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Book Discussions

Mystery Book Discussion Group

This group meets monthly at the library. Books are available at the library approximately one month before the discussion date. All are welcome to join. Groups may be meeting remotely; contact the book group coordinator to find out the plan for their upcoming discussion.

Discussions are on Thursdays at 7:00 pm.

​​​​​​​2024

​​​​​​​January 18:  The Third Victim, by Phillip Margolin
February 15:  The Man in the Queue, by Josephine Tey
March 21:  Iron Lake, by William Kent Krueger
April 18:  Wild Justice, by Phillip Margolin
May 16:  The Late Show, by Michael Connelly
June 20:  The Sacred Bridge, by Anne Hillerman
July 18:The Life We Bury, by Allen Eskens
August 15:Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire, by Ruth Downie
September 19: A Borrowing of Bones, by Paula Munier
October 17: TBA
November 21: TBA
No meeting in December.

Mystery book group coordinator: Maureen Parent, 802-434-2055, msparent@ gmavt.net


(Mostly) Fiction Book Discussion Group

This group meets monthly at the library. Books are available at the library approximately one month before the discussion date. All are welcome to join. Groups may be meeting remotely; contact the book group coordinator to find out the plan for their upcoming discussion.

Discussions are on Tuesdays at 6:00 pm.

2024

January 9:  Ask Again, Yes, by Mary Beth Keane
February 13:  Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid
March 12:  The Mercies, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
April 9:  Atlas of the Human Heart, by Brene Brown
May 14:  The Music of Bees, by Eileen Garvin
June 11:  The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune
July 9:  Goodnight, Irene, by Luis Alberto Urrea
August 13: A Woman is No Man, by Etaf Rum

Book group coordinator: Gwen Landis, 802-434-5012, gwennie1972@ yahoo.com


Climate Action Book Discussion Group

A collaboration between the Richmond Climate Action Committee and the library, this group discusses books that focus on climate and environmental issues and stories.

Books discussed so far:

  • Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson (November 2022)
  • We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast, by Jonathan Safran Foer (February 2023)
  • Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (May 2023)
  • The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, by Amitav Ghosh (November 2023)
  • The Heat Will Kill You First, by Jeff Goodell (February 2024)

Upcoming discussion information:

Wednesday, May 22, 7:00 pm
The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth, by Elizabeth Rush

An astonishing, vital book about Antarctica, climate change, and motherhood from the author of Rising, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.

In 2019, fifty-seven scientists and crew set out onboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer. Their destination: Thwaites Glacier. Their goal: to learn as much as possible about this mysterious place, never before visited by humans, and believed to be both rapidly deteriorating and capable of making a catastrophic impact on global sea-level rise.

In The Quickening, Elizabeth Rush documents their voyage, offering the sublime—seeing an iceberg for the first time; the staggering waves of the Drake Passage; the torqued, unfamiliar contours of Thwaites—alongside the workaday moments of this groundbreaking expedition. A ping-pong tournament at sea. Long hours in the lab. All the effort that goes into caring for and protecting human life in a place that is inhospitable to it. Along the way, she takes readers on a personal journey around a more intimate question: What does it mean to bring a child into the world at this time of radical change?

What emerges is a new kind of Antarctica story, one preoccupied not with flag planting but with the collective and challenging work of imagining a better future. With understanding the language of a continent where humans have only been present for two centuries. With the contributions and concerns of women, who were largely excluded from voyages until the last few decades, and of crew members of color, whose labor has often gone unrecognized.The Quickening teems with their voices—with the colorful stories and personalities of Rush’s shipmates—in a thrilling chorus.

Books are available to borrow from the library. Please join us for conversation on May 22 at 7 pm in the Community Room.

Cookbook Club

Cookbook Club meets one Saturday a month at noon to share thoughts and dishes from the same cookbook.

2024 Schedule:

January 13 - Every Grain of Rice; Chinese Soul Food; and Mooncakes and Milk Bread

February 10 - Ethiopia, by Yohanis Gebreyesus

March 9 - Bean by Bean, by Crescent Dragonwagon

April 13 - Maple: 100 sweet and savory recipes featuring maple syrup, by Katie Webster

NO MEETING IN MAY

June 8 - Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking, by Toni Tipton-Martin

July 13 - Simply Pho: A Complete Course in Preparing Authentic Vietnamese Recipes at Home, by Helen Le

August - Aloha Kitchen: Recipes from Hawai’i, by Alana Kysar

September - Grist: A Practical  Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds and Legumes, by Abra Berens

October - Let’s Make Dumplings!: A Comic Book Cookbook, by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan

November - The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, by Sean Sherman

December - TBA

Participants sign up for a recipe at least one week before the meeting. This group is capped at 15 participants each month and priority is given to Richmond cardholders. If you’d like to join or have any questions, email skrohn@richmondvt.gov.