Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group
Thursday, March 12th 7pm
The Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group will meet Thursday, March 12th at 7pm
in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our March selection, The Soul of an Octopus.
in the meeting room of the Fairfax Library to discuss our March selection, The Soul of an Octopus.
Here are some links for additional background and info:
UPCOMING BOOKS
Thursday, April 9th
To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
In the winter of 1885, decorated war hero Colonel Allen Forrester leads an exploratory expedition
up the Wolverine River and into the vast, untamed Alaska Territory. Leaving behind Sophie, his newly
pregnant wife, Forrester records his extraordinary experiences in hopes that his journal will reach her
if he doesn't return. As they map the territory and gather information on native tribes, whose understanding
of the natural world is unlike anything they have ever encountered, Forrester and his team can't escape
the sense that some great, mysterious force threatens their lives. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Sophie
chafes under the social restrictions of a pregnant woman on her own, and yearns to travel alongside her
husband. She, too, explores nature, through the new art of photography, unaware that the coming winter will
test her own courage and faith to the breaking point. adapted from book jacket
Thursday, May 14th
up the Wolverine River and into the vast, untamed Alaska Territory. Leaving behind Sophie, his newly
pregnant wife, Forrester records his extraordinary experiences in hopes that his journal will reach her
if he doesn't return. As they map the territory and gather information on native tribes, whose understanding
of the natural world is unlike anything they have ever encountered, Forrester and his team can't escape
the sense that some great, mysterious force threatens their lives. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Sophie
chafes under the social restrictions of a pregnant woman on her own, and yearns to travel alongside her
husband. She, too, explores nature, through the new art of photography, unaware that the coming winter will
test her own courage and faith to the breaking point. adapted from book jacket
Thursday, May 14th
The Great Lakes - Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior - hold 20 percent of the world's supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan's compulsively readable portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come. ~dust jacket
Thursday, June 11th
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday
Halliday's beautiful debut novel is written in three distinct parts. In the first, Alice, a young editor in New York,
embarks on a relationship with Ezra, a much older, multi-Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. In the novel's
second part, readers meet Amar, an Iraqi American who is being detained at Heathrow Airport en route to
his brother in Kurdistan. Amar's story is told mostly in flashbacks, illuminating both the joys of his family and
also the tragedies of a war-torn country and its people. Amar's and Alice's stories are, at first glance,
completely unrelated and can easily be enjoyed as such. Halliday moves from sparse, purposeful prose in
the first to an almost brooding narration in the second, and only the lightest touches seem to link them, until
one final moment. The third and final section is an interview with Ezra, and it is here that Halliday deftly and
subtly intersects the two disparate stories, resulting in a deep rumination on the relation of art to life and death.
~Booklist
embarks on a relationship with Ezra, a much older, multi-Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. In the novel's
second part, readers meet Amar, an Iraqi American who is being detained at Heathrow Airport en route to
his brother in Kurdistan. Amar's story is told mostly in flashbacks, illuminating both the joys of his family and
also the tragedies of a war-torn country and its people. Amar's and Alice's stories are, at first glance,
completely unrelated and can easily be enjoyed as such. Halliday moves from sparse, purposeful prose in
the first to an almost brooding narration in the second, and only the lightest touches seem to link them, until
one final moment. The third and final section is an interview with Ezra, and it is here that Halliday deftly and
subtly intersects the two disparate stories, resulting in a deep rumination on the relation of art to life and death.
~Booklist
Fairfax Library Book Discussion Group
2097 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Fairfax, CA 94930
