! In the car, at the gym, on the couch, in study hall.... Audio versions of Markus Zusak's gripping novel, The Book Thief, are available in many ways from many places:

• You can borrow the CD version from us. [Call#: Y CD FIC ZUS]
• You can download it through the NH Downloadable Audiobook program. Click through using the Download Audio Books link on the HTL home page. [PC only, but iPods are supported]
• You can download it from Audible.com (for 1 credit, if you have a membership, or as your free book if you join.) [Mac or PC]
• You can borrow the iTunes file, already loaded on an iPod Shuffle, from the Hopkinton High School Library. [Call#: A-V iTunes Boo] Bring your own earphones....
• You can borrow it from the NLS via the NH State Library Talking Book Service, in either cassette or digital book format, depending on the player you are using. [Call #s: RC 62431 or DB 62431]

Listen up!

The Book Thief (9/16 or 9/29)

The afternoon and the evening groups will be reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak for our September meetings. Come in and pick up a copy!

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist - books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau. This is an unforgettable story of the ability of books to feed the soul. -- Randomhouse.com

The Book Thief: Wednesday September 16th at 1:00pm OR Tuesday September 29th at 7:30pm.

Book groups on vacation until September

Both the afternoon and evening book groups are on vacation until September. Stay tuned for our fall book selections.

Someone Knows My Name

Please join us on Wednesday July 15th at 1pm for a discussion of Lawrence Hill's book Someone Knows My Name.

Aminata Diallo is the beguiling heroine of Lawrence Hill's Someone Knows My Name. In it, Hill exquisitely imagines the tale of an eighteenth- century woman's life, spanning six decades and three continents. The fascinating story that Hill tells is a work of the soul and the imagination. Aminata is a character who will stir readers, from her kidnapping from Africa through her journeys back and forth across the ocean. -- From the book jacket

Rabbit, Run

The evening group is reading Rabbit, Run this month. John Updike (1932-2009) originally created the character of Harry 'Rabbit' Engstrom in 1960. Tuesday evening June 30th at 7:30pm.

Harry Angstrom was a star basketball player in high school and that was the best time of his life. Now in his mid-20s, his work is unfulfilling, his marriage is moribund, and he tries to find happiness with another woman. But happiness is more elusive than a medal, and Harry must continue to run--from his wife, his life, and from himself, until he reaches the end of the road and has to turn back.... -- From the publisher's summary

In the Memory House

Please join us at the Library on Wednesday afternoon June 17th at 1:00PM as we discuss Howard Mansfield's thoughtful and evocative work, In the Memory House.

This unique study of cultural introspection unfolds in a series of meditative essays about time and change in New England that reveal how profoundly cultural memory affects our lives. Mansfield meanders through the small historical museums of New England; he peers into the past and present of the town meeting; he visits Lowell, Massachusetts, and the Jack Kerouac Memorial; he contrasts two views of Walden Pond and he causes us to consider seriously the passing of old-growth trees. -- From the publisher's summary

This May and June, we have partnered with the New Hampshire Antiquarian Society in celebrating the work of local author, Howard Mansfield. Don't miss these related events:

• Hopkinton's Attic: 150 Years of Collecting History, opening at NHAS on June 5th
• Howard Mansfield Discusses In the Memory House, also at NHAS, on June 14th

The 19th Wife

The afternoon group is reading The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff and will meet on Wednesday May 20th at 1pm by the fireplace. Check out a copy at the library today!

The 19th Wife explores the mysteries of love, history and faith in two intertwined narratives: a historical thread about Brigham Young's expulsion of his own 19th wife, Ann Eliza Young from the Mormon Church and a modern-day murder mystery set on a polygamous compound in Utah.

from the book's website

Reading Group Guide

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (4/15)

It's spring! Join the afternoon group as we read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year in Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver. The group will meet Wednesday afternoon April 15 at 1:00pm.

Bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver returns with her first nonfiction narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: you are what you eat. Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle makes a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life and diversified farms at the center of the American diet. --from the book jacket.

Pride and Prejudice (4/8, 4/14 & 5/5)

Join Mike Timm on April 8th, 14th, and May 5th, at 7:30 PM, for a three-part exploration of Jane Austen's novel of 19th century romance, Pride and Prejudice. Here are your reading assignments!

1. (Wednesday, April 8): Chapters 1-26
2. (Tuesday, April 14): Chapters 27-47
3. (Tuesday, May 5): Chapters 48-end
   

Elizabeth Bennett has a great amount of pride in her family - even though they aren't nearly as wealthy as Fitzwilliam Darcy. Darcy, for his part, holds a certain prejudice against those of lesser rank and fortune; Elizabeth is prejudiced against his snobbery. How these 2 can ever fall in love can only be the work of Jane Austen, who masterfully arranges their story, the humorous characterizations, and a caricature of English society. It is a truth universally acknowledged that Austen changed the course of novels with her examinations of ordinary people in everyday life, and Pride and Prejudice stands as entertaining evidence to that fact. -- From the publisher's summary.

Murder on the Orient Express (3/24)

Join us on Tuesday, March 24th, at 7:30 PM, to explore Agatha Christie's classic whodunit, Murder on the Orient Express.

Savor one of the most clever of Christie's suspenseful classics. An American businessman is stabbed to death aboard a luxury train, the Orient Express, snowbound in the middle of Europe. Nothing escapes the eagle eye and quick intelligence of the great Hercule Poirot, and clues abound. Sorting through a dozen perfectly respectable passengers, all suspects, Poirot is tenacious in his pursuit of the truth.

Don't miss other titles in the Hercule Poirot series. -- From the publisher's summary.