Friday, April 2, 2010

April 8 choice - The Little Giant of Aberdeen County

It’s time to talk books with the Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group!

When? Thursday, April 8th at 7 p.m.
What Book? The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

Send me an e-mail if you'd like to see Discussion Questions, Reviews and Author Interviews.

Upcoming Book Choices:

On Thursday, May 13th we’ll read The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.

Renee Michel, 54 and widowed, is the stolid concierge in an elegant Paris hotel particulier. Though "short, ugly, and plump," Meanwhile, "supersmart" 12-year-old Paloma Josse, who switches off narration with Renee, lives in the building with her wealthy, liberal family. Having grasped life's futility early on, Paloma plans to commit suicide on her 13th birthday. The arrival of a new tenant, Kakuro Ozu, who befriends both the young pessimist and the concierge alike, sets up their possible transformations. By turns very funny (particularly in Paloma's sections) and heartbreaking, Barbery never allows either of her dour narrators to get too cerebral or too sentimental. Her simple plot and sudden denouement add up to a great deal more than the sum of their parts in this dark but redemptive novel.” (Publishers Weekly)

(Please note you may have to place a request at the library for a copy of The Elegance of the Hedgehog.)


On Thursday, June 10th, we’ll read A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler by Jason Roberts. (The book can be found in Biography under Holman)

Roberts offers a biography of a British wanderer renowned in his day--James Holman (1786-1857), a Royal Navy lieutenant who went blind at age 25. Roberts seizes readers immediately with scenes of Holman daring the summit of an erupting Vesuvius in 1821. Such encounters with wild nature, so appealing to the period's Romantic sensibility, contribute to Roberts' account of Holman's popularity. Blindness itself was the vital condition in Holman's adventures and the public's eventual attention, which briefly included that of a young Queen Victoria. Combining reflections on blindness with the particulars of Holman's career and travels, Roberts reveals thorough research through a perceptive, expressive narrative. (Booklist)

I look forward to seeing you at the Fairfax Library.

Thanks for reading with us!

Beth Bailey-Gates
Friends of the Fairfax Library