BOOK CLUB

This relaxed adult book group meets on the last Wednesday of the month.
Call the library with questions 608-676-5569.

April 2024

Book cover: the land of laughs by jonathan carroll. Black and white photo of dogs on a street.

The Land of Laughs

by Jonathan Carroll

Wednesday, April 24, 1:00 PM at the library.

About this book:

Have you ever loved a magical book above all others? Have you ever wished the magic were real? Welcome to The Land of Laughs. A novel about how terrifying that would be.

Schoolteacher Thomas Abbey, unsure son of a film star, doesn’t know who he is or what he wants—in life, in love, or in his relationship with the strange and intense Saxony Gardner. What he knows is that in his whole life nothing has touched him so deeply as the novels of Marshall France, a reclusive author of fabulous children’s tales who died at forty-four.

Now Thomas and Saxony have come to France’s hometown, the dreamy Midwestern town of Galen, Missouri, to write France’s biography. Warned in advance that France’s family may oppose them, they’re surprised to find France’s daughter warmly welcoming instead. But slowly they begin to see that something fantastic and horrible is happening. The magic of Marshall France has extended far beyond the printed page…leaving them with a terrifying task to undertake.

May 2024

Book cover: west with giraffes a novel by lynda rutledge. Features an illustrated man in overalls walking over an illustrated map. The title of the book is written in cursive.

West with Giraffes: A
Novel

by Lynda Rutledge

Wednesday, May 29, 1:00 PM at the library.

About this book:

An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America.

“Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…”

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave.

It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes.

Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.

Past Book Selections

2024 Selections

May: West with Giraffes: A Novel by Lynda Rutledge

April: The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll

March: Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

February: Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner

January: When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, & Susan Meissner

2023 Selections

December: No Meeting

November: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poroit Mystery by Agatha Christie

October: The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

September: One Vacant Chair by Joe Coomer

August: Little, Big by John Crowley

July: Sisters By a River by Barbara Comyns

June: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon

May: Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

April: Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

March: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

February: Surviving Savannah by Pattie Callahan

January: The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray