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Adult Book Clubs

The Holmes library offers two book discussion groups for adult readers. We continue to offer our monthly evening group, and have added an afternoon book club more convenient for our Senior readers. Please feel free to try either group!

Copies of the books are available at the Circulation Desk, or can be reserved through our iBistro catalog. For more information or to sign up, contact Jean for the evening group and Susan for the afternoon group.

Traditional Evening Group

      Books we have read

Afternoon Readers

      Books we have read

Evening Group

Evening Book Club

Afternoon Readers

Afternoon Readers


book group Sudden Sea
by R. A. Scotti
Tuesday, March 23, 6:30pm


From Publishers Weekly

Former journalist and mystery novelist Scotti successfully applies her skills in both genres to this detailed retelling of the 1938 hurricane that ripped across seven Northeastern states and killed 682 people, "the most destructive natural disaster in U.S. history-worse than the San Francisco earthquake, the Chicago fire, or any Mississippi flood." Although the enormity of the destruction has been written about before, Scotti focuses on "a few experiences that seem representative of many more" through interviews with hurricane survivors, their families and friends, as well as previously published recollections by survivors, including the late Katharine Hepburn. Scotti's detailed look at the general extent of the hurricane's destruction adds poignancy to individual stories, such as those of Joseph Matoes, who sees his children swept away from their school bus as they are battered by huge waves; Lillian Tetlow and Jack Kinney, two sweethearts who survive a storm that destroys Napatree, R.I., and who later marry; and Charles Pierce, a "green and unsure" junior forecaster for a woefully underprepared U.S. Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) who stands against his experienced superiors as the only forecaster to recognize the danger of the hurricane. Scotti also skillfully presents the details of a hurricane, although she reminds us that "after decades of study and with all the technological tools of the trade... we still cannot predict a hurricane more than twenty-four hours in advance."

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Books We Have Read

February Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
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January '10 The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser
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December In a Gilded Cage by Rhys Bowen
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November Never Tell a Lie by Hallie Ephron (author visit)
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October The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
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September

The Widow's War by Sally Gunning

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August

The Eleventh Man by Ivan Doig

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June

First Light by Philip R. Craig and William Tapply

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May

Black Mass by Dick Lehr

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April

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland

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March

Limitations by Scott Turow

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February

Harriet and Isabella by Patricia O'Brien

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January

How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life by Mameve Medwed

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December

The Childrens Blizzard by David Laskin

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November

Deafening by Frances Itani

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October

Blessings by Anna Quindlen 

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September

North River by Pete Hamill

Death in Belmont by Sebastion Junger

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro


The Afternoon Readers' Book Club

For more information or to sign up, please contact Susan at (781)293-2271 or by email. This month's selection...

book group Watchers of Time
by Charles Todd
Tuesday, March 9, 1 pm


From Library Journal

Inspector Rutledge is recovering from his gunshot wound while trying to investigate the murder of a parish priest in the small town of Osterley. Rutledge is skeptical that Father James's death is a simple case of robbery gone wrong. Was he murdered because of something he knew or had seen? Rutledge's inquiries are hampered both by the local authorities and by townsfolk unwilling to talk. With the ever-present voice of Hamish, a dead Scottish soldier, in his head, Rutledge must set aside his own problems to find out the truth. A gifted writer, Todd has once again created an intriguing mystery peopled with memorably unique characters. The depth of emotion that he expresses is truly remarkable. Highly recommended for all libraries.
- Laurel Bliss, Yale Univ. Lib.




Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Books We Have Read

February The Seduction of Water by Carol Goodman
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January A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
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December The Cat Who Came For Christmas by Cleveland Amory
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November Lily of the Valley by Suzanne Strempek Shea
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