LibraryThing Local

For the month of November, we will discuss The Waste Land and Other Poems: Including The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot. For more information, please contact Teen Librarian Melanie Wachsman, Melanie.S.Wachsmann@lonestar.edu, 281-290-3400. Free book for first 15 teens to sign up for each ... (more)title. Sign up at the first floor librarians' Reference Desk.

Join us in welcoming John Cape, local author of the recently published novel "Oil Dusk," which is summarized as follows from his website: "The MacCasland family struggles to survive when the dollar crashes and the United States is starved for oil. Gas prices soar, store shelves empty and jobs are almost ... (more)nonexistent. When brutal gangs start looting, it becomes clear that anyone still living in the suburbs needs a Plan B." For details about this event, call 281-360-6804.

1:30 p.m. to 3:30 P.m. Gary Kent - writer/director, actor, stuntman legend, special effects guru, and production manager - signs Shadows & Light: Journeys with Outlaws in Revolutionary Hollywood. This makes a great Christmas gift for all of the movie fans on your list.

Teens are invited to discuss City of Thieves: A Novel by David Benioff. We give a free book for the first 15 teens to sign up for each title. Sign up at the first floor librarians' Reference Desk. Call 281-290-3400 for information.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood is very excited to welcome Mark Weiss to the shop to discuss and sign the anthology of poetry he edited, The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban Poetry.
Cuba's cultural influence throughout the Western Hemisphere, and especially in the United States, has been disproportionally ... (more)large for so small a country. This landmark volume is the first comprehensive overview of poetry written over the past sixty years. Presented in a beautiful Spanish-English en face edition, The Whole Island makes available the astonishing achievement of a wide range of Cuban poets, including such well-known figures as Nicolás Guillén, José Lezama Lima, and Nancy Morejón, but also poets widely read in Spanish who remain almost unknown to the English-speaking world - among them Fina García Marruz, José Kozer, Raúl Hernández Novás, and Ángel Escobar-and poets born since the Revolution, like Rogelio Saunders, Omar Pérez, Alessandra Molina, and Javier Marimón. The translations, almost all of them new, convey the intensity and beauty of the accompanying Spanish originals. With their work deeply rooted in Cuban culture, many of these poets - both on and off the island - have been at the center of the political and social changes of this tempestuous period. The poems offered here constitute an essential source for understanding the literature and culture of Cuba, its diaspora, and the Caribbean at large, and provide an unparalleled perspective on what it means to be Cuban.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood is very excited to welcome Mark Weiss to the shop to discuss and sign the anthology of poetry he edited, The Whole Island: Six Decades of Cuban Poetry.
Cuba's cultural influence throughout the Western Hemisphere, and especially in the United States, has been disproportionally ... (more)large for so small a country. This landmark volume is the first comprehensive overview of poetry written over the past sixty years. Presented in a beautiful Spanish-English en face edition, The Whole Island makes available the astonishing achievement of a wide range of Cuban poets, including such well-known figures as Nicolás Guillén, José Lezama Lima, and Nancy Morejón, but also poets widely read in Spanish who remain almost unknown to the English-speaking world - among them Fina García Marruz, José Kozer, Raúl Hernández Novás, and Ángel Escobar-and poets born since the Revolution, like Rogelio Saunders, Omar Pérez, Alessandra Molina, and Javier Marimón. The translations, almost all of them new, convey the intensity and beauty of the accompanying Spanish originals. With their work deeply rooted in Cuban culture, many of these poets - both on and off the island - have been at the center of the political and social changes of this tempestuous period. The poems offered here constitute an essential source for understanding the literature and culture of Cuba, its diaspora, and the Caribbean at large, and provide an unparalleled perspective on what it means to be Cuban.

Since we had to cancel his reading last year due to Hurricane Ike, we have anxiously been awaiting A.J. Jacobs's next appearance in Houston. Brazos and the Jewish Community Center are thrilled to host him for a reading of The Guinea Pig Diaries (released Sept. 8, 2009), a book of essays on all of A.J.'s ... (more)hilarious adventures as a human guinea pig, including "My Outsourced Life" and "My Life as a Hot Woman."
A.J. Jacobs is the editor of What It Feels Like and the author of The Two Kings: Jesus and Elvis, The Year of Living Biblically, The Know-It-All, and America Off-Line. He is the senior editor of Esquire and has written for The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, New York magazine, New York Observer, and other publications.
Please help us welcome him to Houston at JCC's 37th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair.

Home Schoolers 8-12 years discuss Bluebonnets and other noteworthy books. Takes place every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month. For information on meeting and book title, please call 281-376-4610.

THIRD MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

Admission $30 (Includes signed copy of the Nobel Laureate's latest book The Museum of Innocence)

Discuss great books in literature. This month's selection is The Knight of Faith by Kierkegaard. Newcomers are encouraged to join! Contact Earl Bissex at 281-955-9447 for more information. Meetings take place in the Women's Council of Realtors Conference Room on the 2nd Floor.

We will discuss St. Agnes' Stand by Tom Eidson for November's book club meeting. Newcomers are welcome to join us. Contact Elizabeth Ronald for book club information at 281-360-6804.

This group meets the third Tuesday of each month in LRNC 131. Everyone is welcome. You do not have to attend every meeting to be a member, just come when you can. We will discuss Marceline by Ann Nibbs for the month of November. Call Rose Botkin at 281-290-5937 for meeting information.

Join us this month as we discuss Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Newcomers are welcome to join. Call 281-457-1631 for details.

The Bear Creek Mystery Book Club discusses this ever-popular genre over coffee and munchies! Join this animated discussion and meet new friends! Call 281-550-0885 for details and title information.

We will be discussing (and eating)5 stories from Death Dines at 8:30 edited by Claudia Bishop and Nick DiChario. Call 281-492-8592 for details.

So you say you like: * mysteries? * to hear about what others are reading? * to have the friendship of a book club without committing to reading a book every month? Have we got the group for you! The club meets the last Wednesday of the month at 1 p.m. in library meeting room 215. We discuss a different ... (more)theme each month. We will cover the works by Donald E. Westlake. The date change is due to our Thanksgiving closure. Call 281-290-3242 for information.

Readers' favorite authors will be featured this month, so let Bonnie know your favorite mystery author so the books can be ordered. Stop by the library or call 281-821-1320.

Tween Book Club is a year-round program offered on the third Wednesday of every month. This program is for tweens 10-12 year old and includes discussion of that month's book and activity. Please call the library at 281.290.3211 to register for this event.

Adults who love to read gather for informal conversation about fiction or non-fiction books selected by the group. Title for this month: "Travels with Charley: In Search of America" by John Steinbeck. Call 281-376-4610 for details.

Adults who love to read gather for informal conversation about a selected fiction or non-fiction title chosen by the group. Title this month: "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck. [This is a repeat of the Nov. 19 Thursday Afternoon Book Discussion.] Call 281-376-4610 for details.

Our book club is unique; we celebrate both books and food! Each book has a recipe (which we sample) related to the story itself, the region, or the time period of the book. PLEASE JOIN US! - Come to the Library and sign-up, and check out a copy of the book. This month we will discuss Women's Intuition ... (more)by Lisa Samson. It is about Larkspur Summerville, a 41 year old paranoid virtual recluse who for 20 years has kept a secret from her family, a secret that now threatens to become her undoing. The centerpiece of the novel is its beautiful depiction of faith. Register for this event by calling 281-446-3377.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is pleased to present David Swanson as he discusses and signs his new book, Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union.
Swanson holds a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and ... (more)as a communications director, with jobs including press secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, media coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as communications coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is pleased to present David Swanson as he discusses and signs his new book, Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union.
Swanson holds a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Virginia. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and ... (more)as a communications director, with jobs including press secretary for Dennis Kucinich's 2004 presidential campaign, media coordinator for the International Labor Communications Association, and three years as communications coordinator for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

FOURTH TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH *A Taste of Fire by Hannah Howell.

11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Myra Johnson signs her inspirational fiction book One Imperfect Christmas.

1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Rachel Brady signs her mystery novel, Final Approach. AUTHOR BIO:
A graduate of Wright State University and The Ohio State University, Rachel Brady enjoys a career in biomedical engineering at a research lab at NASA's Johnson Space Center, in addition to the time she spends writing ... (more)mystery and suspense fiction. Her interests include health and fitness, acoustic guitar, and books of all kinds. She lives outside of Houston, Texas, with her husband and their three children.

Join us in December for our discussion of Netherland by Joseph O'Neill. Newcomers are welcome to join. For information, call 281-550-0885.

Bilingual discussion of Como Agua para Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. See library staff for a copy of the book or call 281-821-1320.

Introduce books you have already read and want to share with others. Listen to recommendations from others. Nothing to buy! No assigned reading! Come and discuss Science Fiction & Fantasy books! For details, call 281-488-1906.

FIRST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH
*Slay Bells by Kate Kingsbury.

First Friday Book Club is for intermediate through advanced non-native speakers who would like to discuss a book. The club will meet the first Friday of each month at 1:00 p.m. in LRNC 102 after it returns on October 2, 2009. No registration is required. We encourage you to read all the books in English ... (more)but if you prefer an edition in translation, that is fine. Our discussion will be in English. For December 4, 2009, we will discuss A Mercy by Toni Morrison. Description: In exchange for a bad debt, an Anglo-Dutch trader takes on Florens, a young slave girl, who feels abandoned by her slave mother and who searches for love--first from an older servant woman at her master's new home, and then from a handsome free blacksmith. We will look at the concepts of good and evil, as well as discuss what we may have learned about U.S. history. For details, call 281-290-3973.

SECOND WEDNESDAY OF EVERY MONTH *Christmas Spirit by Amy Garvey.

Santa is coming to the Bookloft for the 1st time. He will be here Sunday December 14th and will host a very special reading of "The Polar Express" at 2:45pm by the fireplace for the kids. You can meet personally with Santa and take pictures. So come all for a perfect afternoon with Santa

FOURTH TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH *Coventry Christmas by Becky Cochrane.

FIRST THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH
*Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George.

THIRD MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH White Garden by Stephanie Barron.

*People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

NPR humorist, playwright, and author David Sedaris has become one of America's pre-eminent humor writers and an SPA favorite! The great skill with which he slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness makes him one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today. Adult ... (more)content.